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

[gabri]

Hello Ladies!!!

The first time I read Chap. 19 I was sooooo sad. With the rereading of it I actually shed two or three hot tears.... I really need a glorious happy ending for them!

Here are my favourite lines:

1) He buried his face in my throat and cried till dawn.

2) I was more afraid of losing him than of living with the demons inside him.

3) Cheers to us, the seriuosly f***ed up. At least we have each other.

CIAO!!!

[LN Cronan]

I would have loved to know what Gideon was thinking when:

 

"As I turned the corner back to the Crossfire to start the trip home, I saw Gideon step out onto the street with Corinne.....

 

He looked up and saw me, freezing in place just as I had."

 

Page 307 RIY.

 

Well considering that over the weekend, Brett gave that interview saying he had reconnected with Eva and wanted another shot ....

 

Early afternoon, Gideon pinned Eva in the elevator, the first time he'd any contact with her in over a week, and she said some hurtful things ....

 

Now there she was on the street, not only angry enough at him to flip him off, but also, she whipped out her cell phone ....

 

He might have been fearing the worst - that she was calling Brett, because she was now in an especially bad retaliatory mood. Bad enough that Eva had to endure pictures of him with Corrine, but to see them together with her own eyes walking out of the place where she and Gideon met .....

 

I'll bet Monday was an especially sleepless night for him.

[Sharonm745]

Well considering that over the weekend, Brett gave that interview saying he had reconnected with Eva and wanted another shot ....

 

Early afternoon, Gideon pinned Eva in the elevator, the first time he'd any contact with her in over a week, and she said some hurtful things ....

 

Now there she was on the street, not only angry enough at him to flip him off, but also, she whipped out her cell phone ....

 

He might have been fearing the worst - that she was calling Brett, because she was now in an especially bad retaliatory mood. Bad enough that Eva had to endure pictures of him with Corrine, but to see them together with her own eyes walking out of the place where she and Gideon met .....

 

I'll bet Monday was an especially sleepless night for him.

 

I have a feeling this ran through his head.  He had to feel guilty about how much he was hurting Eva.  In addition, I'm sure her comment about "blow your load" in the elevator was a reminder about his comment on their ride to NC about Brett. 

[Kirsten]

From Sylvia's FB page:

 

Chapter 19 of BARED TO YOU. #GideonLovesEva

"I'm afraid of what I'll become if I lose you."

 

 

[Kirsten]

I figured I'd bring this over just to confirm:

 

In chapter 7 after Gideon gives his speech a "lovely redhead who appeared to be in her early forties" tells Eva she is a lucky women. Is the redhead Dr. Lucas' wife?

• 

   

  Sylvia Day No.

[sscrph]

I figured I'd bring this over just to confirm:

 

In chapter 7 after Gideon gives his speech a "lovely redhead who appeared to be in her early forties" tells Eva she is a lucky women. Is the redhead Dr. Lucas' wife?

Yea!!! Thanx Sylvia!!

• 

   

  Sylvia Day No.

[Andie]

Hello, ladies

 

Chapter 19

 

My Favorites

 

1. line: If you leave, we lose and our pasts win (p. 284)

 

2. paragraph: I held up my right hand and showed him my ring. "You're stuck with me, Cross. Get used to it." (p. 291)

 

3. scene: Cary, Gideon, and Eva hanging out in the living room

 

XOXO

[ShazScott1980]

I figured I'd bring this over just to confirm:

 

In chapter 7 after Gideon gives his speech a "lovely redhead who appeared to be in her early forties" tells Eva she is a lucky women. Is the redhead Dr. Lucas' wife?

• 

   

  Sylvia Day No.

Just a random red head then!

[Sheens263]

I think Angus knew Gideon was raped as a child, the only person under the Vidal roof who believed Gideon. I have a theory that Angus is the one who stopped the rapist from continuing to victimize Gideon -- Angus taking the law into his own hands, because "the system" had already failed to protect Gideon, only a child.

