**Spoilers Ahead, Read On With Caution**
It’s been a while since I read or reviewed anything by Samantha Young, and honestly, I’d quite stupidly put off reading as I was a little scared to read it incase I didn’t like it. Completely irrational fear, and completely incorrect as I actually really enjoyed it and basically read it in a day. Reading a book you’re really immersed in, and continuously having to return to work from your breaks is a real killer. I found myself immediately picking the book back up as soon as I had the chance to; it was addictive to walk the plot unfold. 
Childhood sweethearts, Jane Doe and Jamie McKenna first meet when Jane is thirteen and best befriended by Lorna, Jamie’s younger sister. Jamie is fifteen and so he’s off limits to Jane through her friendship. From here we get to witness the two grow up together, and gradually fall into a sweet and all consuming love. The book itself is divided between Jane and Jamie’s POV’s and so we get to experience their thoughts at different ages. We get to see them through their teen years, the ups and downs of high school, and later college.
I’ve never read a book before that so completely takes you through every inch of emotions that you can feel. This book’s so completely forces you to feel it all, the you feel utterly drained and fulfilled by the final chapters. I’ve also never read something where it fully submerges you into the characters at childhood. Most books I’ve read either have flashbacks, or they simply give you a prologue set in childhood, only to have the rest of the book following them as an adult. By allowing us to grow up with the characters in the first half of the story, I felt so much more connected to them, and invested in their lives. We got a full picture of family life, friendships and connections, and this was so important to the plot, and was beautifully written.
BLACK TANGLED HEART had so many plot twists that I’d have never imagine happening, or that Samantha would go that deep. By the end of part one I was left devastated for Jamie and Jane, and with part two picking up years later there is so much ground to cover in their history, and its heart breaking. So much was so unbelievable as it left a lump to build in my throat.
I adored both Jane and Jamie as they were the perfect balance of each other. Their love was innocent but passionate, tender but deep, they met their perfect other half, but lost each other tragically. I think I enjoyed being in Jamie’s head the most as he was a guy who accepted his fate to love Jane, and was determined to do it fully and correctly. During the second half of the book, we see a whole new side to him that is harder; he was left hurting and Jane is where he focuses all in anguish for this. It was a matter of needing the two to just sit down and talk about their problems because both of them had different reasons for why and how they finished. I was left begging for them to just talk and hash it all out to get them on the same page. And when they eventually did, it was explosive.
This book is technically apart of the PLAY ON series, but can be read as a standalone as they aren’t connected, and boy do I recommend you pick up any of those. Actually, I’d recommend you pick up anything by Samantha Young at this point, as lady has skills. Looking forward to THE TRUEST THING which is part of the Hart’s Boardwalk series.
BECAUSE BOOKS 