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

[LN Cronan]

hi ShazScott

He can start in England, then ill send him up to you!! But I might forget where Scotland is and have to keep him!!! lol

 

 

Think we'd all give Gideon asylum!

He's got plenty of country's to flee too

 

Hmmmmm Gideon in a kilt.  Oh my .........

[ShazScott1980]

Hmmmmm Gideon in a kilt.  Oh my .........

Now we're talking Gideon in a kilt.

Nothing underneath it !!!!!!

[gabri]

HEY JULIE, do you know where Italy is? It might be a great place for Gedeon to recover from all the stressful events he's gone through... well maybe some "rest" is not exactly what I had in mind for him, but a girl must have her dreams!!!

[julie54]

I've

Hmmmmm Gideon in a kilt.  Oh my .........

ive come over all unnecessary!! :)

[ShazScott1980]

HEY JULIE, do you know where Italy is? It might be a great place for Gedeon to recover from all the stressful events he's gone through... well maybe some "rest" is not exactly what I had in mind for him, but a girl must have her dreams!!!

Gabri I'd make sure that Gideon made it from Scotland over to Italy for you !

[julie54]

HEY JULIE, do you know where Italy is? It might be a great place for Gedeon to recover from all the stressful events he's gone through... well maybe some "rest" is not exactly what I had in mind for him, but a girl must have her dreams!!!

hi gabri Italy is a beautiful country. I will send him to you for some sun and relaxation. Then we send him back to Eva. That's where his heart lies.

[gabri]

Well, Gedeon in a kilt..... what a sight!!! Even Nessie will have something to dream about.

I wonder what clan would he choose. Each clan has a motto that exemplifies the clan members' attitude towards life. I think Gedeon's motto would tell us about his greatest happiness achieved through his greatest sufferings.

I've never thought of keeping Gedeon apart from Eva! I would like to spend some time with Cary too....

It's almost midnight and I kiss you all good night!!!!!

[julie54]

Well, Gedeon in a kilt..... what a sight!!! Even Nessie will have something to dream about.

I wonder what clan would he choose. Each clan has a motto that exemplifies the clan members' attitude towards life. I think Gedeon's motto would tell us about his greatest happiness achieved through his greatest sufferings.

I've never thought of keeping Gedeon apart from Eva! I would like to spend some time with Cary too....

It's almost midnight and I kiss you all good night!!!!!

night Gabri. Sleep well

[Kirsten]

Re-reading some things about Monica's background reminded me that for all her short-comings as a materialistic person, she is a loving person. And I imagine some trouble in her own childhood may explain why she mishandles things sometimes and makes bad choices -- every bit as much as Eva has (and Gideon too).

 

We know most of Eva's bad choices, past and present, driven by childhood demons. Troublemaker, anger problem, promiscuous, low self-esteem, over-reacts. She's come a long way but still does bad things. Like kissing Brett. She's slapped Gideon twice. She ran out of his apartment late at night dressed only in a bathrobe to take a cab home. Those are the things I can think of off the top of my head. She's a good person who sometimes is a bad girlfriend, is the bottom line.

 

Monica is a good person with flaws of her own. Here are some theories I have about what has driven her, good and bad.

 

Childhood? She came from money and was a debutante, which indicates she came from "old money" -- high society. Appearances meant everything to her family, it would appear, so much so that to avoid the "shame" of Ms. Monica Trammel getting "knocked up" by some "grease monkey" (Victor was a mechanic when they met) her family tried to force her to get an abortion. And disinherited her when she refused. Nathan got disinherited from his rich father for good reason. But Monica? Simply because she chose to keep her baby.

 

Victor? OK, so she wouldn't marry him or even give the baby his last name. But she did name the girl Eva after his mother. Victor was allowed to be a part of his daughter's life. And Monica genuinely loved Victor. He was more than just some fling to her. She wasn't some rich girl using some guy for sex. She was honest, though, that she wanted things in life he couldn't provide.

