So, first a synopsis.

Eva has moved to Manhattan from California to take up her first job after college. She’s working in the Crossfire building and literally sprawls on her arse in front of Gideon Cross, the self-made millionaire owner of the Cross Industries. They have an instant attraction – he tells her he wants to f**k her but wants no strings sex, no emotional attachment but Eva wants hearts and flowers. He uses his considerable wealth, resources and influences to engineer meetings between them and they end up having an intense sexual relationship. He even confesses to being a Dominant!
Sound familiar?? Oh yes, it does. It sounds EXACTLY like Fifty Shades and Gideon is even wearing a grey tie!!

BUT…………having said that, I actually did love this story as I did the Fifty Shades trilogy. Right from the get go there is an intense and palpable sexual attraction between Eva and Gideon which really sizzled off the pages and Eva is made of much sterner stuff than Anastasia Steele.

They are both seriously f**ked up – they both have traumatic sexual pasts. Eva’s is revealed, Gideon’s is only hinted at but they share an intense bond almost immediately and they are a deeply sexual couple. Their combined past experiences means that their course will not run smooth. Every time something bothers Eva, she runs from Gideon and this nearly tears them apart.

Gideon – I loved him. He went from supremely self-assured industrial mogul to a man weeping in Eva’s arms. She gets to him and understands him on a level that no one has ever before. He’s protective, strong, possessive but also deeply vulnerable, as is Eva and they are able to start healing one another but this book only takes us a short way down that path – there is to be a sequel. Thankfully, we’re not left on an awful cliffhanger the way we were with Fifty Shades but much is left unresolved and unexplained.

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What happened to Gideon in the past?

Why is he so cold towards his Mother?

What is with his brother?

What is Cary’s past?

Who is Dr Terry?

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These are all questions I hope will be resolved in the next book in the autumn.

This is my first book by Sylvia Day and I very much enjoyed it and she has a huge back catalogue which I am going to check out. I love discovering a new author I like – it’s like striking gold!

5 stars erotic contemporary romance