One Chapter A Day - Re-Read Of Bared and Entwined

[GiGi]

OMG Gabri I luv these labels BFF and BFE so entertaining and yes passing the baton-you nailed it!!

Hi Sscrph,

I know that BFF means Best Friends Forever but what does BFE mean?  If someone could let me know it would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

[GiGi]

I really love the way Sylvia connects Cary and Gedeon in Chap. 6. First, there's Eva linking them for their good looks: 'In his own way, Cary could give Gedeon a run for his money... er, looks. Cary was more finely featured, almost pretty, compared to Gedeon's savage beauty, but both were striking men who made you look twice...' Then Eva tells us about Cary's troublesome attitude towards sex: 'He'd finally propositioned me crudely, having come to believe the only reason people associated with him was because they wanted to f**k him. It was when I declined, firmly and irrevocably, that we finally connected and became best friends.' This reminds me of Gedeon so much!! It also shows us the only course of action Eva will have to take if she wants to win Gedeon's heart. Lastly, we see Gedeon taking Eva's black shawl from Cary's hands, like Cary's passing on the baton of Eva's well-being to someone who's important in her life. The BFF and the BFE (Best F**ker Ever) are two different people right now. Let's hope Eva will succede in finding them both in Gedeon. I'd like to know whether Sylvia intended it so, or if it's my imagination running wild.

  

Ciao Gabri,

You make a good point about Gideon and Cary’s looks.  I wonder if Sylvia intended that purposely or whether it was just a coincidence.  Somehow I don’t that that coincidences occur with these books. 

[GiGi]

Hi Julie54,

How uncomfortable would a situation like that be?  I could imagine Angus saying to himself over and over: “I must get the limo sound proofed, I must get the limo sound proofed…I must get the limo sound proofed…sigh!†

[GiGi]

Thinking about it, our hero has quite a tough time sorting out problems that other people create, all leading back to Eva. That Friday lunchtime in his office, after lunching with Stanton, when Gideon said to Eva "you're too much trouble" boy if only he knew!

Hi Julie54 & Gabri,

It is funny that the first thing that both Eva and Gideon went to the most extreme reaction.  Neither of them took a moment to step back and take a more prudent approach to the situation they faced.  Each of them thought the worst and reacted from that premise which is odd if you really stop to think about it.   

 

Could Sylvia have been leaving the readers a clue as to just how screwed up these two characters are?  I would think that if something went wrong, that each person would give the other the benefit of the doubt.  What do you think?  What does everyone think?

[GiGi]

As for the baton-thing, who's standing behind Eva and gets her in his arms in almost a wrestling-move? Who's collecting the shawl when Eva decides to leave the dinner? Cary

 Ciao Gabri,

I think that on some level, Cary may be feeling a little bit threatened by Gideon's presence.  Up until then, Cary always had Eva to himself.  He and Eva were best friends and I am sure that on some level Cary is aware of how much Eva and her family have been helping him financially and emotionally.

 

I think that Cary would have seen that Gideon (even for all his trouble and emotional turmoil) must have been very different from all the other men that Eva ever dated.  In some ways I think that maybe Cary may have started to worry about his financial future and his well-being. 

 

I am sure that Cary wants his friend to be happy but I think that Cary also worries about what will happen to him if Eva and Gideon get married.  Thus far, Cary's career hasn't taken off and he hasn't been able to successfully maintain a relationship either.  Eva and her family have been Cary's sole supporters.  Surely those things are not lost on Cary.   What do you think?  What does everyone think?

[GiGi]

Yay Eva!

Hi Kirsten,

When Eva approached Gideon at the charity event and said that his speech was the highlight of the evening, in a way she wasn't wrong.  Up until Gideon gave his speech, Eva was having a rotten time and she was busy beating herself up emotionally because she couldn't figure out what had gone wrong in the limo.

 

I also don't that she could have said anything about the limo in front of everyone without raising suspicion.  So she did the next best thing.  She complimented Gideon on his speech and made tracks to get the heck out of there.  What do you think?  What does everyone think?

[GiGi]

Let us also not forget the way Magdalene was treated by CV Jr, and Gideon was a friend to her (even though it had to be uncomfortable) showing her the video and letting her know the score. No doubt as Magdalene sat in his office that day surrounded by Eva's flowers she could tell Gideon was the happiest she'd ever seen him, and she gets points in my book for acknowledging that Eva will be in Gideon's life and their paths will be crossing.

