REVIEW: Tangled (Tangled #1) by Emma Chase

Series/Title: Tangled | Tangled #1
Author: Emma Chase
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Published: May 20th 2013
Format: eBook | Pages: 240
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Source: Purchased Amazon
★★★★ (4/5) Stars!

Emma Chase | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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 read Tangled over the weekend with the girls. There were those of us who enjoyed it and there were those who DNF. Drew is definitely an acquired taste. He's very blunt and crass and let's face it, pretty much a womanizing jerk. But his narration is, in my opinion, beyond hilarious and made for a surprisingly funny and highly addictive read. He's a very real and unapologetic type of guy and instead of cringing with everything that came out of his mouth, most of the time I found myself shocked (sometimes) into laughter.

What sets this book apart from most is Emma Chase makes it feel like Drew is talking to us, the reader. Drew's narration of his story reminds me a LOT of one of my favorite shows, How I Met Your Mother. Except in this case it would be more like Barney doing the narrating. Because Drew is very much a Barney. Business suits, clean cut, expensive taste, confidence, charm, and never with the same woman more than once.

Maybe you'll understand my point of view if I put it this way. You brush your teeth, right? Well, suppose your favorite toothpaste is Aquafresh. But the store is out. All they have is Colgate. What are you going to do? You're going to use the Colgate, right?

You may want to brush with Aquafresh, but when all is said and done, you use what you have to keep those pearly whites clean. See my way of thinking? Good. -Drewism on guys sleeping around.

So you see he's definitely an acquired taste. When Tangled starts out we meet Drew at his lowest. I don't mean his douchiest. I mean he is beyond broken and depressed, hasn't left his apartment in a week. Though he's trying to convince himself and everyone else he has the flu really what he has is a bad case of broken heart.

I Love you, couch---have I ever told you that? Well, I'm telling you now.

***

I wish it were that easy. But I don't think all the Krazy Glue in the world is going to piece my heart back together again.

He then takes us back over the last few months to show us how he got to this point. How he went from confident playboy to depressed shut-in. But this is where it will lose some people because like I said, he's a womanizing jerk. And it's at this point where the blunt and crass come in because he starts off by taking us back to a rather intimate encounter with some random in a club restroom. And that's putting it delicately. Moments before he meets the woman who eventually shatters him.

Kate is awesome. She's smart, a bit snarky and doesn't easily fall for Drew's charm and flirtations. She gives it back just as much as he can dish it. But she won't allow anything or anyone, even Drew to come between her and her dreams/goals. She has plans for her future that don't include being someones one night fling.

What starts out as simple flirtation becomes a work rivalry of epic proportions. One that doesn't just stay on the friendly competitive level. It starts out that way but takes a nose dive into nasty and immature fast. From things as innocent as trying to be the first to arrive to work every day and taking books from the office library that the other may need. To more serious pranks if you can call them that. More like sabotage. It made for some hilarious reading.

It's then that her shiny dark head emerges over the horizon. And, once again, she smiles. Like a cat with a mouthful of bird.

I hate cats. They're kind of evil-looking, don't you think? Like they're just waiting for you to fall asleep so they can smother you with their fur or piss in your ear.

***

After the throbbing in my leg dies down a bit, I hide my hand behind some upturned papers while my father's speaking. Then I flip Kate the finger. Immature, I know, but apparently we're now both functioning at the preschool level, so I'm guessing it's okay.

Kate sneers at me. Then she mouths, You wish.

Well--She's got me there, now doesn't she?

Besides Drew and Kate there's an entire cast of really great supporting characters each bringing a little bit more fun and depth to the story. One of my favorites would have to be Drew's 4 year old niece Mackenzie. She is beyond adorable and I found myself wishing here had been more scenes with her in them.

Mackenzie raises her hand proudly. "I have a bagina."

I smirk. "Yes, you do sweetheart. And someday, it's going to help you rule the world."

Haha it's through Mackenzie that you see one of Drew's most redeeming qualities. He loves that little girl immensely and his interactions with her melted my heart. Even the funny ones like above. Bagina...lol.

If you start this understanding what you're going into, Drew with his crude mouthed narration and such, and can get past all of that then I highly recommend this book. It's sexy, brilliant and funny, well worth the read in my opinion.