To my siblings, Jane was a friend. A pseudo-sister, the girl we grew up with.To me? She was everything.Our passion consumed us.When our world fell apart, I thought our love would be the thing that held us together.She was the love of my life. But she abandoned me when I needed her most.And I’ll never forgive her.For years I’ve been planning my revenge against the people who took everything from … the people who took everything from me.
Jane won’t be an exception. I’m coming for her.
She knows it.
She says she wants to help me serve my version of justice on the people who hurt me.
I’ll let her.
She probably thinks it will save her from me.
It won’t.
*This is a complete standalone. The Play On series are books connected by the theme of the arts industry, not by characters.
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Jane and Jamie’s story dragged me into reading it non-stop all night long. This book is so deep, it manages different struggles, such as mental illness, sexuality, and the author does it in a great way. This made the story realistic, it showed how each character evolves. This story will reach deeply into your heart and mind, it’s not just a story it’s more than that and so I recommend this book and will be recommending it for a while. Definitely a must-read!
I’ve been a huge Samantha Young fan for a while now. I just love everything she writes. Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance I love both genres by her. So when I saw ‘Black Tangled Heart’ was coming soon, I got super excited. ‘Black Tangled Heart’ is part of the Play on series, but it is a standalone. The books in this series are connected by the theme of the arts industry, not by characters. And when I received the ARC of this book, I was beyond excited and started reading as soon as I could.
In ‘Black Tangled Heart’ we meet Jane and Jamie. Both had a hard time growing up. When Jane becomes best friends with Jamie’s little sister, she also instantly falls for Jamie. As years past, Jane and Jamie grow closer and closer. But life still isn’t easy for them, and when something horrible happens it seems impossible for them to stay together.
Samantha Young’s writing always makes you feel all kind of emotions. And this book is definitely packed with emotions, and it gives you all the feels. From the moment I started reading, I was hooked and I read this book in one day. The two main characters Jane and Jamie are just so good to read about. Jane the orphaned, observant beautiful girl and Jamie the handsome, charming writer. These characters are definitely two of my favorites.
The relationship between Jane and Jamie is right from the start very intense. Their chemistry is flying of the pages, their connection is just unique and their love for each other is something you can definitely feel. And I loved reading every minute of this story, even if things got hard to read at times.
I don’t know how Samantha does it, but this book was even greater than her last one. Like every book of her I read always seems to be. This story made me cry, made me laugh, made me feel angry and sad, frustrated and happy. It was definitely a roller coaster from start to finish. I loved how this story began when they were in their teens, and ended with them being in their twenties in present time. And even if such a big amount of time went by, it never felt rushed.
I loved every page of this book and I just couldn’t put it down. If you’re a lover of Contemporary Romance this book is definitely for you!
This is book three in the “Play On” series and I was excited to dive in. I was instantly pulled into Jamie and Jane’s love story. You go through so many emotions. Pain, heartache, anguish and fear. It’s angsty and brought me to tears several times. It tore my heart to shreds then put it back together again. You will for sure get lost in this book. It’s everything you want and more. This is by far one of my favorite reads by Samantha, and I have loved all of her other books.
This is a story told in two halves which I loved. We get to see a close up view of the dynamics between all the main players in the book and I have to say the characterisation is amazing. The first part follows the slow awakening of love between Jane and Jamie. I loved the connection that builds between them from friendship an then young love.
Samantha has written a story showcasing the many types of love and how family can come from many quarters. When Jane meets the McKenna siblings she finally finds what she has always wanted acceptance and love. I won’t say exactly why but Skye and Lorna play a pivotal part of the events that unfold and although one of them is the villain the other will break your heart.
The second part is set years later and transforms the story into something darker. Revenge is the motive for everthing that happens. Although the pace of the book changed it fit with the mystery suspense and danger that follows the characters.
Another amazing book in the Play on Series, this is the story of James and Jane who meet when Jane becomes the best friend of James’s sister Lorna and eventually moves in with the family including James’s older sister Skye.
The story is in two parts the first one is young love friends to lovers, loving your best friend’s older brother, as over time Jane and James become a lot more than friends. Skye warns them that they are two young to be so wrapped up in each other but they refuse to listen.
Then everything falls apart when Skye suddenly dies and once James finds out what happens to her he is out for revenge, resulting in a jail sentence and though they struggle to keep their love together they are torn apart by someone else’s jealousy.
In the second part, the two of them meet again but much water has gone under the bridge for both of them and though they don’t realize right away, they are both seeking revenge for Skye but they are so blinded by this desire that they can no longer see the person they loved in front of them.