 

Hi Kirsten,

I think that if anyone ever got pay-back (for their nasty actions) in this book it was Magdalene.  Could you just imagine how mortifying it must have been for Magdalene to realize that Gideon; a man whom she was clearly in love with, viewed a tape where Magdalene was confessing her inner most secrets and desires about a man who doesn’t even know she exists in that way, all the while she is getting screwed (literally) by that man’s brother, who had no other interest in her other than for her va***a?  I think it would be horrifying, to say the least.

 

I don’t think that Gideon could have said anything else to her, chastise her or scold her, or make her feel any worse than she already did in that moment.  In essence Magdalene got payback from another source.  What do you think?  What does everyone think?

[GiGi]

Hi everyone,

I had a quick question; who escorted Magdalene to the fund raiser?  Anyone have any thoughts about this?  Comments?

[GiGi]

I am a fan of the Magdalene and Arnoldo hook up. Plus i am rooting for her and Eva to become friends.

Hi Jls1216,

I am a fan of the Magdalene and Arnoldo hook-up too!  I hope that Magdalene and Eva become friends.  I guess it will depend on whether Magdalene will be capable of givng up the "Gideon ghost" or not.  Time will tell.

[GiGi]

FYI Ladies, I asked some time ago if the Redhead at the advocacy dinner was Mrs Lucus and I tweeted SD about it and she said "No. Guaranted Gideon would've noticed her sitting nearby"..!!

Hi MrsCrossfire,

Thanks for clearing that up for us.  We can now cross off that little tidbit off of our list!  

[GiGi]

thing was, Gideon didnt notice Dr Terry Lucas sitting next Eva at the next function they went to. He was too busy managing Corrine again!! Da*n that woman is a pain.

 

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to mention that during the charity dinner that Gideon allowed Corinne to take up his time and that it was Gideon himself who was giving all of his time to Corinne and not Eva.  No one put a gun to Gideon’s head; no one forced him to spend all of his time with Eva.  My question is why overcompensate with Corinne if he was truly interested (or beginning to fall in love with) Eva?  It doesn’t make sense.

 

If Gideon had put Corinne in her place from the very beginning then none of this would have happened.  If Gideon had told Corinne that he was out on a date the night he and Eva had s** in the limo and that he would talk to her in the morning, then I don’t believe that things would have escalated to disaster that they turned into.

 

Gideon was the one who was in control of this entire situation and he was the one who was giving one woman false hopes and the other one wrong signals.  Ultimately I think that Gideon bears a lot of the responsibility in what had been going on.  What does everyone think?   

[LN Cronan]

Welcome Andie, glad you could join us.

 

LN- I see there is some sort of interview with Sylvia tomorrow morning, but I can't figure out the time or any other details. I think my brain is fried for today. Have you heard anything about it? http://www.facebook.com/HenryCavillOrg?ref=stream&hc_location=timeline it was mentioned on this site and on Sylvia's fb page. Maybe it will just be posted on the fb page?

 

I'm still trying to figure this out myself how this will work, but as best as I can determine, Sylvia is going to be a guest of actor Henry Cavill, the actor she wants to play Gideon in any made for television movie or mini-series (Background: the Lionsgate film/TV studio recently bought the film rights to Crossfire.)

 

It's Cavill's show, so to speak, and I think the interview will be posted via Cavill's Facebook page, and it will include Sylvia answering questions that Cavill's fans submitted on the actor's Facebook and Twitter sites. I'm not sure whether this will be a live interview or previously recorded -- that's the part I can't figure out.

 

Hopefully, we'll get more info this morning -- time, place, live versus pre-recorded, etc.

 

P.S. Sylvia plugged this fan site yesterday on her own Facebook page when a fan where she could discuss the books. "They talk all day!" is how Sylvia described us. SQUEEEEEEEE!

[LN Cronan]

FYI Ladies, I asked some time ago if the Redhead at the advocacy dinner was Mrs Lucus and I tweeted SD about it and she said "No. Guaranted Gideon would've noticed her sitting nearby"..!!

