LN Cronan

Recent snapshots containing hands have been a man's hand. Â #17 was a French passport in a man's hand #15 was a man's hand grasping/clutching a bed sheet

 This too --- maybe his legal team has contacted him to confirm it is OVAH. He's not going to face charges, and the murder case is being sent to "unsolved" limbo (unsolved meaning "no arrest")

 Mrs. C catches the new one first yet again!!!  Cockamamie theory I have is this represents Corrine being kicked to the curb. Here's the basis for my theory  Chapter 20 is the third-to-last chapter of Entwined (which has 22 chapters) Chapter 20 of Bared to You also the third-to-last chapter (of 22 chapters). This was where our Least Favorite Brunette first showed up as a character, and in this chapter, among the things she claimed when messing with Eva's mind is she (Corrine) talks on the phone with Gideon every day. Reflected in You has only 20 chapters, so there, Chapter 18 is the third to last. That chapter features the only other face-to-face meeting between Least Favorite Brunette and Our Favorite Blonde. In it, Corrine also is playing mindgames by claiming Gideon is spending all his free time with her.  Sooooooo ...... is this chapter does Corrine try one last trick, via text, because Gideon won't see her any more nor even speak with her over the phone?

 Gideon may be a genius when it comes to numbers, but raw IQ and emotional intelligence are two different things. He struggles to keep his own emotions under control and thus doesn't often understand women who act on their emotions.

Cougars can be as young as in their 30s -- it's the behavior of hunting down young men for sex, rather than a particular age, that makes a woman a cougar. We cougars are hotties that seek out young men for our pleasure (and theirs'). Â Urbandictionary.com is one of several excellent sites for finding definitions of slang expressions. Here's the definition page for the slang expression cougar as it applies to women who like younger men: Â http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=urban%20cougar

 Hi Lorna, another new member  Welcome to the fun zone!  Sylvia did give us an answer a while ago on this site. It was blood, not lipstick, on his shirt, and it was Nathan, not Corrine, who had been in his office. Nathan had pictures of Eva from when he (Nathan) had raped her, and Gideon physically attacked him.  As for Corrine, she never got to see Gideon that day, period.  Eva herself figured out herself that Corrine played a dirty trick on her, and when she confronted Corrine near the end of Reflected, Corrine's facial expression gave herself away. Corrine, downstairs in the Crossfire lobby, spotted Eva across the street and mussed herself up (smearing her lipstick, messing up her hair) so that she (Corrine) looked like Gideon had just finished f****** her in his office.

Of course, the ambulance picture could simply refer to the recent past -- to Cary having landed in the hospital nearly 2 1/2 weeks ago, not going to the hospital again.  The interview with Sylvia that Amazon ran last week included her talking about how Gideon will struggle with the ramifications of what he's done.  One of the more serious ramifications of Gideon's past actions is triggering Nathan to stalk Cary as well as Eva -- and thus now Gideon (and Eva too) have to live with the knowledge their love almost got Cary killed.  Too, in Chapter 1 we saw that Eva has made the deliberate choice to keep secret from Cary the fact that Gideon killed Nathan. So what happens though if/when Cary finds out Nathan was the person who assaulted him? Cary starts connecting the dots? Maybe this could be a positive turning point for Cary when he figures out that Gideon actually had good motive for hurting Eva so badly. Because by one third of the way into Reflected, Cary had tried to talk her into dumping Gideon over the violent nightmares that were causing Gideon to attack. I can see his Gideon-is-bad-for-Eva's-emotional-recovery belief being doubly reinforced by Gideon having coldly broken Eva's heart.

