LN Cronan

Ooooooo boy.  You do realize, though, that we're going to need to revise our lists next week ... we're going to have another 22 chapters worth of Gideon and Eva quotes.  OK, thus far but subject to revision next week. In no particular order are three I especially like:  You definitely have the voice for phone sex, but I've got to go. I have a date with my v.i.b.r.a.t.o.r From the day Eva first started saying the L-word to Gideon. "I'll make you say it again ... You'll scream it by the time I'm done with you." This last favorite is a two part line. Eva demanded Corrine tell her the truth about what she (Corrine) really had been doing that day at the Crossfire. Corrine: "What do you think I was doing?" Eva: "Not Gideon."

 The Irish mystery author I mentioned is Ken Bruen, who has authored a series of mysteries involving Jack Taylor, a former Garda (Irish national police officer) turned private detective.  Like Gideon Cross, Jack Taylor is a character who battles dark demons that at times make him a flawed individual who makes bad choices and then struggles with the consequences. In Taylor's case, his darkness is alcoholism. The author is a genius at getting inside the head and soul of someone battling the bottle.

 I still buy physical books, and I still frequent public libraries too. I'm such a voracious reader that my desire for books exceeds my financial resources (and exceeds room in my home).  Once I learned as a young child to string vowels and consonants together, my local library became my favorite place to go after school. And as an adult, I never saw a bookstore I didn't like.  My Kindle has expanded my reading world, as has the existence of audiobooks, but electronic material will never replace the love of actual physical books. Just like online news sites have expanded my access to information but has not replaced the actual love of holding a newspaper, especially a Sunday edition.

 During that video interview Sylvia gave on Booktalk Nation earlier this month, she was asked whether we'd get more Crossfire stuff from Gideon's point of view -- from inside Gideon's head.  Her answer had been that for now, she's not planning extensive material from inside Gideon's head. Her reason why was very intriguing -- it's because Gideon hasn't let her in.  Essentially, her characters come into her inspiration fully formed, and the Gideon inside her imagination is still a closed-off person in many ways.

 Something I really like about my Kindle is being able to get books from authors not currently carried in local and chain bookstores where I live.  There is an Irish mystery writer I especially like that I used to have a hard time finding his books on the shelves, even in the largest bookstores in major cities. I used to have to special order -- now I can simply download.

 You're going to love having an e-reader, Gabri, a whole new way to enjoy books -- a pleasure of a different sort then the tactile feel (and scent) of paper in your hands.  The ability to buy new best-sellers day or night -- not just when your bookstore is open The ability to instantly buy any book that strikes your fancy -- not have to special order it because your local bookstore does not have it in stock. The ability to carry around all your favorite books on one small device -- it's like a bookcase in your pocket.  Throw on top the ability the high-end readers have as tablet computers: you can read a book and social network about it at the same time, doing so anywhere you can get a wireless signal. Plus, on some e-readers, you can carry both the print and audio version of the same book.

 Excellent!!! Means I get to wake up to the Kindle edition on June 4, not have to wait until 9:30 a.m. when my neighborhood indie bookstore opens.

 OMG, Julie -- how could I forget?!!!  My own burning spoiler question: what was Gideon's hair color policy when it came to the bedroom (er, hotel room in his case)?  The redheaded Anne Lucas does not count toward official policy, because she was a revenge f*** not Gideon feeling frisky enough to get laid. Soooooo ..... when Gideon fell into a h.o.r.n.y mood, was the rule: Only brunettes need apply? Brunettes need not apply, I don't want to mix dating and sex like I did with Corrine, so no more brunettes in bed? Doesn't really matter - blonde, brunette, redhead. As long as she's willing, available and without expectations of anything more. I guess it matters because it had  while it been love at first sight when Gideon looked into Eva's eyes, it had been just burning l.u.s.t when he saw her out on the sidewalk, looking up at the Crossfire in awe -- him envisioning her on her knees looking up at him that way. Did she catch his eye sexually because she wasn't a brunette -- OR -- did she catch his eye despite the fact she wasn't a brunette?  I'd like to think it didn't matter one way or another. I'd like to think that the whole brunette thing was a Mommy issue, plain and simple, that Gideon was unconsciously striking back at his trophy wife brunette mother, who chose her rich husband's bribed doctors over her own child. Gideon is getting even with trophy girlfriend brunettes, ones he refuses to become intimate with, because his only attempt to combine both -- Corrine -- ended badly.  If it's true he f*** only brunettes too, well I find that more disturbing, because it does make Corrine along with his mother far more of a sexual fetish issue.  Either way, Eva has broken the Reign of the Brunettes. But I still want to know just how deeply the issue ran with him before he fell in love with an amazing woman who just happened to be blonde.

