Thank you to NetGalley, Hyperion, and Christina Lauren for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

I didn't realize this was the fourth in a series of Disney princess retellings, all by different contemporary romance authors. Frankly, although Belle is my favorite Disney "princess", Tangled is BY FAR the best movie of the four "retold" so far, and Christina Lauren can pretty much just take my money on automatic withdrawal for anything they publish.

This is a contemporary retelling/reinterpretation of the movie Tangled. I won't make a list with all the this-->that changes, but it was so fun to read the book and find the movie elements coming to life as new plot elements in the book. Ren, obviously, is a remake of Rapunzel: she still has the loooooooong blonde hair, and instead of a tower in the woods she has been homeschooled on an isolated farmstead in Idaho. She's setting foot on a college campus (Corona College, of course) - only during the week, mind you, all her weekends are spent at "home" - for the first time in her life. She is assigned to take a campus tour with Fitz (otherwise known as Flynn Rider), all smolder and good looks and secret pathos with a REAL name that's a little dorkier than his pseudonym (and which also starts with E. Although it's not as bad as "Eugene").

Ren and Fitz end up in the same immunology class. What they expected to be a simple assignment spurs Ren into an impulsive cross-country road trip riding driving Max, Fitz's classic white Mustang. (MAX!). We visit the Snuggly Duckling, reimagined (no spoilers!). A frying pan is discussed. Fitz and Ren visit a festival with lights. There's even a Pascal, although book Pascal has a much more minor role than movie Pascal. In short: It's the movie! But real life! AND SO CUTE.

It *IS* Hyperion and it *IS* a Disney retelling so this is a pretty clean story. Spice is very low. There is some kissing and that's pretty much it. Given Ren's many years of relative isolation and definite inexperience, I felt that that was probably for the best, and I was happy to see that Fitz give that serious consideration as well.

This is not a particularly realistic story but it's adorable and charming and well-written and it's Tangled! so frankly I don't think I'm able to do anything but like it, a whole lot.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Very cute retelling of tangled! They did a great job of capturing these characters and bringing them to life.

while it took me a little longer than I would like to admit to get into it and over all a bit on the slower side but I ended up really enjoying these characters and Christina & Lauren’s twist on this retelling!

I was really reaching for more laugh out loud moments on this book… because if you know their humor in books is unmatched and while there were moments is as giggling I just wish there was a little more.

If your look for a sweet book with Disney vibes this would be a great place to start!!!

Christina Lauren do it again on an adventure that you don't want to put down. Tangled Up in You is the 4th book in their Ment to Be series and it is a good Rapunzel retelling for sure. We meet Ren who for the first time in her life (at 22) gets to go to college after living a very secluded life on a homestead farm. At college she meets Fritz and while he uses his charms for his own gains we get to see our Sunshine melt through the walls Fritz has built up from a tough childhood. I very much enjoyed this story,

Ren Gylden has lived a sheltered life. Being raised on a farm in a tiny town in Idaho, Ren has never known modern conveniences like a telephone. When her parents, Gloria and Steve finally agree to let her attend college, the 22 yr old is beyond thrilled to be attending Corona College in Spokane, Washington. Even though Ren has self taught herself everything she knows, she is very intelligent. On her first day at campus, Ren meets Fitz, a senior who is going to give her a tour of everything. He is amazed at how excited Ren is about EVERYTHING! Ren's roommate, Miriam warns her that Fitz loves to flirt but will never commit. Turns out that Fitz is in her immunology class. When something surprising happens during their immunology class, it sets Fitz and Ren on a wild road trip from Washington state to the east coast. Along the way they both start to see the other in a different light and before they know it, romantic feelings start happening. When it looks like everything is starting to fall into place, reality comes crashing in and everything blows up. All of a sudden help comes from a surprising place and then everything ends how life should have been. Fitz and Ren can finally have their well deserved happy ever after.

I just adored this sunshine vs grumpy sweet love story. Ren was very naive and was just learning about life. She was bubbly and outspoken and just so fun. Fitz had some hidden pain from his past and was trying to work through it. Ren was just the fresh change that Fitz needed in his life to find his true happiness. Together these two just fit. I loved their road trip. It was so entertaining and enjoyable and you just couldn't help but hope these two got together. Great story!

3.75 stars

Ren Gylden lives off the grid with her parents on their homestead. She’s been homeschooled her entire life, but is finally getting her dream come true - attending college away from home. Sure, Ren will be the oldest freshman there, but she will finally get to experience life.