 

Angus is the only person Gideon absolutely trusts. He trusts Angus even more than Eva herself. Angus had to have done something momentous to earn that trust. Angus has been in Gideon's life since Gideon's childhood. So the only thing I can think of is that Angus put a stop to the rapist, and then Angus gave Gideon the emotional support he needed to grow up, becoming the one good parental figure in Gideon's life, Gideon having been failed miserably by his mother, his father and his stepfather.

very good possibility LN

[Sheens263]

I envision him not sleeping in his bed much at all those nights ; I see him in his home office staring at the collage working and crying intermittently not wanting to sleep in his bed so he wouldn't experience another nightmare even though he 's actually living one ...

yes so do I,

 

sorry ladies playing catch up today

[julie54]

So keen this morning I posted on the wrong thread. Heyho!

[julie54]

Well ladies!

It's brunette weekend.

Our favourite lady( cough, she ain't no lady), makes her appearance tonight.

What did she do as soon as Eva was introduced to her, she whisked Gideon away to meet someone. How rude!

Oh Gideon Gideon Gideon, when will you learn. Shaking head here.!

Magdalene became Eva's ally tonight, apologising for ambushing her at the advocacy dinner.

Corrine went in for the killer punch on Eva, blindsiding her, with her subtle comments. Cowbag!

[LN Cronan]

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

 

This chapter runs Tuesday evening (day 16) through Wednesday evening (day 17)

 

Key plot developments:

• This chapter is one of the most important in the Crossfire series thus far, and it is in this chapter that the crisis point of Bared to You starts to unfold.
• Gideon kept secret from Eva the fact he'd been engaged years ago -- and has been in contact recently with his ex. Eva finds out the hard way about both when Corrine crashes a fundraiser event Gideon and Eva attended, blindsiding the pair of them. Caught off guard, Gideon's first impulse was to keep Corrine's real significance a secret, lest Eva erupt in insecurity on the spot.
• Unfortunately for him, though, Magdalene, who knows the history, tells Eva about Corrine's past history. Then while he's tied up elsewhere at the event, Corrine herself tells Eva about her (Corrine's) present day history of being in near daily telephone contact with Gideon.  And she admitted to still being in love with him.
• The crisis happened Wednesday evening. Tuesday evening, Gideon had his first individual therapy session with Dr. Petersen, who formally diagnosed Gideon's condition that makes his become sexually violent in the midst of nightmares: atypical sexual parasomnia.
• Gideon agrees to a combination of sleep medication and psychotherapy to treat the disorder.

 

Once each of us has read Chapter Twenty, our homework assignment from Sylvia herself is for each of us to pick our favorite quote or paragraph.

 

The chapter re-reads also have been the springboard here for lots of discussion. We're continuing to touch upon the chapter of the day, but even more, discussion has been jumping backward into the earlier chapters and forward in the story (even into Reflected and into what we've got for Entwined - Chapter One of it, part of Chapter Two, the snippets and the snapshot clues.) The re-read of one chapter daily is leading us to analyze how different parts of the Crossfire saga have been connecting.

[julie54]

Best line from this chapter

" I've always seen you angel. From the moment you found me, I've seen nothing but you"

Best scene

Lunch with Mark Steven and Shawna, who we meet for the first time.

"He*l, Eva" he said laughing. " We're just playing with you. Don't die on us."

Love these two guys. They inject humour into this book. They should go out with Eva and Gideon. They could do with a dose of fun. :)

[julie54]

It was basically from this point, that their romance started unravelling.

Jealous ex's, nut job stepbrother, corrupt Dr?, and each with trust issues to boot. Will they ever make it?

Ulcers all round, I think.

[LN Cronan]

Chapter Nineteen of Bared to You - The Readers Guide

 

This chapter runs Monday evening (day 15) through Tuesday evening (day 16).

 

Key plot developments:

• For the third time, Eva witnessed one of Gideon's sexually violent nightmares. This time it's in her bed, not his, and it was the worst yet. Still deeply asleep, he attempted to rape her. Cary stopped him from doing so.
• A shattered Gideon wanted to leave afterward, but she convinced him to stay.
• Even though Cary is in a formal relationship with Trey, Cary started a friends-with-benefits relationship with Tatiana, a female model, having her sleep over Monday night, to Eva's chagrin.
• On Tuesday night, Trey caught Cary and the model in bed together.

