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#1 New York Times bestselling author Sylvia Day goes deeper into the sultry world of the Crossroads series with Illusive — the thrilling continuation of the Crossfire® Saga spinoff that’s enthralled readers worldwide.

Bayou born and raised, Ronan Boudreaux’s childhood was a fight for survival. The choices he made to save his siblings and himself set him on a spiral of self-destruction…until fate put him in the path of the father he’d never known.

An old betrayal haunts three generations of his family. To destroy its malignant shadow, Ronan hides his feral nature beneath a civilized veneer and redirects his ruthlessness toward Chris Vidal, Sr. — the man whose past treachery demands the ultimate vengeance. Arriving in New York to witness Vidal’s orchestrated downfall, he’s planned for every possible intervention…except for Ireland Vidal, his enemy’s captivating daughter.

Ireland is a fierce beauty whose wild spirit ignites a hunger in Ronan that won’t be denied. Faced with a choice between balancing the scales of justice or pursuing a once-in-a-lifetime woman, he must also contend with Gideon Cross, Ireland’s formidable and protective older brother.

But Ronan isn’t the only one whose sights are set on Ireland and her family. And when mortal danger threatens the life of the woman he’s grown to care for, he must fight for a future he’d never dreamed could be his.

380 pages, Paperback

First published June 12, 2026

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About the author

Sylvia Day

115 books123k followers
Acclaimed for her signature emotionally charged storytelling and the psychological complexity of her characters, Sylvia Day is a number one bestselling author in twenty-nine countries, with translations in forty-one languages and over twenty million copies of her books in print. Day is the #1 New York Times, #1 USA Today, #1 Sunday Times, #1 Globe and Mail, #1 Der Spiegel, and #1 international bestselling author of over twenty award-winning novels, including six Sunday Times, ten New York Times and thirteen USA Today bestsellers. Visit the author at sylviaday.com

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5 stars
453 (48%)
4 stars
233 (25%)
3 stars
146 (15%)
2 stars
69 (7%)
1 star
27 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
20 reviews
June 13, 2026
Waited more than a year for a "book" that honestly could have been part of the first book.
It felt like we got nothing but Ireland being kidnapped for majority of the book.
Not much development on Eva and Gideons story as well as Ireland and Roland.
What was actually the point of this being a whole separate book?
Now we have to wait another year for a crumbs of the next storyline?
Oh my days.....love Sylvia, but thus was such a disappointing and underwhelming read
Profile Image for Sana.
11 reviews
June 14, 2026
3 generous stars for GidEva crumbs

This was such a disappointment. The book seems like a filler. We get nowhere with the story. Can't believe we'll have to wait another year, with multiple delays for the next book.

Spoiler- ish Rant:
Ok so we knew Ireland gets abducted at the end of book 1, but dragging this abduction plot for more than half of the book, especially with the way it was handled, made me want to pull my hair out.

Ronan swipes Gideon's phone to track Ireland's location... taps into his underworld connection to look for her.... and then nothing. Seriously? 😒 He's holed up in her apartment , going to the studio, making new song... what the eff man it's not even been 3 days... Yeah guy give us nothing. No mention of the underworld source throughout.

Multiple continuous back and forth discussions take place about:

1. the Vidal's company future


2. Chris and Ronan blaming each other. Everyone threatening they'll destroy Ronan if he hurts Ireland. Not one person tried to have an adult conversation to try to get to the root of the issue. Haven't they learned anything from previous trauma?


3. The AI and voice modulators... So weird to read about it in every other chapter


4. Ransom insurance policy convo. That long ass convo with Ireland's mom, the siblings worries about Ronan not being careful again and again... What was the point?



Bottom line- fillers, fillers , fillers

The connection between Ronan and Ireland felt missing. What happened to the controlling matriarch of the Bourdeax family? She gave off malicious vibes in the first book

We make no progress with GidEva's stalker or their desire to get pregnant.
Here's hoping it's not dragged to 5 books.

Can we please get a low angst comfort read full length novel for GidEva's pregnancy and domestic fluff? If anyone deserves it, it's them🥺
Profile Image for ari.
16 reviews2 followers
June 14, 2026
how do books even get delayed so close to the publishing date? does that happen only when the author is not finished yet? she shouldn't even have the book at this point, it should be in editing right? so how do they not know that they're gonna have to delay the date earlier than this? it's so weird