My Cary-in-the-hospital theory is only a theory -- I expect I'll be wrong about a lot of theories I've come up with based on Sylvia's snapshots and snippets and now more recently the Penguin pictures. Â One of the ways I'm going to amuse myself after I'm done reading Entwined by going back and seeing if any of my guesses were even half right. I'd be psyched if my biggest theories do play out but I'm also eagerly looking forward to being taken totally by surprise. Â I was only half right about my guess about what the "Press" snapshot for Chapter 1 meant, so I was equally saying "Ah hah!!! and Wow!!!" Â But in the meantime, one of my major theories I've developed is that Cary is going to face the crisis of his drug addiction kicking back in. In the present-day story, Cary is the person who has very real medical issues - he's less than three weeks into healing from very serious injuries, and at most he's four years into drug addiction recovery. Â I estimate the four years tops of his being clean based on the this math Eva lived in San Diego for four years She was involved with Brett for six months four years ago Seeing Eva's guy problems (low self-esteem, promiscuity, anger) prompted her Dad to send her to Dr. Travis. Eva met Cary in group therapy. At first, he was gaunt and strung out and with a history of having been through state-run rehabs -- so still struggling with drugs among the other demons he was fighting.

Friday - which means we're getting a snapshot today, probably at 9 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time based on when all the other ones thus far have hit the Internet. Â Today will be a glimpse into Chapter 20. Recap of the snapshots of chapters 1-19: Â 1. The word "Press" over a fuzzy shot of a newspaper page, and a fancy pen in the foreground. 2. Unwrapped Christmas present boxes 3. The word "Business" next to a cup of coffee 4. A microphone on a stand 5. A pile of neatly-folded white terrycloth towels, wrapped in a red ribbon. 6. A bathtub in a modern-style bathroom 7. An open bottle of red wine, nearly full, and in front of it, one wine glass holding some wine. Near it is a small vase holding four red roses. 8. Two different types of pills in blister packs plus a bottle of some sort of liquid medication. The meds are on a glass coffee table in front of a white couch. 9. Fuzzy shot of a crowded dance floor. One woman in the center of the shot is in semi-focus. 10. A diamond and gold women's watch. 11. An Aston Martin sports car 12. A vase of white roses with a card that says "Happy" (can't see what) and signed xoxoxoxo. 13. Pieces of women's clothing scattered at the foot of a bed. 14. An NYPD detective shield (badge). 15. A man's hand grasping a bed sheet 16. A set of stairs or spectator seats (in Times Square?) 17. A man's hand holding a French passport 18. A private jet parked at an airport. 19. A single red rose on a beach

