Rogue

Several comments in this topic have used the word "filler" to describe Captivated By You. We know there is another book and anyone who has read all of CBY knows there are still a lot of questions we hope to get answered.

I have searched for a different word that fits what Sylvia has done with this book for me. For me, this is "a book of revelations".

There is so much insight to Gideon and how he became the man he is. In revealing him, we also learn much more about his family, Corinne, Arnoldo, and even Hugh and Anne. We learn about his male friendships. His shows his work ethics and style. So much happens, it is hard to quickly summarize.

As Sylvia stated, the focus is Gideon but more of Eva is also revealed.

When I finished I did feel there is so much more to be said. Thank goodness a book can be as long as the author needs to bring the story to fruition.

I agree! I do not consider this book filler at all. On my 2nd read through I keep a pen & paper handy to jot down any notes or thoughts that occur to me as I read. With this book I seem to be writing more notes than with any of the previous!!

The insight into Gideon from this book has in my opinion added another dimension to this story which I personally am loving!!

😃

I'll try to keep this short (hopefully we have a chapter discussion thread once everybody has gotten a chance to read the book)

My heart broke for Gideon so many times in this book!

Scenes where I really teared up with him:

• The encounter with CV Sr at the penthouse
• His nightmares (especially the one on the beach with Eva)
• When he finally broke down and told Dr. Peterson about his rape

Gideon is the most complex and well written character that I've ever read in a romance novel.

The not so good

While the book was VERY well written and great what I didn't like was how I ended up feeling about Eva.

I had a gut feeling after reading those initial three chapters, that reading things from Gideon's perspective would change how I felt about her and not in a good way.

I understand her need to be "in the know" about things that concern her but what bothered me specifically was her reaction to not knowing.

She comes of as a bit spoiled and seems like she gets upset for the sake of picking a fight. (I'm not sure I explained that properly)

Example:

• She got mad about not knowing about Gideon and Elizabeth's conversation. Stark raving mad. I understood her feeling of being left out. Trust me I do! What I didn't like, is HOW mad she got about it. It felt a bit excessive to be steaming PO'ed at Gideon for not telling her about him dismissing his mother as soon as it happened.

• While I understood her feelings in their final argument and I was actually on her side, I was not impressed with her naivete when it came to Gideon's explanation of Landon trying to get to him through her. Gideon was wrong wrong wrong for not having a discussion with her beforehand about Landon and the campaign, and his thoughts about offering Mark a job but how could she think it was "ridiculous" for a man who felt wrong by Gideon's father to want revenge against Gideon through whatever means? Even after his explanation of LanCorp and their in-house advertising and marketing team, she ONLY saw the light when Will made the SAME observation (query?)

• What I thought she would be annoyed with but wasn't, was him being in San Fran without telling her. Knowing Eva, I though she would have been a tad peeved that he was in San Fran and not mention before hand that he intended to be in town or even told her after the fact that he was actually in town. She seems to "like" getting annoyed/upset at him and maybe she was just tipsy and ###### and missing him, but I was really surprised that she didn't light into him about being in San Fran without telling her.

What I loved!

• GIDEON, GIDEON, GIDEON!
• Gideon & Arash
• Gideon & Victor
• Gideon and Eva's friends
• Gideon opening up to Eva
• Gideon opening up in therapy
• Gideon OPENING UP period!

Note: My opinions may change after a second read but this is how I feel immediately after my first reading.

Agree with all your points about Eva. I'm not sure if it was because we also got Gideons POV in this book because she annoyed me even when we were in her POV at times, but she really irritated me in the first few chapters & again toward the end!

Will comment more after my re-read and have had a chance to gather my thoughts

I also want to mention that I found it very odd that Elizabeth cancelled lunch.

Am I wrong thinking they made the plan to have lunch before Chris left her. I'm still re-reading but this was my assumption on my speed read. That she cancelled because Chris had left and she may not know that Gideon and Eva are aware that he has left. It's probably something she would want to hide until she was certain it was permanent.

It's not so much that I was Team Brett, as that I kind of felt bad for him and felt that he was jerked around by Eva. After all, he realized he had cared for Eva, before he knew anything about where she was now or who she was with. Golden was certainly a sign of his feelings. And when he ran into her again he got mixed messages to say the least. And being somewhat of an alpha type, I'm sure getting pushed around by Gideon only made him more set on getting her back. After all, practically everyone around Brett and Eva was aware of some kind of chemistry and unresolved feeling between them.

