2.5/5 stars. I wanted to like this so much more than I did. The romance is the strongest aspect, but it’s not enough to carry a story that has flat characters and too much internal exposition. Granted, Tangled isn’t the easiest story to adapt for a modern setting, and neither is Rapunzel in general; the authors tried their best to work with a tricky concept and I can respect that. But ultimately, I’m left disappointed by some of the choices made, and it doesn’t leave me wanting more from this author duo.

A longer, in-depth review for Twin Cities Geek is linked below.

We meet Ren, who has essentially lived off the grid, and off of the land for her entire life. Ren has never owned an iPhone, searched the internet for answers, or pursued a romantic interest on social media. What has she engaged in? Reading hundreds of books, learning to paint on her own or even constructing a functional wind energy system from the ground up. Yet, despite her extensive reading, Ren does not understand how to navigate the complexities of the real world. So, when she finally reaches her goal of enrolling in Corona College, (against the wishes of her parents) it feels like her journey is just beginning.

Upon entering college, Ren meets Fitz. who has his entire future planned: He aims to excel at Corona College, clear his criminal record, and present himself as the wealthy, attractive man everyone believes him to be. He's just a few months away from accomplishing the first step of his agenda when Ren Gylden enters his life placing Fitz's plans at risk.

What appears to be a straight forward task in their Immunology class, presents a predicament that will alter their fates. On a journey taken together,
they are thrown into a situation that leads them down paths they never expected. As they travel, the world seems to shift, and the unexpected duo realizes that the solutions to their dreams might have been right in front of them all along.

Modern day retelling of Disney's Rapunzel with some interesting twists to make the story plausible in this day and age. I found the characters to be interesting, but there was a YA vibe that I wasn't expecting given who the authors are and what they typically write. To be fair, I should've looked harder and seen that this was specifically part of the Meant to Be series which seems to be specifically YA, but alas, this is a 1/5 on the spice scale.

Other than that, I found the story to be interesting, but a bit oddly paced. There were times I was audibly laughing (the bar scene was great), but others where I felt like I was pushing myself to keep turning pages.

All in all, an interesting read, but didn't grab my heart the way that I was hoping it would.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There are two things you should know about me: 1) I will read anything by Christina Lauren, and 2) I love all things Disney. So, of course, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book, and it did not disappoint. Based on Disney’s “Tangled,” this book stayed true to the basic plot points of the movie, but the authors added their own spin to the story, reimagining it into a modern-day fairytale. Even though I’ve seen the movie 1,000 times, I still had no idea what was going to happen next. This was such a fun and sweet romantic comedy with a bit of mystery. I could not stop smiling and laughing while I was reading. Ren and Fitz had excellent chemistry, and I loved the grumpy-meets-sunshine, forced proximity, and enemies-to-lovers tropes. I absolutely devoured this book, which I immediately regretted because I was sad when it was over. Luckily, there are more Disney retellings in the “Meant to Be” series, and I can’t wait to read them!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this sweet yet somewhat predictable retelling of Rapunzel. I was so invested in Ren and Fitz and their road trip, it was enjoyable watching Ren find herself and develop during the story. A fun, cute romance that was wnderfully written. Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

I haven't read any of the other books in this YA Disney retelling serues by various romance authors but this one appealed to me because I love Tangled and I love Christina Lauren! It was one of few ebooks that held my interest in early July so it was definitely quite enjoyable and I did really enjoy the plot and characters. Ren's character felt true to Rapunzel if you enjoy the Disney movie and I also felt like Flynn Rider would've gotten along well with Fitz. The road trip and shenanigans and conclusion to this book were all delightful and fun and helped the pace move along nicely. Overall, it was just a fun time with these characters despite some very less than fun plot moments with family characters.

Christina and Lauren are some of my favourite romance authors so I'm not surprised that they pulled off this addition to the little series so well! I'm still not sure if I'm inclined to pick up the other Meant to Be books but I will likely feel comfortable sharing them with my girls in a few years and they will like them I'm sure!

4.5/5 ☀️

this is the story of how i died. but don’t worry, this is actually a very fun story, and the truth is… it isn’t even mine. this is the story of a girl named rapun-ren. a story about a girl named ren and a man named fitz. heavily inspired by the greatest disney princess film ever made (my own personal opinion)

as somebody who has gone as rapunzel more than once for halloween, has been collecting every and anything rapunzel themed for as long as she can remember, and has the entirety of tangled memorized… the love i have for this book. it’s serious.

the references!!!!! had me giggling/squealing/hyperfixating and trying to not spiral back into my obsession (too late). pascal the cat, max the car. the girl with long golden hair, completely isolated from society on a small homestead farm in idaho. she finally gets the chance to attend a real school. while at college she meets fitz. resident bad boy/player. literally the complete opposite of ren. the two of them embark on a journey of self discovery (aka a road trip) and learn more about themselves and each other.

this book had endless tangled references, forced proximity, enemies to lovers, opposites attract, one bed trope and a plethora of Clueless references. aka this book was instant love for me!!!

recommending this book to everyone who has a soul and had (read: still has) a thing for flynn rider.

thank you to netgalley and hyperion avenue for an e-arc of this book!

