[3.75 Stars😊] I enjoyed Christina Lauren's cute and charming Tangled Up in You! Ren's bubbly and infectious personality balanced Fitz's driven and stand-offish attitude, and their banter was so much fun! I loved the cross-country road trip and all the shenanigans they got into. The romantic development was SO ADORABLE, and I couldn't wipe the smile off my face when Fitz was the one to fall first 🥰 While I was entertained by the light romantic suspense element in the third act, I did think the ending was a bit rushed and the epilogue was lacking. Overall, I was charmed by Christina Lauren's spin on the Rapunzel fairytale, and I'd recommend it to fans of the movie Tangled!

+A HUGE thank you to Hyperion Avenue and Netgalley for the ARC of Tangled Up in You! All thoughts in this review are my own.
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Details:
💘Contemporary romance
🎈Romantic comedy
👀Dual, third-person POV
🥀Third act breakup-ish
🙌🏻Would re-read

Tropes:
🧚‍♀️Fairytale reimagining
🐟Fish out of water
📍Forced proximity
🌤️Grumpy/sunshine
🛏Only one bed
🚗Road trip
🤐Secrets
🧨Slow burn

Spice:
🌸No intimate content or language (clean)
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Emoji Ranking System:
🤩Excellent to Fantastic (4.75-5.00)
😍Very Good to Great (4.25-4.50)
😊Good to Really Good (3.50-4.00)
😒Just OK to Decent (2.75-3.25)
😑It's A No (1.00-2.50)
🚫DNF

This is my favorite Meant To Be book so far. The adaptation of Tangled is fun and enjoyable. I love the mix of Ren’s brilliant mind and her complete inexperience in the real world. So much fun!

Tangled Up In You is a great retelling of it's source material, the animated Disney movie "Tangled" but in order for it to be a great retelling it asks it's readers to suspend their sense of belief regarding Ren's upbringing. She lives a very sheltered life, almost unbelievably sheltered life with no access to any modern advancements or any surrounding communities with advancements. If the reader is willing to believe that Ren just basically time traveled then there are no problems with this adorable road trip rom-com.

Ultimately this was a very cute adaptation for very tricky subject material. The authors did a great job of keeping the whimsical charm of the main characters Ren/Rapunzel and Fitz/Flynn Rider.

Thanks to Christina Lauren, Netgalley and Hyperion Avenue Publishing for allowing me to read this ARC.

Ren Gylden is a 22 year old woman with no knowledge of the world outside her homestead farm. But Ren has always dreamed of attending school, and that dream is realized when she's accepted into Corona College. On Ren's very first day at Corona, she meets Fitz, the campus lothario, with the reputation to match. Fitz is actually incredibly driven and intelligent, but he leans into the rumors and innuendo about him because it suits his needs. The last thing Fitz wants is a bubbly, blonde bumpkin from nowhere derailing his plans for the future. Both Ren and Fitz will have their opinions of one another, and their world-view shaken up when a school assignment pairs them together.

I watched the film a few weeks before beginning to read this book, in preparation. It was my first time seeing it, and I was charmed. I think Christina Lauren's love for Tangled really shines through the whole story. It's a sweet re-telling with a bit of modernization. I wish there was a little more humor and banter, but that's just my personal preference for rom-coms. Fans of Tangled, fairy tale re-tellings, and the author duo of Christina Lauren should find plenty to love. Thank you to Netgalley and Hyperion Avenue for the review copy.

I'm waiting for the day a Christina Lauren book lets me down...looks like I'll be waiting forever because this was UTTERLY perfect, so cute, totally romantic and fun! Whimsy is what comes to mind.
I loved this. I loved our characters, loved it all!

Tangled Up in You is a modern retelling of Tangled and the next installment in the Meant to Be series.

I like to separate Disney into 2 categories: kid me and adult me. Kid me loved Belle and adult me is all about Rapunzel. Tangled is one of my favourite Disney movies and I was so excited for this book. And I’m sad to say this book did not live up to the potential and what I expect from a Christina Lauren book.

