She has a dream. He has a plan. Together they’ll take a leap of faith.
Ren has never held an iPhone, googled the answer to a question, or followed a crush on social media. What she has done: Read a book or two, or three (okay, hundreds). Taught herself to paint. Built a working wind power system from scratch. But for all the books she’s read, Ren has never found one that’s taught a woman raised on a homestead and off the grid for most of her twenty-two years how to live in the real world. So when she finally achieves her lifelong dream of attending Corona College, it feels like her life is finally beginning.
Fitz has the rest of his life mapped out: Graduate from Corona at the top of his class, get his criminal record wiped clean, and pass himself off as the rich, handsome player everyone thinks he is. He’s a few short months from checking off step one of his plans when Ren Gylden, with her cascading blonde hair and encyclopedic brain, crashes into his life, and for the first time Fitz’s plan is in jeopardy.
But a simple assignment in their immunology seminar changes the course of both their lives, and suddenly they’re thrown out of the frying pan and into the fire on a road trip that will lead them in the most unexpected directions. Out on the open road, the world somehow shifts, and the unlikely pair realize that, maybe, the key to the dreams they've both been chasing have been sitting next to them the whole time.
Ren has never held an iPhone, googled the answer to a question, or followed a crush on social media. What she has done: Read a book or two, or three (okay, hundreds). Taught herself to paint. Built a working wind power system from scratch. But for all the books she’s read, Ren has never found one that’s taught a woman raised on a homestead and off the grid for most of her twenty-two years how to live in the real world. So when she finally achieves her lifelong dream of attending Corona College, it feels like her life is finally beginning.
Fitz has the rest of his life mapped out: Graduate from Corona at the top of his class, get his criminal record wiped clean, and pass himself off as the rich, handsome player everyone thinks he is. He’s a few short months from checking off step one of his plans when Ren Gylden, with her cascading blonde hair and encyclopedic brain, crashes into his life, and for the first time Fitz’s plan is in jeopardy.
But a simple assignment in their immunology seminar changes the course of both their lives, and suddenly they’re thrown out of the frying pan and into the fire on a road trip that will lead them in the most unexpected directions. Out on the open road, the world somehow shifts, and the unlikely pair realize that, maybe, the key to the dreams they've both been chasing have been sitting next to them the whole time.
Title: Tangled Up In You (Meant To Be #4)
Author: Christina Lauren
Publisher: Hyperion Avenue
Expected Publication Date: June 25, 2024
Review:
Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Ren has been sheltered all her life but now she's branching out to go to college. But even with this new adventure, her parents insist she comes back to the homestead on weekends and won't let her tell anyone where she lives. It's been like this all her life and she never thought it was odd. Until she meets Fitz, and goes on a cross country adventure with him to investigate some DNA results she got from her class at school. Along the way she has many firsts, including finding herself attracted to Fitz. But her parents won't have any of it and find her only to drag her back home. But turns out there's more to her parents and her life than she could have ever imagined.
I love Christina Lauren and all their books. Of course I needed a chance to read this one and see what it was about. It's very different from their usual romance. If you're looking for a typical Lauren book, this won't be it. But it's a cute story. It's a reimagining of a modern day Rapunzel story. And it's dual POV, which I love in a romantic story.
Ren is oddly sheltered, having grown up home schooled with parents who insisted they be totally self-sufficient on their homestead. College is a totally different animal for her. One where she learns there's more to life than only what her parents have presented. She's a naive character but at the same time has fairly good instincts about people. I think this is what saves her character for me. Because while she's been sheltered all her life, she still managed to walk away with a good head on her shoulders.
Fitz is damaged goods. Or at least that's what he believes. He doesn't like to let anyone in and doesn't like for people to know about his past. He's determined to graduate and make something of himself, and seek revenge all at the same time. He didn't need Ren in his life to change how he feels about his plan, but there she is. And, while he comes across as locked up, he really just needed the right person in his life to help him open up and see what he can truly make of himself.
I kind of figured out the underlying plot line early on. Something never sat right for me with Ren's parents. They were odd and still insisting on sheltering her at the age of 22 seemed very off to me. The romance is definitely part of the story, but it's really not the main plot line. If you're looking for the usual spice that accompanies Lauren's books, you won't find it here. You'll find some light romance and attraction. But the book truly reads more like a YA book. The main plot is really Ren coming into herself and learning what she needs to do to be an independent woman.
If you're looking for a cute fast reading romantic adventure a la Disney style with a bit of a mysterious twist, jump into this one.
Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners/best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced twenty New York Times bestselling novels. Their books have been translated into 30+ languages. (Some of these books have kissing. Some of these books have A LOT of kissing.)
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