This was for a cute modern retelling of Disney's Tangled. The authors definitely capture the charm of the Diney princess in their leading lady Ren who was raised off the grid but heads off to college. The relationship with the two leads develops nicely and there are a few cute nods to Tangled during the road trip. The story does go to a bit of a dark place near the end, related to the reason for the road trip. Still, Tangled up in you was enjoyable and probably my favorite of the 4 fairy tale retellings that were eventually bundled with this short.

ARC courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. Available 6/25/2024. This is an unpaid review.

Christina and Lauren are killing it this year! Tangled is one of my favorite movies, and this is my favorite of the Meant to Be series. I absolutely loved Fitz and Ren with my whole heart! I stayed awake until 2:30 am finishing it because the ending was so good! A perfect book!

Tangled Up in You is a retelling of the story of Rapunzel/Tangled. Now I've only caught bits and pieces of the movie but I do know some about the story. Ren and Fitz are as opposites as can be. Fitz is the more outgoing of the two and Ren is a sweet albeit naive girl. These two embark on a road trip that will change each of their lives. This story did start out cute. I liked seeing how being with one another made both Ren and Fitz open their eyes and become better. The transformation as the story progressed was nice. The road trip was great. It was a good way for Ren and Fitz to connect and really fall. The ending was a little rough for me. I understand to keep the connection with the movie but it was still hard for me to truly get into it. Overall, the majority of the story was pleasant and I liked seeing Ren and Fitz grow and become fantastic by the end. I think fans of the movie and the story of Rapunzel will like this book.

This story was so amazing! The way it was written had all the perfect elements of tangled! Also, what a great story between Edward and Ren! I loved reading the acknowledgments and we can all agree that the hot tub scene was the best!! The special takeaways that only a true tangled fan would know was great!

This book was so cute! I think if it had been unrelated to Disney, it could have been a bit ridiculous at times, but knowing what it was based off of, it was everything.

Fitz was the perfect amount of cool and flirty mixed with tragic backstory. Also, he was such a simp. We already know this of Flynn Ryder, but Fitz took it to another level. He looked and thought about Ren (yes, it's dual pov!) like she was the actual sunshine in his world of darkness. I was swooning over him swooning over her.

And Ren was a literal ball of light and kindness. She's who we all secretly want to be before the world hardens us. I loved seeing the world and the people in it from her optimistic pov. Also, I have to say, Christina and Lauren did a great job of making her naive and innocent, but also able to take care of herself. She wasn't helpless or an idiot which I really appreciated. She learned quickly and adapted to circumstances where necessary, but mostly, she made every situation better. She might just be the best character ever.

And I love a good road-trip romance especially when there's only one bed...

This author duo delivered as I knew they would. This book was sweet and flirty while also having heart-pounding moments of action and mystery. I'm loving these modern fairytales and I can't wait for the next!

After not loving the first two books in the Meant to Be series, I hadn't planned on reading any others, but the combo of Christina Lauren + Tangled drew me back in. And I'm so glad it did!

I thought Christina Lauren did a great job modernizing Tangled in Tangled Up in You. There were some parts that I might have seen as being cringy in other instances, but the tie-ins to Tangled made it so I enjoyed some of the ridiculousness. Ren and Fitz were both great characters that had clear reference points to Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. I was most intrigued to see how they modernized Rapunzel being kidnapped from the King and Queen and I really appreciated what they did with that.

I've seen some complaints about Tangled Up in You lacking the level of steam that usually comes with Christina Lauren books, which is fair. It didn't bother me, but I love YA and new adult books, so maybe I'm more used to this level of steam.

Thank you to Christina Lauren, Hyperion Avenue, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

My two favorite authors, writing a retelling of one of my favorite Disney movies, YES PLEASE!!! I like this one a lot. Though I will admit, at times I found Ren a little annoying with the constant questions, but she won me over. I liked Fitz. They matched perfectly together.

This was a little bit slow in the beginning, but it definitely picks up and is worth the read.

Also, how about the cover? I love it so much!

I have many absolute favorite of Christina Lauren- this author duo is an absolute dream!

This books felt a bit different than their normal reads. Did I enjoy it? Absolutely, but I do think my long history with the author duo may have over-shot my hype!

Still a great time, and love the idea of these books.