I love many varieties of flavored coffee, with an especial fondness for chocolate raspberry and pumpkin spice. Â But honestly .... blueberry flavored coffee tastes kinda gross to me. I test-drove the flavor for my Keurig machine and decided I didn't care for it.

 Excellent question!  For the U.S. release, my best guess is 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The U.S. is a bit tricky in that it has four time zones. Most often, the  Eastern time zone, the earliest, is used, but sometimes, the Pacific Time is used instead.  Between 12:00 a.m. and 12:59 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, June 4, technically it will actually still be late night Monday, June 3 in the remaining time zones. However, once it turns to 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time, "today" has arrived everywhere in the country.  During the Harry Potter craze, local time in the United States applied. Those of us in the Eastern Time zone started getting our hot little hands on our copies at midnight in our local bookstores, while in other parts of the country, fans were still waiting for their own clocks to hit midnight.  But now, electronic books has changed everything. And I can't yet figure out from the Amazon site what hour I can receive the download on June 1. Midnight East Coast time? Midnight West Coast time (which is 3 a.m. in the east) - when the whole country has now crossed over from June 3 to June 4?

 Oh we're keeping everyone amused on this fan site, with Sylvia herself probably the most amused of all.  But yeah, the marketing people planing the pictures -- from the official snapshots for Sylvia's own main commercial site to the folks at Penguin -- are probably having a blast reading reactions to each image.  Then there are the folks at Lionsgate, watching us drool over Henry Cavill pictures, knowing we're hot for him to play Gideon.

 Gideon has the ability to sneak in and out of Eva's apartment building, which he owns. My guess is he uses a key card to get in and out of a service entrance and uses a service elevator. Gideon's own apartment building must have some sort of service entrance - a place like that, domestic servants don't use the same entrances as the insanely rich. And Gideon does employ female(s) for his apartment -- he told Eva his mother and the help are the only females who have ever step foot there.  My guess - after that first night being reunited at Eva's apartment, moving forward they'll conduct their hidden affair in his. Eva will sneak in and out via the service entrance, possibly in the company of Angus.  Pros of Gideon's place: Gideon lives alone. The only way to approach his front door is via private elevator. I'll bet there's a back exit off the service elevator. There's little to no danger of guests dropping by Gideon's, managing to get past the downstairs desk by mistake -- not even Corrine, as desperately as she hopes to get in there. Gideon's home has always been his sanctuary.  Cons to Eva's place: Eva has a roommate The main elevator to Eva's apartment is shared by other residents. There's always the danger of guests at Cary/Eva's place -- Cary taking home sex partners from his boyfriend to his friend-with-benefits to group-sex partiers.

 Ah HAH!!!! Young Geoffrey Cross -- that would explain the bell bottoms.  Doing some math:  Gideon and Eva's story takes place in the present day. Let's call it 2012 - because that's the year Bared and Reflected both were published. Gideon is 28 years old. His father died when Gideon was 5. Subtract 23 years = 1989 was the year Geoffrey died. If Geoffrey was every bit as driven as his son, and he followed the same timeline as his son, Geoffrey would have already laid the foundation of his own fortune by age 20. (At age 20, Gideon was rich enough to hire Angus as driver/bodyguard.) If Geoffrey's fortune started at age 20 I'm making a wild guess the end came by the time he reached 40. If he was 40 in 1989 then he would have been an ambitious young man in 1969. Right around the time bell bottoms first came into fashion.  Someone at Penguin in Australia might read this and say either: Foiled - someone figured it out! OR HAHAHAHAHA - boy are we sending those fans on sylviaday.net off in crazy directions!

 Maybe on Anne's side because she, like Elizabeth and Monica, is willing to put financial/social security first. She's rather stay the wife of a respected medical doctor than be a divorcee who had been nothing more than the flavor of the week to Gideon Cross. I imagine her chances of landing a second husband would be somewhat limited if the adultery came up in court -- what guy would dare try to go up against the memory of Gideon Cross?  Probably on Lucas' side is stubbornness - if his wife did divorce him, then Gideon "wins" because his wife totally rejected him, just like Gideon had rejected her. I imagine Lucas probably makes life h.e.l.l for Anne, though.

