Review: Captivated By You (#4, Crossfire) by Sylvia Day

My Thoughts

Intensely captivating. Intensely sexy. Intensely Gideon.

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Synopsis

Now the #1 international bestselling author returns. The new Crossfire novel by Sylvia Day.

Gideon calls me his angel, but he’s the miracle in my life. My gorgeous, wounded warrior, so determined to slay my demons while refusing to face his own.

The vows we’d exchanged should have bound us tighter than blood and flesh. Instead they opened old wounds, exposed pain and insecurities, and lured bitter enemies out of the shadows. I felt him slipping from my grasp, my greatest fears becoming my reality, my love tested in ways I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to bear.

At the brightest time in our lives, the darkness of his past encroached and threatened everything we’d worked so hard for. We faced a terrible choice: the familiar safety of the lives we’d had before each other or the fight for a future that suddenly seemed an impossible and hopeless dream…

My Review

“Take me. Take all of me. Take the good and the bad. Everything. Take it all.”

Gideon is back, bringing that red-hot sex appeal and intensity that we’ve all grown to love. Ever the tortured soul, we see him continue to struggle with his past, all aspects of it, as it increasingly bleeds onto Eva. His abuse. The women. His enemies. And even her past and his related transgressions. Everything poses a threat to what he needs most of all… a life with Eva, his wife. If you’re a fan of the series, I think you’ll love that it felt very much in line with what we’ve seen. I loved getting into Gideon’s head through his point-of-view, as we really gained the insight into just how much weight bared down upon him. How intensely he felt, how desperate he was in some situations, how deep his ache and love for Eva ran. And in this latest installment, his unrelenting drive to protect her from his past, from harm, propels him to the edge of recklessness.

“I would set the world on fire to clear a path for her, if that’s what it took.”

Captivated By You really focuses on Gideon’s turmoil, on overcoming the trauma in his life and controlling the chaos that reigns upon him and Eva. With so much uncertainty swirling upon them, Gideon is struggling to fix the issues that vex him, and that impede a happily ever after with the woman he loves. In typical Gideon fashion, we see him lash out as he loses control, hurting the very person he works so hart to protect.

“I promise I’ll never cause you pain just to hurt you. Don’t you see that I’m just as vulnerable? You have the same power to hurt me.”

We also see just how entwined his happiness, his wellbeing, his sanity, is with Eva. The connection they have is so intense to the point of potentially unhealthy, as they feed the love and affinity they have towards each other physically. Many times, Gideon attempts to manipulate the situation through sex, dominate Eva to ebb the surge of emotions inside, gain the upper hand.

“You’re the reason I breathe, I can’t turn it off. I think of nothing but you. All day. Every day. Everything I do, I do with you in mind. There’s no room for anyone else.”

The novel unfolds in dual POV, and as we see Eva continue to try and exert her independence, gaining Gideon’s perspective allows us to more vividly feel the push and pull between them. Because at the heart of the matter—at the heart of the series—it’s truly a story about two people loving each other so much but struggling to make it work in the face of a gritty, challenging reality.

“She was every promise, every hope, every fantasy a man could have. And she was mine.”

Although I felt that this latest book was very Crossfire indeed, I struggled a bit to find enough plot advancements to keep me as hooked as others have. There were a number of issues at play, but by the end, it was just a taste of more to come. I would’ve loved to see more of those issues come to some sort of climax in this book, before the series reaches its final culmination in the next book. I basically wanted more to happen above and beyond gaining additional insight into their relationship. Regardless, I still very much enjoyed this book… I’m four books invested in the series, and I look forward to seeing what happily ever after looks like for Gideon and Eva. Sylvia Day is a talented, experienced writer and I’m sure she has much in store for us with the final book, One With You.  I can’t wait to see how their tumultuous story twists, turns and traipses towards its exciting end.

“You’ll never be without me… I’m not going to live a single day without you.”

Reading Order and Links

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