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

[Sheens263]

I think Gideon will need closure on this Nathan business, to aid his recovery. He has enough baggage, his shoulders are sagging under the weight. Poor chap.

The way the book is being marketed, with snippets, snapshots, and clues is brilliant, the suspense is gripping, but my nerves are frayed!! So many scenarios keep running through my little brain!! Some of them not good.

Oh I know Julie, I feel your nerves I am like that as well, I cannot believe we still have over 2 weeks to wait, the suspense is killing me.

 

You know in Bared I did not like Gideon much I felt he was too demanding and controlling of Eva and quite brisk with her ( well in the beginning of the book) but then when I read more I saw how vulnerable a person he actually was and in Reflected you see more of his insecurity over Eva and her leaving him if he did something wrong and I think that does not help him but I think Eva is starting to rely more on him which is making him feel wanted and he has someone to look after and keep safe as she is his life.

 

In Entwined thought I think we shall see a more shattered Gideon as yes what he has done will play on him and he will need closure and closely watched so he does not go back to the depths of depression and I think only Eva's love and reassurance to him of how much she loves him and that she is grateful to him will keep him going.  I hope he does not shut Eva off but open up to her and talk to her, he is so aware of how much she has to cope with but I think Nathan being dead will be a great weight of her and she will show that to Gideon which will hopefully help in his recovery.  Just Eva being there for him I am hoping will help him immensely.

[Sheens263]

   These two were meant for each other. No doubt about that.

So true Julie, more than anyone will probably ever know

[sscrph]

Hi Sheens

I have to do catch up over my cornflakes, because the USA and Canada chat all night. Lol

This hole is getting deeper and deeper if feel. Shaking my head here.

I have a horrible feeling Gideon will be arrested at some point. Call it gut instinct.

I can't help but feel Sylvia has a big bombshell in the book somewhere that we are totally not anticipating...

[julie54]

Oh I know Julie, I feel your nerves I am like that as well, I cannot believe we still have over 2 weeks to wait, the suspense is killing me.

You know in Bared I did not like Gideon much I felt he was too demanding and controlling of Eva and quite brisk with her ( well in the beginning of the book) but then when I read more I saw how vulnerable a person he actually was and in Reflected you see more of his insecurity over Eva and her leaving him if he did something wrong and I think that does not help him but I think Eva is starting to rely more on him which is making him feel wanted and he has someone to look after and keep safe as she is his life.

In Entwined thought I think we shall see a more shattered Gideon as yes what he has done will play on him and he will need closure and closely watched so he does not go back to the depths of depression and I think only Eva's love and reassurance to him of how much she loves him and that she is grateful to him will keep him going. I hope he does not shut Eva off but open up to her and talk to her, he is so aware of how much she has to cope with but I think Nathan being dead will be a great weight of her and she will show that to Gideon which will hopefully help in his recovery. Just Eva being there for him I am hoping will help him immensely.

So true Julie, more than anyone will probably ever know

I agree

Gideon started out as one character, an arrogant d**che but morphed into a damaged loving hero. God! I just want to hug him and tell him he will be ok. :)

[julie54]

I can't help but feel Sylvia has a big bombshell in the book somewhere that we are totally not anticipating...

Our guts are working in unison eh.

Is that why there is now five books? A bombshell and baggage? :(

[Sheens263]

I can't help but feel Sylvia has a big bombshell in the book somewhere that we are totally not anticipating...

Oh I hope it would be a good bombshell, not sure if I can take any more heartache over these two lol

[Sheens263]

I agree

Gideon started out as one character, an arrogant d**che but morphed into a damaged loving hero. God! I just want to hug him and tell him he will be ok.

I am so with you here Julie

[Sheens263]

Our guts are working in unison eh.

Is that why there is now five books? A bombshell and baggage?

I know, but I get anxious when I read what everyone thinks as well and the conclusions people come up with, I just wish it was out by now.