 

First husband, Barker? From what Eva said, her mother had been happy in the marriage. She got the financial protection that I'm sure she craved by then, having been rejected by her own family. And she was willing to take over the day-to-day raising of both Eva and Nathan while Mr. Barker travelled for work. Yes, by far the worst mistake Monica made was to not be paying close enough attention to both those children. However, once she did find out, she took immediate action to protect Eva -- protect her then and protect her in the future too. Made sure of Eva's financial security. And cut all ties to the Barker family, not just Nathan.

 

Stalking Eva? Monica went from one extreme to another over extreme guilt. Having failed to protect Eva, now Monica is hopelessly trying to over-protect Eva. She's literally sick about it -- sick in that with good reason, Dr. Petersen is treating her for unhealthy obsessive behaviors. Like the cell-phone stalking thing. Eva made a good point when she accused Stanton of keeping her (Eva) sick too when he enables Monica's sickness. Is it any wonder everyone kept Nathan's reappearance a secret from Eva? Because Eva herself enabled people to over-protect her. Instead of standing up to her mother, she usually backed down. Instead of demanding honesty from Gideon, she either backed down, or worse, bailed.

I think Eva hit the nail on the head when she said Monica is self-absorbed. It's not a charming quality to have, but it could explain a lot.

[sscrph]

hi. I agree with what you say regarding Monica's mental health.

My post may have come across as rather harsh, demonising Monica . But as a mother myself i felt she seriously let Eva down. Yes she loves her, wants the best for her and feels guilty about her abuse. But Eva was tortured and raped for four years, with no one lifting a finger to help her. How could she miss the signs? They must have been glaring at her.

I hope Monica now lets Eva live her life as an adult, and guilt free.

I think the best thing Monica can do for Eva at this point is stow the guilt and move on. Monica's guilt makes Eva feel guilty for her mom having guilt. At the end of the day it really is all about Monica so she just needs to suck it up and move on like Eva is trying to do!!

[sscrph]

GOOD EVENING EVERYBODY & HI Julie!!

After a good night's sleep I've recovered my wits and made up my mind: Monica sucks!!!!

I don't know what muddled things up for me, but four years are too long a time for anyone.

I remeber reading somewhere that'Ignorance is a poor kind of innocence' and I realize now how well this line applies to Monica!

This is a good point Gabri about the ignorance because if you think about it at the time there was probably a lot of hostility between Eva and Nathan and maybe they were both exhibiting behavior problems at home and at school and Monica was simply at a loss for what To do. Whenever there are problems in the home they always carry over into school. That is the first thing a teacher asks at a parent

conference. Yes there were signs,HUGE signs but either Monica chose to ignore them or pleaded ignorance as you say because I think she had /has absolutely no innate mothering skills and simply was completely out of her depth.

[sscrph]

Hmmmmm Gideon in a kilt.  Oh my .........

I live in West Virginia and its thought to be remote they would never look for a billionaire here!!!

[sscrph]

Now we're talking Gideon in a kilt.

Nothing underneath it !!!!!!

Now you're talkin!!

[fsumom]

Have to be a long kilt    

[sscrph]

Have to be a long kilt    

Hah!!LMAO!!

[Donnad]

I'm laughing so hard here. Those legs in a kilt

[jennpenn926]

I live in West Virginia and its thought to be remote they would never look for a billionaire here!!!

Most of my family is in West Virginia in Charleston and close to Richwood. I think we could for sure hide Gideon on a mountain somewhere. Its very easy to get lost in those woods if don't know your way around.

[sscrph]

Most of my family is in West Virginia in Charleston and close to Richwood. I think we could for sure hide Gideon on a mountain somewhere. Its very easy to get lost in those woods if don't know your way around.

Hi jenpenn so you know first hand what I'm talking about!!

[GiGi]

 

Hi Julie,

I think that it may not necessarily matter what time Nathan was murdered.  Let me explain here.  Gideon already knew in advance that Eva would be going to pick up her dad at the airport.  Her dad is a well seasoned beat cop and as such would have been safe in his company.  
 

Gideon would also have known that Eva most likely would have refused his driver because things were rocky between them.  Every time that Eva got upset with Gideon she often went off on her own and only when she was assured that Gideon wouldn’t interfere with her plans in any way would she accept a ride from one of his staff (hadn’t that become a dance between the two of them?).