edit: oh my god it's june 12th now what the hell

edit: finally read this. you're telling me in a book of 15 chapters, ireland spends almost 10 in captivity? this book has almost 10 full chapters of a bunch of people being worried about ireland, a few about ireland being worried about her situation, and then she escapes? she's not even found, she gets herself out. so all the actions of other characters trying to find her didn't even matter either. because she just. killed her captor and ran. and then gideon and eva had sex. and then ireland and ronan had sex. and then it ends, basically. barely any new information (if any, at all) was revealed during this book.
i love how sylvia day writes her characters when she cares about them and i love the way she develops the romantic relationships when she has all the time in the world to do it, but what the hell happened here? why would you use TEN CHAPTERS of a FIFTEEN CHAPTER BOOK to write... nothing??? if anything, this felt like an excuse to revisit gideon and eva and i love them but we already had 5 books of them! i understand this is a spinoff but that doesn't mean they should have this much focus, am i crazy for thinking this? this is supposed to be ireland's story AT LEAST, and/or ireland and ronan's story, and it did not feel like that at all.
i just can't get over the fact that ireland spends almost TEN CHAPTERS almost fully absent from the narrative, this is crazy. and the whole thing could've been condensed to like 3 or even 5 chapters holy shit. i skimmed so much of this book it made me feel so sad. i hope next one feels more like a book written by a person that cares about these characters and their stories, and less like a creative writing exercise with a word count you're obligated to reach. i'd prefer it if sylvia day came out and told us "hey guys i'm actually not feeling these characters, the crossroads spinoff is cancelled" than whatever this was.
great smut though, as always LSKSKKS
1 review
Want to Read
April 13, 2026
So so disappointed it was supposed to release tomorrow as in 14th april but now it is delayed to may don’t know y authors do this was waiting frm past 6 months now i am disappointed and devastated not continuing this anymore 😭🥲
Profile Image for Kristy Johnson.
44 reviews1 follower
June 14, 2026
Filler at best! I’m pissed that I paid for this!
Profile Image for pinkpillsandblueshots.
201 reviews
June 15, 2026
First of all, I ate this book as soon as the e-book was pushed through. Because reading Gideon & Eva is always like seeing an old friend.

Anyhow, when it comes to this particular book, I feel like Crossfire series took a severe turn in terms of genre - now we have a suspense novel, don't we?

I have mixed feelings; i loved how Giden & Eva handled the situation while being skeptical on what Ronan did. When it comes to Ireland

Honestly I am still not in the Ireland & Roland boat, did not feel whatever they have between them. However it is comforting to see Giden is still Gideon and Eva is still Eva :) This is the silver lining.

Cliffhanger is awful and we got basically nothing out of this book: 1) we don't know who kidnapped Ireland 2) we still know nothing about the beef between Ronan & Chris 3) no clue on the threats Eva and Gideon had received in beach house

And now we have to wait for another 1 yr, for what?... When i think of it, Crossfire series had more developments in each book that i needed some time to digest until the next book. Can't remember how many times I re-read each volume. However Crossroads series so far are not doing it for me- sorry.

The first book was more sophisticated but this one is just shallow. It's basically the story of 3-4 days, am I wrong? I suspect the author deliberately cut the story in the middle and put some fillers to sell another book.
Profile Image for Midnightfairies.
308 reviews2 followers
June 17, 2026
Sylvia Day...what was this???
I am a HUGE Sylvia fan...Gideon and Eva are in my top 5 couples of all time! (and I've read a hella lot of books) but this book wasn't it, a year of waiting and I felt let down. This WAS NOT a sexy romance book, it was a very slow paced thriller?
This book was like an extended epilogue or a novella rather than full novel.
I'm gonna get into it below
Here's my thoughts...

What I liked...

* Gideon and Eva...I will never ever tire of reading about this couple, I saw some reviewers say that too much of the book was dedicated to them. I could disagree more, they were the best part!

* I'm enjoying getting into the heads of the individual characters (especially the kidnapper and Elizabeth) instead of simply reading them from someone else's perspective!

* Ireland and Ronan...I really do like these two, they are definitely not in the same league as Gideon and Eva (but no one ever will be). However Ireland is funny, sassy and really brave. Ronan is determined, damaged and so loyal to those he loves.


What I didn't like as much...where do I begin?

* The third person narration is off putting. I hate it!

* The kidnapping...this took up 75% of the story...literally!

* Lack of spice...one sex scene from Gideon and Eva very late in the book and a sex scene with Ireland and Ronan at 95% of the way through the book (oh and a weird sex scene with Jules and Scarlet)

* Gideon and Eva still don't have there true HEA after all these years (being stalked, threatened and still no long awaited baby)

* So so so many questions still unanswered from the original Crossfire series
- When and why did Gideon and Eva forgive Elizabeth for her atrocious behaviour?
- what happened to Cary having a baby with that girl from the Crossfire series?
- what happened to the scheming and bitter Corrine?

* A lacklustre cliff-hanger for a lacklustre book.


