Book Review - Bared To You by Sylvia Day

Review of “Bared To You” by Sylvia Day

I enjoyed this well-written book and found it difficult to put down. As a result I finished it fairly quickly. The chemistry between the main characters, Gideon and Eva, was smoking from the jump. Although the book began as a typical “boy wants girl” storyline, as we get to know more about the characters we see their relationship is anything but typical.

Throughout the story, as heartbreaking as it is to see characters attempt to destroy each other, it really describes reality and what to expect in the very real world of love and maintaining relationships. The baggage the characters bring into the story heavily impacts how much their desire to slay their demons walks a fine line with just wanting to run away and say “forget it.”

A supporting character, Cary, is delightful throughout the book, yet, as he begins his own journey toward love, he appears hell bent on sabotaging anything good in the romance department. It hurt my heart to see the struggle he faced and how much he declined as the book progressed.

I am not sure I liked how much Gideon remains even platonically involved with past and wanna-be-loves, it is almost as if he enjoys baiting Eva by maintaining regular contact and conversations with them. Although he proclaims both with his physical actions, as well as his words, he is “with” Eva, I’m not all convinced he needs to care so much about the women in his past just to try to appease them, or spare their feelings. Especially when he knows how much it upsets Eva, who is irrationally jealous and makes that fact very well known on several occasions.

I really enjoyed the fact that Ms. Day writes a story that many people can readily identify with because in the real world, fairytales do not exist and love takes work. However, it was easy to get swept up in wanting to live the life of a billionaire, like Gideon, and thinking how much easier that would make things. Which, let’s face it, most people are not only dealing with the toughness of intimacy, they are also dealing with financial issues that add to the real world stress on relationships. Our characters in Bared To You have the luxuries most of us only daydream about.

The sex scenes are plentiful and explicit, so, you get your money’s worth just in those alone. Although I was not fond of certain terms, words, or a means to describe passionate acts in Bared To You, those were strictly my personal preferences. For example, I do not normally like using the term “her sex…” to describe a woman’s most intimate orifice, but, that is solely my penchant. Although, in defense of writing erotic fiction, it becomes quite difficult to find creative ways to accurately describe in clear detail, without repeating oneself, any part of anatomy, act, or description of passionate interludes. Ms. Day does successfully spin a deliciously enticing image of characters entwined truly aching from desire.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in erotic fiction. It’s a great place to start if you are new to the genre, or have several notches in your bedpost. I look forward to the continuation as the ending left us with several important questions about each of the characters. A romantic cliffhanger for sure.