Bared to You by Sylvia Day

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sylvia Day comes the first novel in the Crossfire series—a provocative masterstroke of abandon and obsession that redefined the meaning of desire, and became a global phenomenon.

Gideon Cross came into my life like lightning in the darkness... He was 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 other's 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...

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Listen up: for one time only, I will speak about a smut book on the Internet. (Major respect to those who can, but even in journalism—I regularly tell PRs and editors that I keep some topics private!) For those familiar with BookTok and bookstagram and all that jazz, there’s been a major conversation over the past few years that all readers on the Internet just want “spicy” books. The more sex scenes, the better. There is an entire Kindle Unlimited economy built on that desire, and giant book review accounts devoted to the pursuit. More power to y’all, seriously.

Even though this is one of my favorite books (if you based it on sheer rereads), I never thought I’d actually discuss it on the Internet. I was raised in a Southern “there are some things we don’t speak about” way, but I love this book enough that I finally needed to suck it up and recommend it. Also, for the record, I despise the way the jacket copy is written.

I rarely wade into “spicy” reads, mostly just due to taste. But there’s one series I reread frequently that I absolutely adore: this one. It checks all my boxes for contemporary romance in a way that few other books have been able to touch, and I simply don’t have the patience to try and toss aside a dozen lookalikes.

Published in the aftermath of the Fifty Shades of Grey boom, Bared to You captures a handful of tropes appealing to romance readers: traumatized, young billionaire who owns half of Manhattan; a ravenous I-must-have-you mindset; a girl who insists on working a “normal” job and building her own way even if he will break down every door possible to spoil her, deep-rooted issues that might eventually tear them apart. Classic, am I right?

The Crossfire books comprise a five-part series.It will either win you over entirely or not at all. Personally, I’m obviously the former. I’m obsessed with this series, and think it does a lot of aspects really well.

Essentially, Eva Cross is an early twenties SDSU graduate who’s just moved to Manhattan and is about to start her dream entry-level job at an advertising agency. Her mama’s a socialite thrilled to finally have her in the city, and her divorced dad’s a cop back in California. When tracing her way to her office for the first time, she runs into—quite literally—the most beautiful man she’s ever seen, etc,. And it turns out he owns the building.

This could very easily veer into cliché (and does on occasion) but essentially, the man in question, Gideon, immediately decides he has to have her. He propositions her in inappropriate ways that she rejects. He tries to woo her repeatedly. He does everything wrong but she can’t fully resist. And the rest is history.

(As my sister Hannah notes, most of this book is a sexual harrassment suit waiting to happen; it basically epitomizes the Dobler-Dahmer Theory from How I Met Your Mother, a sit-com frequently on in the background of family gatherings, in that the events are only "romantic" because both parties are into it. And it would not be nearly "as okay" if not for the simultaneous exploration of both Eva and Gideon's fucked up coping mechanisms and underlying psychology. But because I think it handles that well, I can enjoy it without thinking too hard about how it would translate to reality.)

First, some aspects I absolutely love:

The series is a love letter to New York City.

In a similar way to how Sex and the City always makes me want to say to hell with it and move to West Village, Bared to You embodies such a strong sense of place—in a glittering, Midtown high rise kind of way. Eva repeatedly waxes poetic on her love for the city and how alive it makes her feel, and the sense of place is compelling. Better yet, the sense of luxury in the book feels authentic; Eva was raised in a fancy environment, and her taste for the finer things reverberates through the narration in a natural way that scratches that itch for fans of Gossip Girl or Anna K and the like. It makes complete sense why she and billionaire Gideon Cross end up in the same orbit.

Gideon and Eva feel very real and complex, even when soap-opera-y.

About halfway through the book, and maybe two weeks into dating, Eva and Gideon are in therapy together. While that seems a little fast (I am not the one to go to for dating timelines, lmao), basically the book as a whole can be read as an intense reaction to the unhealthiness of dominant-submissive narratives à la Fifty Shades. While the book was basically published to ride on the coattails of readers’ hungers for similar books, the Crossfire series repeatedly stresses that this is not Fifty Shades, will be a lot healthier, and even when the two in the couple fall into bad patterns, they are immediately called out on it—whether by their partner or someone in their lives. Revise and revisit, Ace, as Eva would say.

They literally cannot keep their hands off each other, but repeatedly chat about how it’s a major trauma response and a result of addictive personalities. So: ? Read it either way. There are people who claim the book is doing exactly what it says it isn’t, but to me, its self-awareness makes it an addictive read while removing some of the not-good-for-you factor. It keeps it...pretty fun.

Bared to You is really good at capturing daily realities and making them actually fascinating.

No matter how indulgent the dates are or how steamy the intimacy scenes are, where Bared to You really wins me over is in how actually interesting the “day in the life” scenes are to me. Eva could be commuting, working on an advertising campaign for blueberry coffee, running errands, and going to lunch with her mom and I’m still absolutely riveted. Do you know how rare that is in a book? Most books would call those slice-of-life scenes shoddy pacing but the Crossfire series makes it real. To me, that goes a long way in making the book—and relationship—feel realistic and compelling, because it does have that “playing house” element of seeing how someone fits into your daily life.

If you often mourn that book romances et. al just don't feel realistic because your life looks like constantly tackling the to-do list and time somehow passing amidst a routine that never lets you breathe, it can feel weirdly relatable to see the romance squeezed in amidst the rest of the minutae. (Caveat being that Gideon can obviously afford these larger-than-life gestures that romance readers crave.)

Overall, it’s addictive.

The plot majorly ramps up over the course of the series, but the first book is a lot of will-they-won’t-they between two very damaged heroes, and the explosiveness kept me from putting it down. Some might think this makes the pacing jagged or inconsistent, but I don’t care. They’re jealous and have impulse issues and all that jazz. But I could inhale this book in maybe an hour or two, tops, because of it! Despite having read it at least fifteen times at this point, I always find myself reaching for it when I need an escapist, luxe, indulgent romance. Or a book that's a little hot. (She writes it well! Sue me.)

I love Eva and Gideon, even when—and especially when—they handle each other poorly. For all their introspection and carefulness, they still misstep. They both have a tendency to seem very perfect on the surface (of course they are both gorgeous, rich, secretly kind, etc,.) but also have their own very real and awful flaws as a result of their childhood trauma. The writing itself is detailed, pacey, and addictive. You can agree with their relationship or not, but at the very least—the book’s a wild ride. It’s emotionally layered and intense in a way I’m sure will catch you by surprise.