Review: Tangled by Emma Chase

Title: Tangled
Author : Emma Chase
Languange : English
Publisher: Gallery Books

Length :  254 pages
Published date: August 2nd 2013
Format : E-book

Genre : Contemporary Romance, Humor
Series: Tangled
Book no.: #1

Author web: Click Here
Buy Links: Bookdepository, Periplus, 

For Adult Readers

Sinopsis :

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.

 Review

First, before I start my review, this is the second time I post my review in English in my blog (the first is my review of Donners of the Dead). I kind of have a rule, that all book I read, whether its in Indonesian or English, I will always use Indonesian when write the review (I'm so annoyed when know that my Indonesia fellow always use term "Bahasa" when they refer to our languange). But, like you all see now, my blog is... well, I am become a slow blogger now and find that reviewing in Goodreads is easier than the blog. BUT, the biggest problem is.. I'm not sure I want to post my review in English here. My grammar is suck, my vocab is suck, well, I think my English is suck.

And then, I like "I don't care anymore!". This is kinda like I have some epiphany :P.

So, this review of Tangled is copied from my Goodreads review with some editing and I also add some parts. This review is for entertainment only. I did enjoy this book and mean no disrespect to the author. If you find any mistake in grammar and structure, please kindly email me at : sawamura_foxman AT yahoo DOT com , so I can correct it. :) . BTW, after I ask Chei, from Event Division of BBI, a book blogger community where I become part of it, she said Tangled can be categorized as humor book, so in my case, strikes two birds with one stone, hehehe (don't know the right terms :P)

Note: Contain some offensive words that quote directly from the book

“See, Drew, there are three kinds of males in this world: boys, guys,and men. Boys—like Billy—never grow up, never get serious. They only care about themselves, their music, their cars. Guys—like you—are all about numbers and variety. Like an assembly line, it’s just one one-night stand after another. Then there are men—like Matthew. They’re not perfect, but they appreciate women for more than their flexibility and mouth suction.”

TANGLED

aka...
(please choose one)
a. How to be a Douchebag (with step-by-step)  by Drew Evans
b. (I know)HOW MEN thinking by Emma Chase
c. The Downfall of the Drew McPussyWhipped Evans by... (fill the blanks)

Ok, I'm just kidding, guys. :P

I always have a bad luck with a very popular book. I think that what make some people hate me because I dislike the book they loved :P. So, I have a doubt when so many Goodreads and blogger friend appraise Tangled, the first book in Tangled series also Ms Emma Chase's debut novel. I'm afraid that I will be the minority here. But, hey,  I'm not the one who judge book before read it (except for some special case. Like, when the author show bad demeanor -you know who I mean ;P-,  plagiarism issue, etc). So, I brace myself and start reading Tangled.

The first part of this book make my hackles rise and I almost DNF'd it. But since this is part of buddy read with SPANK CLUB (Please don't ask :)). We are a pretty cool club actually, reading just for shit and giggles :P. Please kindly check our blog, Cakrawala Gelinjang X)) ), I decide to read it until the end. And well, to be honest, for the second part of Tangled was surprisely pretty good and somehow make me laugh :). I know now why so many readers love this even Drew McPussyWhipped (my "endearment for Derew) is a douchebag. At last he admit that he's DOUCHEBAG, and I give him credit for that.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not a bad guy. I don’t lie; I don’t sandbag women with flowery words about a future together and love at first sight. I’m a straight shooter. I’m looking  for a good time—for one night—and I tell them so. That’s better than ninety percent of the other  guys in here, believe me. And most of the girls in here are looking for the same thing I am"

BUT, his personality is another matter. Sorry dude, it's because I had read so many heroes that apparently better than you (even they are have narcissitic tendency. I talk to you, Mitch Shaw and Gwenvael the Handsome! XD. Don't have any idea about who they are? Check Shelly Laurenston's Pride series and G.A. Aiken's Dragon Kin series!. Even maybe you are not into PNR ) and because you act as douchebag. You know that "Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Pissed-Off" right?. This is some part that make me so pissed:

“Like I said, I am typically an observant man. Sherlock Holmes and I,we could hang out"

Sorry Drew, I can't resist to add some gif of Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock. He may say this to you:

Yeah, you are a boriiiiiing creature. Also you are not in the same league with them -.-.