 

I keep re-reading chapter 1 and the snippet from chapter 2 trying to get a better insight but nothing works

[LN Cronan]

Chapter 5 of Reflected in You - The Readers Guide

 

This chapter covers Friday (day 18) starting in the evening and goes through lunchtime Saturday (day 19)

 

Key plot developments

• Gideon's mood was withdrawn and pre-occupied all day Friday, with him unusually quiet - and this made Eva feel anxious he's pulling away from her. She bridged the widening gap between them lovemaking -- taking an opportunity to indulge her transportation fetish by having sex in one of Gideon's private jets en route to Las Vegas
• Via their weekly Saturday phone conversation, her Dad announced he plans to visit her in New York the weekend after next. She told him she wants him to meet Gideon, taking her father by surprise, who before then had been told the relationship was nothing serious.
• We readers learned more about her parents' past and some things about her own past, including her recent past from when she lived in San Diego.

 

New characters:

Brett Kline, mentioned in passing and not yet named

Another boyfriend in Eva's past in San Diego, not named (minor)

Mr. Mitchell, Monica's second husband, mentioned in passing (minor)

Shelia, resort security person assigned to guard Eva (minor)

Daniel, a resort guest who struck up a friendly conversation with Eva (minor)

Alison, Cross Industries employee (minor)

 

A glimpse into Eva's recent past in San Diego

On Saturday afternoon, Eva had her weekly telephone call with her Dad. Some of the stuff that went through her head during that call provided us with several key pieces of her recent past, the four years she lived in California near her father while attending San Diego State University.

From previous chapters, we knew that Eva being an angry troublemaker is what prompted her father to get her to enter therapy with Dr. Travis. In this chapter we learned that "trouble" especially alarming to her Dad had been her self-destructive behavior with guys who were bad for her.

From page 87: "He'd especially had trouble with a lead singer for whom I'd been little more than a groupie and a tattoo artist whom my dad had pulled over to find him getting a b*** job while driving -- and not from me."

That paragraph is the first mention of Eva's ex, rock singer Brett Kline. Meanwhile, the reason the subject of boyfriends came up in this chapter was because Eva told her Dad she wants him to meet Gideon. Victor is planning to come to New York to visit the weekend after next.

Victor previously had been told there was nothing to the media buzz Eva was Gideon Cross' new girlfriend (because on the earlier occasion Eva had discussed Gideon with her Dad, Gideon had ended their brand new relationship days earlier, and at the time, Eva believed it was over for good.)

Given Eva's past history of poor choices in men, Victor expressed immediate skepticism of the latest guy in Eva's life. In turn, Eva did worry about what would happen when her father, who as a cop is highly trained at observing people, would see her and Gideon together - he'd be able to pick up on the fact real tensions existed between Eva and her new boyfriend.

 

A glimpse into a more distant past - Eva's parents

At the time Eva was conceived, her father had been a Latino boy "from the wrong side of the tracks" and Monica had been a debutante envisioning a future with a wealthy man. Eva believed the passion between the pair of them must have been pretty hot for them to have become lovers.

To Eva's knowledge, her parents had not seen one another face to face since before she was born, (despite the fact that they had some sort of indirect contact so that Victor could be a part of his daughter's life.)

Monica had been married three times (Stanton, her current husband, being number three). We knew the first marriage had been to Nathan's father, and Monica divorced the guy because of what his son had done to Eva. In this chapter, we learned the problems that led Monica to leave her second husband (last name Mitchell) included compulsive gambling. Around the time that marriage was falling apart was when Eva had decided to move away from her mother and go to California, to attend college and be near her father.

 

Part of Eva's past weighs heavily on Gideon present

Around Eva on Friday morning, Gideon had been unusually quiet and pre-occupied, and his bad mood was still the same when he board the private jet Friday evening that was taking Eva and Cary to Las Vegas then continuing on to Arizona with him.

Eva feared he was pulling away, and so to bridge the gap, she came on to him, and they spent three hours making love in the plane's bedroom. Gideon was exceptionally controlled though, about intercourse itself, because he didn't want Eva left sore. The night before in her shower, their lovemaking there had not involved intercourse, period, per his control of the situation. In the plane, essentially, she ended up having to beg him to nail her.

Because Eva was being -- and would continue to be -- kept in the dark about Nathan, she had no idea that the afternoon before, Nathan had been in Gideon's office, revealing to Gideon photos and video Nathan had taken of Eva when he'd sexually terrorized her as a girl.