Chapter 9 of Reflected in You - The Readers Guide  This chapter unfolds Friday (day 25)  Key plot developments One of the pivotal chapters in the series thus far, Eva unexpectedly meets her ex-boyfriend, Brett, seeing him for the first time in four years. Their talking leads to kissing - and in the cliffhanger ending to the chapter, Gideon attacks Brett. When Eva had known Brett in San Diego, he was the lead singer of an indie band. Unknown to her -- until she walked into a concert with Gideon and two friends -- Brett's band had changed its name, and had recently become famous. Earlier in the day, Eva went out to lunch with Cary, their first chance to talk in a couple of days. Cary learned she was going to the concert -- and deliberately decided to not warn her it was Brett's band she'd be seeing.  New characters Brett Kline - mentioned in passing and not by name in chapter 5, he emerges as an important character in this chapter Arnoldo Ricci - Gideon's friend Robert Phillips, band manager (minor)  Eva's past history with Brett From what goes on in Eva's mind when she sees Brett perform in concert Friday night and from talking about him very briefly with Cary at lunch hours before, we readers learn: Eva had been involved with Brett for six months four years ago when she lived in San Diego. Desperate to hold on to him, she had sex with him every opportunity she could. This was in a period in her life before Dr. Travis began working with her on her sexual trauma issues. Before she got help, her love life had been a series of poor choices with men who were bad for her -- and a time when using her body to connect with men was the only way she knew how. However, she ultimately came to recognize she was debasing herself sexually with Brett. The relationship ended when she pulled one of her runners, suddenly vanishing from his life. The reason was Eva finally decided she deserved better than to be one of the many groupies he f**** in bathrooms between song sets at concerts. Brett didn't seek her out after she disappeared. But in hindsight he recognized she had been special and he regretted losing her. He never forgot about her, and years later he wrote a love song, Golden, about having lost her and hoping to find her again. The song propelled the band into mainstream stardom, including landing the band a contract with a major label - Vidal Records. Somewhere along the way, the band's name had changed from Captive Soul to Six-Ninths. Years ago, Eva had shoved Brett to the back of her mind and thus quit following news about band (much like she quit following news about Gideon once she left him) so she was unaware of even the name change, not to mention the recent rise in fame. Brett however continued to think about Eva in all the years since she left him --  and he hoped that some day she would approach him again at a concert.  Series of events that led up to the kiss Eva's new friend, Shawna, is a huge fan of Six-Ninths and had managed to score four tickets for a show the band was playing in a New York club concert venue on Friday night . Earlier in the week, she invited Eva and left open the possibility Eva could take her boyfriend and someone else along. Shawna's own boyfriend was in abroad studying in Europe. Gideon essentially invited himself along, refusing to let Eva be in a concert crowd without him by her side. The natural other choice would have been Cary, but Eva, always careful to shield female friends from her complicated best friend, asked Gideon to invite one of his own friends as the fourth person. Cary happened to find out Friday lunchtime about Eva's plans for that night -- and quickly figured out she had no clue Six-Ninths was Brett's band. Cary carefully avoided telling her this, but he did bring up Brett's name and say he (Cary) thought Brett was a "decent guy." Gideon's choice of fourth person for the concert was an old friend of his, Arnoldo Ricci, a celebrity chef and part owner (along with Gideon) of a successful New York City restaurant, Tableau One. Over dinner, Eva saw an unexpected side of Gideon she's never seen before in a social setting -- relaxing with friends, very happy. During the concert itself, Gideon surreptitiously made love to Eva, bringing her to climax manually. But near the end is when Brett, as the concert's last song, performed "Golden." Afterward, Gideon proposed they use his access to get backstage so that Shawna (and Arnoldo) could meet the band. While the others did end up going backstage, Eva begged off and instead went outside to the private parking area, near where Angus was waiting with the parked limo. Brett was smoking in the parking area, and that's when he spotted Eva. She tried to bolt for the limo, but he caught up with her and got her to talk with him. Then he started kissing her. "I even kissed him back, because the attraction was still there and it soothed something hurting inside me to think I might've been more than a convenient piece of a**." (page 162) But then Eva regained control of herself, remembering she was madly in love with Gideon. She broke off the kiss and pushed Brett away .... and saw Gideon charging toward them. The chapter ended with Gideon ramming into Brett.

 Good afternoon! (And good morning in the States.) Yep .... I was just getting to the daily reminder. Because .... drum roll please .... it is the Really Hot Limo Sex re-read today!  A Chapter A Day Re-Read Project - Today is Chapter 10 of Reflected in You  This chapter starts Friday night (day 25) and goes through Saturday morning (day 26)  Key plot developments Gideon has two big fights in this chapter - one literal and one figurative The literal fight is a serious with Brett, whom Gideon attacks after catching Eva and Brett passionately kissing. Physically a match for one another, both men fight hard. The figurative fight is with Eva afterward, when he uses sex to punish her in a sex-fueled argument over what prompted her to give in to desire for her ex.  After each of us has read Chapter 10, Sylvia would like to know what each of us liked best - either a quote or a paragraph.

 I'm being an optimist here that Entwined ends on an upbeat mood just like Bared to You did .... and leaves us all wanting to read more happy parts.  The yo-yo pattern of good-bad that applies to how many of the chapters follow one another could apply to the books themselves Bared to You ends on upbeat with Eva and Gideon in a good place (ah for only a night though) Reflected in You ends on an upbeat note (Eva goes back to Gideon) but with them in a dark place (because of the killing) Entwined with You ends on an upbeat note with them in a good place ???????