 

New characters:

Tatiana Cherlin

 

Escalating nightmare situation

Twice prior, Eva has witnessed Gideon having sexual nightmares. This third incident, Monday night, would be far worse than the others.

The first happened one week prior (Monday), the first night Gideon shared his bed with Eva. In it, he tried fending someone off and behaved as if something painful were being done to him.  She gently woke him up but didn't ask him anything.

Two nights later, also while Eva slept over, he had a more severe nightmare, one in which he acted out physically while still asleep, violently stroking himself. This time, Eva tried asking him what was wrong, and when he lied about even remembering what he'd just dreamt about, walked out on him. Next day, he ended their brand-new relationship. Four days later, he begged  her to take him back, which she did.

Now, exactly one week into their formal relationship and two weeks to the day since they met, Gideon has yet another nightmare, this time in Eva's bed. This time, he turned sexually violent, imaging he is raping a person who hurt him. In actuality, still deeply asleep and not knowing he's doing it, he'd actually act out his violence -- against Eva, there in the bed with him.

Eva's scream awakes Cary, who stopped Gideon, waking Gideon up in the process.

Cary assumed Gideon consciously was trying to rape Eva, and Cary was ready to call the police. Eva stopped Cary by telling him Gideon was just dreaming.

Cary, who'd already heard from Eva that Gideon suffers nightmares but now was witnessing a terrible one himself, said, "Jesus Christ -- and I thought I was f**** up." (page 282).

 

 

How they handle the aftermath this time

Gideon is the one who wanted to run this time, preparing to leave Eva's apartment immediately, but Eva convinced him to stay, telling him, "We agreed -- no running," (page 283) and also telling him, "If you leave, we lose and our pasts win." (page 284).

Still, he protested, admitting he views himself as messed up and broken. To that, she reminded him she too is messed up and broken in some ways (i.e. she's got a history of sexual trauma.)

What finally convinced him to stay was Eva reminding him he's already arranged to get professional help, from Dr. Petersen.

They ended up spending the rest of the night on the floor of her bedroom, first falling into an exhausted sleep, then later making love to give Gideon reassurance he desperately needed.  Post-coital, Gideon cried until dawn.

 

Some tidbits about Gideon's sexual past

Prior to the crisis that happened Monday night, Eva asked Gideon some questions about his sexual past. His answers revealed several noteworthy pieces of information.

• He'd always maintained a f*** pad prior to meeting Eva -- in fact, had always kept in the same hotel, the one he'd taken Eva to that first night of their formal relationship.
• Gideon claimed that prior to Eva, he could take or leave sex. Between working hard and working out harder, most of the time he was pleasantly exhausted. He occasionally got an offer he couldn't refuse, but he claimed that in the time he'd been sexually involved with Eva (a little over a week at that point) he'd had more sex with her than in the past two years combinded.
• More significant (given how the information would later play out) the hotel is the only place he'd ever had "consensual sex." It's as close yet as he's come to hinting what his nightmares suggest, that he'd been sexually abused sometime in the past. Also, Eva would later learn Gideon used the hotel for more than just getting laid - for the first three years of his adult sex life, the hotel was the only place he'd ever have sex with his first lover, a woman he'd ultimately become engaged to.

 

 

Cary's lovelife gets complicated

Monday evening, (again, before the nightmare crisis erupted), Eva spent a quality evening at home with her boyfriend and her best friend , an evening interrupted by the arrival of Tatiana Cherlin, who like Cary is a fashion model. To Eva's dismay, Cary took Tatiana to bed, thus cheating on his new boyfriend, Trey.

Fast forward to Tuesday evening after work - Trey arrived at the apartment building just as Eva was coming home from work, so Eva let him in. Trey caught Cary in bed with Tatiana. She immediately left, and Cary spent the next more than 30 minutes in his room with Trey.

Then Trey left in tears, and Eva figured out (correctly) the men had sex. Her response was to chew out Cary for messing up his new relationship - and Cary went on the defensive by pointing out Eva was in a destructive relationship with a man who is a ticking time bomb.