Then the night before, Gideon for the first time saw Eva suffer one of her own flashback nightmares of being raped -- the first one she'd had in a long time, Gideon learned from something Cary said at the time.

Eva would, to her dismay, see the first openly aggressive security protection of her on Saturday at the Cross hotel where she and Cary stayed for the weekend. A female resort security staffer stepped in between Eva and a guy who struck up a conversation with her poolside.

Eva correctly guessed the woman had been ordered to monitor her, and Eva's questioning of the security person unveiled the woman's orders included an entire list of situations she (the security person) was to insert herself into.

Eva got mad, believing this was Gideon's possessiveness of her, an attempt to keep other men away from her. Eva was unaware that what she believed was simply a babysitter of sorts appointed to watch her was actually a bodyguard set up.

Also, Friday after work there had been another bodyguard situation unknown to Eva. She was supposed to have let Angus drive her home after work, per Gideon's order, but she refused the ride, preferring to walk home for the exercise (and to take a little petty revenge for Angus having given Corrine a ride the day before.) Angus warned her Gideon wouldn't be happy about her refusing the ride.

[LN Cronan]

A Chapter A Day Re-Read Project - Today is Chapter 6 of Reflected in You

 

This chapter starts Sunday (day 20) and continues through Monday (day 21 - three weeks since Gideon and Eva met).

 

Key plot developments

• On Monday, Eva went to lunch with her new friend, Megumi, and her mother. As the women walked back to the Crossfire, instead of taking Monica's chauffeured car, Monica saw something that badly frightened her.
• She refused to tell the mystified Eva what was wrong. But whatever Monica say, her driver/bodyguard Clancy, who had been following along in the car near the women on foot, saw it too, and he insisted on loading the women into the car.
• Sunday, when Gideon arrived at the resort to pick up Eva and Cary, she semi chewed him out about his having assigned a security staffer to (what Eva believed) keep guys away from her. We readers found out how Eva got even - through Clancy, she'd sent a security person to interfere with Gideon's freedom of movement in Arizona.
• Eva found out the way Gideon had gotten the money to start building Cross Industries was through gambling. He'd cheated at blackjack by counting cards -- and over the gaming tables, young Gideon had begun making important business contacts.

 

After each of us has read Chapter 6, Sylvia would like to know what each of us liked best - either a quote or a paragraph.

[Sheens263]

A Chapter A Day Re-Read Project - Today is Chapter 6 of Reflected in You

 

This chapter starts Sunday (day 20) and continues through Monday (day 21 - three weeks since Gideon and Eva met).

 

Key plot developments

• On Monday, Eva went to lunch with her new friend, Megumi, and her mother. As the women walked back to the Crossfire, instead of taking Monica's chauffeured car, Monica saw something that badly frightened her.
• She refused to tell the mystified Eva what was wrong. But whatever Monica say, her driver/bodyguard Clancy, who had been following along in the car near the women on foot, saw it too, and he insisted on loading the women into the car.
• Sunday, when Gideon arrived at the resort to pick up Eva and Cary, she semi chewed him out about his having assigned a security staffer to (what Eva believed) keep guys away from her. We readers found out how Eva got even - through Clancy, she'd sent a security person to interfere with Gideon's freedom of movement in Arizona.
• Eva found out the way Gideon had gotten the money to start building Cross Industries was through gambling. He'd cheated at blackjack by counting cards -- and over the gaming tables, young Gideon had begun making important business contacts.

 

After each of us has read Chapter 6, Sylvia would like to know what each of us liked best - either a quote or a paragraph.

I liked how Gideon opened up a wee bit to Eva in Chapter 6 with telling her how he got his money, don't have a fav. quote yet, will have to go back and re-read it.

[Sheens263]

A Chapter A Day Re-Read Project - Today is Chapter 6 of Reflected in You

 

This chapter starts Sunday (day 20) and continues through Monday (day 21 - three weeks since Gideon and Eva met).