 Hi Andie!  #1 - Sylvia has indicated we are going to learn about the man who abused Gideon as a child. I expect we'll also learn how it was the matter got covered up by the Vidals.  # 2 - I'm convinced Angus was an actual accomplice (that is, helped commit the killing itself by getting Gideon to and from the scene, serving as lookout and disposing of evidence, especially the knife, while Gideon slipped back into the party crowd). In any case, I expect we'll find out exactly what went down, because Eva needs to know everything - what Detective Graves has gotten right, what Graves got wrong, what Graves has not yet figured out but might ....  #3 - and Eva's the cops daughter is going to call the shots is my guess. Gideon has ephed up already in some important ways, which is why he ended up chief suspect. Eva's going to make sure Gideon doesn't do anything more stupid just because he cannot bear to be without Eva.  #4 - it's been hinted that Corrine is soon to be out of Gideon's life because Corrine hurt Eva. As far as Brett goes, well thus far he's refused to take "no" for an answer from Eva. The question is -- just how long with Brett attempt to chase Eva? Will Brett throw in the towel voluntarily (as opposed to Corrine, who will be forced to give up.) I predict Corrine definitely will be finished by the end of Entwined. Brett -- not so sure. He might continue to be a factor into Book Four.  Additional things I hope to see: how the murder case will go away. Not by trial -- there's not enough time in two weeks. My pet theory is the decision by the prosecution they'll never be able to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt to a jury. what did Angus do to earn Gideon's absolute trust how is Cary going to start facing the fact his love/sex life is a hot mess that's gotten out of control Victor finally dropping the torch for Monica after his starry-eyed idealization of her is shattered

 Just like Christopher Jr., Lucas obviously is insanely jealous of Gideon -- for his incredible good looks, his money, his power, the celebrity attention he gets, the fact that women throw themselves at him.  But whereas Christopher's jealousy is more general, and the way he tries to get even is by seducing women who unsuccessfully try to land Gideon, Lucas actually has real reason to be jealous on a very personal level -- because his own wife threw herself at Gideon, bedazzled by everything Gideon was (and Lucas was not.)

Those photos of Henry Cavill ... our in-real-life fantasy vision of what Gideon looks like ..... as Cary would say, "Rawr"!!!!!

 The only day all retailers get off is Christmas Day.  It used to be that everyone, including retailers, also got off the second biggest U.S. holiday, Thanksgiving Day, the fourth Thursday in November. But now the opposite is true for retailers, because Thanksgiving starts a retail frenzy.  Many people get a four-day weekend for Thanksgiving, and they do holiday gift shopping that weekend. The day after Thanksgiving is known as "Black Friday" -- the biggest retail day of the year (black meaning "profit" on the balance sheets, as opposed to red, which means "loss" on financial balance sheets.) Now Black Friday has been creeping into Thanksgiving itself, with some stores opening that Thursday night in order to lure shoppers. Most of the major retailers definitely are open by midnight Thursday into Friday offering special sales in the morning. Every retailer wants the earliest shopper to come to their stores to spend money first.  It's nuts. People either love or hate Black Friday -- either go out of their way to plan their shopping that day or avoid stores like the plague.

 Because they know that even though their relationship is, by anyone else's standards, seriously messed up -- but they themselves aren't normal anyway, so eph what other people think. If they try hard enough, they can make it work. Their love for one another has given them a reason for wanting to fight for this relationship. So they'll do it -- even if it means that the only way it can work for now is to be conducted in secret while lying to the rest of the world about their true status. It beats the alternative of continuing to remain apart any longer.

 What Gideon did to Anne Lucas was sexually evil. It doesn't mean Gideon himself is evil -- Gideon is a flawed human being who is capable of making very bad choices (like revenge f***** an innocent third party). But he's deeply ashamed of what he did.  Tell that to Dr. Lucas though, who has tried and convicted Gideon as being a twisted individual based on what Gideon did to Anne. Lucas is not exactly objective on the situation either. He's got to convinced himself that Gideon was the instigator, that he evilly manipulated Anne with money and sex, and that Gideon's sole reason for doing so was because that's how Gideon gets off -- building up women and then breaking them.  Because what are the real alternatives: Anne was the one who set out to seduce Gideon, not the other way around. Anne kept going back for more. Anne fell in love with another man. Anne was willing to divorce Lucas in order to be with Gideon. It was Gideon the man (and pleasure god) not Gideon the billionaire that Anne wanted.