Unfortunately, he was not able to take no for an answer and his persona in the story goes downhill fast - fooling around with the Eva wannabe, getting involved with exploitation of that tape, and then accepting money for it from Gideon. Too bad, though. He was a sympathetically drawn character who morphed into a real pri*k in this volume.

Totally agree with everything you said here!! I was very disappointed in Brett's behaviour. Not that I wanted him to continue to cause problems between Gideon & Eva but because I've been defending his character so vehemently until now - I feel let down by a fictional character lol

Hi Sharonm745

I was probably Brett's biggest defender until last night... He disappointed me greatly and Im a little bit gutted!!

I finished the book around 6am this morning & I'm still not sure how I feel about it overall. Emotionally it blew me away. I laughed and cried harder than in some of the previous books but it was truly a roller coaster & I think I need to re-read to process my emotions better - if that makes sense!!

So I was trying to resist temptation but finally caved and read the first 3 chapters now I really can't wait until Tuesday!!! Anyway the first thing that struck me was when Gideon said that he looked so much like his mother sometimes it was difficult to look in the mirror...

Now we have all speculated many times about Gideons many women before Eva and their commonalities. As we know everyone assumed that he was trying to replace Corinne although many have speculated it was his Mother they resembled... My thoughts having read this chapter is that in trying to find a women to love who resembled his mother (& therefore himself) he was trying to find a way to get over his self-hate and love himself subconsciously.

Thoughts??

Gideon Cross 23

Eva Tramell Reyes Cross 23

Victor Reyes 19

Monica Stanton 15

Cary Taylor 18

Dr. Petersen 10

Mark Garrity 12

Scott (Gideon assistant )11

Steven Ellison 10

Shawna Ellison 10

Elizabeth Cross Vidal 6

Christopher Vidal Sr. 10

Christopher Vidal Jr. 6

Ireland Vidal 20

Parker Smith 11

Daniel (last name unknown) 10

Megumi 10

Magdalene Perez 11

Michael Waters 10

Christine Fields 10

Walter Leaman 10

Angus McLeod 17

Benjamin Clancy 15

Arnoldo Ricci 14

Martin Stanton 12

Jean Francois Giroux 7

Richard Stanton 10

Sam Yimara 1 - 1 = 0

Shelly Graves 7

Lacey (Last name unknown) 10

Richard Michna 10

Trey 10 + 1= 11

Erik 10

RIP List

Nathan Barker RIP Gideon Cross

Corinne Giroux R.I.P 02/07/2013 azmich

Anne Lucas R.I.P. 06/07/2013 Rogue

Tatiana Cherlin RIP 7/7/2013 shazscott1980

Deanna Johnson RIP 7/8/13 Barb55

Brett Kline RIP 7/11/13 Barb55

Terence Lucas RIP 7/12/2013 ShazScott1980 and GiGi too

Sam Yimara RIP 7/12/2013 Rogue

Gideon Cross 21

Eva Tramell Reyes Cross 21

Victor Reyes 16

Monica Stanton 13

Cary Taylor 14

Dr. Petersen 10

Mark Garrity 11

Scott (Gideon assistant )11

Steven Ellison 10

Shawna Ellison 10

Elizabeth Cross Vidal 5

Christopher Vidal Sr. 10

Christopher Vidal Jr. 7

Ireland Vidal 20

Parker Smith 11

Daniel (last name unknown) 10

Terrence Lucas 4 - 1 = 3

Brett Kline 4 +1 = 5

Megumi 10

Magdalene Perez 11

Michael Waters 10

Christine Fields 10

Walter Leaman 10

Angus McLeod 17

Benjamin Clancy 14

Arnoldo Ricci 12

Martin Stanton 12

Jean Francois Giroux 7

Richard Stanton 10

Sam Yimara 7

Shelly Graves 9

Lacey (Last name unknown) 10

Richard Michna 10

Trey 10

Erik 10

RIP List

Nathan Barker RIP Gideon Cross

Corinne Giroux R.I.P 02/07/2013 azmich

Anne Lucas R.I.P. 06/07/2013 Rogue

Tatiana Chirlin RIP 7/7/2013 shazscott1980

Deanna Johnson RIP 7/8/13 Barb55

Hi everyone,

I think what surprises me most about Deanna's vendetta against Gideon is that we can be sure when he picked her up that this was very much a one night thing. Based on how he initially tried to pick up Eva, he does not pretend that his pick ups are anything more than a short term arrangement so I highly doubt his approach to Deanna was much different.