I never felt fully connected to Ren (our Rapunzel), she fell a little flat for me. Fitz (our Flynn Ryder) was fine but parts of his backstory were a little far fetched and he lacked the charm of Flynn Ryder. Their story did pick up once they left on the road trip and I started getting invested, it just took too long.

The highlights for me were all the nods and moments taken from the movie. Whether it was Max being a white mustang car or Ren remembering fireworks from a memory mirroring the lanterns from the movie, they nailed all these little moments.

Overall, I did enjoy parts and I liked how the ending played out, it was just missing the joy and banter from the Tangled movie. I think they went too serious and lost the joyfulness people get from Disney. -d

Read if you like:
▪️Disney modern retelling
▪️Road trip adventures
▪️He falls first
▪️Enemies to lovers

Ren lives on her rural family farm, tucked away from society. She has been homeschooled all her life, and her only friends are the animals on her farm. When she applies and is accepted into Corona College, she faces a huge adjustment to school and to society. When a school assignment turns her world upside down, Ren embarks on a road trip with Fitz, the school’s golden boy. This was a cute romance inspired by Disney’s Tangled that was surprisingly tender in parts.

A book title snagged from a cross between a Bob Dylan song about life, loss, and love, combined with the Disney movie version of Rapunzel, and some genius ideas can be seen sparking from this book. Dynamic duo Christina Lauren have written another hit with their successful modern retelling of Tangled. One part Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, one part Disney Princess, and one part Dateline Elizabeth Smart, there is so much to love in this book that even when I suspected familiar plot points, I was still thrilled to read them.

Twenty-two year old Ren has never been to formal schooling, living a sequestered life on a rural farm in Idaho. Her parents finally agree to let her attend college, but only if she agrees to follow a strict set of rules. Ren is every sense of the phrase innocent optimist. Everything in the “real world” is a first for her; first time making a friend, first time eating a doughnut, first time having a crush, you get the picture…it is joy to watch her discover the world around her at the age most people would beginning a life on their own. Enter Fitz. He’s irresistibly charming, at the top of his class, from a wealthy family and seems to have it all. But no one at Corona College knows the real Fitz, and he’s afraid they might not like him if they did. When an opportunity arises for Ren to leave town on a secret quest, she blackmails Fitz into taking her to Nashville where he also has a secret meeting.

This story is a road trip across America, with Ren experiencing so many “firsts”, and Fitz falling for the girl he thinks he shouldn’t. I loved the connections to Tangled: Fitz is Eugene Fitzherbert, better known as Flynn Rider, Fitz’s car Max is as fickle as Maximus the horse, and Ren of course is the intelligent but woefully naive Rapunzel. A retelling works when you love the characters in it as much as the original, and I adored Ren and Fitz. They each have such unique storylines and I loved reading about them falling for each other. They have the sweetest and hottest first kiss I’ve read in a long time and I love how natural it felt for them to be together. There is so much kissing in this book and you can just feel how much these two enjoy each other’s company. I was also SO GLAD how Fitz handles consent. A++! I think even though readers will see where the story is going, they will still love the path to getting there. You have a sweet love story combined with a bit of mystery and intrigue and all the lovey dovey feels. I received an early copy from Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Steam: 🪭 closed door, but ALL the swoons
Number of times the word kiss appears: 7️⃣4️⃣!! 💋

Living off the grid can be exhilarating and scary when facing life outside of your ‘bubble’. For Ren – a life of hard labor, self-taught education and isolation is all she has ever known. The temptation of learning more led Red to apply to college, a feat that was scary and exciting all at the same time. With a scholarship offer, Ren sets out with reluctant parents waiting in the wings to live a life beyond her imagination.

Who could have imagined that one college assignment would change the course of her life?

Tangled Up in You is a twist on the famous Tangled fairytale. While there is a tie-in to Ren’s hair being a bit magical, I felt the book held up all on its own without the label of a fairytale remake. Ren was unique in her background, outlook on life and desire to learn more about the world around her. Fitz’s character was a fantastic compliment to Ren’s storyline. Together they lead readers on an adventure of sorts that will have an ending that relates to the real world today.

