Book Review: Bared to You by Sylvia Day

Our journey began in fire...
Gideon Cross came into my life like lightning in the darkness- beautiful and brilliant, jagged and white hot. I was drawn to him as I'd never been to anything or anyone in my life. I craved his touch like a drug, even knowing it would weaken me. I was flawed and damaged, and he opened those cracks in me so easily...
Gideon knew. He had demons of his own. And we would become the mirrors that reflected each others most private wounds and desires.
The bonds of his love transformed me, even as I prayed that the torment of our pasts didn't tear us apart..
Intensely romantic, darkly sensual and completely addictive, Bared to You will take you to the very limits of obsession- and beyond.

Bared to You is the story of Eva and Gideon and I think it is one of the better books in this genre because it does actually have a story. Yes there are some aspects that are very similar to other books; multi-millionaire businessman, young girl, power games and lots
of sex. However, Sylvia Day brought more to her story, Gideon and Eva have seriously troubled pasts. We discover a lot about Eva's in this book but not so much about Gideon's. The author delves into the murky world of child abuse and its devastating consequences. Sylvia Day does not hide the brutality of such experiences so we do literally get the characters stripped bare, we know their darkest secrets and memories.
I liked the independent streak in Eva; she has her own money and career. She respects Gideon and his success but she is not in awe of him and the world he inhabits.
There is a lot of sex in this book, I did questions how quickly Gideon and Eva's relationship progressed considering her past. Regardless of that, the tension between these two is palpable. Gideon wants to protect Eva but he is not suffocating as so many other male leads in this genre can be.
Bared to You is the first book in the Crossfire series. I shall definitely read the others as I want to discover Gideon's secrets and watch their relationship develop.

Dot Scribbles Rating: 4/5

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 368

Book Review: Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren

Whip-smart, hardworking and on her way to an MBA, Chloe Mills has only one problem: her boss, Bennett Ryan. He's exciting, blunt, inconsiderate- and completely irresistible. A Beautiful Bastard.
Bennett who has returned to Chicago from France to take a vital role in his family's massive media business. He never expected that the assistant who'd been helping him from abroad was the gorgeous, innocently provocative- completely infuriating creature he now has to see everyday. Despite the rumours, he's never been one for a work place hookup. But Chloe's so tempting, he's prepared to bend the rules- or outright smash them- if it means he can have her. All over the office.
As their appetites for each other increase to a breaking point, Bennett and Chloe must decide exactly what they're willing to lose in order to win. 

When this book arrived I almost wrote it off as another Fifty Shades of Grey but the title intrigued me so I decided to give it a go. Don't get me wrong, I have been honest in admitting that I read and enjoyed the Fifty Shades trilogy but I think there have been so many similar books recently with the same plot line but different characters.
Beautiful Bastard isn't that different in that it's very much a book about a man and a woman starting a sexual relationship and exploring where it will take them. However, this book differs in that the male and female characters are more equal, they both have their own positions of power in different ways. I liked Chloe, she is not in awe of Bennett but she is undoubtedly attracted to him. Is it just sex though or does it go deeper than that?
I was pleased to discover that Bennett did not have a tortured past or a drawer full of sex toys but he does have an appealing vulnerability. He is extremely successful and driven; he seems shocked by the effect that Chloe has on him; it's far from professional to sleep with an employee but he is unable to stop himself.
Beautiful Bastard contains a lot of sex scenes but I thought they were very well written; it was interesting to observe how these encounters altered as Bennett and Chloe's relationship became more complex.
The author's writing is very snappy and fresh, it only took me a few hours to read this book. Some may say that the writing is simple but I am getting tired of people being derisory about that sort of content. Sometimes I want a book that really challenges me and makes me think and sometimes I want a book that is easy and quick to read whilst maintaining my attention. I don't think Beautiful Bastard is going to win any literary prizes but it is easy to see why it has been read by so many people.
If you are looking for a bit of escapism, a fast plot and interesting characters then I would highly recommend Beautiful Bastard. 

Dot Scribbles Rating: 4.5/5

Pages: 320

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Many thanks to Simon and Schuster for sending me a copy of the book to review, Beautiful Bastard is out now.

Book Review: Gabriel's Inferno by Sylvain Reynard

Gabriel Emerson is a man tortured by his dark past. A highly respected university professor, Gabriel uses his notorious good looks and charm to lead a secret life of pleasure where nothing is out of bounds.
Sweet and innocent Julia Mitchell enrols as Gabriel's graduate student and his immediate attraction to her, and their powerful and strange connection, threatens to derail his career.

I'm not really sure where to begin with this book but I did enjoy it. As I have said before I read and enjoyed Fifty Shades of Grey but I wasn't that interested in reading many others in the genre. However, I was intrigued by Gabriel's Inferno, mainly because it was written by a man and most books written in this vein are by women.
As with Fifty Shades of Grey, Gabriel's Inferno is ultimately a love story but I wouldn't say that Gabriel  is as dark as Christian Grey. He certainly has a past but he has relatively normal sexual desires. There are very few sex scenes in this book, it is more about the developing tension and relationship between Gabriel and Julia.
The problem is that Julia is his student so their relationship is effectively forbidden. They must try and keep away from each other or not be caught until the end of the semester when Gabriel ceases to be her teacher. They cannot ignore their desire for each other though but there is a lot for them each to learn. Gabriel is not proud of his past and Julia is also running away from events that she would rather forget.
If they are entirely honest with each other then will they still feel the same?
Sylvain Reynard delivers a really interesting story and I didn't feel as though he focused solely on the male perspective which I thought he might. In the main I enjoyed this book and read it very quickly. But there were things which I found annoying which I think is why I don't read a huge amount of books in this genre. I found Gabriel's behaviour towards Julia suffocating at times. I struggled to see how she would find that attractive but that is obviously just my personal opinion. Also I didn't feel that the secrets that Julia and Gabriel were keeping were actually that bad given how much they had been built up.
Gabriel's Inferno is a very addictive read, I find this genre really difficult, I can't stop turning the pages but yet there are things about the books that I don't like. You can't always like a character though nor can you always understand them.
Gabriel's Inferno is a more gentlemanly read than Fifty Shades of Grey and I think that I will probably read the rest of the trilogy.

Dot Scribbles Rating: 4/5

Many thanks to Penguin for sending me a copy of the book to review, Gabriel's Inferno is out now.