The story becomes more of an exciting action packed thriller as they try to right the wrongs done to Skye. Expect to feel all the emotions, love, anger, jealousy and bitterness at the injustice of life especially in Hollywood. An excellently written story as always from Samantha that will keep you enthralled all the way through.
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Every so often I read a book which reminds me of all the reasons I love the romance genre so much. Black Tangled Heart was one of those. The story is essentially told in two parts or time periods. In the first part we see our couple, Jamie and Jane, as teenagers and experience the recognition of soul mates and witness the flush of first love. Then the unthinkable happens and tragedy strikes. Part two is present day. Jamie and Jane as adults. Their reconnection and the unloading and sorting of the baggage between them as a couple and individuals kept me glued to the pages. Beyond the character development, the story arc was compelling and will keep you on the edge of your seat. Jamie and Jane’s connection was emotional and passionate and physically intense… translation… burn-up-the-pages hot! I was 100% invested in this couple and their story. Although this is Book 3 in the Play On series, it is a complete standalone and not to be missed.
~Jamie
Black Tangled Heart is the epitome of a great romantic story. It is a riveting, captivating, heart-stopping and heart-pounding story of passion, grief, revenge beautifully mixed with a rough edge of suspense to keep readers on their toes the entire time.
You can truly never go wrong when picking up a book by Samantha. She writes the most complex characters and her stories are told in a monumental way that leave you feeling as though you lived through it personally. And Black Tangled Heart is the perfect example of just that.
Jane and Jamie’s story plays out from childhood to adulthood and readers can easily see how relationship progresses over time. This story is filled with passionate and steamy scenes along with some very tense scenes. Everything plays out at a perfect pace and keeps readers glued to the pages.
I will not go into any details because this book needs to be read without knowledge aside form the blurb. Readers need to experience every scene without any notion of what it is to come. This story was nothing like I had anticipated and that’s what made it so much more better than anything she has written to date.
This book has easily made it’s way to one of my top reads of 2020. Black Tangled Heart needs to be one book that everyone reads!
Black Tangled Heart by Samantha Young is impossible to review. The story of Doe and Jamie left me speechless as I was in awe, it was a truly emotionally charged read for me! It is breathtakingly stunning, beautiful and more. It almost had me in tears the first few pages and trust me when I say it is not like me.
My heart broke for Jamie and Jane and what they are both going through. It was absolutely spectacular and amazing all the way through from page one till the end.
When Jane meets Jamie, I literally felt the soul searing connection that they have and it made my heart beat faster. -they were connected on such a level that you can almost see a tether from one soul to the other. She was his Kryptonite.
” He kissed me like I was oxygen. ”
By agreeing to become Lorna best friend, Jane got more than she bargained for- she got a family. However, life is not easy and it certainly wasn’t, not only for Jane and Jamie, but also for Lorna and Skye. Skye o Skye what an outstanding secondary character.
Fate , jealousy, sorrow and LOVE, it was a deeply emotional ride. Incredible beyond words. Raw emotion that will leave you gutted. Black Tangled Heart is one of the best books that I have read this year. The story grabs you from page one and never let’s go. My heart shattered for them and no love story can compare.
Do yourselves the pleasure of feeling things you’ve never felt before while reading a book. I promise you, , it will leave a mark on your soul for years to come.
If you are looking for Epic , look no further.
AHHHH!! Samantha Young has done it again!! I absolutely love her Play On series and was so excited for another story in this world. I am so obsessed with Jamie and Jane. Their connection was electric and fiery and I for one could not get enough. This is one of the best Samantha Young stories I have ever read!!!!