While I found myself anticipating this ‘road trip’ more often than not, I wanted MORE from that ending. These characters carried readers down a road of discovery in a way that left me longing for much more than what I found in that last chapter. All in all – this was a different type of YA based romance that will stand out in the sea of stories on the market today.

Christina Lauren always come up with unique storylines and although this is supposed to be a story based on the Disney fairytale Tangled, I just enjoyed the story. For me, it started slow with Ren being the main character. I was not sure where this was going, but by the time Ren got to go to college,and met Fritz it started to peak my interest, and from there, the road trip Ren and Fritz were on had me rooting for them as a couple, despite Ren basically blackmailing Fritz to let her go along with him. I never did trust her parents and from the beginning I wondered how that part of the plot would go, but the ending was more than fulfilling and the HEA was satisfying. All in all a very good story and I glad I read.

The Meant to Be novels are hit or miss for me, and unfortunately this one was a miss. I had a really hard time getting into the storyline and finding Ren’s character to be believable. Christina Lauren are one of my favorite authors and I look forward to reading more of their books in the future.

Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for this electronic arc in exchange for my honest review.

TANGLED UP IN YOU review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25/5

💇🏼‍♀️Like a lot of people, I’m a huge Christina Lauren girlie. I love their writing style and automatically add their new releases to my tbr. I requested this one on NetGalley without even fully knowing what it was about. When I found out it was a Disney princess retelling, I’ll admit I was skeptical. But I really, really enjoyed it!

💇🏼‍♀️Here’s a summary of the plot:👇
Ren has spent her entire life secluded from the world on her family’s homestead. She’s never held a cell phone, used social media, or attended school. But at 22 years old, she’s desperate to go to college to experience the wider world and learn more about it. Her parents reluctantly agree, laying out super strict rules for her to follow and making sure she knows that they will pick her up every weekend to spend back at home. But while taking an immunology class, she’s given an assignment that will turn her entire world upside down.

💇🏼‍♀️Admittedly, I haven’t seen the movie Tangled since it first came out. So I don’t know how closely this retelling followed the original story. However I was immediately drawn in and invested in the story! The overall romance was good (if a tad cheesy, but also expected as a Disney princess story)! The slight mystery/suspense story had me hooked (even though I felt it was pretty easy to guess what was happening). Overall, I really enjoyed this one and need to check out more of the Disney princess retelling books in this series! If you’re a fan of Christina Lauren, Disney, or romance books in general I’d definitely recommend this one!

💇🏼‍♀️Thanks @hyperionavebooks for my digital copy!

Synopsis: In this modern day retelling of Tangled, Ren is a 22-year old who is starting college after living a very sheltered, homeschooled life. When she winds up on a road trip with a classmate, Fitz, both of their lives are about to change forever.

Thoughts: What a cute, imaginative retelling! I really loved the storyline that Christina Lauren came up with - it can be hard to put an original spin on a retelling, but they nailed it! Ren and Fitz embodied sunshine and grumpy so well, but each with a depth and backstory that made them so likable. Their chemistry was perfect, and there were plenty of laugh out loud hijinks on their road trip. This was just so fun, and I had such a good time reading it!

Read this if you like:
🎀 fairytale retellings
🎀 road trips
🎀 forced proximity
🎀 grumpy/sunshine
🎀 clean romance
🎀 a little suspense

Today is this book's birthday, and I cannot wait to share it with you! Christina Lauren is one of my go-to authors, and her YA offerings are no exception. This is a sweet, slow burn romance that has one of my favorite tropes: opposites attract.

For those of you who are CL fans like me, this one is much tamer than her other books. It's appropriate for high school readers, and your YA romance readers will not be disappointed. This book combines a road trip, mystery, and comedy masterfully. However, don't pick this up expecting a simple retelling of Rapunzel. This book drops that fairy tale into the real world and shares little in common with its fairy tale sister.

If you're in the mood for something fun that can also make you cry, this is a great choice!

