Book Review: Caught Up in You by Colee Firman

Caught Up in You
Author: Nicole Maggi
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: New Adult | Contemporary
Released: 15th December 2014
Review Source: Netgalley

Life has a way of shaping you into what it wants you to be, regardless of how much you fight it.

Brantley Prescott is damaged. Scarred by a past she can’t forget. Hiding secrets she’s terrified to share. Searching for a future she doesn’t believe she’ll ever find.

Myles Franco is alone. Burdened by mistakes he’ll never live down. Fostering a deep resentment for the opposite sex. Unleashing his wrath on any girl who gets too close.

Brantley has worked behind the bar long enough to recognize Myles for what he is—a douchebag player with nothing on his mind but keeping a steady stream of girls flowing through his bed. With his messy dark hair, sapphire blue eyes, rock-solid body, and endless tattoos he’s impossible to ignore. But that’s exactly what she plans on doing.

After just one run-in with Brantley, Myles is even more determined to stick to the rules he lives by. She’s mouthy, blunt, and doesn’t back down—no matter how hard he pushes her. She could turn out be the one temptation that drags him down the path he’s been trying to avoid. He won’t let that happen.

Both are content living behind the solid walls they’ve built around themselves. Neither is prepared for what happens when their lives collide.

Due to sexual content and graphic language - 17+ recommended.

I’ve been craving a good ol' new adult romance. No cliche. No paranormal. Just a good light contemporary romance. Caught Up in You wasn't the typical light read I’d anticipated. Between the troubled pasts and problematic present relationships, there's a lot of emotional drama. It was actually far from a light read, but that didn’t stop my enjoyment.

Miles and Brantley are messed up in their own ways. Miles holds a strong resentment for the female gender, troubled by a mistake which still follows him around years later. Brantley is just as messed up. Her past holds a lot of secrets and bad memories, and the fear of anyone judging her if they were to ever find out her secret is overwhelming. Their paths cross when Brantley moves in the apartment above Miles. Though they don’t get off to the best start, their journey begins in a tangle of confusion, feelings and a mess of emotions.

Caught Up in You took misunderstandings and lack of communication to a whole new level. The on and off was sometimes frustrating, knowing that with a little bit of communication the problem could have been fixed in seconds, but in a way it also made the novel addictive.

One of the best things about this novel were the characters. Miles was a long haired, tattooed—probably stereotyped as a bad boy—guy who’s developing his own video game. Brantley who’s aunt is a lawyer and step-uncle is a doctor, but she’s working at a bar with aspirations of owning her own bar some day. From their families and stereotypes they weren’t typical characters and I loved that about them.

The ending was super cute and a good conclusion. I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and I’d recommend it.