Some things that the -- let's be honest, gold-digging -- Monica advised Eva of, when she said Gideon likely will marry Eva, struck me that it's now possible Monica actually believes Gideon dumped Eva -- because Eva had become a liability and thus was replaceable by the beautiful, well-bred and well connected Corrine. Â From pages 216-17 Â "You've got everything you need to be the perfect wife for a man of his stature, but you're still replaceable, Eva. What he's built is not. You jeopardize his empire and he'll leave you .... just be careful. That's all I'm trying to say. Don't give him any reason to turn away from you." Â What if Monica thinks Gideon, like her, viewed the now spinning-out-of-control Nathan situation as a threat to everyone's public image - her own, Eva's, Gideon's? Monica has lived in dread about the rape case becoming public, a fear she instilled in Eva. it was with dismay that Monica discovered Gideon had even been told of it. Â The same day Gideon found out Nathan had gotten so crazy the cops were now sniffing around was the same day Gideon started taking Corrine out again. Then Nathan ended up dead, which resulted in the old rape case court documents becoming active parts of the murder investigation. Now it's crystal clear (to Monica) that Gideon is done with Eva forever and probably is going to end up marrying his original choice for a wife, Corrine. Â Makes sense why Monica has suddenly kept her mouth shut about Gideon -- and not just because she and Stanton had been cooperating with Gideon about handling Nathan's extortion attempts. I don't think Monica and Stanton were involved in the killing itself -- I think Gideon made that decision solo and kept them out of it. But Monica probably has guessed correctly Gideon was responsible for the killing (maybe hired a hitman?) And so now she and Stanton have reason to fear the cops looking into Stanton too -- what if the cops try to charge them with conspiracy? Another good reason why maybe it's for the best Gideon and Eva are done. Â Mind you, this is how I see things standing at the end of Reflected - start of Entwined. A lot of people will need to figure out Gideon saved Eva's life, has loved her all along -- and will do anything to protect her. Because right now: Cary knows Gideon broke his best friend's heart into a million pieces -- suddenly, Brett seems like a good candidate as rebound boyfriend. Victor thinks Gideon was just the latest in the a series of bad boyfriend choices by Eva -- Gideon turned out to be a cheater who probably hadn't been in love with Eva to begin with. Eva's boss, Mark, has seen his original fears come true - that things would end badly between Gideon and Eva. Thank goodness Eva had meant it, though, when she vowed nothing would make her leave her job. Arnoldo is probably glad Gideon got rid of Eva and is now seeing Corrine. Magdalene probably thinks her original fears also came true -- Gideon holding his torch for Corrine made it possible for Corrine to come back. Yes, Gideon cared about Eva -- but in the end, the obsession with Corrine won out. Corrine believes she succeeded in driving Eva away, and the fact she and Gideon are back to square one of social dating means they're on the road to becoming lovers again -- and then spouses.

From yesterday's re-read of Chapter 12, my favorite part is what had been going through Eva's mind, arriving back in New York, about  how they'd spent Sunday together in North Carolina. Saturday, they'd discussed painful things, but Sunday had been bliss. From page 204  By silent agreement we didn't talk about painful things during the rest of our time away. We didn't turn on the television or radio, because it seemed wrong to share our time with anyone. We walked on the beach again. We made long, slow, lazy love on the third-story deck. We played cards and he won every hand. We recharged and reminded ourselves that what we'd found with each other was worth fighting for. It was the most perfect day of my life.