Don't get me wrong, the way he treated her at the end was disgusting and I can totally understand why she's upset about that, but I don't think she was going in with false expectations that this was going to turn into a relationship. And if she was that's her own fault for not listening to what Gideon was saying.

Do you agree? Disagree? What do you think?

Dear Ladies,

I am swept away fro the fanfiction stories of Sasha Cameron (FSOG). Someone (sorry, don´t remember the name right now) from here mentioned here. Didn´t wanted to go there, but oh my God!

How good is her writing and her ideas and her feeling for the Character. I am thinking all the time E.L. James is writing it herself. (Who knows maybe she is it - secretely?)

I can´t stay away, started to cut and paste to have my own Word-Document to print it - in the future! It is a lot of work, but I have to reread this!

Therefore and because of other reasons I will be here a little bit less or I maybe not answering right away ...

So, now, I am looking through the last postings here and going to answer!

Hi SME,

It was me who mentioned Sasha Cameron. Her fan fiction is great isnt it? I only discovered it last week and spent most of the weekend reading. Her stories are great and I can't wait to see where she is going with the two she is currently writing!!

I love reading GOOD fanfic, when an author really understands someone elses characters and can expand the story once the original is complete!

Glad you are enjoying it! Another fifty shades fanfic author you might want to check out is Monique over at fifty shades of grey and more <--- just google that and you'll find it. She has written an alternative ending to Ana and Christian' s story. I wouldn't say its as good as Sasha Cameron especially the first few chapters but if you stick with it, her writing improves and I find myself looking forward to her weekly chapter postings!!

She has also written a Crossfire one shot which is quite good. The scene where Nathan and Gideon meet for the first time.

Glad you're enjoying Sasha Cameron :)

I totally agree, it confused me as well that Eva didn't mention that they were already engaged.

Although another thing that struck me was Monica's continuing inattention to her daughter... You would think that if Magdalene and Elizabeth who probably knew nothing about the impending engagement notice Eva is now wearing a ring, that her mother who knew it was coming would spot it immediately!!! Frustrating woman!!

Just wanted to let the ladies who have read Christina Lauren's Beautiful and Beautiful Stranger know that the continuation of Chloe and Bennett's story was released today. It's called Beautiful and I very much enjoyed it this afternoon with a cold beer in the sunshine.

Just to warn anyone who hasn't read any of these books, they are novellas so shorter than an average book but no less enjoyable