Cute retelling of Repunzel/Tangled

I am enjoying the Meant to Be series of reimagined Disney/fairy tales written by various well-known authors for the YA audience. This is another winner, cute story, interesting characters, road trip, what's not to enjoy. This is a great book for camp, beach or poolside.

Thank you to the publisher who lent me an e-arc via Netgalley. This review is optional and my own opinion.

A Disney's Tangled retelling? Yes! Written by one of my favorite author duo? SIGN ME UP!

Christina Lauren has done it again and me absolutely fall in love with these characters. They gave us all of the romance, by including little snippets and nods to the move that will make any Tangled fan squeal with delight.

Ren and Fitz had me cracking up throughout this book!! I loved them and how they changed from individuals to opening up to each other romantically.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the advanced copy!

I think this Tangled retelling is my new favorite in the Meant to be fairy tale reimagining series. This latest written by Christina Lauren is a fantastic forced proximity, opposites attract, road trip romance between an innocent homesteader girl, Ren who has led a sheltered life and discovers that her parents might not be biologically hers. Thus she blackmails Fitz into taking her across the country to find her birth father who turned up on a DNA test. Full of great chemistry, loads of laughs and so many great recreations of scenes from the Disney movie, this was just a fun read and I really enjoyed the chapters told from Fitz's POV! HIGHLY recommended!! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Steam level: kissing only

In this Rapunzel/Disney's Tangled reimagining, the duo Christina Lauren gives us a very toned down romance that will charm your socks off! Ren, with her beautiful long golden hair, has spent her entire life confined to her parent's farm until she's allowed to attend college. There she meets Fitz, the playboy who has secrets and is enthralled with Ren. They embark on a road trip that reveals surprises and life changing events.

Part of the Meant to Be series, Tangled Up In You is a sweet, enchanting tale not of the normal fare from Christina Lauren, but it is very entertaining. You see the world anew through Ren's eyes, and you feel the whirl of adventure through Fitz's journey to absolve himself. The attention to detail was fantastic as there are several nods to the Disney movie Tangled. There were more than a few chuckles with this one, and I would recommend this to all!

Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

The Meant To Be collection are stories written by different authors that take after a different fairy-tale. Tangled Up in You very loosely takes themes from Disney’s Tangled, which admittedly I’m not familiar with, however I am familiar with Rapunzel which I believe Tangled is based off. Confused? Yeah, me too. Despite the supposed fairy-tale theme, Tangled Up In You was a departure for this author duo. Part romance, part mystery, and definitely pg-13 rated this novel still had characteristics of other Christina Lauren books. Great dialog, fabulous and interesting characters, and an interesting hook.

I LOVED Ren. I would gobble up more books about Ren. She was such an interesting character and it was fun to explore this new world of college life and life in the outside world that she’s never inhabited and is now living. Fitz also grew on me. I really liked that despite Ren’s innocence, she saw right through his act and didn’t allow him to take advantage of her good nature. Once they got rolling on their road trip the two of them together were entertaining and well, I just fell in love with them as a couple.

There was a lot of heart in this story. So much that I teared up a couple of times and laughed softly in a few others. The only thing that holds me back from giving this a 5 rating is the three sentences they included at the end wrapping up their life in the future. I hated that! I’d rather have imagined my own life for them than to be given three sentences of a throwaway ending. If they go back and delete that paragraph it’s a five star read from me.

👸🏼What an adorable Rapunzel retelling! Christina Lauren did a fabulous job reworking the story of Disney’s ‘Tangled’ into a modern-day rom-com. And it’s out today!

👸🏼 Locked away on her family’s homestead her whole life, Ren finally convinces her parents to let her go to college. Everyone on campus is enthralled with the girl with the long blonde air who is excited by all life has to offer. Except for the handsome, charming Fitz of course.

👸🏼 I loved turning the pages as this tale unfolded. Especially towards the end when we started to unravel Ren’s true background!

👸🏼 This is a Disney book so it lacks the typical Christina Lauren spice. But it does have swoony romance, funny banter, and their engaging way of storytelling. I highly recommend this one— especially if you’re a Disney fan!