cover image Tamed

Tamed

Emma Chase. Gallery, $15 trade paper (256p) ISBN 978-1-4767-6360-6

Knowing that romance readers expect a happy ending, Chase tries to make the journey the best part of the third and final Tangled new adult romance (after Twisted), but that journey never gets off the ground. Investment banker Matthew Fisher enjoy strings-free hookups. When he meets absurdly hot chemist Dee Warren, it’s lust at first sight. Things are going well until she shocks him by ending their sexual relationship. She is unlike any woman he’s ever met, and he can’t understand what’s made her shy away. Minor ups and downs created by predictable reasons, such as Dee’s fear of commitment, push the story to its inevitable conclusion. The straightforward writing and interesting characters capture attention, but a weak attempt at conflict fails to sizzle. Readers who missed the previous installments may feel slightly adrift. Agent: Amy Tannenbaum, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (July)