Gideon Cross 20

Eva Tramell Reyes Cross 20

Victor Reyes 16

Monica Stanton 13

Cary Taylor 13

Dr. Petersen 10

Mark Garrity 10

Scott (Gideon assistant )11

Steven Ellison 10

Shawna Ellison 10

Elizabeth Cross Vidal 5

Christopher Vidal Sr. 10

Christopher Vidal Jr. 7

Ireland Vidal 20

Parker Smith 11

Daniel (last name unknown) 10

Terrence Lucas 6 - 1 = 5

Brett Kline 3 + 1 = 4

Megumi 10

Magdalene Perez 11

Michael Waters 10

Christine Fields 10

Walter Leaman 10

Angus McLeod 17

Benjamin Clancy 14

Arnoldo Ricci 12

Martin Stanton 11

Jean Francois Giroux 9

Richard Stanton 10

Sam Yimara 9

Shelly Graves 9

Lacey (Last name unknown) 10

Richard Michna 10

Trey 10

Erik 10

RIP List

Nathan Barker RIP Gideon Cross

Corinne Giroux R.I.P 02/07/2013 azmich

Anne Lucas R.I.P. 06/07/2013 Rogue

Tatiana Chirlin RIP 7/7/2013 shazscott1980

Deanna Johnson RIP 7/8/13

Gigi, fan fiction is stories written by fans. For example, a lot of people loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Some of them wanted to "see" more than Joss Wedon showed in the episodes, so they wrote their own stories with the Buffy characters. Maybe someone wanted to give Buffy and Angel a happily ever after, or show what might have happened if Buffy faced off against a character from another book/show, or whatever. So fans write stories about characters they like and post them online. Authors have varying responses to this. Some are flattered, but many are NOT. Many authors feel that their characters and the worlds they've built are *theirs* and not for others to capitalize on . . . especially not for sale. Lately, fanfiction has gained more mainstream traction, not least because of E.L. James and Fifty Shades of Grey and the guy who's now publishing those Harry Potter-related books that have nothing to do with J. K. Rowling. Crossfire fan fiction might involve, say, the sex scenes between Monica and Victor or Cary and Trey that we never see. Or maybe a scene from Gideon's POV, or whatever else a fan wanted to imagine and write about.

Just remembered, the writer of the blog - fifty shades of grey and more - has written a one shot Crossfire fanfic.

* a one shot is just one scene as opposed to a full story

She has written the scene when Nathan first contacts Gideon. It is worth a read, as is her fifty shades work. Not as good as Sasha Cameron IMO but well worth a read.

Fanfic can be a lot of fun if you are not ready to let go of a set of characters and want to delve deeper into their world, but only if its well written and the writer truly understands the characters.

It is extremely frustrating to read fanfic if the writer does not understand a character and how they act and why because they go off on such flights of fancy that just would never happen and you end up screaming at your computer.

However there is some great fanfic out there... for those who dont know, Fifty shades of Grey began life as a twilight fanfic story. So there is some good stuff out there but much like books you need to dig for it, and read some drivel to find something great.

With fanfic tho you can usually tell by the first chapter or so if you like the writer's style and best of all - its free!

Gideon Cross 20

Eva Tramell Reyes Cross 20

Victor Reyes 16

Monica Stanton 11

Cary Taylor 13

Dr. Petersen 10

Mark Garrity 10

Scott (Gideon assistant )11

Steven Ellison 10

Shawna Ellison 10

Elizabeth Cross Vidal 6

Christopher Vidal Sr. 10

Christopher Vidal Jr. 7

Ireland Vidal 19

Parker Smith 11

Daniel (last name unknown) 10

Terrence Lucas 8 - 1 = 7

Brett Kline 4 + 1 = 5

Megumi 10

Magdalene Perez 11

Michael Waters 10

Christine Fields 10

Walter Leaman 10

Angus McLeod 17

Benjamin Clancy 13

Arnoldo Ricci 12

Martin Stanton 11

Jean Francois Giroux 9

Richard Stanton 10

Sam Yimara 9

Shelly Graves 9

Lacey (Last name unknown) 10

Richard Michna 10

Trey 10

Erik 10

RIP List

Nathan Barker RIP Gideon Cross

Corinne Giroux R.I.P 02/07/2013 azmich

Anne Lucas R.I.P. 06/07/2013 Rogue

Tatiana Chirlin RIP 7/7/2013 shazscott1980

Deanna Johnson RIP 7/8/13 Barb55

Can't believe people like Terrence Lucas twice as much as Brett! Not to mention Slimey Sam.

Totally agree - Terry's a much bigger creep!!

I do however read some FSOG fanfic on a blog by a woman called Sasha Cameron. Just Google her name if you.want to find it.

She has written Elliott and Kates story and intertwined it very well with the books.

She is also now writing a story about Mia and Ethan.

If you are looking for good fanfic I recommend her. It's well written and she seems to understand these characters well. There's a lot of story written and she adds a new chapter every week or so.

I have a fanfiction confession. I *want* to like fanfiction, but I usually don't. A lot of it is so poorly written, or the characters are so "off" that it just doesn't work for me. But when I finished Entwined with You I was so desperate for more Crossfire that I sought out some fanfiction. I stumbled upon a ff novel that was a crossover between FSOG and Crossfire. I stayed up late reading waaaaaay too much of it. It was well-written enough that it was almost believably part of the series . . . but the writer killed off Eva and Christian (from FSOG) and married Ana to Gideon!!! I was so messed up by that I had to reread part of FSOG and all of Bared to You, Reflected in You, and Entwined with You to get the bad taste out of my mouth. I don't think I'll be seeking out more fanfiction any time soon.