 

Key plot developments

• On Monday, Eva went to lunch with her new friend, Megumi, and her mother. As the women walked back to the Crossfire, instead of taking Monica's chauffeured car, Monica saw something that badly frightened her.
• She refused to tell the mystified Eva what was wrong. But whatever Monica say, her driver/bodyguard Clancy, who had been following along in the car near the women on foot, saw it too, and he insisted on loading the women into the car.
• Sunday, when Gideon arrived at the resort to pick up Eva and Cary, she semi chewed him out about his having assigned a security staffer to (what Eva believed) keep guys away from her. We readers found out how Eva got even - through Clancy, she'd sent a security person to interfere with Gideon's freedom of movement in Arizona.
• Eva found out the way Gideon had gotten the money to start building Cross Industries was through gambling. He'd cheated at blackjack by counting cards -- and over the gaming tables, young Gideon had begun making important business contacts.

 

After each of us has read Chapter 6, Sylvia would like to know what each of us liked best - either a quote or a paragraph.

I felt so sorry for Eva in chapter 5, she knew something was upsetting her man but he would not open up and so she felt he was pushing her away.  I actually felt a bit sorry for Gideon, can you imagine, he witnessed her violent nightmare and then they slept together and then she was out of the bed before him which she never had done, if I was Gideon I would have been a bit put out as well as if she was shutting him out and not being close to him, Gideon may have felt a bit left out here.

[LN Cronan]

Gideon was so very careful with her sexually on Thursday and again on Friday -- between having seen the Nathan pictures and seeing her in the grip of one of her own awful nightmares.

 

On top of that, he was anxious about the distance that Eva had created between the pair of them by her reaction to Corrine. Following the stunt Corrine pulled at the Crossfire, Eva was beyond triggered, the deeply wounded insecure/jealous buttons inside lit up like a Christmas tree. At the time, Gideon thought (wrongly) Eva just wasn't handling the situation well. Be that as it may though, now he himself was mad she had begun to mistrust him.

[jls1216]

Wow, i have a lot of catching up to do on the board this morning. I was offline most of the weekend and now i'm behind:) 

[sscrph]

Wow, i have a lot of catching up to do on the board this morning. I was offline most of the weekend and now i'm behind:)

Missed you get started!! :)

[jls1216]

Missed you get started!! :)

Coffee in hand...Here i go:)

[sscrph]

I liked how Gideon opened up a wee bit to Eva in Chapter 6 with telling her how he got his money, don't have a fav. quote yet, will have to go back and re-read it.

I liked this part of chapter 6 I loved when Gideon said he missed Eva and not just for sex . She is really his PERSON as they say on Grey's Anatomy- I just wish she could see that and revel in it instead of worrying over it. She really does make her own misery most of the time...

[Sheens263]

Coffee in hand...Here i go:)

I know how you feel, I am like that on a Monday morning when I catch up with everyone on Sunday night LOL

[Sheens263]

I liked this part of chapter 6 I loved when Gideon said he missed Eva and not just for sex . She is really his PERSON as they say on Grey's Anatomy- I just wish she could see that and revel in it instead of worrying over it. She really does make her own misery most of the time...

Glad someone else likes Greys's I am not alone, none of my friends like it.

 

Yes she is his Person which I think is lovely and he is her's

[sscrph]

Glad someone else likes Greys's I am not alone, none of my friends like it.

 

Yes she is his Person which I think is lovely and he is her's

Absolutely I have always loved that person thing on Greys:)

[Sheens263]

Absolutely I have always loved that person thing on Greys:)

yes same here, it always made me feel like it was a really personal thing between them to show how they thought about each other, Best Friends etc

[Nrock]

"Eva found out the way Gideon had gotten the money to start building Cross Industries was through gambling. He'd cheated at blackjack by counting cards -- and over the gaming tables, young Gideon had begun making important business contacts."

Card counting is not considered cheating and is not illegal. Some places ban card counters when they ID them, but some places have regulations prevent this. There's an interesting wiki article about how teams of math whizzes from MIT would go out to Vegas and have big scores.

I mention this because I don't want to see Gideon actions in any way associated with his father's fraud and dishonesty.

[LN Cronan]

"Eva found out the way Gideon had gotten the money to start building Cross Industries was through gambling. He'd cheated at blackjack by counting cards -- and over the gaming tables, young Gideon had begun making important business contacts."