Now seeing as that Gideon probably factored in that Eva most likely wouldn’t have accepted a ride from his driver, wouldn’t Gideon have arranged for a “tail†of some sort to ensure Eva’s safe arrival to the airport to pick up her dad?  This man has made it a mission in his life to track Eva’s movements, know everything that there possibly is  to know about her and as such I wouldn’t have found it a stretch for Gideon to have had a backup plan in case Eva rejected his offer.  What do you think?  What does everyone think?

[GiGi]

Hi Julie,

Not everyone in the forum hates Corinne (I hope) and not everyone is willing to give Gideon a pass for his deplorable actions with Corinne just because he has rock star good looks and he f**** like a p*** star.

 

At the end of the day, if Gideon is doing as everyone suspects (using Corinne for an alibi) and hopes to destroy Corinne because she said some bi***y, catty things to Eva, then he is just a disgusting if not worse than Corinne.  He realizes Corinne’s weaknesses (ones which GIDEON created because he wasn’t HONEST with her from the BEGINNING).   Just something to think about. 

[GiGi]

Hi everyone,

I have been reading everyone’s comments about Corinne and I have to say that I am a little surprised.  Do we the readers have so little faith that we don’t think that our beloved Eva can fight her own battles with Corinne?  Is Eva that weak and helpless that she can’t hold her own with Corinne?  If we stopped to think about it, if Eva truly couldn’t hold her own with Corinne then is she the woman for a man like this? 

 

Gideon is extremely good looking and that is never going to change (barring some huge disfiguring accident…never!) and he is also extremely wealthy and most likely isn’t going to change either. So how exactly is Gideon helping Eva adjust to her life with him if he has to go in and destroy every single person who disapproves of his relationship with him and Eva or goodness forbid, tries to make a play for Gideon?  Really?!  Come on…

 

Women make plays for men in everyday life and it is up to the men to set these women straight.  If every woman fell apart just because another woman made a play for her man, then nothing in this world would get done. 

 

It seems that Corinne’s actions are being judged along the same level as Nathan (a despicable monster).  So Corinne did something that wasn’t nice….so what?  Big deal!  That’s life!  So Corinne wants Gideon back?  So what?  Who doesn’t?  I continue to maintain that Gideon created this entire bulls**** scenario and as such bears the brunt of the responsibility of setting this woman straight!

 

If Gideon destroys Corinne as maybe a few of the forum members hope then what does that say about the “beloved Gideonâ€?  It doesn’t say a lot.  In fact, it is a bi**h move for a MAN to go after a WOMAN!!  There is nothing romantic about it.  Thus far Corinne hasn’t done anything to warrant that level of action; no she hasn’t boiled any rabbits or kidnapped any children or such. So again I ask; what is the big deal?

 

If Eva went after Corinne and tried to destroy her then that is one thing, but it is another scenario altogether if a man, who created this entire stupid mess, goes after a woman because he was falsely leading her on. 

[GiGi]

OK, I'm a little scared and don't know if I'll post this...

I'm sure this is going to cause a commotion through this forum because I know how you ladies feel about Monica, and I used to agree with you.

Now that I've got the whole picture of Monica's household at the time the abuses occurred, I can't help having mixed feelings about her. Why do I have a naggin sensation I'm being unfair to her? I know, she could have done one million things, all of which would have had more sense, but is she to blame for her being kept unaware of what was going on under her own roof? I've been wondering whether it would have made any difference, if she had pressed questions on her scared-to-death teen daugher, who wouldn't have told her anything anyway. Once Monica did find out, though, she did all she could to protect little Eva from the ogre, and now she is going to whatever lengths she can to keep Eva safe, because lousy Nathan is still at large. Did I overlook anything?

I believe Monica may be said to be a faulty mother in so many ways, but I'm beginning to have second thoughts about her being a bad mother. I do hope Monica gets the chance to state her point of view on the whole matter. LOL!!!!

