Aestas Book Blog's Reviews > Bared to You

6 +++ stars!!!!

SQUEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! HOLY. FREAKING. GOD. THIS. BOOK. IS. BEYOND. AMAZING.

This book was absolute perfection for me!! It had me swooning, drooling and panting over Gideon Cross and had me reading for the better part of it with the world's biggest grin on my face. It was the perfect blend of heart warming, HOTNESS , and seriously tortured Alpha hero (and heroine).

The story is told from the perspective of Eva Hammel, a 24 year old girl who comes from money but wants to make it on her own in the world. She chooses to start at the bottom and work her way to the top and gets a job in an advertising agency where she meets the guy who owns the company she works for (and pretty much everything in NYC) Gideon Cross and its just an instant connection between then. Sparks fly from the first glance. And things go from there.

Gideon Cross is just pure perfection in my eyes! He is tortured, passionate, controlling, but isn't afraid to admit he f*cked up, tender, possessive, gorgeous , absolutely and utterly in LOVE with his girl... <3 <3 Gah! my heart is bursting here! <3
He's so messed up but he's trying his absolute best to be everything his girl needs him to be. I love how on the outside he's this unobtainable larger-than-life god but on the inside, he's just a man who wants to be loved by his girl.

"Oh, Eva." He rubbed his cheek against my damp face. "I must've wished for you so hard and so often you had no choice but to come true."

"What do you want, Gideon?" I asked softly.
He caught me to him and cupped my cheek in one hand. "I want to keep feeling the way I feel when I'm with you. Just tell me what I have to do. And give me some room to screw up. I've never done this before. There's a learning curve."

There are a lot of wonderful book couples out there but the thing that made me just LOVE this book was how fuctional Gideon and Eva were. Despite both having very messed up pasts, and both having their fair share of f*ck ups, they worked through everything functional and passionately in a way that deeply warmed me heart. I loved how open and honest they learned to be with each other. They both made mistakes but they were understandable mistakes, nothing that make me want to throw my Kindle at the wall, nothing where I couldn't understand the reaction they had, and they always talked everything through after. I loved how their love for each other made them stronger than any problems that came their way. It was so refreshing and heart warming.

[This relationship] is going to be a lot of work, Gideon." I warned him.
"I'm not afraid of work." He was touching me restlessly, his hands sliding over my thighs and buttocks as if caressing my bare skin was as necessary to him as breathing. "I'm only afraid of losing you."
I pressed my cheek to his. We completed each other. Even now, as his hands roamed possessively over me, I felt a thawing in my soul, the desperate relief of being held - finally - by the man who understood and satisfied my deepest, most intimate desires."

I loved how neither of them were man-whores or virgins before meeting each other. Not that I have a problem with either one. But it was refreshing and realistic that they had both been in a normal amount of relationships for a couple of mid-twenty year olds.

I also LOVED the side characters. Eva's boss Mark and his partner Steven were delightful and fun. Her bi-sexual room-mate and best friend Cary was just so lovable. He was the ultimate big brother character with his own set of problems - I really really hope he gets a HEA. He so deserves one! We don't get to see much of his past, but you can tell its really heart-breaking. I loved how he knew Eva so well, he just knew when something was wrong just by looking at her.

"I want there to be happily-ever-afters for the f*cked up crowd. Show me the way, Eva honey. Make me believe." ~Cary

And did I mention how utterly HOT this book was?? I swear I was fanning myself from the moment they met (which was pretty much right at the beginning) till the very last page.

For those of you wondering about the connection between this book and Fifty Shades, I'd say they have about as much in common as Fifty Shades does with Twilight. Sure the basics are similar, mega-billionaire hero who is possessive of his girl... wait, no, that's it actually. The BDSM element is utterly UNlike Fifty. There is no contract or anything like that, and it only comes up about 70% of the way through the book, and only briefly at that. Its more about the sexual control, but even then, its not about the kinky f*ckery the same way that Fifty was. But don't let that deter you, this book is HOT, SEXY, deeply emotional, and a serious page turner.... I found this book more deeply emotional than Fifty and I loved Gideon even more than Christian which is saying a lot cuz all of the Fifty books are on my 6 star list.

"You forget who submits, Eva,” he said gruffly. “I’ve given up control for you. I’ve bent and adjusted for you. I’ll do anything to keep you and make you happy. But I can’t be tamed or topped. Don’t mistake indulgence for weakness.”

… and gah, the library scene!!! *dies* seriously HOTTTTT

I just loved seeing these two people from such tortured and broken pasts coming together, finding peace in each other, making things work… its a beautiful story!!

“I love you, Gideon.”
“God.” He looked at me with something that resembled disgust. Whether it was directed at me or himself, I didn’t know. “How can you say that?”
“Because it’s the truth.”
“You just see this”—he gestured at himself with a wave of his hand. “You’re not seeing the fucked-up, broken mess inside.”
I inhaled sharply. “You can say that to me? When you know I’m fucked up and broken, too?”

The ending was in a perfect place. Happy, resolved but leaving me biting my nails waiting for October to pleeeeease get here faster!!

We'll never be over, Eva. ~Gideon

This is a MUST read!! I’m buying it in hard copy to put on my favorites shelf and know for sure that I’ll be rereading it many times!! *swoon*

CASTING:





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