Hi Sarah,

I read this fanfic too one night, when I got to the first time Ana and Gideon hooked up I immediately stopped reading. I felt the writer really didnt understand the characters at all and I was screaming at my ipad - no they would never do that!!!! It amazes me to hear that she went on to kill off Eva and Christian and marry Ana to Gideon and honestly I'm glad I stopped reading. My head would likely have exploded had I read until the end... LOL

Gideon Cross 19

Eva Tramell Reyes Cross 19

Victor Reyes 14

Monica Stanton 11

Cary Taylor 13

Dr. Petersen 10

Nathan Barker 9

Tatiana Cherlin 1

Mark Garrity 10

Scott (Gideon assistant )10

Steven Ellison 10

Shawna Ellison 10

Elizabeth Cross Vidal 6

Christopher Vidal Sr. 10

Christopher Vidal Jr. 9 - 1= 8

Ireland Vidal 16

Parker Smith 11

Daniel (lastname unknown) 10

Terrance Lucas 8

Brett Kline 6 + 1 = 7

Megumi 10

Magdalene Perez 11

Michael Waters 10

Christine Fields 10

Walter Leaman 10

Angus McLeod 14

Benjamin Clancy 13

Arnoldo Ricci 11

Martin Stanton 11

Jean Francois Giroux 10

Richard Stanton 10

Deanna Johnson 5

Sam Yimara 10

Shelly Graves 10

Lacey (Last name unknown) 10

Richard Michna 10

Trey 10

Erik 10

RIP List

Corinne Giroux R.I.P 02/07/2013 azmich

Anne Lucas R.I.P. 06/07/2013 Rogue

Good job. But will you be able to save Brett from so many enemies?

I accept your challenge... ;p

Gideon Cross 19

Eva Tramell Reyes Cross 19

Victor Reyes 14

Monica Stanton 10

Cary Taylor 12

Dr. Petersen 10

Nathan Barker 9

Tatiana Cherlin 4

Mark Garrity 10

Scott (Gideon assistant )10

Steven Ellison 10

Shawna Ellison 10

Elizabeth Cross Vidal 7

Christopher Vidal Sr. 10

Christopher Vidal Jr. 9

Ireland Vidal 16

Parker Smith 10

Daniel (lastname unknown) 10

Anne Lucas 1 - 1 = 0

Terrance Lucas 9

Brett Kline 7

Megumi 10

Magdalene Perez 10

Michael Waters 10

Christine Fields 10

Walter Leaman 10

Angus McLeod 13

Benjamin Clancy 12

Arnoldo Ricci 10 + 1 = 11

Martin Stanton 11

Jean Francois Giroux 10

Richard Stanton 10

Deanna Johnson 5

Sam Yimara 10

Shelly Graves 10

Lacey (Last name unknown) 10

Richard Michna 10

Trey 10

Erik 10

RIP List

Corinne Giroux R.I.P 02/07/2013 azmich

Who is going to get my least favorite doctor ever?

Ding dong the witch is dead lol

Good morning Ms. Rogue,

I read your posting and I can completely see where you are coming from. Megumi is a good substitution as far as I am concerned. I was just a little worried about Corinne’s physical safety as many women seem to have it out for her!

I can see where you are coming from with having a large group of friends. My experience of “Rock Stars†has only been my one friend (who dated someone extremely famous). When Brett spoke with one of his friends and slagged Eva, it reminded me of what these guys were like on the road. Women threw themselves at these guys and the “roadiesâ€. The way that women were regarded was just appalling and my friend was the lead singer’s girlfriend (she still got called names etc.)!

I can absolutely see where you are coming from with a group of friends. I think however a different dynamic occurs when someone begins to become famous. If they happen to surround themselves with a bunch of “yes†people and their surrounding group has a bunch of dirt hogs, then the dynamic changes drastically.

The difference between you and Eva is that Eva wasn’t part of the crowd; she was part of the P*ssy Posey. There’s a big difference there. Brett never gave Eva the status of “girlfriend†she got the status of the best of the bunch; big difference again. I get what you are saying; if Brett had truly liked Eva then he wouldn’t have been sleeping with all of the other girls who threw themselves at him.