Christina Lauren, does it again and knocks it out of the park!!!! five stars all the way!!! Thiswas the cutest retelling sort of I’ve ever read! The romance, the banter, the strong, female character, the brooding, main male character were all superb! I gave this book 5 stars, and I loved every minute of it, beginning with the cover!

3.5 ⭐️

I had no idea this book was followed in a princess type series. Different authors have written modern day stories reflecting different fairytales. This one is based on Rapunzel. (Or Tangled for those Disney lovers. I haven’t watched it yet- so I’m going old school 😅)

I’m a huge Christina Lauren fan, but this one I found really hard to rate. Between a 3 and a 4 ⭐️ but not quite a 4, not as low as a 3, LOL, ya.

It took a little while for me to get into the story. I almost jumped ship a few times. But I buckled down and got through it. It wasn’t terrible. A few far fetched things, but it’s a modern day fairytale right? It was cute and fun, and had a smidge of suspense towards the end.


“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.”


Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for a DRC. Tangled Up In You is available now!

So I'm the oddball out who hasn't seen Tangled - so all those parallels are lost on me. lol That said, despite being a YA story (not my favorite and something I didn't realize prior to requesting this one), I really enjoyed this story. It was super cute, and will never not love a grumpy hero. Solid story from one of my favorite writing duos.

This was one of my favorite books by this author! Such a great character development and plot. I can’t wait to add this book to my library. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

A nice spin on this romcom. Pretty predictable all around but still made for a nice summer read. Gave off vibes of “Room”.

Thank you Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for another awesome book.

I've always been a big fan of Christina Lauren books, they are my favorite romcom writing duo. This one felt a lot different than their other books though, especially toward the end. It was a really good interpretation of Rapunzel/Tangled! I felt like I was watching a disney movie itself unfold!

Fitz & Ren had a great relationship and I loved their witty banter. I really liked Ren's character and the backstory of her growing up. The ending came together way too fast I wish it slowed a little bit.

Thank you Hyperion and Netgalley for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute story and made more fun if you have watched the movie Tangled. This was a very slow burn and not super steamy. There were some fun nods to the movie like the frying pan and fireworks. The ending is where the drama really picked up, and I really enjoyed the ending. I did love this had dual pov!

Hearing Christina Lauren and Tangled together it was an immediate yes from me. But no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get into this. I understand why they choose third person but the FMC was really hard to relate too and the third just made it worse for me.

Upon hearing of this Tangled retelling, I was intrigued and excited, as I read By the Book a couple years ago from the Meant to Be series and I love Christina Lauren. Unfortunately, I couldn’t connect with the characters, I found it slow,and ultimately boring. I DNF at 31%.

As I did not finish the book, I will not be posting a review on any socials.

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Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and Netgalley for a gifted advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

This was a really fun modern retelling of Tangled, which was a really cute Disney adaptation of Rapunzel by the Brothers (Jakob and Wilhelm) Grimm.

Let me start by saying you can not take this book too seriously as it is based off of an adaptation of a fairytale. With that being said, I think it was incredibly well done.

I enjoyed getting to know our main characters. I have to admit that I did not initially love Fitz, but as all good Prince Charmings do, he came around and wormed his way into my good graces. You couldn't help but feel for him and root for him once he made the decision to take a different path. It was fun to watch Ren come of age as a late bloomer experiencing everything for the first time and their relationship was just so sweet.

I found this book to be easy to read. I enjoyed the writing style and thought the pacing was pretty consistent throughout. I was able to lose myself in the story and the time passed quickly. If you enjoy fairytales and your romances on the clean side, go ahead an give this one a try.

#TangledUpInYou #NetGalley

If you enjoyed Tangled, I think you'll love this book. It's sweet and has a great grumpy-sunshine dynamic that’s both funny and heartwarming. Christina Lauren did a fantastic job, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

This was an emotional rollercoaster read with some spice sprinkled in! I liked the plot with all its twists and turns. I also liked that the story was told in both Ren and Fritz's point of view. It helped give the reader both sides of the story and added interest. I liked watching Fritz and Ren progress throughout the story as they learned to care for and trust each other. I especially enjoyed the action-filled ending and how Fritz was there to rescue Ren. I appreciated that there were no open-door sex scenes, but there was a lot of sex talk and passionate kissing scenes that were a bit spicy for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

3-3.5🌟 (rounded up!)

This series follows famous Disney tales— this one being based on, Tangled. I haven’t read books 1-3 but I love the movie Tangled & CL, so had to give this one a try!

The story was super sweet & very close to Tangled 🥰 The first half lost my interest at times, but I really enjoyed the second half! It was a quick & easy to read. I loved the adventure aspect 😊

Read if you like:
- Disney movies
- no spice
- road trips
- one bed trope
- complex family dynamics
- farm life
- finding yourself

💕