 

Thank you Mrs. C!!! This is a huge help to me, because I'm about to post the Chapter Seven guide. I'd gone back and forth, in the "new characters" section on whether to include the mysterious redhead, because this is the chapter she makes her brief appearance. I had decided to hold off (because we never explicitly later learned her identity -- unlike some other characters who start off as a simple mention, like Gideon's driver, and turn out to be characters.) So the redhead who talks to Eva at the dinner is in the same category as the two women on the elevator in Eva's apartment building (the ones floored by the sight of Gideon, Cary and Eva all boarding the elevator, all in formal evening attire.)

[LN Cronan]

*finally got my account rectified. thanks to Sylvia and the admin team*

 

Hello,

 

I'm a newbie. I must say that the RIY thread has persuaded me to buy and read both SD's books. Thank you, LN Cronan and GiGi. Your postings were the highlights for me. It feels like attending lectures about various subjects and leaving the room being completely enlightened.  And the Crossfire series is, indeed, an enigmatic love story.

 

Now I know I'm soo behind with this Read-A-Chapter-A-Day project, but I'd like to share my thoughts. Thank you, LN Cronan for clearly stating that "there's no set schedule for which chapters to discuss." To keep up with all of you, I'll try to post 2 chapters every day: one chapter that I missed and one that you're all currently reading. Hope you don't mind.

 

Oh, one more thing. Eva's 24 (BTY, p. 306)

 

Welcome Andi!!! And thanks for finding Eva's age for us. I knew I'd read it somewhere, but I couldn't remember if it was in one of the novels or as a spoiler question answer from Sylvia. Now we know the source!

 

Starting at around Chapter Three, I started posting the guides the morning after (well, my morning after in the eastern U.S.) we all read. So if you go back into this threat and look around the 5-6 a.m. time frame, you should find each.

[LN Cronan]

Chapter Seven of Bared To You - The Readers Guide

 

This chapter covers the rest of Saturday night, day six of the story, during the fundraiser. It continues through all of Sunday (day seven) in Eva's apartment, and finishes at noontime Monday (day eight) in Gideon's office.  

 

Key plot developments:

• Eva avoids Gideon as much as possible at the fundraiser, and he ditches her by leaving alone early.  
• Magdalene hurts her too, convincing Eva she's nothing more than the latest of a long series of women Gideon f***** -- and now that he has, he'll throw Eva onto the reject pile. 
• Eva avoids Gideon the rest of the weekend.
• Monday, Gideon desperately tries to apologize for Saturday, and he convinces Eva to have lunch so they can talk.

 

New characters:

• Magdalene - mentioned in Chapter Six, she appears for the first time in Chapter Seven.
• Christopher Jr. - also mentioned in Chapter Six and appearing for the first time in Chapter Seven.

 

A disaster of a first date

Eva spent much of the fundraiser avoiding him -- and he got mad she kept leaving his side.

She did sit beside him during dinner itself, where he was the featured speaker. She was deeply touched by his stirring speech about the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse in North America.

Eva met Gideon's half-brother, Christopher Vidal Jr., who asked her to dance. He questioned her relationship status, learning there wasn't anything serious between her and Gideon and she's definitely single.

Cary noticed Eva was miserable, and he danced with her next so they could talk. Cary figured out Gideon screwed up. But Eva's insecurities made her believe she was the one who had blown it.

Gideon then cut in, and the pair of them spent their dance bickering. He was upset she had danced with Christopher, and she was mad he spent time with Magdalene, who also was there.  When the song ended, Gideon informed Eva he was leaving early -- making it clear he wanted to leave alone.

Cary, seeing Eva angrily shove Gideon away, rushed to her side and insulted Gideon for blowing things.

Then Eva herself insulted Gideon by saying the speech he gave had been the highlight of her evening (in other words, the lovemaking in the limo meant nothing.)

 

Magdalene picks a fight

After Gideon abandoned her, Eva got ambushed by Magdalene. By then, Eva had already learned from Gideon himself that despite all the photos of Magdalene and him together, they're just friends and he has no intention of sleeping with Magdalene.

Magdalene instinctively figured out Eva had already slept with Gideon, and she taunted Eva that Gideon always loses respect for women he f***, rejecting them all. Thus Magdalene scored a direct hit where Eva was most vulnerable -- Eva's fear she'd ruined everything by what she'd done in the limo.