Super adorable Tangled retelling. Ren is a country bumpkin who was raised on a remote farm with her parents and just now being allowed to go to college. She’s adorably innocent and naive and outperforms everyone in school because of her book knowledge and hard working nature. This proves to be annoying and intimidating for Fitz, who is the smoldering campus heart throb with a his own untarnished reputation. However, he’s hiding some secrets of his past and future goals and has no interest in befriending Ren. When a classroom activity has Ren submitting her DNA for an ancestry test, she’s shocked to find a parental connection to someone who is not the father who raised her. She somehow cons Fitz to drive her most of the way across the country in order to meet this mysterious stranger. Along the way, Ren and Fitz slowly build a connection with each other, which was sweet and fun to read. We get all sorts of drama when we uncover the truth about Ren’s family history. And we get to see Fitz be an amazingly supportive guy along the way. Loved it. An absolute delight.

✔️ Retelling
✔️ Grumpy/Sunshine
✔️ Road Trip
✔️ One Bed

Tangled is one of my favorites Disney movies and one I watched repeatedly when my kid was young so I know it by heart. This book was a perfect retelling, capturing all the magic from the source material while also being an engrossing and stellar story on its own.

The characters of Ren and Fitz are so fun together; their banter was top tier - hilarious and flirty and withwowzers chemistry that leaps off the page.

There were so many moments I loved
- The callbacks to objects/characters from the movie that didn't make it directly into the books (these were delightfully surprising and fun)
- I had cartoon hearts floating out of my eyes seeing Fitz fall for her slowly and being straight up delighted by her sunshiney-ness
- Ren's optimism and bubbly personality
- Every single moment of the road trip
- Every single moment of Ren's birthday
- The hotel pool and hot tub

Til now, if asked what my favorite retelling was, I'd say something Pride and Prejudice related. But now, it's this - Tangled Up in You was the most fun read and one that will have you squealing and kicking your feet up in the air, it is so cute.

While not a spicy read, I have to give it to CLo who were able to infuse steam in some really excellent kissing and make-out scenes.

An enthusiastic 5⭐️!

Steam 🔥
Banter 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕💕💕💕💕

Wow, just wow. This was so much different and heavier than I thought it would be and I loved it. Two people striving to find their way in the world, find each other and everything they never knew they needed or wanted. Fitz has had a lifetime of disappointment. Never good enough for anyone and never really being loved. He has a game plan and he is on the road to getting to destination he has planned. Ren grew up off the gird with her seemingly loving parents finally gets to learn about the world who she applies and is accepted into college, never having had any type of traditional schooling. She is a genius and finally convinced her parents to let her go. When she asks for help (okay, kind of blackmails in the funniest way) they head off on a life altering journey, both literally and figuratively. They are so different and yet they not only save themselves, but save each other. A terrific love story also includes child abduction, finding family, creating one, and a whole lot of love.

Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for the eGalley to review!

Straight up, this is just an official modern/college alternate universe (AU) fic for Disney's Tangled. In non-fandom terms, that means it is a loose retelling of the movie set in modern times and starts off in a college, with more mature themes (swearing, alcohol, talk of sex, sexual scenes, etc.). It's not much deeper than that--it's legitimately just an attempt at making a more adult, modern version of the original story but with every human's name changed, additional characters added, and a setting now in the United States. (By the way, Pascal is a cat and Max is a 1970 Mustang car! So that's fun!)

Rapunzel (now Ren) meets Eugene/Flynn (now Edward/Fitz) in college (after Ren begs and begs and begs to go) and a DNA sequencing unit in their shared immunology class sets them off on their adventure. Most of the core plot points from the original are there--Ren has been isolated all her life, she meets someone from the outside world who can bring her to her goal, Edward/Fitz doesn't initially like her and tries to scare or guilt her off (yes, the bar scene is there and still fun), Gothel (now Gloria) encourages Ren to come home right at the most important leg of her journey, and Edward/Fitz has to rescue her. We're even treated to many of the iconic lines from the original, making some story beats line up where they should. Our romance is the same and it is still so sweet that my heart is so full reading about them falling in love again.

Yet if you were to ask even me--a Tangled fan who was so obsessed with it that they have consumed every piece of media about it to an excessive degree--I could not fathom who most of the other characters are supposed to be. I thought for sure Ren's college dorm mate, Miriam, was supposed to be Cassandra from the Tangled Ever After series, but I still can't confirm it. Everywhere our main lovebirds go is a real life place in the United States, except for the only place that retains a name from the original: Corona College. Even relationships aren't the same (it's not just Gloria who's raising Ren, it's also some man named Steve!), so when I say a "loose retelling", I mean it--if you're looking for a one-to-one, closely related script that just gets a new setting and some occasional modern upgrades, your best bet is with an actual fanfic on the Internet.