I don't know what went so wrong with this book, if id never read Sylvias amazing books before, I would've thought she was a very mediocre author (which she isn't)
I really hope she drops the weird third person narration and ups her game in book 3.

Also please please please give us a dreamy book to wrap up Gideon and Eva's story, no drama, just a look into how wonderful their lives are (after all the drama they went through) some babies? and answers to what happened to everyone after Crossfire ended.
Now to wait at least a year for book 3.
4 reviews
June 13, 2026
Disappointing

Not as good as the first one. To convoluted for me. Disjointed, too many side things going on. Hard to stay focused .
Profile Image for Faith.
34 reviews
Read
May 11, 2026
As of today, May 11th, 2026, Sylvia just announced that Ilusive has been delayed. It will come out in about 3 weeks. We will just have to wait and see.

I do wonder why she did not communicate this earlier. This seems to happen with every one of her books. Maybe it is because Ireland was not received well and got negative reviews?
2 reviews
July 18, 2026
Agree with other reviews, most disappointing wait for the second book as only covered Irelands kidnapping situation which was drawn out over the whole book & minimal perspective from Ireland who is the main character in the book. And when Ronan & Ireland finally come back together at the very end of the book, there was no expected romance or indication of where their relationship was heading into the future or past developments resolved, readers left hanging!
Profile Image for P.
664 reviews40 followers
June 16, 2026
An okay read. Ireland and Ronans relationship went from fast paced to slow burn cuz it's not really moving that fast. I disliked his brother having a POV and some other characters why does Gideon and Eva have such a huge part in this we even see them have a love making scene makes no sense. I do love the suspense aspect becuz omg what is gonna happen??
1 review
June 16, 2026
short changed

A feel as if the story I wanted to hear about didn’t start until 75% into the book a feel short changed as if a only got 25% of the real story and then it ended again and we have to wait till 2027 for the next book
9 reviews24 followers
Read
May 19, 2026
I read Ireland believing the author has grown out of her bad habit, apparently I was wrong. She decided to do it again to readers that gave her second chance.
Profile Image for Darcy.
14.8k reviews546 followers
June 20, 2026
There was a lot going on in this one and for Ireland, most of it was awful! It was interesting the way her family reacted, along with Ronan. Everyone had to put their feelings aside to concentrate on Ireland. Luckily things ended good their. Sure there will be things in the aftermath that will catch Ireland unaware, like leaving her building for the first time did, but at least she has great support.

We are getting closer to learning what Chris did to Ronan and his family, can't wait until that comes out. Ronan and everyone else in Ireland's family seems to be at an rest right now, not actively looking to hurt each other, more waiting to see what the other will do, the react.

I hope in the next book we find out who the 4th person is. I have guesses, want to see if I'm right and to know the why of it all, because it's very personal, what was done to Ireland and that last little phone call too.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Cynthia.
34 reviews
June 19, 2026
This didn't feel like a romance book at all. It was a weak attempt at writing a thriller. Half the book was just her being kidnapped and like ten different character POVs. Hers, ROnan, all the siblings, the cops, the kidnappers.
The whole time I was wondering why I was reading a thriller instead of a romance book. Ronan was pretty chill at her kidnapping hanging out with his family and just waiting for her family to handle it. This all comes after waiting a year, and then another two months of a delay like the author always tales. I don't know if the author just didn't know what to do with them or what. But I won't be waiting a year or two for the next book because this was just so trash. 75% in and they barely had their first conversation. Still, no romance.
The one star was just so you can know how trash it is because giving it no stars would imply I didn't care enough to rate it.. I am just going to focus on Gideon and Eva's story and stick to that.
Profile Image for Louise.
371 reviews
June 27, 2026
Thank you Netgally for the ARC!

Illusive is book 2 in the Crossroads series, you will need to read book 1, Ireland first so if you're lucky enough to be starting fresh, you're in for a real treat!

Both books leave us on a cliff hanger. Chapter 1 picks it right back up, so buckle up DAYDREAMERS! ♡

Ireland is kidnapped, by who? Why? its brutal, shes very nonchalant in how shes dealt with it and I was Pi**ed with hiw Gideon dealt with it. Who ever SHE is, shes nuts! Ronan makes me swoon, he's thoughtful and bold and seems to be 1 step ahead of Gideon which makes me laugh as you can feel the frustration and tension it causes.

Gideon and Eva feature heavily in this story but it works and its nice to catch up on their relationship and its integral for the family dynamics and business.

