Tied Up in You
Series: All Lace Up #2
Author: Erin Fletcher
Published July 10th 2017 by Entangled: Crush
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Goodreads Synopsis
Everyone says hotshot goalie Luke Jackson is God’s gift to girls, but the only girl he wants is his best friend, Malina Hall. He’s always known how brilliant she is, but now that he’s “accidentally” kissed her, he can’t stop thinking about her…or wanting to kiss her again.

Problem is, things have been a little…awkward since the kiss. Because she likes him, too? Hopefully, but even if she did, their futures—and the ridiculous schedules that come with them—are in the way. And now one of his teammates is showing interest, and the guy has more in common with Malina than Jackson ever will.

As her best friend, Jackson should get out of the way. But if there’s one thing he’s learned from hockey, it’s that you have to go for what you want, even if it means falling flat on your face. And he’s definitely falling for Malina.

Disclaimer: This book contains a hot hockey player who goes after what he wants, a super-hot, super-distracting shirtless workout, and the kind of best friends to lovers romance every girl in the friend zone has dreamed of.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

I read the first book in this series last year, and couldn't wait to see what was next from the author. When the opportunity to be a part of the blog tour for Tied Up in You, I jumped at the chance!

In Tied Up in You, the main characters, Malina and Jackson, have been best friends for years, even if they are both interested in completely different things. Malina wants to work in astrophysics, and loves Space and learning, whereas Jackson hates school, and spends most of his time travelling with the national hockey team. When he returns from an extended period away, he accidentally kisses Malina. However, they both find they enjoyed it, and want nothing more than to do it again. The problem, though, is that they both realise this when they're on a double date, with otherpeople. As their relationship changes from platonic to romantic, they realise that not everything is as simple as they thought it could be.

I really liked Malina as a character. She knew what she wanted with her future, but cared enough about her family to follow their dream of her entering her father's company, rather than go to school and study astrophysics. Her relationship with her grandmother, Tutu, in particular was really sweet, and I loved that part. Jackson, who's name is actually Luke, but everyone calls him Jackson, was what I expected, but was also sweet and kind, and really cared about Malina, even if he was a bit pigheaded at times. He cared all about hockey, and school was just a chore that he had to put up with, until he would be drafted into the NFL.

The friends to lovers trope is one of my favourites, and this did hit all the boxes. The fact that they knew each other so well, and already cared for each other, made their relationship all their better. Yes, there were times I shook my head at how obvious the angst was, but it was understandable for the pressures they both are under at this time in their lives. Seeing Lia and Pierce again, and knowing they were happy, was awesome too!

All in all, this was a really nice and cute read for the summer. I felt like the characters were relatable, and was invested in the storyline for he time I was reading. There was one but that felt slightly disjointed, as if part of the story was missing, but it didn't disrupt the story enough that I couldn't continue. If you love this trope as much as me, I'd definitely recommend you give this book, and its prequel, a shot.