Tangled Thoughts by Cara Bertrand

High school graduation is a time for goodbyes, new beginnings, and if you’re Lainey Young, narrowly escaping with your life. Forced to leave behind both Northbrook Academy and Carter Penrose, Lainey believes she’s earned her freedom—from the eyes of the Perceptum and Daniel Astor’s schemes. Meeting handsome and very persistent Teaching Assistant Jack Kensington the first week of college complicates everything, including her feelings. College and flirtations with Jack help Lainey put all things Sententia behind her. But when her aunt arrives for a visit, with an unexpected guest and even more unexpected news, Lainey’s tenuous control over her life snaps. Once again, she’s linked to everything she thought she left behind. And this time, there’s no escape.Growing up, Carter Penrose thought he knew a thing or two about heartbreak—namely that it sucks—but he never knew exactly how much until losing Lainey. His life moves in a totally unplanned direction and he finds himself with a new home, new job, and even a surprising new girlfriend, all thanks to Daniel Astor. But just when Carter feels settled in the DC world of politics, a visit home to Northbrook brings up unexpected questions—about what happened at graduation and everything he believed about his Uncle Dan. When tragedy brings Lainey and Carter face to face for the first time since summer, their lives have never felt more separate. Lies drove them apart. Will the truth bring them together?

My Thoughts…

Oh Cara… these characters are becoming such good friends of mine.   I am truly invested in Carter and Lainey.     Throughout this series I am learning more and more about these two and their families which leads me to care for them more and more.     Tessa is also a favorite of mine.   Being Lainey’s mother figure and being clueless as to who Lainey really is makes me wonder how much longer she can stay in the dark. 

This part of the series takes Carter and Lainey to their respective colleges and the challenges that brings to their lives.     It also has them broke up and moving on with their lives with other people.    I enjoy watching them come into their own and learn to stand on their own without each other to lean on.   Especially Lainey who relied on Carter a lot while in high school.    She is learning to have fun, meet new people, and be herself.  Although I am still torn on how I feel about them being with other people.   I don’t want them in a bad relationship but don’t they belong together?     I still don’t know the answer to that.  

Tangled Thoughts is book three in the series and this series really needs to be read in order.    Each book picks up where the book before it ends.    The characters are carried over from book to book, the storyline is continuous, and each ends leading into the next.     I am anxious to continue this story and learn if Carter and Lainey are meant to be.  

Book Links

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Book 1: Lost in Thought Lainey Young has a secret: she’s going crazy. Everyone else thinks she has severe migraines from stress and exhaustion. What she really has are visions of how people died—or are going to die. Not that she tells anyone that. At age 16, she prefers keeping her crazy to herself. When doctors insist she needs a new and stable environment to recover, Lainey’s game to spend two years at a private New England boarding school. She doesn’t really think it will cure her problem, and she’s half right. There is no cure, but as she discovers, she’s not actually crazy. Almost everyone at Northbrook Academy has a secret too. Half the students and nearly all the staff are members of the Sententia, a hidden society of the psychically gifted. A vision of another student’s impending death confirms Lainey is one of them. She’d like to return the crappy gift of divining deaths with only a touch, but enjoys spending time with Carter Penrose—recent Academy graduate and resident school crush—while learning to control it. Lainey’s finally getting comfortable with her ability, and with Carter, when they uncover her true Sententia heritage. Now she has a real secret. Once it’s spilled, she’ll be forced to forget protecting secrets and start protecting herself.

Book 2: Second Thoughts

The continuing adventures of an ordinary teenage girl with extraordinary mental abilities, perfect for readers who love books and series such as Vampire Academy, Spellbound, and Sweet Peril. Secrets, lies, and looming deaths—all things Lainey Young deals with in a typical day of high school. In her senior year at Northbrook Academy—a New England boarding school where the majority of the students and nearly all the staff are members of the Sententia, a hidden society of the psychically gifted—Lainey has even more to worry about. Things like classes, college, her boyfriend, and, of course, the vision she glimpsed of her impending death. But to her surprise, Lainey finds one worry she can cross off her list, namely Senator Daniel Astor, the leader of the Sententia. After a shocking discovery when they finally meet, Lainey realizes maybe she was wrong to distrust the Senator. She relaxes even further when he seems to accept her refusal to work for him after graduation. But with her secrets mounting and the time to solve them running out, there’s a final enigma Lainey hasn’t yet encountered: Daniel Astor doesn’t take no for an answer. Ever.

Love the books and can’t wait for more? Did you know about these two extras? Click the book covers below to find out more!

               

About the Author

Cara is a former middle school literacy teacher who now lives in the woods outside Boston with: one awesome husband, two large dogs, one small daughter and lots of words. Lost in Thought is her first novel and was one of three finalists for the 2011 Amazon/Penguin Breakthrough Novel Award in the Young Adult category. Connect with Cara on her website and at Luminis Books.

Get all Cara’s books on Amazon by visiting her author page.