Blurb
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?
Our 3.5 star review:
“I had a theory that you could tell a lot about a guy by his coffee drink.
Any guy who ordered soy chai or more foam was going to be high maintenance.
If a fellow asked for the water to be extra hot, he was destined to be cold
and emotionless because the water at any coffee shop is already scalding;
if you needed it hotter, you had no feeling.”
Kat Harper is a grad
student who designs and makes jewelry for her own business, My Favorite
Mistakes. She has an older brother, Nate, and her parents own a small gift
shop which is struggling to turn a profit. Her last assignment before she
graduates from NYU, is an internship under the direction of a mentor. Part of
the reason she is so driven with her jewelry business, besides the income it
provides for her needs, is the desire to lighten the burden weighing on
her parents. Their shop is their primary source of income and out of
necessity have strapped themselves with a large loan. Kat desperately wants
to pay off their loan and give them some relief.
She had a
relationship while an undergrad with an actor, who enjoyed his dramatic
moments, on and off the stage. He became a bit of a stalker and she ended
that affair. No one compares to the love of her life; her brother’s
best friend, Bryan Leighton. When she was seventeen she and Bryan met the
summer after she graduated high school, fell in love and dreamed of their
happily ever after. Bryan was five
years older, had just graduated college
and had accepted a position with a prestigious company that would
require extensive travelling. They knew the obstacles, but had decided
that they could make it work. Neither wanted Kat’s brother to know about
them just yet. But then something changed...and Bryan was distant and told
Kat that it wasn’t a good idea for them to see each other anymore. That
rejection launched My Favorite Mistake and Kat created her first charm to
remind her of the one who broke her heart.
Its five years later
and Kat meets the mentor who will be guiding her for her last semester. When
she realizes she is paired with Bryan, she wills herself to act as if the
sight of him isn’t bringing back a rush of hurtful memories. Bryan is
friendly and flirtatious and seems to be interested in Kat. Though she finds
herself still attracted to him, she is overly cautious and doesn’t want to
risk her heart again. Bryan is now the owner of his own business,
Made Here, an accessory manufacturer, of high end cuff links and such.
His company recycles and reuses existing materials such as bike chains. His
company has a conservative board, and his original partner’s employment was
terminated due to an indiscretion.
How can Kat trust Bryan again,
and how will his position as her mentor affect their relationship? Kat
is
offered career opportunities which may further complicate the
situation. Bryan has legal problems requiring the utmost discretion in both
his professional and personal life. A relationship with a student he is
mentoring
certainly comes under the classification of being indiscreet.
Having been hurt by his rejection years ago,
how can Kat allow Bryan to
distance himself again?
Lauren Blakely has written a sweet story of
second chances. Kat is a strong, independent woman with a blossoming
career with a good sense of her strengths and weaknesses. She is no wall
flower; content to have life pass her by. She recognizes her past mistakes
with her relationships. She is no drama queen-she prefers to live out her
fantasies in her obsession with movies. A love of movies and coffee were
the glue that bound Kat and Bryan when they were young, their first kiss
took place in a movie theater. Both still have those same loves.
“Of
course I love romantic comedies.” But I didn’t just love them. I wanted to
live within them. I wanted a love like in the movies.
Bryan makes
attempts to gain Kat’s trust back, having realized his mistake in letting her
go once; he is
determined not to lose her again. As a reader, I wanted
to know why Bryan made no endeavor to follow Kat after she had experienced
a few years of college. They both lived in the same city, a fact I’m sure
Nate would have relayed to Bryan. It was a hole in their story, one that
should have been explained. I found myself wondering if Bryan had not met
Kat by coincidence through the mentoring program, would he ever have made
contact with her again?
With the exception of Bryan’s lack of motivation
in pursuing Kat on his own, Blakeley’s novel is an easy,
enjoyable read.
Her style of writing is simplistic and to the point. Her characters are well
developed and the
storyline flows naturally. Enjoy.
About the Author:
Lauren Blakely is an unabashed fan of clever jokes, toast, and good guys in novels. Like the heroine in CAUGHT UP IN US, she thinks life should be filled with movie kisses and coffee drinks. Lauren lives in California with her husband and children, and spends her days writing both true stories and make-believe ones.
You can find Lauren and contact her here-
Email
Twitter
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Goodreads
Blog
Added to my Goodreads list!
ReplyDeleteHi Lauren! I'm really excited to read Caught Up In Us. It's definitely on my TBR and can't wait to get to it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great giveaway!
On my goodreads TBR list
ReplyDeleteI added it to my goodreads list
ReplyDeleteAdded to goodreads.
ReplyDeleteAdded to Goodreads!
ReplyDeleteadded to my goodreads
ReplyDeleteAdded to my goodreads!!
ReplyDeleteAdded to my Goodreads!
ReplyDeletetess_halim(at)hotmail(dot)com
Thanks for the giveaway! I added Caught Up In Us to my Goodreads!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.goodreads.com/review/list/13785547-danielle-hoover?shelf=to-read