Caught off guard that Eva knew Magdalene and Gideon were platonic, Magdalene did spin control by claiming it proves Gideon respects her (Magdalene) -- because he's going to marry her eventually.

 

Sunday

Eva stayed in with Cary all day, enlisting Cary's help to keep her from answering the phone and stop her from listening to any messages, guessing (correctly) Gideon had been calling, because Gideon had sent her roses that morning.

She and Cary hashed over Saturday night's events, from Gideon's coldness to Magdalene's cattiness. Much of what Cary heard angered him, especially what Magdalene told Eva concerning how Gideon treats women he's f******. Everything that had happened Saturday night had Eva convinced Gideon already was done with her, now that he'd gotten what he wanted.

 

Monday

Eva being at work gave Gideon the opportunity to finally get her on the phone, so he could remind her of their plans to meet for lunch (plans they'd set Friday afternoon).  Throughout the phone call, he was trying to apologize for how he'd behaved Saturday.

She didn't want to even see him, because she'd already made up her mind he was bad news. But she agreed to have lunch because he was practically begging her -- and because he wasn't going to take "no" for an answer.

However, as soon as they were alone together in his office, she got straight to the point, "Let's get this over with. I don't want to see you anymore." (Page 112, the chapter ended there.)

[LN Cronan]

Chapter A Day Re-Read Project - Today is Chapter Eight of Bared

 

This chapter starts Monday (day eight of the story) immediately where Chapter Seven left off -- noon in Gideon's office. The chapter ends with Eva and Gideon leaving work, together, that afternoon.

 

Key plot developments:

• One of the most important conversations Eva and Gideon have in Bared To You happens. He convinces her to become his girlfriend.
• Eva's boss, Mark, cautions her to be careful. He's afraid she'll quit her job if Gideon hurts her -- and it's obvious that's what Mark thinks Gideon will do.

 

Sometime after each of us finishes reading this chapter, Sylvia would like to read our favorite quotes or paragraphs. No time limit on posting them. Forum discussions about the chapters has been moving both forward and backward, as we connect how various threads of the story have unfolded.

[LN Cronan]

Gideon getting mad that Eva kept leaving his side at the fundraiser (and mad she danced with his half brother Christopher) is an interesting dynamic. On the surface, we'd naturally think he's possessive, especially when he himself tells Eva soon afterward he's possessive of what's his. Even Corrine mentions his possessive nature the night Eva meets her.

 

BUT .....

 

What's really the issue here, I believe, is Gideon's childhood abandonment issue.

 

His mother abandoned him in a serious way when she concluded he was an emotionally messed up liar. She took the side of people who told her the sexual abuse never happened.

 

Sylvia has said repeatedly that any move by Eva to pull away from him terrifies Gideon.

 

SO ......

 

Even while Gideon was in the midst of the post-limo-lovemaking head trip, locked inside his protective exterior shell, already unknown even to himself, it bothered him Eva was "leaving" him in a way. This was more complex than the dynamic where she had been playing hard to get. He'd finally gotten her, and whole new parts of him had opened for the first time. And now she was "leaving."

 

Jumping ahead to Chapter Eight, one of the things I like best about the conversation Gideon has with Eva two days later is something that shows he's got enough insight about himself to realize he's inexperienced when it comes to how to treat a woman:

 

" .... give me some room to screw up. I've never done this before. There's a learning curve." Bared page 115

[sscrph]

FYI Ladies, I asked some time ago if the Redhead at the advocacy dinner was Mrs Lucus and I tweeted SD about it and she said "No. Guaranted Gideon would've noticed her sitting nearby"..!!

Thanks for the info Mrs .C!!

[LN Cronan]

I wonder what had been going on in the background at the fundraiser between Christopher Jr. and Magdalene. She obviously was there alone -- she'd never attend with some other man, because she was keeping herself open to Gideon's beck and call. Christopher   likely arrived stag as well -- we don't know for certain, but there's no indication he had a date with him.

 

So I can picture this: Magdalene had for quite some time now expected Gideon was going to ask her to be his date for this high profile event. But he never asked her. Instead, he shows up with some stunning new woman, taking everyone by surprise. Who's the beautiful blonde, people would ask, avidly curious about anything new regarding Mr. Hot Rich Celebrity Bachelor. Then it would quickly get around - that's Richard Stanton's stepdaughter, Eva Trammel. So Magdalene would learn Eva's got serious social standing.