  

Hi Gabri,

I don’t think that Monica has gone to great lengths to protect Eva.  In order to go to great lengths to protect a person from their abusers that person would:

1. Have to be present in everyday life (Monica never washed her daughter’s clothes or bed sheets).  Monica left the daily care of Eva to everyone else.  If Monica had even once done this, she would have seen clear evidence of her daughter’s brutal rapes and tortures.
2. Where was Monica after Eva’s first rape?  She would have visibly seen a little girl who wouldn’t have been able to sit or stand.  She would have been in a lot of physical pain.
3. Where was Monica when Eva was interacting with Nathan?  Monica would have seen the fear in her daughter’s eyes when Eva had to deal with Nathan.
4. What about Eva’s behaviours?  Didn’t Monica ever notice those?  Eva’s personality would have changed drastically!  How did Monica explain that away to herself?
5. What about Eva’s grades?  When something very traumatic happens to a child, their grades are often affected.  How did Monica explain that away to herself?
6. What about the household staff?  Did Monica ever NOT NOTICE that they were afraid? 
7. Why would Monica leave the care and raising of her child to domestic staff?
8. Monica didn’t have a job and as such her SOLE job was to be a mother to Eva.  It seems that Monica remembered to only be a wife.  The job of Motherhood was beneath Monica.

 

Others in the forum have mentioned that perhaps Monica was actively busy with charities or other functions, but I continue to maintain that Monica’s first and sole priority was supposed to be a mother (of which she never did).

 

I also just wanted to clarify that Eva wasn’t raped when she was an infant, so Monica couldn’t claim that the nanny did it or something.  Eva was already walking, talking, feeding and dressing herself, so I don’t buy the excuse of it was just too hard to raise that child without shirking her responsibilities.

 

Eva didn’t ask to be born.  Eva didn’t ask to be raped.  Monica chose to have unprotected sex.  Monica chose to keep the baby (Eva) and not have an abortion!  Monica chose to keep Eva and not give her up for adoption or give her to Victor.  Monica forgot the most important thing…Eva!  She forgot to be present in her daughter’s life and raise her…

[GiGi]

And that's why the next day he immediately went to Stanton demanding answers about where the ###### Nathan was ....this too make me think about what exactly brought about the end to Gideon's abuse. In Eva's case she had the miscarriage and thus everything was out in the open but in Gideon's case could it have been when Elizabeth finally had Ireland that the shrink stopped coming to the house? How did his torment end. I hope we get the answer in Book 3...

Hi Sscrph, 

I was wondering about what you said.  Had Eva not miscarried or gotten pregnant, how long do you think that the abuse would have gone on for?  How much longer would Monica have been in the dark?

[GiGi]

Hi Donnad,

I was thinking about what you said, and the more that I read and reread the passages with Monica and how she acted, I think that Monica loves how she looks through her daughter’s eyes.  I am sincerely not so sure that she loves Eva the way that a mother is supposed to love her child.

 

Am I making sense?  Do you know what I mean? 

She definitely has her issues and self centered but she does love Eva.

[GiGi]

As I reread the books again I am always struck by that helpless yearning that Eva describes in Gideon's eyes throughout the book. He so wants a normal life for himself with this beyond beautiful , generous woman that he describes as the other half of himself but there always seems to be something getting in the way of his HEA. Whether its the specter of Nathan, or his own abuse, his parasomnia, his enemies, his exes, and now the murder investigation. Someone had posted earlier that they were surprised he is still sane and I second that motion. I just want to see Gideon relaxed and happy and at peace with himself maybe by Book 5...

  

 

Hi Sscrph,

It is so interesting that you say that.  It is funny but mostly sad that Gideon’s desperate attempts at normalcy are often thwarted by his own actions.  He wants a normal life, but he can’t seem to stop himself from acting out.

 

Instead of asking Eva to tell him about herself, he goes and digs (using illegal acts to get the information that he demands) instead of trusting and hoping that Eva will give him the information that he so desires (throughout the first parts of the book).

Gideon has Eva followed, digs through her credit history, does whatever it takes to feel closer to a person who hasn’t yet allowed him into her space (emotionally and physically). That’s not normal.  Does Gideon even know what normal is?