Two to Tangle (A Tangle Valley Romance #2) by Melissa Brayden
- Publisher: Bold Strokes Books, November 10th 2020
- Genre: Romance, LGBTQ+
- Format: Paperback (eARC)
- Page Count: 261 pages
- My Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)
Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.
Food, wine, and softball games with a sexy chef and hot contractor? I’m in love.
“You’re a good chef.”
[Gabriella] paused. “Ryan. I’m the best chef. Stop by my truck one day.”
Chef Gabriella Russo (34) moved from the East Coast to the West with her best-friend-cum-ex-girlfriend Madison LeGrange (31) after Tangle Valley Vineyard owner Joey Wilder’s (31) job offer. Soon the restaurant of her dreams is under construction, and Gabriella finds herself in the constant presence of the gorgeous contractor Ryan Jacks (28), who might also be the woman of her dreams. Too bad Ryan is a player and too young for her.
I had a lot of fun with the previous book, Entangled (review), and have been looking forward to Gabriella and Ryan’s story for months. Since the series is set in the wonderful vineyard Tangle Valley, I poured some wine to ready myself for this book and ended up laughing and crying through the whole thing. I love Ryan so much even though she does make some questionable decisions sometimes. I felt her insecurities, vulnerabilities, and earnestness. Right now, I just want to give her a hug.
I love how passionate and confident both Gabriella and Ryan are about their jobs and yet so uncertain, extensively questioning themselves, when it comes to love and their mutual feelings. Every single time Gabs and Ryan see or even think of each other, I experienced butterflies in my stomach. Maybe it’s the alcohol; maybe it’s not. While there is some misunderstanding between them throughout the story, it doesn’t feel like miscommunications. I think both parties are fairly justified for their behaviors. There is also a bit of a love triangle going on that is fully believable and heartbreaking at the same time.
“This was their great love, and they blew it. Now they have to live a subpar existence, settling for less because they didn’t go after what their hearts truly reached for, messy as it would have been.”
Becca
The secondary characters are also amazing. The Tangle Valley Trio is as fun and wonderful as I remembered them to be but even more layered. There are support and angst within the group, and I also loved seeing more of Joey and Becca’s relationship after Entangled. Ryan’s friends Billy and Lana are also wonderfully understanding and her golden retriever mix rescue Dale is adorable. I feel like crying again just thinking about them all. There are also brief mentions of actress Carly Daniel, tasting room staff Loretta’s daughter featured in To the Moon and Back (review) and romance novelist Parker Bristow featured in Back to September (review on Goodreads), two of my favorite Brayden books.
Gabriella and Ryan are so cute yet frustrating I love them. There were tensions but none contrived. I could see everything happen and I was rooting for them so hard, believing in them when they didn’t believe in themselves. Unlike other Brayden books, the intimate scenes in this one mostly fade to black, and for me, that made the story more tender with aching yearnings. I also love that apart from the scenes involving the restaurant construction site, there were also slow-pitch softball games. Who doesn’t want some sweaty, sporty, and muscly encounters?
“The ego is a horrible roadblock on the road to achievement.”
Gabriella
Two to Tangle is another wonderful book by Brayden whose main characters I adore. A Tangle Valley Romance is now my favorite contemporary romance series, and I cannot wait for What a Tangled Web, where we can fall in love with both Madison and Clementine as they fall for each other. [31 Oct 2020]
I received an e-ARC from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
