Caught Up In Us by Lauren Blakely

A second chance at first love...

Five years ago, Kat Harper fell into a dizzying summer romance with her brother's best friend Bryan. It was a mad, crazy love full of kisses all through the night -- but he broke her heart and she had to move on. Five years later, Kat is finishing her graduate degree and building her business as a jewelry designer, when Bryan, head of his own successful company, walks back into her life. Bryan has been assigned to Kat as her new business mentor and the rules are clear. No hanky panky permitted. Kat can handle that because she's totally over him... right? Except, he still makes her laugh, and he remembers all the things she likes. Not to mention that he's even more handsome now than he was then. Then there's the spark between them -- the simply undeniable chemistry, and the tender ways he shows he still cares for her. Can they resist each other the second time around or will first love trump all?

The thought of reading a New Adult novel strikes up an image of me reading  under my covers with the darkness of night to shield me. The few that I have read in the past seemed to be heavy on smut, and light on story and character development. I haven’t been a particular fan of the genre, or sought out any of these books to read for enjoyment. One thing I do seek out for enjoyment though,  is Pepe Toth and Sztella Tziotziosz on a book cover. That being said, when I saw Pepe and Sztella on the cover of Caught Up In Us, and noticed that it was also published on my birthday, I had to give it a try. Yes, people. This is one of the many ways I pick out books to read. The tag line, a second chance at first love called out to me and I decided to take my chances with this book.

Kat is a smart and warm character that I felt I could connect with through the wonderful internal dialogue and demeanor Lauren Blakely used to flesh her out. As I was storied into the cosmopolitan world of NYU business school , I imagined myself as Kat’s character. I could feel the glossy bounce of my hair and click of my heels on the fancy tiled floors as I made my way to my first day of experiential business class.  I could also feel the ultimate horror of finding out my mentor for the semester would be the guy that I had tried to forget for the past five years of my life. My first love and heartbreak. My jaw hit the floor, and I was mortified and excited at the same time to see how things panned out.

Bryan was an indulgent and too good to be true kind of character that I imagined as being played by Henry Cavill in a business suit. And by indulgent, I mean he was the whole package. He had all of the kind of qualities a gal could want when looking for love. He was double chocolate cake with a scoop of Rocky Road. I could taste his attractiveness and the intense, warring emotions Kat had for him and their awkward situation. Lauren Blakely struck gold with this character. I was in love with him after the first five sentences that left his mouth.

This story was heart warming  and well written. I didn’t feel dumb after reading it like I have with a few other adult titles I have read by YA authors that have decided to try their hand at NA. The story completely invested my emotions with the characters, and I even got teary eyed at the closing of the story, besides the fact that I was sad it was coming to end. Lauren Blakely writes the kind of adult fiction that is a delight to read. It felt like a present on Valentine’s Day. The steamy moments are well placed and feel intimate rather than voyeuristic. I felt they were a pleasant addition to the story, rather than the story being thrown in to accommodate the sensual scenes. I loved the unfolding of Kat and Bryan’s story, past and present included. It was the kind of book you want to finish in one or two sittings. I would definitely recommend this book to other’s like me, who have been turned off by NA in the past. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.