Publisher: St. Martin’s
Publish Date: 2009
How I got this book: Pima County Library
Ever since Dylan Stone beat Veronica Chasen out of a prime position at the Cleveland Courier, they’ve been bitter rivals, engaging in a very public war of words in their competing newspaper columns. They routinely challenge each other to go bungee jumping, white water rafting, or into tattoo parlors to see who will wimp out first. But Veronica’s latest taunt may be Dylan’s toughest assignment yet: She dares him to learn to knit.
Dylan is not going to let something his grandmother can do scare him off. He’s man enough to make a scarf—and attend Veronica’s weekly knitting circle. But when the infuriatingly handsome Dylan shows up at the craft shop and charms all the ladies, Veronica starts to get all knotted up in something that feels a lot like love…
*Blurb from Goodreads*
Dylan and Ronnie competed for the same job years ago, and when Dylan won, the two began a very public and very intense game of “anything you can do, I can do better”. They taunt and dare each other to do ridiculous thing like bungee jump, sky dive, getting a tattoo and so on. But when Ronnie dares Dylan to learn how to knit, things get more heated up than either imagined.
Dylan knows he won’t be able to knit without some help, and he finds himself in Ronnie’s weekly knitting group. When he manages to get individual lessons with her as well, the two actually become friends, and their bitter rivalry fades into attraction and passion. But will they be able to put that rivalry on hold, admit their feelings, and take a chance on each other?
I absolutely loved this book. I always enjoy stories about frenemies who can get past their hatred of each other and really see the other person. Dylan and Ronnie are perfectly happy taunting each other to do outlandish stunts, and although all their friends are mutual, the two just can’t seem to be in the same room with each other without blowing up. While they are both sexually attracted to each other, neither wants to admit it.
At first, Ronnie seemed like a really solid and strong character. But as the story progressed, we get to see more chinks in her armor, and to me that made her that more impressive as a character. I loved all her crazy little neurosis, and Betts made her into a funny character with lots of great one-liners. (The humor reminded me of Molly Harper, very fun and snarky)
Likewise Dylan’s character also got to slowly reveal himself to us, and while at times he was infuriating, he was also fun and sexy. His struggle to achieve his dream, not be out done by a girl and his on going fascination with Ronnie’s ass are just some of his more endearing qualities.
The two had great chemistry on the pages, and while their relationship started as purely sexual on a drunken whim, they found their rhythm as a couple and really heated up the story. I really enjoyed watching them go through the dating process, without really dating. Dylan was always bringing over food, taking care of Ronnie when she needed a friend. It was a really fun courtship, without either of them really knowing what was going on with their relationship.
The secondary characters Jenna, Grace, Gage and Zack were great as well. Although all the couples are very conveniently and predictably set within one circle of friends, they also have some really great story potential. Jenna and Gage are recently divorced, but still obviously in love. Grace and Zack are perfectly happily engaged, but come from completely different worlds. I was super excited about their stories, but have read some disheartening things about Book 2 and mixed reviews for Book 3.
All in all, Tangled Up In Love was a fun and sexy and yet very sweet romance book. It had the perfect mix of a sweet love story, a passionate couple that could really heat up the sheets, all wrapped up in a fun and humorous package. I give it an A.
Aww sounds fun and cute 😀