Im desperate to know the secret between Mr Vidal and Ronans history, the cause for the buy out, have i missed this?
It's dark, harsh, spicy and fast paced. Im so ready for book 3.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Amber | aambuurreads.
657 reviews39 followers
June 14, 2026
Where was the romance? Where was the love story? Most of this book is told through other characters’ perspectives instead of Ireland and Ronan’s, and that was such a disappointment for me. I love Gideon and Eva, but I’ve already spent time in their heads. I picked this up wanting more Ronan. More Ireland. This is their story after all. We are left yet again without a much deeper dive into their connection. I’m honestly so disappointed.
Profile Image for D'Juana Manuel-Smith.
Author 2 books7 followers
June 26, 2026
Yes I was so intrigued by reading more about the other characters, not only Ronan and Ireland.
To find out about his brother and his secret love... I wondered but didn't really expect it. The details coming to light about the abductors was wild. The backstory was crazy! But to read/see in my mind, the fight that Ireland gives to save herself was definitely worth the ride. There wasn't a lot more being revealed about the family secret rivalry. That was the thing I wanted to come out once Vidal understood how serious Ireland was about Ronan. Hoping maybe she'll go to meet his family in the conclusion.
I do not know exactly how long we have to wait for the conclusion to be released, but I feel it will be just as exciting.
Profile Image for Jessica 💛.
6 reviews
June 29, 2026
WARNING: SPOILERS!

it was a good book, and I did enjoy reading it BUT it honestly did not need to drag the kidnapping out, or the truth of why Ronan has a vendetta against Chris Sr.

I have to agree with the hundreds of other reviews, it felt very much like a lot of fillers, rather than substantial writing for the plot.

I’m still excited to read the 3rd book, but I’m really hoping the kidnapping aspect is tied up. It felt like it was a last minute plot idea and was thrown in.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Dee ♡.
89 reviews
July 1, 2026
3.5- The book was a bit boring until she was found. I dont know why other reviews say nothing happened but they must have not read the book in its completion.

It felt very much a Gideon and Eva story again and Im a bit bored of it already. Its only until the second half where Ireland was found that it felt centered back tp her again but ehhh. Im glad the next one will be the last one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Danielle Monteleone.
443 reviews7 followers
June 18, 2026
beyond all my expectations!!

Omg!! What a roller coaster of emotions this book causes. I love these characters and this storyline keeps you completely captivated and on the edge of your seat.

I can’t get enough of Gideon and Eva and I’m so happy they are such a big part of this story. My heart breaks for Gideon, all he wants to do is protect his family. With the kidnapping of Ireland, it pushed him in ways he is struggling to handle. Eva is his saving grace it’s still amazing.

Ronan is magnificent and I love him even more after this book. How he takes care of Ireland it’s beautiful.
Ireland is incredible! She’s just as fierce as Ronan keeps telling her she is. How she survived and eventually escaped is beyond strong. I hope she can have some normality soon. But until the stalker is captured, she’s not safe.

I can’t wait to get all the answers in the final book!!
Profile Image for Carolee Taylor.
546 reviews3 followers
June 26, 2026
Same as part 1 ends on a cliffhanger in case that type of thing bothers you. Gave a great recap at the beginning from book 1 always interesting characters and plot line. The chemistry between the MFC and MMC Is fire.
8 reviews
June 27, 2026
As always, Sylvia Day delivers!

You can’t put this book down. As with all of Sylvia’s books, she delivers the sensual romance, action, intrigue and a well developed story line of characters. Hopefully, the next installment isn’t far behind. I’ll be anxiously waiting. ❤️
2 reviews
June 28, 2026
👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

Great Read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ENJOYED IT👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽great excitement and great plot twist and turns ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha loved it
Profile Image for Toni Berry.
108 reviews
June 28, 2026
awesomeness with a side of Delicious


This is such an amazing piece you will be biting your nails from beginning to end.
Can’t wait for the next piece.
4 reviews
June 26, 2026
very intense

Very suspenseful, intense, great writing. I love her books they grab you and won’t let go. You gotta keep reading.
1 review
June 18, 2026
Noooooo!! what an ending

Devoured in a day, Sylvia has yet again struck gold with this book, her writing has always captivated and intrigued but this, this is something else entirely. I am heart broken, bereft and will undoubtedly be chomping at the but for the 3rd instalment. A wild ride this one fellow readers
1 review
June 20, 2026
Couldn’t Put It Down

2027 is to long for 3! Sylvia please.The anticipation for the next.
Ronan and Ireland, The chemistry is so hot. Very much reminding you of Gideon and Eva.
1 review
June 18, 2026
Enticing!

I don't want to give anything away. But oh mehn!!! Wow!! I will just say Ireland is a Tigress!! I love Ronan! He knows how to deal with Gideon. I don't know how Im going to handle waiting for the next book in this series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews