Tangled Up In You
Meant to be #4
By: Christina Lauren
Publisher: Hyperion Avenue
Publication date: June 25, 2024
Genre: New Adult Romance
Rating:

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.

My thoughts…

This is a cute retelling of Rapunzel. Ren is a girl who grew up on a homestead with zero influence of the outside world. They lived off the grid, grew their own food, made their own clothes, and even home schooled Ren. However, Ren wants more, and she is able to gain a scholarship to a nearby college. Of course, her parents are very concerned this will taint their daughter, but they reluctantly let her go on the condition that she only goes to class, then back to her room, and they pick her up on Friday to take her home for the weekend. However, when one of her classes does an ancestry test, Ren’s world is flipped upside down and she finds herself questioning everything.

I really liked that the author’s made this story their own while still maintaining that original essence of Rapunzel. Ren’s development while at college is gradual, but it’s there and it was what made the story what it is. She starts off so innocent and I was worried she would remain that way, but she is quick on her feet to adapt to situations that I wouldn’t have thought she could. The romance between Ren and Fitz is slow and gradual. He reluctantly allows her to join him on a road trip, and along the way he becomes protective of her and they strike up a friendship. I liked that it wasn’t lust at first sight or anything like that. Everything with this book was well balanced and grew at a steady pace.

If you are looking for a modern day retelling of Rapunzel that takes place in college, then I recommend you grab a copy of this book and read it.