[LN Cronan]

Chapter Twenty - favorite quote or paragraph:

 

Well, I wouldn't call this a "favorite" necessarily, because it's a traumatic moment for Eva. But this quote that runs through Eva's mind is crucial to everything else that follows later. Between Gideon's ignorance of how to be in a real relationship, and Eva's very serious problem with insecurity and jealousy issues, this is the thing that nearly destroyed their relationship, and its profound effects are still reverberating as Entwined opens.

 

Background:

• Gideon made the huge mistake of keeping Corrine a secret - and so Eva was devastated when she got blindsided to Corrine's existence.
• Gideon made an even huger mistake of telling Corrine that Eva has real problems with insecurity and jealousy, thereby handing Corrine weapons that could destroy what Eva has with Gideon. 
• Corrine's first mind game triggers every one of Eva's buttons. She let it "slip" that she called Gideon in crisis recently and asked for his help, inadvertently catching him in the middle of some society function. I say "slip" because red carpet shots of Gideon with Eva at that function were plastered all over the Internet when the sensational news broke that Gideon had a serious new girlfriend.
• That function was the night of Eva's first date with Gideon, the one that ended badly with him ditching her to leave early and alone.

 

So this is the crucial paragraph, the last one in Chapter Twenty, what Eva thinks to herself as something inside of her breaks -- her already shaky trust in Gideon, now all-but destroyed.

 

"Oh my God ... Gideon had left me in a rush that night for her. For Corrine."

[sscrph]

It was basically from this point, that their romance started unravelling.

Jealous ex's, nut job stepbrother, corrupt Dr?, and each with trust issues to boot. Will they ever make it?

Ulcers all round, I think.

Yes if Eva doesn't have an ulcer by now I don't know who would LOL

[LN Cronan]

I'm catching so many little things during this re-read project that I've missed before, missed during my original read of the book, re-reads of some important parts, and even listening to the audiobook.

 

New thing I caught: Eva looked at Magdalene, standing there with her and Corrine, when Eva came to the awful realization Gideon dumped her (Eva) the night of their first date in order to rush off to help Corrine, who had telephoned him in crisis.

 

Magdalene must have seen the awful look in Eva's eyes -- and Magdalene herself would have immediately figured out the exact same thing Eva had. Because Magdalene herself had been there the night of Eva's first date with Gideon and had seen for herself what a jerk he'd been. She'd seen Gideon rush off too -- and took the chance to pounce on the now-ditched Eva.

 

So Magdalene did what she could to eavesdrop on Corrine talking with Gideon. And Magdalene called up Eva the next day to defend Gideon and criticize Corrine for how awful the night before had turned out for Eva.

 

I'm liking Magdalene even more. She's got Gideon's back as a longtime friend who wants him happy in love -- having figured out that she herself (Magdalene) isn't the one he'll be happy with.

[julie54]

I'm catching so many little things during this re-read project that I've missed before, missed during my original read of the book, re-reads of some important parts, and even listening to the audiobook.

 

New thing I caught: Eva looked at Magdalene, standing there with her and Corrine, when Eva came to the awful realization Gideon dumped her (Eva) the night of their first date in order to rush off to help Corrine, who had telephoned him in crisis.

 

Magdalene must have seen the awful look in Eva's eyes -- and Magdalene herself would have immediately figured out the exact same thing Eva had. Because Magdalene herself had been there the night of Eva's first date with Gideon and had seen for herself what a jerk he'd been. She'd seen Gideon rush off too -- and took the chance to pounce on the now-ditched Eva.

 

So Magdalene did what she could to eavesdrop on Corrine talking with Gideon. And Magdalene called up Eva the next day to defend Gideon and criticize Corrine for how awful the night before had turned out for Eva.

 

I'm liking Magdalene even more. She's got Gideon's back as a longtime friend who wants him happy in love -- having figured out that she herself (Magdalene) isn't the one he'll be happy with.

I'm going to listen to that chapter now. It's amazing how someone speaking it out loud changes the story.

[Kirsten]

I'm catching so many little things during this re-read project that I've missed before, missed during my original read of the book, re-reads of some important parts, and even listening to the audiobook.

 

New thing I caught: Eva looked at Magdalene, standing there with her and Corrine, when Eva came to the awful realization Gideon dumped her (Eva) the night of their first date in order to rush off to help Corrine, who had telephoned him in crisis.