Card counting is not considered cheating and is not illegal. Some places ban card counters when they ID them, but some places have regulations prevent this. There's an interesting wiki article about how teams of math whizzes from MIT would go out to Vegas and have big scores.

I mention this because I don't want to see Gideon actions in any way associated with his father's fraud and dishonesty.

 

It's not illegal -- in fact, a court case in New Jersey established a legal precedent there is no law against it.

 

Casinos do, however, consider it cheating, because the player is manipulating the odds. If they suspect a player or players are card counting, casino security will manufacture an excuse to eject those players and bar them from returning. Casino security has pretty wide discretion to throw people off the gaming floors much like bar tenders have discretion to throw patrons out and then forbid them from returning in the future.

 

I know this from an old college friend who used to work as a high-stakes blackjack dealer.

 

P.S. Casino security also would throw out angry players, even those losing large amounts at the high stakes tables, if the players get drunk and disorderly. Above everything else, the casinos want to maintain control on the gaming floors. My college friend has some fascinating stories about stuff that she'd seen on the gaming floors.

[Sharonm745]

I have a couple thoughts about the comments today.  

 

Gideon's quiet demeanor--I have a feeling that he is so concerned about Eva after seeing the pictures but especially the videos that Nathan has.  Can you imagine hearing her cries as her step-brother rapes her?  I'm sure seeing these videos also brought back some of his own past.  I think he is mentally working through ways to fix this for Eva but foremost in his mind is protecting her.

 

Regarding Victor and his relationship with Gideon - I'm confident that he is going to see the evidence that the NYPD found in Nathan's room which will include the graphic "trophies" that Nathan recorded.  I believe Victor is a father first and as much as he is a police office, even cops will take matters in their own hands on occasion.  I think it would be difficult for any parent to view pictures of their child from the age of 10 to 14 being raped.  I know I would be able to forgive anyone who protected my child.  It will also come out that Nathan is the person who violently attached Cary, a man they all love and consider family.  He knows that it wouldn't be long before Nathan got to Eva.  Graves and company know this too.

 

Sylvia's surprise - I feel there will be a trial at some point too.  I believe there has to be something that will remove the treat of arrest from hanging over the couple's head.  I don't think Gideon will be in jail however.  I think someone posted that he wouldn't get bail because he is so wealthy and can run easily.  I just don't see Sylvia putting Gideon in jail for any length of time so she will probably fall back on creative license and keep him free. 

 

June 4th is getting closer!

[julie54]

I have a couple thoughts about the comments today.

Gideon's quiet demeanor--I have a feeling that he is so concerned about Eva after seeing the pictures but especially the videos that Nathan has. Can you imagine hearing her cries as her step-brother rapes her? I'm sure seeing these videos also brought back some of his own past. I think he is mentally working through ways to fix this for Eva but foremost in his mind is protecting her.

Regarding Victor and his relationship with Gideon - I'm confident that he is going to see the evidence that the NYPD found in Nathan's room which will include the graphic "trophies" that Nathan recorded. I believe Victor is a father first and as much as he is a police office, even cops will take matters in their own hands on occasion. I think it would be difficult for any parent to view pictures of their child from the age of 10 to 14 being raped. I know I would be able to forgive anyone who protected my child. It will also come out that Nathan is the person who violently attached Cary, a man they all love and consider family. He knows that it wouldn't be long before Nathan got to Eva. Graves and company know this too.

Sylvia's surprise - I feel there will be a trial at some point too. I believe there has to be something that will remove the treat of arrest from hanging over the couple's head. I don't think Gideon will be in jail however. I think someone posted that he wouldn't get bail because he is so wealthy and can run easily. I just don't see Sylvia putting Gideon in jail for any length of time so she will probably fall back on creative license and keep him free.

June 4th is getting closer!

i agree with some of this.

First and foremost, this is a romance story. It has dark undertones, one or two of characters have been badly damaged, so much so, that their mental health is in serious question. A deed has been done which took a dark road. I think to able to live without looking over their shoulder for the rest of their lives, it needs resolving properly. If it means a court case so be it. This burden needs lifting. Those shoulders can only take so much cr*p. A HEA will come but probably after a lot more heartache and agony.