Author: Elle Kennedy
Genre: Romance, New Adult
Published on: August 6, 2018, self-published
Forbidden love stories are among my favorite in the romance genre. If it's also a New Adult novel that doesn't have a shirtless dude in the cover, I'm picking it up. The Chase is the first in a New Adult romance series. The books are named after the setting, Briar University. The protagonist/love interest in The Chase is Summer Heyward-Di Laurentis. That mouthful of a name is a hint at her status. Summer is a well-to-do student, though it's refreshing that she's not your usual trust fund kid. Summer's father is a prosecutor, which I found interesting (even though he's never physically in any of the scenes).
The book starts on New Year's Eve. Summer is at a bar, where she meets the love interest, Colin Fitzgerald. She already knew him, but this is the first time Summer tries to get him to date her. Colin finds Summer pretty much irresistible, but there's a big obstacle. Summer is his best friend David's little sister. Colin and David know each other from playing hockey for Briar. David's not on the team anymore, but Colin still feels loyal to him. In an attempt to persuade himself not to give in to Summer, Colin talks about her (imagined) flaws to one of his acquaintances. Of course Summer overhears this, and is seriously offended. She assumes that Colin sees Summer as little more than fluff.
Colin's words would hurt any girl, but they get to Summer in particular. There's a reason for this that the book reveals early on. Summer has an...issue that would make people who don't know her think she's dumb. Summer is actually really bright despite that shortcoming. She's also good of character and has solid aspirations. Summer is studying fashion design. One of the major subplots in The Chase is that Summer has to arrange a student fashion show. This is a project for one of her classes. The professor is a new addition to Briar's faculty. He's a highly admired fashion designer. Summer may be about to live the "never meet your heroes" thing with him, though.
As for Colin, he has no idea why Summer's feelings toward him did a complete one-eighty. It doesn't help that she ends up as his new roommate. Colin shares a place with two friends of his, and they were in need of a fourth tenant. Knowing that Summer had nowhere else to stay at such short notice, David had her stay with his buddies. And Colin isn't the only complication. One of the roommates is Hunter Davenport, a guy Summer met on New Year's. She kissed him right after finding out what Colin allegedly thought of her, as a way to get back. Now things are awkward, as Summer didn't intend to pursue a relationship with Hunter. Colin and Summer are still attracted to each other, even though they are fighting those emotions.
Whereas Summer is a social butterfly, Colin is more reserved. Yeah, playing hockey technically makes him a jock, but he doesn't play to be popular. Colin is more into books and videogames. He designs his own games, in fact. Colin aspires to work for a prominent game development company. He's already created a game that he's sent to a few select people for their review. A certain videogame company CEO catches wind of Colin's game and contacts him for an interview. Colin is thrilled about this. He idolized the CEO much the way Summer idolized her new fashion professor. Will Colin also be disappointed with meeting his hero?
The Chase ended up exceeding my expectations. It's an enjoyable New Adult romance with memorable characters. The protagonists themselves are unlike most romance book couples I've seen in the past. Their personality and traits make them near impossible to mix up with other characters. This is more the case with Colin; how often do you meet a jock who designs videogames? Summer herself is also likable. She made me root for her. I'm very likely to continue this series, especially if Summer and Colin show up again even as side characters.
My rating: ★★★★
4 stars - Definitely enjoyed it!
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