Chapter 12 of Reflected in You - The Readers Guide  This chapter starts very late Sunday (day 27) and continues through Monday morning (day 28 - one month to the day since Eva and Gideon met, and three weeks to the day since they became a couple. It would also become day one of their estrangement)  Key plot developments As soon as Gideon and Eva arrived home from North Carolina, they learned Cary is in the hospital. Someone -- Cary had no idea who -- jumped him on Friday night, beating him with a bat, inflicting a skull fracture, concussion, three cracked ribs and a broken arm. We'd learn in the final chapter Nathan had been the one who assaulted Cary, and in recent spoiler information, we'd learn Monica knew it and told Gideon (but kept it from Eva and apparently Cary as well.) Eva and Cary discussed his current status with estranged boyfriend Trey -- and they discuss what happened with Brett. Trey visited Cary in the hospital.  New characters: Unnamed nurse (minor - she'd later be hired away from the hospital for home care of Cary)  Cary hospitalized Cary spent Friday evening with Trey at a club, and when Trey had to leave early, walked Trey around the corner from the club so that Trey could catch a cab. As soon as the cab pulled away, Cary was attacked -- only much later would we learn Nathan was the assailant. He jumped Cary from behind and wielding a bat, nailed the back of Cary's head. Cary went down, and Nathan whaled on him a few more times, Cary unable to have a chance to try to defend himself. The attacker had screamed at Cary to "keep his hands of her" -- so Cary figured out it wasn't some random attack, but rather, some jealous boyfriend/husband of one of the various women Cary has slept with. Next thing Cary knew, he woke up in the hospital. He'd sustained a skull fracture and concussion, three cracked ribs and a broken arm. Gideon arranged for a cot to be brought in for Eva so she could stay with Cary around the clock. He also began arranging for Cary to be transferred home under full care there as soon as possible, hopefully within a couple of days. Gideon also arranged for Eva to get the day off from work, and before he went to work himself, he stopped by the hospital with a bag he'd packed for Eva. Gideon was every bit the loving person he'd had been to Eva that Monday morning, but without her knowing it, circumstances were about to make him decide to push her away starting later that very day.  Monica and Gideon connection So focused on Cary, Eva didn't even notice her mother had been in contact with Gideon Stanton and Monica left messages for Gideon when they learned Cary had been brought to the hospital. Gideon got the messages when he and Eva arrived back in New York very late Sunday. It turned out that Gideon had left a message with Monica telling her he was taking Eva away for the weekend. Much to Monica's dismay, though, she discovered she could not reach Eva the entire weekend. Monica arrived at the hospital around 9 a.m. Monday. Gideon arrived shortly after -- and while Eva went to talk to the now-awake Cary, Monica and Gideon spoke out in the hall. Recent spoiler information indicates Monica was the one to tell him about Nathan. After Gideon left, Monica lectured Eva about the fact Gideon's face was bruised -- warning Eva that her chances of Gideon marrying her (Eva) would be ruined if Eva became a liability to his carefully built empire. The gold-digging Monica warned Eva she was replaceable.  Trey and Cary The couple bridged their estrangement (caused by Cary's cheating) by going out on a platonic date Friday evening. But they're still at an impasse over Cary's hesitancy to be monogamous -- and Cary's refusal to give up women. Trey showed up at the hospital himself that morning, having found out about the attack from detectives investigating the case. Trey and Eva had a chance to talk - and Eva suggested counseling. "I think I have to decide if I can live with him cheating ... and I don't even know if Cary would agree to counseling. He wants me, and then he doesn't. He's committed, and then he isn't. I want in, Eva, like he's let you in, but he keeps shutting me out," Trey explained (page 218) Eva urged Trey to be patient, explaining that it took a long time for her to break through to Cary -- doing so only after she convinced Cary -- by rebuffing his sexual advances -- that she valued Cary for something other than his looks and sex appeal. "You need to show him that it's not just his body you want," Eva advised (page 218).  Cary and Brett Eva got a chance to chew Cary out for his letting her walk into that concert Friday night unprepared for the fact she'd been seeing Brett's band. She told Cary what the result was -- the kiss and the fight. Cary defended himself for having never told her before that Brett's indie band changed its name and signed on with a major label. He had been (prior to Friday) hoping she'd avoid hearing Six-Ninths first hit single (Golden) and end up falling back into the hole of being one of those girls who cannot handle dating a rock star.

Re-Read a Chapter a Day -- Today is Chapter 13 of Reflected in You  This chapter covers Tuesday (day 29 since they met and day 2 of their estrangement)  Key plot developments: This is the first day that Eva noticed that Gideon had changed from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde the day before - Gideon had been avoiding her for nearly 24 hours, and every interaction they would have Tuesday would be angry. Eva found out Gideon took Corrine to dinner the night before. Eva immediately retaliated Tuesday by going out to lunch with Brett. Over lunch, Brett and Eva talked about why she left. They also talked about her uncertain relationship status with Gideon. Brett asked Eva for another shot -- and refused to take no for an answer.  Favorite quote or paragraph needed from each of us, for Sylvia, after we've re-read the chapter.

 True -- and Cary has watched Gideon go through periods of not knowing whether he was coming or going. Cutting Eva off after she discovered the nightmares -- Gideon ended up chasing Eva to get her back. Ambivalence the day after Gideon's second sleep-attack on Eva -- Eva ended up running after Gideon immediately. Ambivalence about whether or not Gideon wanted Corrine or Eva -- Gideon seeing both women at the same time, with Eva definitely on the losing end and being hurt badly -- Eva ended up dumping Gideon. Now, as Reflected ended and Entwined begins - more Gideon ambivalence: giving Eva back her ring but still seeing Corrine (the same day Gideon gave her the ring at lunch, he left the Crossfire with Corrine in front of everyone (including accidentally Eva) after work.  The only consistent person thus far has been Brett: Wrote a love song about being sorry he lost Eva -- wanting her back. Telling Eva point blank he wants another shot. Publicly declaring (in a media interview) he's reconnected with her and wants to get back together with her.