“So, if you think I’m arrogant? Selfish? Spoiled? You’re probably right. But don’t hold it against me. It’s not my fault. I am a product of how I was raised"

Wow, such an attitude. Yeah, I know you are a spoiled brat, Drew. But you are almost thirty, for God's sake!! Blame your family for your own attitude is a childish demeanor!!

Where was I? Oh yeah, righ, for 40-50% on this book,  Drew is a mysogynist pig and a douchebag extraordinaire. I'm so disturbed about the way he saw women he dated. Also the author voice about how men thought like she was an expert for Men. For example:

- ALL GUYS TALK TO THEIR FRIENDS ABOUT SEX. If a guy tells you he doesn’t? Dump him, because he’s lying to you.
Umm, I don't know. I think not everyone think sex is a good discussion, haha. Also, I will not dump my hubby, and I know he rarely talk about sex with his friend (or I just don't know. Heh, not interested to know actually).

- Men pretty much have sex on the brain twenty-four-seven. The exact figure is like every 5.2 seconds or some shit like that.
This sound like what some research had stated actually. When I ask my boy friend, he denied it. Not sure if he's so ashamed to admit it (please admit that you ashamed! :P). Same goes with the hubby :)).

- The thing women don’t understand is that a guy can want one woman and still f*ck another one. Hell, a guy could love a woman and still f*ck ten others. It’s just the way it is. Sex is a release. Purely physical. That’s all. At least to men it is. 
Yeah, just for you Drew. Just for you and any alphahole or alphamacho or "I'm Tarzan, You Jane" kind of guys that make me want to kick their ass ;P

- When it comes to a woman’s past, no guy wants to hear about it. I don’t care if you’ve f*cked one guy or a hundred—keep it to yoursef. 
Talk about double standard. Why women can't boast about their adventure? Why women who sleep with so many men considered as slut, yet men who sleep with many women sometimes are considered as hero material? What make them alluring in so many readers's view? Sometimes I want to know why :/

- No man wants to f*ck a skeleton—and nibbling crackers and water like a prisoner of war at dinner isn’t attractive. It just makes us think about what a cranky bitch you’re going to be later on because you’re starving.
While this sound assuring for any women to not worried about what they eat, this still sound sexist.

- Newsflash, ladies: We can’t read your thoughts. And frankly, I’m not entirely sure I’d want to. The female mind is a scary place to be.
Newflash to you to Drew and all guys out there. WE ALSO CAN'T READ YOUR THOUGHTS!!. But I do agree that you all of guy are sometimes a honest human being when it comes to feeling.


But there some Drew-talk that I agree with

- When he stated that men with confidence will likely win a woman heart

- His opinion about Disney

“I need to talk to my sister. Disney is dangerous. Corrosive brainwashing bullshit, if you ask me"

Please don't throw anything to me :P

- His advice in bedroom departments

“Guys love heels. We associate them with all kinds of fantastic sexual positions. If you want a man to notice you, you cannot go wrong with a pair of shiny four-inch stilettos, I swear."

-  And this one, which somehow very, very, very true:

“If a woman is angry? It means she cares. If you’re in a relationship and a chick can’t even be bothered to yell at you? You’re screwed. Indifference is a woman’s kiss of death. It’s the equivalent of a man not interested in sex. In either case—it’s over. You’re done"

Anyway, it's not that what Ms Chase wrote about Men's thought are completely wrong. I just disagree with some of them. Or maybe because Drew's voice, even he's a man, he sound like a woman to me!  This is what make 1st POV somehow very complicated! If you like the MC voice, you will love the story. If not, it's hard to get into the story. Also the early banter and the quarrel between Drew and Kate is.. sooo childish! I know an author that can turn childish banter into something that make me laughing so hard. (R.L. Mathewson, I bow down to you). Yet, I'm not laughing when read it. Because, yeah, childish. Much. You got the message :/

