Review: Tangled by Emma Chase

Title: Tangled (Tangled #1) 
Author: Emma Chase
Publication: May 20, 2013 by Omnific
Reviewed by: Isalys
Rating: 4 stars
Reason for Reading: Copy provided by publisher during BEA

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.

I made a new book rule for myself: REFRAIN (or at least try) FROM PEEKING AT REVIEWS PRIOR TO READING.  I did that because I realized that if too many people rated a book a certain way, it would alter my expectations of the book and well, that's not really fair is it? However, when it came to Tangled, I cheated and sneaked a peek anyway.  In this case, I was rather glad that I did.  I had received a copy of this book courtesy of Omnific during BEA 2013 and I didn't know anything about this story.  From what I had seen, there were many mixed reviews.  Some people gushed & raved and some others just couldn't deal with Drew - and this only increased my curiousity.

I delved into this book fully expecting Drew to be a chauvinistic, self-centered douche-canoe.  What I did not expect was for him to make me laugh as much as he did.  While I am typically not a fan of jerks, I did appreciate that he was honest about it.  He knew he wasn't "boy next door" material and he made no apologies for it.  Frankly, while I can understand how much of what he said is considered disrespectful and demeaning, I actually found it hysterically funny.  Maybe I simply have a guy's sense of humor or I've been married to one for too long but I thoroughly enjoyed my journey through the male mind.

"Men pretty much have sex on the brain twenty-four-seven. The exact figure is like every 5.2 seconds or some shit like that.  The point is, when you ask, 'What do you want for dinner?' we're thinking about screwing you on the kitchen counter. When you're telling us about the sappy film you watched with your girlfriends last week, we're thinking about the porno we saw on cable last night. When you show us designer shoes you bought on sale, we're thinking how nice they would look on our shoulders.
I just thought you'd want to know. Don't shoot the messenger.
It's a curse, really."

Most of you know that character development is a big thing for me.  It's so incredibly satisfying to read about a character like Drew fall madly in love and be humbled by a woman.  Our female lead, Katherine, is exactly the type of woman who could bring him down.  She's strong, intelligent, hard-working, determined, professional, and empowered.  She's also classy, likes to have fun and doesn't mind getting down and dirty.  She matched Drew step-for-step and she wasn't seduced by him but rather allowed him to seduce her.  You go girl!  The ending was sweet and exactly what I hoped it would be.

The narrative was original and unique.  While some had issues with it, I found it refreshing.  You are introduced to Drew during his low-point and from there, he proceeds to tell us about how he got there.  It's first-person primarily told in the form of flashbacks blended with his own insights and witticisms until the story catches up to the present and then you move forward with him.

STRONG HEROINE + CHEEKY PLAYBOY + HILARIOUS BANTER =

A light, entertaining, charming, and sexy read!   

However, I do recommend you proceed with caution if you are sensitive to certain language and/or crass tongue in cheek humor.

“Newsflash, ladies: We can’t read your thoughts. And frankly, I’m not entirely sure I’d want to. The female mind is a scary place to be.”

And isn't that the damn truth? lol