Book Review: Tangled (Tangled #1) by Emma Chase

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Tangled
Tangled #1
By:  Emma Chase
Publ:  August 2, 2013
Publisher:  Gallery Books
Source:  Publisher
Mature Content:  18 & Up


GR's Summary:

Drew Evans is a winner. Handsome and arrogant, he makes multimillion dollar business deals and seduces New York’s most beautiful women with just a smile. He has loyal friends and an indulgent family. So why has he been shuttered in his apartment for seven days, miserable and depressed? 

He’ll tell you he has the flu.

But we all know that’s not really true.

Katherine Brooks is brilliant, beautiful and ambitious. She refuses to let anything - or anyone - derail her path to success. When Kate is hired as the new associate at Drew’s father’s investment banking firm, every aspect of the dashing playboy’s life is thrown into a tailspin. The professional competition she brings is unnerving, his attraction to her is distracting, his failure to entice her into his bed is exasperating. 

Then, just when Drew is on the cusp of having everything he wants, his overblown confidence threatens to ruin it all. Will he be able untangle his feelings of lust and tenderness, frustration and fulfillment? Will he rise to the most important challenge of his life? 

Can Drew Evans win at love? 

Tangled is not your mother’s romance novel. It is an outrageous, passionate, witty narrative about a man who knows a lot about women…just not as much as he thinks he knows. As he tells his story, Drew learns the one thing he never wanted in life, is the only thing he can’t live without.

Tangled Series:

 My Thoughts:

I had heard about Tangled a while back when it was self published.  It seemed that many bloggers were enjoying Drew's story tremendously.  Then, my good bloggy friend, Nereyda, from Mostly YA Book Obsessed, highly recommended it, and I added it to the top of my TBR.  When I was offered the book for review, I quickly snatched it up, and crossed my fingers that it would live up to all of the hype, and believe me, it did!  At the end of the book, we even get a short little excerpt leading in to the next installment, Twisted, which will be told from the female character's point of view, Kate.

If you have been in a reading funk or are looking for something to lift your spirits, look no further.  Tangled is such a fun, humorous, sexy, and romantic story!  I found myself chuckling and full out laughing throughout this story.  It was highly entertaining, as it was told through Drew's view point; a sexy, intelligent, ambitious, and cocky womanizer, who always gets what he wants, when he wants it!  Drew was such a colorful, witty, and fun character that completely had me engaged, as he told his candid story of falling in love for the very first time.  I loved reading from the male point of view.  This story felt authentic, and it would be perfect for the big screen!

At the beginning of the story, we get a devastated Drew, who is heart broken, (though he claims he's just sick with the flu) because things did not work out with Kate, (the woman he fell in love with.)  He then flashes back to the first time he met Kate, and tells us the story of how he fell in love, and ended up in his present state.  Along the way, we are entertained by Drew's factoids on the way the male brain works, the life he led before he met Kate, and how everything changed for him when she entered his life.  Kate was a fabulous character.  She was strong, independent, witty, intelligent, and ambitious.  When Drew and Kate were in the same scenes, fireworks always erupted.  Whether it was from sexual tension, these two competing against one another through work sabotage, or hot love scenes, the excitement never ended!  It was fun watching the verbal foreplay between Drew and Kate.  These two loved to argue, but their banter was always witty, fun, passionate, and humorous.  

I enjoyed getting to know the side characters as well.  Alexandra, also know as, "The Bitch," was Drew's sister, and I loved how all the guys were intimidated by her.  She was such a strong woman, and I had the utmost respect for her character.  Her husband, Steven, was a good friend, husband, and father, but it was obvious who ruled their marriage.  McKenzie, Drew's niece, was a sweet, cute, and inquisitive, 4 year old little dynamo.  She was the apple of Drew's eye, and had me smiling, and laughing whenever she made an appearance.  She had a tendency to repeat everything verbatim, which got Drew into hot water with his sister, quite a few times in the story.  Matthew, Drew's and Steven's other good friend, was a womanizer as well.  In fact, Drew and Matthew were partner's in crime when they went out together on Saturday nights to pick up women at various clubs and bars.  Matthew ends up meeting Kate's best friend, Dolores, (Dee Dee) who give's Alexandra a run for her money in the strong woman department. I loved watching Dee Dee put Drew in his place, as she tried to protect Kate from getting hurt.  She was a loyal friend, and fun character.  We are going to get Dee Dee and Matthew's story in an upcoming installment, Tamed, and I can't wait!!!!

My Rating:

If you haven't already guessed, I LOVED Tangled, by Emma Chase, and highly recommend it!!!!  The entertainment, flair, and humor in the story reminded me a lot of Wallbanger, by Alice Clayton.  If you enjoyed Wallbanger, I guarantee that Tangled will be a much loved read for you as well.  If you are looking for an instant hit to add to your reading shelf, add Tangled!  You won't be disappointed.  I give Tangled, by Emma Chase, 5 Spectacular, Swoony, Fun, Laugh-Out-Loud Stars!

My Favorite Quotes:

"Everything snaps into place.  The picture is as clear as crystal.  That's what it's like for me--right now--looking at Kate.  Suddenly, it's all so obvious.  So frigging clear.  I'm in love with her.  Totally.  Helplessly.  Pathetically.  In love.  Kate owns me.  Body and soul.  She's all I think about.  She's everything I never thought I wanted.  She's not just perfect--she's perfect for me.  I'll do anything for her.  Anything.  I want her near me, with me.  All the time.  Forever.  It's not just the sex.  It's not just her gorgeous body or her brilliant mind.  It's not just that she makes me think or how eager she is to challenge me.  It's more than any of that.  It's all of it.  It's her."  (Paperback, Pg. 137)

~Drew 

"Women fall in love quicker than men.  Easier and more often.  But when guys fall?  We go down harder.  And when things go bad?  When it's not us who ends it?  We don't get to walk away.  We crawl."  (Paperback, Pg. 150)

~Drew

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About Emma Chase:

By day, Emma Chase is a devoted wife and mother of two who resides in a small, rural town in New Jersey. By night she is a keyboard crusader, toiling away the hours to bring her colorful characters and their endless antics to life. She has a long standing love/hate relationship with caffeine. 

Emma is an avid reader. Before her children were born she was known to consume whole books in a single day. Writing has also always been a passion and with the 2013 release of her debut romantic comedy, Tangled, the ability to now call herself an author is nothing less than a dream come true. 

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