Without a doubt, I absolutely loved the different tropes in this story: Best friend’s older brother/taboo type stories are my jam but there was something about Jamie and Jane that made this unforgettable. Their banter, back and forth and the level of awareness and tension between them was FIRE. I could not be any more in love with them. But then the second half of the story happened and BAM: I was consumed with the revenge plot, the angst, the secrets and the twists and turns in the story. GAH!! Black Tangled Heart is the absolute complete package. What a phenomenal ride and another reason why Young is on my auto click list! Bravo! 5 stars! ~Ratula
4.5 stars– BLACK TANGLED HEART is the third instalment in Samantha Young’s contemporary, new adult to adult romance story line focusing on artist Jane Doe and writer Jamie McKenna. BLACK TANGLED HEART can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Each of the instalments is a stand alone story.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Jane and Jamie) BLACK TANGLED HEART covers approximately seventeen years in the life of Jane Doe and Jamie McKenna. At thirteen years of age, Jane Doe, a product of the foster care system met Skye, Lorna and their brother Jamie McKenna, and immediately fell in love with the boy who would one day break her heart. With Lorna as her best friend, and Skye a ‘second’ mother in our heroine’s life, Jane found herself loved for the first time in her life but falling in love with Jamie McKenna forced Jane to pick sides in a family that was about to quickly implode. As Jane and Lorna’s friendship slowly deteriorated, Jane’s relationship with Jamie advanced to a more personal level but all was not well in the McKenna household, when tragedy would strike not once but twice in a short period of time. As Jane struggled to move on with her life, Jamie barely managed to survive only to enact a plan of vengeance against everyone he blamed for destroying his life, including our story line heroine.
The relationship between Jamie and Jane is one of immediate attraction but our couple were only thirteen and fifteen years old when they met. Years would pass wherein Jamie bided his time waiting for the woman with whom he would fall in love, a woman he would eventually grow to hate and distrust. Jane never stopped loving the man who had stolen her heart, a man she no longer recognized following years of separation, and too much time to consider what happened in the past. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
BLACK TANGLED HEART follows two relationships: Jane and Lorna, and Jamie and Jane’s. Lorna was Jane’s only true friend but their friendship came at a cost to everyone involved. The dysfunctional family dynamics of the McKenna household would reveal a dark secret that would destroy Jamie, and eventually his relationship with both Lorna and Jane. A heart breaking and emotional story BLACK TANGLED HEART is a passionate and dramatic look at life, love, betrayal and revenge. The romance is seductive and sensitive; the characters are real, startling, broken and lost.
So many twists and turns in this one and SUCH a satisfying ending. Loved these complex characters and the emotional roller coaster. I’m such a devoted fan of Samantha Young!
Samantha Young your mind is a beautiful thing! It astonishes me the creativity you bring to every one of your books, this one was no exception! I simply couldn’t put it down! I say that like it’s an unusual thing but I can honestly say I have never picked up one of Samantha’s books and not devoured it within one day!
Jane and Jamie (swooning unashamedly) … Where to even begin with these two. They are light. They are dark. They are complex. They are a couple that hold a pure intense love that makes you crave the same thing. But like with any truly soul deep love it comes with its trials and tribulations. And to read how they both grow together and separately was a joy, and in some places utterly heart wrenching! My levels of anxiety went from high to catastrophic but it was equally matched with profound mushiness… yep that’s what I wrote mushy but you all know what I’m talking about hahahahaha!
Now the other characters… Some I just had a instant strong dislike too and others I just wanted to proudly say I knew them. I’ll let you decide on which is which but I am pretty sure we will likely agree…
I was extremely sad when the story finished, I found myself wanting to know more, not quite ready to leave. But not because anything had been left out but because I had become so fiercely attached to the characters I wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet…
This book is a work of written art and I would highly recommend to anybody and everybody. It just shows exactly why after this many years why Samantha still holds the title of one of my ultimate unicorn authors! As it stands I can only give 5* but in reality in deserves many, many more! Oh and you don’t have to read the others in the series as it doesn’t follow a set of characters! But that being said I’d still read the others to!
4.5-stars.
Black Tangled Heart by Samantha Young was a great read that was steamy, suspenseful and captivating! The story of two people who truly loved each other, but who had life get in the way. When life brings them together again, they are not the same people they once were. Now Jaime is older, crueler, colder. And out for vengeance. Jane is stronger, caring and wants to help. But Jamie will never let anyone hurt him again.
Black Tangled Heart by Samantha Young was an emotional and intriguing second chance romance with so many feels. I loved Jamie and Jane so much. Their journey was not an easy, but it was all them and I loved it!
Read and reviewed for Sultry Sirens Book Blog.
Happy reading!
I always know that I’m in for a treat when Samantha Young releases a new book and Black Tangled Heart was amazing, captivating and so intense!
Black Tangled Heart is the third book in the Play On series, it’s a complete standalone and filled with heart, angst, and passion. It’s a beautiful, heart-breaking second-chance romance and it will keep you up until you’ve finished reading the last page.
As young kids/teenagers Jane and Jamie meet through Jamie’s younger sister Lorna. It takes a while, but they fall in love, that all consuming love where it’s all or nothing, all in or a complete heartbreak.