 

Magdalene must have seen the awful look in Eva's eyes -- and Magdalene herself would have immediately figured out the exact same thing Eva had. Because Magdalene herself had been there the night of Eva's first date with Gideon and had seen for herself what a jerk he'd been. She'd seen Gideon rush off too -- and took the chance to pounce on the now-ditched Eva.

 

So Magdalene did what she could to eavesdrop on Corrine talking with Gideon. And Magdalene called up Eva the next day to defend Gideon and criticize Corrine for how awful the night before had turned out for Eva.

 

I'm liking Magdalene even more. She's got Gideon's back as a longtime friend who wants him happy in love -- having figured out that she herself (Magdalene) isn't the one he'll be happy with.

I agree LN.

[julie54]

I'm catching so many little things during this re-read project that I've missed before, missed during my original read of the book, re-reads of some important parts, and even listening to the audiobook.

 

New thing I caught: Eva looked at Magdalene, standing there with her and Corrine, when Eva came to the awful realization Gideon dumped her (Eva) the night of their first date in order to rush off to help Corrine, who had telephoned him in crisis.

 

Magdalene must have seen the awful look in Eva's eyes -- and Magdalene herself would have immediately figured out the exact same thing Eva had. Because Magdalene herself had been there the night of Eva's first date with Gideon and had seen for herself what a jerk he'd been. She'd seen Gideon rush off too -- and took the chance to pounce on the now-ditched Eva.

 

So Magdalene did what she could to eavesdrop on Corrine talking with Gideon. And Magdalene called up Eva the next day to defend Gideon and criticize Corrine for how awful the night before had turned out for Eva.

 

I'm liking Magdalene even more. She's got Gideon's back as a longtime friend who wants him happy in love -- having figured out that she herself (Magdalene) isn't the one he'll be happy with.

Hi

What a difference audiobooks make to the story line.

That whole conversation between the women, altered how I imagined it. This has happened a few times listening to other parts of the book. I've only just downloaded the books.

Poor Angus. Got another limo trip coming up in the next chapter!!! Hope he has his iPod at the ready! :)

[Kirsten]

Hi

What a difference audiobooks make to the story line.

That whole conversation between the women, altered how I imagined it. This has happened a few times listening to other parts of the book. I've only just downloaded the books.

Poor Angus. Got another limo trip coming up in the next chapter!!! Hope he has his iPod at the ready!

Okay you ladies have convinced me, I'm going to listen to the books.

[LN Cronan]

Hearing the whole Fundraiser Fiasco on audiobook, listening to what each of the women says (Eva, Magdalene, Corrine) makes what unfolded in Chapter Twenty a whole lot more significant -- and a whole lot worse. It makes it understandable why Eva became such a hot mess in Reflected over what happened that final night of Bared to You. Because she was hit very hard when Corrine blindsided her, and Gideon's attempt to control the situation only served to make matters a whole lot worse.

 

What he ought to have done is left with Eva as soon as he spotted Corrine, gone some place quiet with Eva, and explain to her that he had a former fiancee, one he's been talking to recently via trans-Atlantic phone calls because she's in crisis, and she's decided to move back to New York.

[Kirsten]

Hearing the whole Fundraiser Fiasco on audiobook, listening to what each of the women says (Eva, Magdalene, Corrine) makes what unfolded in Chapter Twenty a whole lot more significant -- and a whole lot worse. It makes it understandable why Eva became such a hot mess in Reflected over what happened that final night of Bared to You. Because she was hit very hard when Corrine blindsided her, and Gideon's attempt to control the situation only served to make matters a whole lot worse.

 

What he ought to have done is left with Eva as soon as he spotted Corrine, gone some place quiet with Eva, and explain to her that he had a former fiancee, one he's been talking to recently via trans-Atlantic phone calls because she's in crisis, and she's decided to move back to New York.

Well, we know Gideon is Mr. Clueless with relationships, but it doesn't excuse what he has done totally. Reading that scene made my heart break for poor Eva, I can only imagine how hearing it is going to be. Where have you guys downloaded it from?