Listen, between me you and the rest of the other ladies; I don’t care how old a man gets, on a good day most men have the emotional mentality of twelve year old boys! They think that their burps are funny! Passing gas in public and blaming it on someone else is absolutely hilarious to them…sigh! What would women do without men? Now, now, don’t try to deny this ladies, I can’t be the only woman in this forum who has men like this in her clan.

What do you think? I hope you have a wonderful weekend lady!

Totally get where ypu are coming from and agree that with fame comes a greater disrespect for women or so it seems.

However I would question just how famous Brett was back then... it is only now 4 years later that they have been signed and are starting to find real fame. So I'm just not sure this applies to Brett in the way it would to someone who was truly famous. Back then he was probably at best a local celebrity.

My ex was the lead singer of a very well known local band and yes there were even groupies, but at that level (which they never got beyond) they were not disrespecting women in the way you describe. Sure the groupies threw themselves at band members and some of them took advantage of that, but I spent alot of time around all of these guys and I never once heard them speak to a woman (groupie or otherwise) in any sort of derogatory way. When it was just the band they'd have talked about sex like boys do but it was no different to any other guys I've known.

Now I assume their level of fame to be similar to Brett's back when he first knew Eva, which is why I'm thinking he was just a boy being a boy and not such a toad. But as I said thats an assumption I could be wrong

Have a fantastic weekend :)

Sorry for the double post. Don't know how that happened. Just wanted to add tho, amongst my friends anyway and at the age of about 20 (I'm assuming Brett is around the same age as Eva) telling the guys you just had the best sex of your life was pretty much a declaration of love for the girl you were talking about. That's my opinion of the scenario. Take from it what you will

Good morning my most favourite Ms. Rogue,

I can completely see where you are coming from. I can absolutely agree that Brett was young and inexperienced as far as love was concerned. I have a hard time reconcilling Brett having a good laugh at Eva's expense. Even if someone was young, I would hope that Brett would have nipped that "chatter" in the bud but he didn't and ultimately Eva saw the writing on the wall. She saw how she was regarded by Brett and she walked. No one likes to be thought of a s wh*re (even if their actions have been less than stellar).

I guess we will never know if Brett turned out to be a good guy or not. Eva is now married and she needs to put an end to this Brett charade. If she doesn't a lot of people will end up getting hurt needlessly. That is why I suggest Deanna! If Brett really is the great guy that many ladies think he is, then let him use use wooing skills on someone who desperately needs them! Deanna can also report about Brett and his band! I am telling you this is a winner winner situation! What do you think?

Hi Gigi,

I guess I don't think Deanna is good enough for him, she has a vindictive streak that one, how about Megumi?

I can see what you mean about Brett having a laugh at Eva's expense and I can understand why she felt that way. I just wanted to explain why I don't think I he was doing it to laugh at her or be unkind in any way...

I have grown up in a big but very close crowd of friends, on average there is at least 20 of us out every weekend, with a fairly even divide male/female. We generally get together at someone's house and the night always begins the same way... all the girls in one room and the boys in another. In both rooms sex is a common topic but the difference in which girls and boys are prepared to talk about it even amongst their closest friends has always fascinated me. I should explain that I am a total tomboy and always end up in with the boys long before the crowd starts to mix, so I have been privy to many a boy chat about sex.

When one of the guys meets someone new, I can tell by their face if they really like her or not but his words - its all about the sex. Because guys don't admit to romantic feelings or mushy stuff in front of other guys unless they know the girl feels the same way.

What I mean is, my boyfriend and I have been together for 9 years. Everyone in our crowd of friends respects our relationship and they dont give him hassle for not reducing our sex life into some silly joke for his mates. I know he still talks about us sometimes, just as I do with the girls - but its in a different way than the singles.

Before Eva overheard Brett talking about her, she had tried to make the sex the best Brett had ever had. If it was indeed the best sex he'd ever had, every guy I know would have been quite quick to tell his mates, how awesome it was. This is his way of telling the guys he really likes this girl without looking like a p***y - which is ridiculous but totally true. Do you get what I mean? I thunk Brett could have been more respectful and he definitely should have made sure Eva was out of ear shot but he was just a boy being a boy. I mean the guys I spend time with are hitting 30 and while they have matured significantly over the last 10-15 years that I've known them, they still talk sex with their mates - everyone does .