     Over on Sylvia's Facebook page some fans are having silly fun hoping it's for Corrine  Personally though, I'm hoping the plane is for Corrine - straight back to France where she belongs, not running around New York trying to chase after Gideon and scheming to chase Eva off.

Throwing out one theory - possible accidental overdose that lands Cary in the hospital?  As Reflected ended, he was still on pain meds as part of still recuperating from the serious injuries he sustained in the beating. Eva had to remind him he isn't supposed to drink while on the medication. She did so the evening before Reflected ended and Entwined opened after he jokingly complained about her bringing home sparkling cider instead of champagne.  The chapter 7 snapshot shows an open bottle of wine and just one wine glass - suggests to me drinking alone at home. The chapter 8 snapshot shows meds on a coffee table in front of a couch that has a lap blanket - suggests to me recuperating at home. Cary does like to drink. The very first line of the Crossfire series (chapter 1 of Bared to You) is Cary telling Eva, "We should head to a bar and celebrate." Cary is a recovering drug addict, and by its very nature, addictive illness involves abusing substances, including ingesting increasing amounts of a substance. When Cary landed in the hospital because of the beating, he was worried from the get-go about the fact he had to take narcotics.  The caption of countdown picture day 11 states "what is the cost of your love" The chain of events that placed Cary in a risky place medically started with Gideon's decision to make clear to the world (meaning make clear to other men) that Eva was off the market. Gideon did this because of his own insecurities and jealousies  The day they became boyfriend and girlfriend, Gideon staged that passionate-kiss-on-the-sidewalk and made sure his PR team leaked not only the fact the woman depicted was his girlfriend -- the leak included her name and social standing as Monica's daughter. Immediately, the paparazzi went after Eva, and so the very next day they caught candid pictures of her having lunch with Cary -- then ran lies speculating that Cary also was a boyfriend of hers. The tabloid/gossip site pictures are what lured Nathan out of the woodwork. Nathan's belief that Cary was sexually involved with Eva directly led to him beating Cary half to death. That beating directly led to Cary having had to take narcotics, a risky thing for any patient but most especially a patient with a history of drug abuse/addiction.

  It occurred to me that it's possible Corrine might escalate the phone stalking to in-person stalking of Gideon if she figures out he's seeing Eva on the side. Which Corrine is bound to suspect if she sees a dramatic change for the better in Gideon's mood coupled with a dramatic drop in the free time he spend with with her (Corrine.)  She does live around the corner from his apartment building. So this could get tricky if she spots Eva coming/going from the building, or worse, gets desperate enough to try to see Gideon at home. Hopefully, she won't make it past the downstairs desk.

 ::: raising hand to say I remember Watergate too -- as a young girl ::::  Which officially puts me into cougar category here.  Journalists especially like to slap "gate" on the name of someone or something to brand the thing scandalous. Deanna Johnson is going for "Gideongate."

 Gabri, see if you can order it from Amazon in either the U.S. or the U.K. They ship to Italy  http://www.amazon.com/International-Shipping-Direct/b?ie=UTF8&node=230659011

 Even Magdalene later admitted she ought to have tried making Gideon work for her (Magdalene). Magdalene had been too accommodating. She saw the sort of results Eva was getting by not accommodating. (Alas, Maggie, the real reason Eva was getting results was Gideon was crazy in love with her, not simply because Eva was presenting a challenge.)

