Review & Giveaway: Caught Up in Us by Lauren Blakely

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Caught Up in Us by Lauren Blakely
Contemporary  
Lauren Blakely Books (January 19, 2013)

Rating: B
Heat: Warm

Heroine: Kat Harper – Jewelry Designer, Graduate School 
Hero: Bryan Leighton – Cufflink Designer, Successful Businessman 
Setting: New York, USA

Miz Blakely is also giving away THREE ebook copies of Caught Up in Us to THREE random (and lucky) readers!

Synopsis:

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?

Review:

Brian was butterflies-in-the-belly, my soft-and-hungry-and-never ending kisses. He was all the kisses I’d ever want. He was all the kisses I’d ever want. Because he was kind, and he was witty, and he always wanted to know more about me, and maybe that’s why he kissed like a dream – he was my dream guy.

When Kat Harper was seventeen, she meets Bryan, her brother’s best friend. Even though there is a five year difference between them, they have a lot in common. And, as they spend the summer together going to the movies, spending time in NYC, they both fall hard for one another. Kat’s plan is to go to NYU in the fall and continue her relationship with Bryan. But, suddenly out of the blue, Bryan breaks things off with her. With no rhyme or reason, he tells her that they shouldn’t be together. Bryan completely shattered Kat’s heart. And, as time goes by, Kat has never felt the same way about any man she’s dated since Bryan.

Five years later, Kat Harper is in graduate school pursuing her dream to expand her jewelry line – My Favorite Mistake. She makes cute, original charms to go on necklaces and bracelets. What she didn’t expect is to see Bryan in her class. To make matters worse, he is assigned to be her mentor for the semester. Kat tries really hard to get her professor to assign her to another mentor, to no avail.

The attraction that should’ve fizzled after so many years is still going strong between them. Bryan is still the same handsome, good guy Kat used to date, but now he’s all grown up running a very successful company making cuff links. The first moment they are alone together, sparks fly. In that moment, Kat realizes just how hard it’s going to be to keep their relationship professional.

I really enjoyed Kat and Bryan’s story. They have a great dynamic together with the flirty banter and sexy phone calls. Kat really tried to resist Bryan, especially since he broke up with her without an explanation. But, being around him reminds her exactly how much she still really cares about him. And, because Kat is the kind of gal who takes risks, she took the chance to go for what she wanted instead of playing the jaded ex-girlfriend. That doesn’t mean she still didn’t have reservations about Bryan. She still deserves an explanation. Not only that, being with him means she could fail her class since her professor plainly states on his website, “no hanky panky” with your mentors. Because of this policy, Kat and Bryan had to put a pause on being together, again. So, for the most part of the book, these two spend a lot of time having a secret relationship…on the phone. Wink wink. But when the sexual tension and feelings become too much, how do these two people, who are magnetically drawn to each other, keep their distance from one another?

This is a very sweet and romantic story about two people who get a second chance at love. And I love second chance love stories! Kat and Bryan are fun and relatable characters, who I admired for their maturity in the way they handled the relationship the second time around. However, I wish there were more of the flashbacks from when they were dating, to strengthen the reasons why they were still in love with each other five years later. Also, even though I understood and agreed with Bryan’s reasons for breaking up with Kat, what I didn’t understand is why he didn’t just tell her! I was baffled to say the least.

On a side note, I enjoyed reading about the jewelry designs and the steps Kat went through to pick out original pieces for her charms. I especially liked the part in Paris where she found some interesting pieces. One of my hobbies is making earrings and bracelets, so this part of the story was a lot of fun for me.

Overall, this story is worth checking out for contemporary romance lovers. I am definitely interested in reading more books written by this author.

Giveaway!

Three randomly drawn readers will win a digital copy of Lauren Blakely’s Caught Up in Us! Open Internationally. Please follow the Rafflecopter widget directions and terms and conditions. Giveaway ends at 12:01am on 1/27/13.

Please leave us a comment telling us why you’d love to have a romantic book affair with Bryan!

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