But I still enjoyed the story for what it is, even with the parts that were sadly lacking. It's a great new adult romance for those who aren't familiar with the source material, and a fun and cheeky new official bit of storytelling for fans of the original that would love to see Rapunzel and Eugene fall so sweetly in love all over again in a fresh way. It's going into my personal Tangled collection, that's for sure.

Fun and funny, but with a serious turn, this imaginative retelling features a grumpy/sunshine cast, a mysterious past, and a simple happy ending. I think you’ll love the banter, the goofy vibes and the surprisingly complex characters.

Story ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice 🌶️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. These opinions are my own.

Ok, I didn’t love this at first. I didn’t care for Ren and her family and Fitz was a jerk. I also thought the whole retelling of Tangled was super cheesy. But as the story kept on I actually wound up really enjoying it. I wound up loving Fitz by the end and rooting for him and REN and new beginnings.

When I heard that Christina Lauren had written a modern retelling of Tangled, and that Disney was involved, I knew I needed to read it. This book has everything you loved in Tangled but modernized. It has a sheltered female main character, and a bad boy male main character. It has a road trip. It has a trusty steed… I mean car…that is its own character. It has a sketchy bar full of rough looking bikers. It has the evil mother character. It has blackmail and it has suspense. It even has mention of a cast iron skillet.

At the heart of this retelling is the delightful chemistry between Ren and Fitz. I adored their journey. I enjoyed that often times on their journey there was only one bed and that only sometimes did someone sleep on the floor. This book is a slow burn, low spice romance, and instead of an epilogue it has a quick one sentence wrap up that was actually everything I wanted, and is just like the last line of Tangled.

This is the fourth installment of of Disneys "Meant To Be" series, that consists standalone stories of movie re-tellings written by popular authors. I've read two of the previous ones and really enjoyed them despite not being the biggest fan of the original movies/stories... so considering Rapunzel is one of my favorite Disney princesses, my expectations for this one were pretty high.

Christina Lauren did a pretty good job at making this their own story without straying away from the original plot of the story too much. I'd say it was pretty medium-paced with a few parts that were a bit repetitive and boring, which is the main reason I'm choosing to give this 4 stars. I do think it needs a bit more banter to fit Rapunzel/Flynn Rider a bit better. But, otherwise I did really enjoy this light-hearted read.

This would totally be the perfect YA read for someone who is on the edge of growing out of princesses but still wants to enjoy that style of story.

Christina Lauren can do no wrong in my eyes, everything I have read from them has been a certified banger & Tangled Up In You is no exception. The plot was good, the references were great but not so overly done that you're rolling your eyes.
Overall I enjoyed the characters the most - 4.25 Stars!

For grown-up readers who still love a good fairy tale, Tangled Up in You may not be new or surprising, but it’s sweet and funny and enjoyable—a lovable choice for your next trip to the pool.

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery.

This is the first clo book I really didn’t enjoy. It didn’t even seem like their normal writing. There was something just off about this book and it’s hard to pinpoint what it even was. I didn’t enjoy the 3rd person narration. And while it is a retelling of rapunzel, the FMC was a bit too naive which got old after awhile.

If Christina Lauren writes it... I'm going to read it!

Disney + Romance reading fans everywhere will LOVE this fun retelling of the classic Rapunzel story.

Ren has lived her entire life off the grid, with her parents on their homestead. Desperate for a taste of the real world, and further education... Ren lands herself a scholarship to a college! While there... she encounters many life altering things - including none other than the highly esteemed Fitz.

Fitz is the campus golden boy. As the son of one of the top donors of the school, and top of his class rankings - no one else seems to be a better fit to show Ren around campus upon her arrival (according to the dean). The only problem is.... Ren threatens everything that he has been working so hard to build.

In a wild chance encounter, Ren lands herself some blackmail on Fitz - and uses it to tag along on a road trip to Nashville... hoping to uncover some answers to burning questions she has. And when sparks fly... who knows what dreams may come true?

I LOVED every single moment of this one! I also experienced the audiobook version, along with the ebook and LOVED the narration on this as well. The fun easter eggs in nod to the Disney movie - Tangled, the new additions that made you giggle, and the romance that built up in the modern setting truly made this a fun 2024 summer must read.

Read if you love:
-Retellings
-Road Trips
-Clean Romance
-LOL moments
-Found Family
-College
-Enemies to Lovers
-Blackmail schemes
-Grumpy/Sunshine