Review: Twisted by Emma Chase

Where did you get book: E-arc from publisher

Publisher: Gallery Books

Release Date: March 25th

There are two kinds of people in the world. The ones who look first, and the ones who leap. I’ve always been more of a looker. Cautious. A planner. That changed after I met Drew Evans. He was so persistent. So sure of himself – and of me.

 But not all love stories end happily ever after. Did you think Drew and I were going to ride off into the sunset? Join the club. Now I have to make a choice, the most important of my life. Drew already made his –in fact, he tried to decide for the both of us. But you know that’s just not my style. So I came back to Greenville. Alone. Well, sort of alone….

What I’ve come to realize is that old habits die hard and sometimes you have to go back to where you began, before you can move ahead.

 

 

*Blurb taken from Goodreads*

Twisted is the second book in Emma Chase’s snarky and very sexy romantic comedy series which features Drew and Kate from Tangled. In this installment the couple have been happily together for two years but problems arise when Kate discovers something that shocks her and would affect her relationship with Drew. But when the time comes up to tell him, her world is shattered and she returns back to her hometown and mother to lick her wounds.

 I have mixed feelings about TWISTED; on the one hand I really loved Kate’s POV and her narration which is full of dry wit compared to Drew’s snarky but arrogant tones. It was a very different, especially in her humour and how she dealt with issues and the problems she encountered in the book. I also liked that we got to know Kate as a character. In TWISTED, we see her home-town, mother, and old boyfriend and friends. It helped to flesh out her character even more and I think that was one of the missing factors in the first book. Even though Drew’s narration in Tangled was great, especially in how Kate competed and interacted with him, I didn’t get the sense of her character really well. In this book I got to know her more and her character became much more multi-faceted.

I also adored the cast of supporting characters; some of whom will become leads. Dee Dee and Matthew will have their own story in the third book in the series. I enjoyed the glimpse of life that Kate shared with her mother in her small town and it really added to her character, especially her friendship with Dee Dee who is a freaking eccentric hoot. I can’t wait to see how her romance plays out with Matthew who is Drew’s best friend because they’re basically opposites attract.

The humour in the book was also full of snarky and snappy dialogue. Emma Chase has an ingenious talent to create sparkling dialogue which is bubbling with comedic timing. I also felt this was a much darker book, though, compared to the first one. It does touch on serious issues and subjects and it was realistic in its approach as well. However, I think the main conflict of the book which consisted of a huge, huge misunderstanding (no discussion, no calls, emails, texts, or even tweet interactions) which didn’t really work for me because it was how the misunderstanding happened. So if you want to avoid spoilers I would avoid the spoiler paragraphs and go right to my summary below. I wanted to avoid spoilers because I hate giving them out but in this case I’ll hide them in the tags because the misunderstanding for me is the reason why I felt this was the weakest aspect of the book.

Spoiler:

[spoiler]

I could not believe the misunderstanding between Kate and Drew and how it unfolded. I had to suspend my belief over the situation. The reason of the misunderstanding is that Kate finds herself pregnant and is in shock. Drew, who senses something is wrong, suspects something and arrives at the wrong conclusion. I wanted to slap his face sideways to Sunday and back when he assumes Kate’s having an affair. So instead of dealing like a grown-up and confronting her face to face, he goes and gets a woman and plays tonsil tennis with her to make a point to Kate when she arrives home to tell him the good news.  When she is confronted by the scene in front of her, Drew states to ‘end it’ which Kate misconstrued as ending the pregnancy.

 

And this is where the conflict over the misunderstanding didn’t work for me. First, how did Kate assume that Drew found out she was pregnant? She kept things quiet and there was no pregnancy tests lying around. I also disliked the fact that Drew, who was known to be a womaniser from the first book, went back to his old ways to prove a point to her. He didn’t sleep with the woman he brought home but I was upset because it affected his characterisation for me because he hasn’t moved on or developed from the alphahole he was in the first book. But overall I just could not believe there was no phonecalls, discussion or a huge confrontation, and it really felt weak with forced angst. And it did remind me of old skool romances that I read as a teen which never worked for me because there was no real development.

 [/spoiler]

End Spoiler:

 

I was not happy with the misunderstanding, the forced angst and the separation which affected my enjoyment of the book. I really missed the interaction with Drew and Kate, though, I liked Kate’s POV and enjoyed her visit back home with her mother and friends. The chemistry which she shared with Drew was really lacking in the book. Even when they were antagonistic with each other in the first book, their dynamics were fun and sexy. Drew was obnoxious but Kate was a good foil to him. I almost don’t think he was that redeemable for me in this book, even though he did an epic grovel in the end to make up for his arsey behaviour. But I would have liked more of a build up for him to make things up for Kate who literally went through the wringer.

It is hard writing this review because I adored the beginning and I love the characters and Chase’s writing is really sharp and snappy. But I really really loathed the misunderstanding. It does not help the misunderstanding that touches on tropes I hate and it felt forced to me. But the supporting characters and Kate’s dry witty narration helped to overcome that aspect of the plot. I also liked that the ending went back to Drew’s POV which helped to show his remorse over the mistakes he made and that helped to go a long way to make me like his character again. But I really really hope there is no more forced inner angst or misunderstandings for them as a couple, because I think it would affect my belief in their HEA for them as a couple. And from the looks of it – I have the feeling there is more stories in store for them in the future.

TWISTED for me is a mixed bag. Despite the fact I hated the misunderstanding and the separation with the two romantic leads, I did enjoy the rest of the book and that was due to the great cast of characters and humour. I loved the sparkling and witty dialogue and the chemistry the characters shared with each other. Emma Chase is insanely talented in creating a vivid and funny characters and dialogue. I also love the cinematic feel and tone of the books because it feels like reading and envisioning a romantic comedy in your head.  I am also looking forward to Dee Dee and Matthew’s book which promises to be hilariously funny!

 

I give TWISTED a C+

 

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