What she didn’t bargain for was to end up on a cross country road trip with the one guy her new roommate told her to watch out for, chasing down a new family mystery.

Is Ren Gylden prepared for what the real world has to show her?

I was on the fence about reading this one, as Tangled isn’t a movie I would say I love. But it’s Christina Lauren, and I read everything they write. I had no reason to worry. This story was so charming!

Now, this is Disney, so it’s a bit tame compared to some of their other stories, but that doesn’t mean anything was missing. It’s also predictable and definitely reaches a bit. But it’s a fairy tale!! I still laughed and swooned, and absolutely fell in love with the main characters Ren & Fitz.

Whether you are familiar with Tangled or not, I would recommend giving this cute story read.

*Thank you to Hyperion Avenue & NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

This book was a super cute retelling of Disney's Tangled. Rapunzel is one of my favorite Disney princesses. This book was so cute as it started off with Ren working at the farm. She's heading to college where she meets Fitz. A simple assignment in their immunology seminar is where the adventure begins. This is where their lives change. This book had a lot of fun twists and turns of adventure. This book was so cute and so much fun. It was well written with solid character growth and wonderful conflict to keep me reading well into the night. I also want to add that Christina Lauren did a great job on the pacing of this novel. I never found myself bored or wondering when things were going to end. This book had it all--adventure, a bit of suspense, and romance.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tangled Up in You
By: Christina Lauren
Publisher: Hyperion Avenue
Pub Date: 6/25/24

A dramatic retelling of Disney’s Tangled.
Ren is a bookish young woman heading to college for the first time at 23 years old. She doesn’t have a phone at home and never had a cell phone. She’s lived an extremely sheltered life until she starts classes. Oddly enough her parents are requiring her to return to their homestead every weekend to do the chores she didn’t do that week. In one of Ren’s classes they do DNA sequencing, and begin to map out their DNA. When Ren’s results come back her father isn’t her father. She is a match to a man she doesn’t know from Georgia.
This information sets off a chain of events that will bring Ren great happiness and terrible sadness. She needs to workout who these people are for herself from the parents she loves to the mystery man she doesn’t know.
I really enjoyed this one. Watching Ren experience things for the first time was fun to watch.
Thanks to Hyperion Avenue, Christine Lauren and NetGalley for this ARC.

Christina Lauren never disappoints! This was a cute modern day retelling of Tangled - definitely targeted towards more young adult. A sweet grumpy x sunshine romance. As someone who didn't realize this was a book in a series, you definitely did not need to read the novels prior and it was perfect as a stand-alone.

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

This is my first read of the Meant to Be series. All the rest of these books will forever be compared against Christina Lauren's joyous New Adult version. This more adult version of Disney's Tangled is a great transition novel for your teen.

Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

What a joyous year to get not one, but two Christina Lauren romance novels! I absolutely adored Christina Lauren's modern take on the Rapunzel and Tangled story. Using their trademark wit and talent, they really made the story their own while also adding delightful touches that will make the observant reader well aware of the Disney origins of this charming romance.

I love these Meant to Be romances that the Disney imprint is churning out. Having well known and well loved romance writers pen contemporary romance books inspired by Disney movies is just so smart and I think this is my favorite of those I've read so far. This book was just so SMART. Every choice made this feel fresh and I delighted in every part of Ren and Fitz's story.

Ren has spent her whole life on the homestead with her strict parents, never having a phone or any link to the modern world. She finally gets a chance to spread her wings at college where she meets the handsome and charming Fitz who may also be hiding a lot of who he is and his past. Through a clever grouping of circumstances, the two venture off together across the country on a road trip that brings them together while also helping Ren discover some of the mysteries of her past and who she wants to become.

I seriously could not put this book down. A lot of writers could have made Ren's naivete annoying or cloying but I never felt that way about her. I loved the way she looked at the world and it was fun to discover along with Fitz just how special she was. Also Fitz...my charming moody bad boy. Ugh this was so delightful. The romance and the mystery of it all made this book all I could think of for two days straight.

Thank you SO much to Hyperion and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

If Christina Lauren writes it, I will READ IT. Upon hearing the news that one of my favorite authors was writing an adult retelling of one of my favorite disney movies, I was ecstatic! I am so grateful to the publisher for the eARC. I adored this book! Just when you think you know the story, CLo takes it and adds their own signature wit and heart to make it EVEN BETTER than you could imagine!! I laughed, I teared up, I kicked my feet. I adored this book!!!

[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.
____________________________________
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)
____________________________________
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.