 Methinks it was all of the above, with Corrine-stalker definitely in there calling him at some point. By Friday, she'd be in hot pursuit, given the events of the week, during which he took her out twice -- but -- was busy other nights. And Gideon, knowing the cops might pull phone records if they investigated him, probably took every single one of Corrine's calls.  Monday: Gideon called up Corrine and took her out to dinner. Within hours, the sensational news hits the Internet Tuesday: maybe Corrine calls Gideon at home, he answers, she figures out he's not alone and alone, assumed Eva was there? (Irony, because Eva called Gideon at home that same night, figured out he wasn't alone and feared Corrine might be there. Truth was - secret security team meeting was in progress.) Wednesday: Corrine calls Gideon? He says he's busy that night, but maybe this is when he asks her out for Thursday night? Corrine suspects maybe he's getting together with Eva on Wednesday night (which he did). Thursday: Gideon takes Corrine out again, and again the media gets pictures. The next day, they're on the Page 6 column. Friday: Corrine probably calls Gideon, hoping he'll get together with her that night, or at least over the weekend. When she calls, she figures out he's not alone. Guesses he's with Eva (which he actually was - he was at Eva's apartment.)

 SQUEEEEEEEEE!

 Sassy classy for sure ... and a hoot!  And won't stand for being spanked either .... though at last count, Gideon has threatened it three times, sometimes kidding but sometimes only half-kidding.  One of my favorite scenes of Eva at her sassiest is in Bared to You, pages 51-52. Seriously sexually frustrated Gideon had been thwarted in his attempts thus far to get Eva to go to bed with him. He called her at her office to pester her some more -- and she gave him such grief over the phone that he threatened to take her over his knee. Miss Sassy told him she doesn't like that sort of stuff .... then she hit him with that line about her having a date with her Battery Operated Boyfriend. HAH!!!!Â

I like Brett and I feel sorry for him:  Eva was his first love - he was just too dumb at the time to realize it. Even if he had realized it, though, it never would have worked out, because at the time Eva was incapable of any sort of healthy relationship Brett had been good for her indirectly though -- her father having watched her settle for being a groupie was one of the big reasons why he (her father) got Eva to enter therapy. Dr. Travis changed Eva's life for the better. Brett always hoped to run into Eva some day. He didn't forcibly insert himself into her life like Corrine did. When Brett kissed Eva, he had no idea she had a boyfriend. Days later, when he sought out Eva, he specifically asked about her relationship status with Gideon. It was obvious the relationship was in deep trouble. Since then, Brett and the rest of the world have been led to believe a huge lie -- Gideon is done with Eva, whom he'd been seeing only a couple of weeks, and is now reunited with the only woman he'd ever wanted to marry, Corrine.  Brett asked Eva for another shot, doing so at a time when he had every reason to think he might get one. Eva gave him mixed signals (the kiss, taking him out to lunch) that would have led him to believe it might be possible for them to try again. On the spot, she said no. On the spot, he decided he wasn't going to give up that easily.  So the poor guy is going to come back to New York with high hopes he has a real shot at Eva. Certainly, he'd believe he had a clear shot, because Eva is single again and Gideon is (if you believe the wild gossip) practically engaged to someone else.

The Crossfire story is like a Technicolor movie while the Fifty Shades story seems more like an old black and white TV show. Â Eva is human while Anna is a little too goody-two-shoes to be real. Â Most importantly, Sylvia Day is a much better author than E. L. James -- better writer and much more considerate of her fans.

 You and me both. It was a mark of just how desperate Gideon was feeling as he threw together a plan to eliminate the Nathan danger forever as soon as he could arrange things so that he (Gideon) could get away with it. Get away with it because if Gideon went down for the killing, the cops might try accusing Eva of having put Gideon up to it. The cover was to protect her as much, perhaps even more, than to protect himself.  That said, his idea was way beyond stupid. Mr. Control Freak thought he could control everything, including Eva's reactions. Simply tell Eva to "trust" him and she would. Um, no. Well, he's finally learned he cannot control Eva. What's more he's learned trust can be broken.

Hypothetical ... send me and many of my gal pals on a trip to a mall, and give us the hypothetical choice: bookstore or shoe store. Both stores are having a huge sale, but each of us has to choose one or the other, because we can't hit both stores .... Â Most of my friends will go for the shoe store. But some of us, like me, will pick the bookstore instead. Â That's the mark of a true bookworm. Wants to buy books even more than wants to buy shoes