BTW, I like Kate. I think she's though and pretty badass, and we can see why:

“My name is Kate—Katherine. Use it. And I’m not a kiss-ass. I don’t have to be. My work speaks for itself. My intelligence, my determination—"

Although, from Drew POV, I think she somehow kinda typical. A sophomore, still fresh from the college, younger than Drew, a new career, etc. And her fiance is also typical. I don't know why for some people, musician considered as loser. They bring happines to this world with their song. Kate and her fiance Billy somehow remind me to Meg Cabot's Boy Meet Girl. Surprisely, the heroine's name of Boy Met Girl is Kate. Hmmm, coincidence?

Kate is... well she's so determined and not playing easy to get, and this is what I like. Yes, she want Drew, but she make Drew works so hard to have her. The part when Drew pussywhipped and beg Kate to be with him are... priceless!! And this is the part that I think what make Drew redeemed for any readers. Ms Chase make readers forgive the mysoginist and sexist pig Andrew Evans, and fall hard for his effort to make Kate love him back. Because, well, it's romantic. And me, a hardcore romance readers that acutely aware with this cliche, also fall to this trap. My bad XD.

Another my favorite characters from Tangled are Matthew and Delores. I hear that they got their own story and I can't wait to read it! Also love Alexandra the Bitch. Poor woman to have a spoiled lil' bro like Drew. She deliver the best advice ever! And my favorite thing ever is Mackenzie, Alexandra's daughter and her BAD WORD JAR. This is the place when Drew (and sometimes Alexandra) must pay for Mackenzie if they were cussing. Hehe, I want one pleaseee. :D

There's some little tidbits that somehow make me and my buddy read a little bit annoyed and amused. It is (highlight if you want to know) -spoiler- when Drew said in the end,  Edward Cullen can take his stupid heroin and OD on it. Kate is my own personal brand of Viagra.. Okay, this come from a man that said "The Notebook is so f*cking gay". My friend said that a man like Drew will not likely love Twilight. I'm not sure, but, well, if Drew hate The Notebook, then why he saw Twilight and quoted it? -spoiler-

Also some little fact about Tangled. One of my buddy read said that Tangled is like fanfic for her, that's why she was suspicious if Tangled was a fanfic before. And surprisely, yes! According to her, just 3 chapter of fanfic-soon-to-be-Tangled that Ms Chase published, then she pulled it out. Well, I don't know how 100% true it is, but the fact that Tangled was once a fanfic do not affect my rating and opinion.

The sex scenes are steamy and well, Drew have dirty mouth for sure. Glad the sex well-written and yeah, the way I like it :P. Can't see Colgate or any toothpaste in the same way again :)).  Even my friend said that this book is not erotica, and  I agree with her. I admit, I don't like reading sex scene from 1st POV and prefer 3rd POV. Much hotter, imho. Tangled had so many cussing words too, so this book is not recommended if you easily offended! :D This book is not funny, at last for me. But in the end, it become a fun read. I still think that if I meet Drew in person, I will most likely kick him :P. 


And I will end this review with this quote:

“Women fall in love quicker than men. Easier and more often. But when guys fall? We go down harder. And when things go bad? When it’s not us who ends it? We don’t get to walk away.

We crawl"

Thanks for A.s.Dewi, Alvina, Mbak Desty, Putri, Teh Peni and Ibutio for the buddy read. Dear Aki Erie, I still think you must read this ;P

Love and like Tangled? This is some recommendation for fun read (and some are steamy!) for you:
- Boys series by Meg Cabot
- Neighbor From Hell series by R.L. Mathewson

 Story & Sensuality Rate

My rating for Tangled is

And the sensuality rate is


I think the sex scene while steamy, it's not kinky (which will make Tangled into Erotica if there's any). Still, Tangled is suitable just for adult, so if you under 21 y.o, just be patient #evillaugh.