 

I can picture Christopher swooping in to give Magdalene a willing ear. Probably sat beside Magdalene through dinner. Certainly would have reported back to Magdalene what he learned when he danced with Gideon's date - Eva barely knows Gideon, it's nothing serious, and Eva most definitely is single.

 

Rather than appeasing Magdalene, that could have made her even angrier. Gideon blew off asking her in favor of taking some chick he barely knew. She could have felt embarrassed too, fearing (probably with good reason) people would be gossiping about Magdalene, speculating Gideon had broken things off with her.

 

No wonder she sharpened her claws into Eva, letting Eva know that she (Magdalene) was actually the woman destined to be Mrs. Gideon Cross once Gideon got screwing around out of his system. Eva was nothing more than someone Gideon was going to f*** and then forget. Magdalene was taking out her hurt feelings on poor Eva. Probably egged on by Christopher playing up to Magdalene's insecurities, and possibly having had one too many glasses of champagne to boot (because both Magdalene and Eva herself later pounded down drinks the night Corrine showed up.)

[sscrph]

Hi Sscrph,

I know that BFF means Best Friends Forever but what does BFE mean?  If someone could let me know it would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

Gigi, BFE was coined by Gabri it means (Best F---er Ever) I fell off my chair when I read that the first time...LOL

[julie54]

Gideon getting mad that Eva kept leaving his side at the fundraiser (and mad she danced with his half brother Christopher) is an interesting dynamic. On the surface, we'd naturally think he's possessive, especially when he himself tells Eva soon afterward he's possessive of what's his. Even Corrine mentions his possessive nature the night Eva meets her.

 

BUT .....

 

What's really the issue here, I believe, is Gideon's childhood abandonment issue.

 

His mother abandoned him in a serious way when she concluded he was an emotionally messed up liar. She took the side of people who told her the sexual abuse never happened.

 

Sylvia has said repeatedly that any move by Eva to pull away from him terrifies Gideon.

 

SO ......

 

Even while Gideon was in the midst of the post-limo-lovemaking head trip, locked inside his protective exterior shell, already unknown even to himself, it bothered him Eva was "leaving" him in a way. This was more complex than the dynamic where she had been playing hard to get. He'd finally gotten her, and whole new parts of him had opened for the first time. And now she was "leaving."

 

Jumping ahead to Chapter Eight, one of the things I like best about the conversation Gideon has with Eva two days later is something that shows he's got enough insight about himself to realize he's inexperienced when it comes to how to treat a woman:

 

" .... give me some room to screw up. I've never done this before. There's a learning curve." Bared page 115

basically Gideon was a virgin when it came to a proper relationship. As he said he had never done this before, and needed room to screw up.

[sscrph]

Ciao Gabri,

No worries.  I didn’t think that you were making excuses for Monica.  I just find her character surprising.  It seems that the more time that passes, the less Monica seems to learn from her mistakes and how to properly parent a child or even how to be a proper parent to a child.  It boggles my mind! 

 

In all fairness to your posting, the assumption could have been made that Monica was doing the best that she could at the time (but we the readers know differently because we have read both of the books).

 

You make a very good point about Eva learning to flee from her mother.  I never would have connected Monica leaving one marriage to go directly into another, having an effect on Eva.   What do you think?  What does everyone think?

I think Eva is a lot smarter than her mother and does not wish to emulate her, I think Eva flees for her own self preservation ...

[julie54]

Gideon is possessive because of his insecurities. He lost his father, his mother, his childhood. I dread to think what would happen if he lost Eva.

[AMC]

"I think Eva is a lot smarter than her mother and does not wish to emulate her, I think Eva flees for her own self preservation ...   "       
Agree, Sscrph....

 

I also think that Eva is WAY more mature than Monica

 

But I also wonder---why didn't Eva stay in California after she got her Master's degree?

[sscrph]

"I think Eva is a lot smarter than her mother and does not wish to emulate her, I think Eva flees for her own self preservation ...   "       

Agree, Sscrph....

 

I also think that Eva is WAY more mature than Monica

 

But I also wonder---why didn't Eva stay in California after she got her Master's degree?

I think because New York is the center of the advertising business and since her mom was there it probably could work but also because this is where Cary could have the most chance for success...