Book Description:
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. That works for both of them. Kat needs to grow her business to help her parents; Bryan needs to run a clean operation after his former business partner’s romantic scandal that rocked his firm. 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. And he's more handsome now than he was then. Then there’s the spark between them — the simply undeniable chemistry. Can they resist each other? Or are they willing to risk everything for 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. That works for both of them. Kat needs to grow her business to help her parents; Bryan needs to run a clean operation after his former business partner’s romantic scandal that rocked his firm. 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. And he's more handsome now than he was then. Then there’s the spark between them — the simply undeniable chemistry. Can they resist each other? Or are they willing to risk everything for a second chance at first love?
My Review:
I finally got the chance to read the very sweet story of Kat
and Bryan in Caught Up In Us by Lauren
Blakely. After reading this book you wouldn’t know that this was Lauren’s first
published book, which gives me enormous respect for Lauren, because the writing
was incredibly impressive.
Caught Up In Us is
told strictly in Kat’s point-of-view and starts off when her and her first
love, Bryan, see each other for the first time since he dumped her fives years
ago. Bryan is chosen to be her business mentor for her up-and-coming jewelry
line, My Favorite Mistakes. A necklace line (that unbeknownst to Bryan) Kat
started and named shortly after Bryan broke her heart, to remember he was her
favorite mistake.
The moment they reconnect Bryan is already being flirtatious
with Kat and making suggestive commits. Kat is determined to play it cool and
act like she doesn’t care, but it doesn’t take long for her to partake in their
witty and flirty banter of back and forth.
After they have an almost very steamy sexual encounter her
first time at his company’s factory, they seem to come to accept their
attraction for one another. However, there are problems with Kat and Bryan
starting a relationship; Bryan’s ex-partner was fired by the company’s board
for having a relationship with a minor and technically, Kat is still his
protégé and he is her mentor.
Kat desperately want’s to finish her class and graduate so
she can help save her parent’s little tourist shop in her hometown. Kat made an
agreement with an investor for her jewelry line that she had to finish school
in order to get the funding. Without a mentor, she can’t finish the class and
there is a strict ‘no hanky-panky’ with your mentor rule.
They continue their relationship in secret by having
late-night phone sex, but Kat quickly starts to feel like just another 900
number to him. She is still hanging on to the hurt and depression from him
dumping her five years ago and doesn’t know if he really wants a real
relationship with her this time.
Now, the part I found a little bit anti-climatic was with
Bryan’s ex-partner, Wilco, following them around. I assume he is trying to
catch Bryan with Kat to help in his lawsuit for wrongful termination.
What was anti-climatic about it was – he never caught them!
I was sitting there reading this story and waiting and waiting for some kind of
big blowout with the board of Bryan’s company when Wilco exposed their
relationship. I would have even liked for Wilco to come to blows with Bryan and
Kat while they were out and about causing a big scene in public.
But the only conclusion to the Wilco problem was that he physically
attacked Bryan during a meeting about the lawsuit with their lawyers. Wilco’s
lawyers then dropped Wilco as a client and dropped the lawsuit.
I don’t know, but I guess I was waiting for a little bit
more drama from Wilco.
After a business trip that turns into a romantic trip to
Paris, Kat decides to come clean about her relationship with Bryan to her
professor. Only she ends up finding out that her investor (who is also her
professor’s wife) is secretly the head of a major department store and offers
to be her new mentor so she can graduate.
The book ends with Bryan surprising Kat with revamping her
parent’s tourist shop and helping bring in more customers. When he shows Kat
what he has done for the store he gets on one knee and I think… proposes to
her?
See, I am little confused on this. He never actually says,
“Will you marry me?” He gives her a ring that he bought her five years ago and
offers to let her design her ‘real’ ring, but doesn’t ever actually ask her to
marry him. He does however ask if her answer is ‘yes’ though. Is it safe to
assume they’re engaged or just promising commitment to one-another?
I thoroughly enjoyed Kat and Bryan’s story, and it was
impossible to put it down. It is always wonderful when they get their
happily-ever-after.
I also enjoyed the secondary character Jill, Kat’s roommate.
I am crossing my fingers for a sequel with Jill and Reeve, Jill’s cast mate in
Les Mis!
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Website: http://www.laurenblakely.com
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