Review copy was received from Purchased. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Tangled Up In You by Christina Lauren Narrator: Patti Murin, Eunice Wong, Andrew Gibson
Series: Meant to Be #4
Published by Audible on June 25, 2024
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Length: 9 hours, 56 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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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 months short 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.
Tangled Up in You is a retelling of Disney’s Tangled and is the fourth book in the Meant to Be series. Each book in this series highlights a different Disney version of a fairytale, all by different authors, so you do not have to read them in order. I have really enjoyed other books by Christina Lauren and I love a good retelling so I was eager to pick this up. Also there is a book club kit on Netgalley and I thought it would be fun to read this with a few people with the kit.
Ren grew up homeschooled on a homestead out in the middle of nowhere. Most of her friends are the animals she takes care of on the homestead with a few interactions with the people in the town. She is twenty-two now and wants desperately to go to college and learn more. With great reluctance, her parents let her with the caveat that they will pick her up on Friday’s after class and drop her back off on Sundays. They have all kinds of rules too for while she is on campus, so she isn’t highjacked by the modern world. But finally she is free! It is all going really well until a class project that tests your DNA indicated the man she has known as her father isn’t and another man states away is at least her biological father.
Fritz projects the facade of a rich playboy to all of his classmates. With a complicated relationship with his rich father, he is at school for one thing only. He will get a degree in Law and then go one to destroy his father, the man who has made him miserable most of this teen life after he was adopted for some good press. When he meets Ren, he can’t believe her. She doesn’t have a phone, she didn’t fall for his charm and she is throwing off every curve as she decimates every test in the classes they share. The last thing he wanted to do was spend more time with her. But when she catches him in a compromising position, Ren bargains to join him on a road trip so she can meet the man that might be her father.
On an adventure across the country, they find that maybe they aren’t so different and possibly they might just be what the other needs in their life. This was a completely cute retelling and I adored Ren throughout the story. Fritz, did take a little longer to warm up to but once we learn of his past and issues with his father it was easy to cut him a little slack and grow to like him too. Especially after Ren learns her true history, he is fantastic while being patient and helping her come to terms with, well her entire life.
I want to say that I appreciate how this book dealt with the grief Ren felt after learning the truth of her life. They are some really complicated feelings that weren’t just happily ever aftered away. Which was perfect for this modern day retelling. Because honestly what would you do today if you learned your entire life was a lie and you were basically held prisoner in a prison you didn’t know existed? Very well handled.
The book club kit comes with a few bookmarks you can print out, a few recipes for both drinks and snacks, an interview with the author and some questions to assist with the discussions. Things like what makes a good retelling and discussions on the forced proximately trope. I think if you are in a standing book club with a few people this good to help set the tone and stoke some conversations. The few people I read this with, we discussed most of it online but I could see how this would be a lot of fun in person. There is also an activity to make a flower crown, which could be a lot of fun if you run a book club that meets in person.
Narration:
Patti Murin, Eunice Wong and Andrew Gibson narrate the story. I love it when we get different voices for most of the characters as I feel like it adds to the depth of the storytelling. All of them brought their main character to life. Their timing and diction matched up well in the story and made sure the pacing felt right for the characters as we go through all of their experiences. I really enjoyed the story more because of the narration. I was able to listen at my normal 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip:Â HERE
About Christina Lauren
Yes, there are two of us! Lauren (on the left) and Christina (on the right).
Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners/besties/soulmates Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The #1 international bestselling coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced fourteen New York Times bestselling novels. They are published in over 30 languages, have received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal and Publishers Weekly, won both the Seal of Excellence and Book of the Year from RT Magazine, named Amazon and Audible Romance of the Year, and been nominated for several Goodreads Choice Awards. They have been featured in publications such as Forbes, The Washington Post, Time, Entertainment Weekly, People, O Magazine and more. Their third YA novel, Autoboyography was released in September, followed by a contemporary romance, Roomies in December, and their first Women’s Fiction, Love and Other Words in April.
Lauren Billings (but everyone calls her Lo) has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and before she made writing her full-time job, would spend her days doing nerdy research-type things wearing a lab coat and goggles. She is silly Mommy to two littles, wife to one mountain biking homebrewing scientist, and an unabashed lover of YA and romance.
Christina Hobbs (but you’ll always hear Lo call her PQ) used to spend her days in a junior high counseling office surrounded by teenagers. These days you can find her at her desk, writing or watching BTS videos. She grew up in Utah and is absolutely not old enough to be the mom of a 17 year old (right??), thinks she’s the luckiest person in the world to write books with her best friend, and is an unapologetic lover of boy bands and glitter.
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Def adding this to my TBR list! Might even make the book club read this 😉
A good retelling is so much fun.
I did like this. It really made me want to join a real-life book club. Instead of the online buddy reads I do.
I’ve read the first in this series, and loved it. Love the authors of this one, so can’t wait to get to it! Great review!