The progression of their relationship and the growth that Jane in particular goes through, is a thing to behold. She grows comfortable enough in her own skin to stand up for herself.
I won’t go into details with what happens, but Jane and Jamie fall apart and their passion turns into more hostile feelings. You will find yourself cursing at Jamie, but I promise you, it’ll be worth in the end.
The story is told in a dual POV, it’s in two parts and it’s beautifully written. It’s angsty, it’s passionate and it has so much heart.
If you haven’t read Samantha Young’s Play On series yet, please do, they’re all so beautifully written, with amazing characters and fantastic stories.
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Jane just wanted to be wanted and loved. Meeting Lorna gave her the family she so wanted and brought her Jamie. How could something so good turn so bad but it did. Life brings us ups and down and I loved that Jamie and Jane found each other again and found love and the happiness they always wanted.
I honestly think I had forgotten the feeling of being so engrossed in a romance until Samantha Young came along with Back Tangled Heart. It tells the story Jane and Jaime and their love story that spans decades. They first meet when Jane is enveloped into the family by his younger sister. Family is something Jane has never truly known, and being part of this one something that means so much to her.
Having aligned Jane with the selfishness of his younger sister, he is both surprised and blown away by her when he begins to get to know her under her own merits. Their two year age difference is a concern to him in their younger days but it’s only when Jane turns eighteen that things truly become serious between them.
Theirs is a bond that glued this story together. It was incredibly passionate, wholesome and transcended their age and situation. This made it all the more devastating when circumstances force them to part and Jaime transforms his heartbreak into hate.
All my being was poured into this read and I couldn’t have thanked the author enough for allowing me to loose myself in it, especially given the anxiousness the world is going through right now. As a reader I wanted nothing more.
This was my first Samantha Young book but it won’t be my last. The thing that drew me to this book was the “revenge” aspect. I love a good enemies to lovers second chance romance. This one had a little bit of everything that I liked.
The first half of this book was set in “before” and I was not expecting that. I loved how their story was set up and the integration of his sister into this equation. The fact his “family” accepted Jane as their own was significant, and it meant she was closer than just the best friend or girlfriend. She was already one of them, and when things came crashing down it just made it all the more dramatic.
Fast forward to now, after a huge misunderstanding has separated Jane and Jaime, he is out for revenge on the people that have wronged him. Jane just so happens to be collateral damage in his plan of destruction. Once he sees her again, he thinks he can use her to get what he wants, but it becomes clear that he will never be able to let her go. I love when a guy thinks he can just forget the woman he loves and then gets crushed by his feelings for her and basically ends up in her control. It makes me super happy.
I enjoyed this book, but there were aspects that left me scratching my head wondering why they were there.
Samantha wrote an epic romance that has a little bit of everything–angst, steam, and darkness.
The Goddess of angsty romance has done it again!
Samantha Young has written a captivating tale full of heart wrenching emotions, by the end of this book, emotionally I was a mess. I’m pretty sure that I ugly cried for at least half of this book. The story follows the characters of Jane, Jamie, Lorna and Skye as their lives become tangled up in a web of lies, deceit and a love that becomes all too consuming. When hidden secrets are discovered they become the catalyst that makes their world completely fall apart.
I have not read a book as intense as this story in such a long time, even though it has all the usual qualities and drama of an angsty romance, when reading a book by an author as established as Samantha Young, I kind of expect that what I’m gonna read will always be a great story, having said that, I really do feel that with this book she has really dug down deep and managed to go that extra mile to write a novel that has completely and utterly floored me, she created total devastation for me and practically broke me as I was flooded with so many different emotions, making me a weeping mess for her characters.
Brilliant story, amazing characters and a plot line that left me reeling!
Flipping heck! What did I just read? Enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, to – what the heck! Was it forbidden? Possibly. Ask Lorna, and she’d say a definite yes, and therein lies the root of the problem. Lorna. Jane’s best friend, and Jamie’s younger sister. Lorna who was selfish to the core, unable to stand anyone else but her having Jane’s love and attention. This meant that when an unbreakable bond formed between Jane and Jamie, they had to keep it under wraps. A beautiful, passionate and extremely emotional love story with some heartbreaking moments, some clever twists and some wonderful characters. Jane was such a kind giving soul, the perfect Bonnie to Jamie’s Clyde (without the mass murders). So much passion, so many misunderstandings, oh yes, did I mention passion, so so intense. Perfectly written, great storyline, and fantabulous characters. Another 5 star read, I loved it. I received an advanced copy of this book. This is my honest review.