The Chase (Briar U) Paperback – August 26, 2018

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️Let me straight off by saying that when I read the Off- Campus series and Colin Fitzgerald was introduced… 😚Summer met Fitz before at a few parties, but has never paid her any attention. Little does she know that he has always been attracted to her but he always runs the other way. He knows she is the type that thrives on drama and he hates drama. He also stays away from her because he is friends with her brother, even though her brother graduated and moved to New York.Fitz… IMA NEED YOU TO THROW ME OVER YOUR SHOULDER SIR 🔥Oh yeah, and you can bet that Elle Kennedy definitely left me jonesing for the next book in the Briar U series, The Risk!

I am a huge fan of the Off-campus series by Elle Kennedy and I gave all those stories 5 stars, with the exception of the last one, but it was still 4,5 stars for me :) so when I heard that we will get a spin-off / sequel-ish series set at the same university I was thrilled :) especially since we met both Summer and Fitzy in that original series and I wanted to see how the romance between them will go… so trust me… no one is more disappointed that me that this was only a 2 stars story for me… I had several issues with this book, but explaining all of them will include talking spoilers, so I will have the next part of my review totally spoiler free when I will be a bit more vague but will still try to communicate my feelings, and then the last part will be filled with spoilers and concrete reasons why I ended up with only 2 stars for this rating…The main reason why I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I wanted and hoped I would, was actually the main couple… and I mean both of them individually as characters and the romance between them… I found Summer annoying and just a little bit too much and Fitzy was a jerk… I definitely didn’t see them together, and not because I have something against opposites attract theme… I’ve read some really great books with couples like that :) nope, the problem here is that there’s no build up to them becoming closer… they basically don’t have any interactions in the first half of the story… it’s more like he wants her but thinks she’s too much and don’t want the drama… she wants him and is a bit confused with his mixed signals… they don’t really talk about anything or spend any meaningful time together and then bam! they are together… ugh… not to mention that there is the matter of them being roommates and her sort of going out with another one of their roommates and I just… *throws hands in the air and sighs heavily* I just couldn’t with both of them...that’s all I can say while I stop myself from spoiling you stuff, so now I will jump into all my more detailed thoughts… fair warning, they will be in a totally random order, because even though it’s been days since I finished it, I just can’t seem to gather them in any sort of logical way :) ok, ready? :).......All my spoilery thoughts about this book:......#1 Summer was all over the place… and I get that some part of it was because she has ADHD, but it was tiring to read… she met Fitzy about a year before and he caught her eye immediately, but acted like he’s not that interested in her… yet she kept hanging on that infatuation… at the beginning of the book during a New Years Eve party she overhears him talk about how he thinks she’s fluff and shallow and stuff like that… so she kisses Hunter at midnight...and even though she heard all those hurtful words, she’s still crushing on him…#2 Fitzy is a jerk… yeah… that one was a surprise for me, cause I didn’t got those vibes before… but how else can you explain his behaviour? he’s attracted to her but decides that she’s too much drama so he won’t make a move… and yet he keeps hanging around and acting like a douchebag towards her…#3 there are basically no interactions between them throughout the first 50-60% of the story… #NoJoke… there are a handful of short conversations, usually during a party or some other gathering with friends, but almost none when they actually talk… that made it very hard to get on board with the romance between them… I could understood the attraction, but nothing else… and then we get this very surprising scene… so like, after almost zero getting to know each other, ad her overhearing him talking stupid stuff about her, during one of the games he gets injured and Summer sneaks into the locker room to check up on him… and them gives him a bj… I mean… what? huh? just… why??? right after that, his teammates come back to the room, so she sneaks before they can see her and they don’t talk about it… to make matters even worse, he basically disappears on her for like two days after that… and yet she’s still hung up on him!!! I mean, come on!!!#4 the whole Hunter situation… he’s interested in Summer, especially after their midnight kiss… and like a good friend, he talks with Fitzy and declares his intentions, asking him if he has a problem with it… and Fitzy being a stubborn idiot of course deny any attraction… and yet he’s pissed when Hunter flirts with Summer… don’t even get me started how he reacts when Hunter takes her out on a date… which is after the bj I mentioned earlier… I think... he barges into her room a few minutes before she’s going out saying she should stay… but giving her no reasons whatsoever for that… ugh… and Summer is no better… she decides to pursue things with Hunter even though she’s still very much hung up on Fitzy… which is so unfair to him… because during said date Hunter of course sees that something is not right… it doesn’t take him a long time to figure out what’s going on… he drops her off back home soon after and drives away and it doesn’t take her more than a few minutes to go to Fitzy’s room and sleep with him… at which point I was like “Hunter, you deserve soooo much better”#5 there was an iffy situation going on with one of Summer’s professors… but it was.. I wasn’t the biggest fan of how it was handled… it felt like a lot of slow build up to a big and what felt like a rushed ending… I can’t quite put my finger on the specifics, but I didn’t like it...#6 again, the whole romance between Fitzy and Summer… I don’t get it… there was no real build up, it’s like at some point they just decided to give into the attraction and become sort of a couple but not exactly… it was more like Summer finally convinced him to give them a chance, but he never really changed the way he acts around her… closer to the end they sort of have a talk about why he acts the way he does, but again… I didn’t really see any change in him… and because they didn’t really talk, I can’t seem to get behind of them being together…Honestly, if it wasn’t for the fact that we meet characters who will get their own stories further in the series, and I didn’t want to miss scenes with them, I would DNF this book… but I had to persevere because of Brenna :) she’s the heroine of the second story and my favourite part about this novel… not to mention that I am looking forward to book #3 which is gonna be published next month, to see who will Hunter end up with ;)

I just love the way Elle Kennedy writes romance. I really enjoyed the off-campus series and I enjoyed the chase just as much! Can’t wait to read the next one in the series.If you like slow burn, tension, a little grumpy/sunshine, and some excellent spice, you will enjoy this!!

The following ratings are out of 5:Narrator: 🎙🎙🎙🎙Romance: 💚🖤💙💜Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘📔World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌎Character development: 😎☺️🙃😚😍The heroine: Summer Hayward-DeLaurentis - Summer is from a wealthy New York family. After she burns down her sorority house and gets kicked out of college, she moves from New York to Briar University only finding out when she gets there that she can’t move into the sorority house on campus. She is forced to move into with her brothers hockey friends.The Hero: Colin Fitzgerald (a.k.a. Fitz) - Tall, sexy, hockey playing unicorn of a man. Though hockey players are treated like Gods at Briar U, he feels he is just a nerd. “A nerd Masquerading as a God”. He designs and reviews video games.The Story: Summer met Fitz before at a few parties, but has never paid her any attention. Little does she know that he has always been attracted to her but he always runs the other way. He knows she is the type that thrives on drama and he hates drama. He also stays away from her because he is friends with her brother, even though her brother graduated and moved to New York.The book is told in dual points of view via dual narration. The narration was done by Jacob Morgan and C.J. Bloom. I love Jacob Morgan, he is a great narrator, he has a deep and gravelly voice and is a terrific voice actor, showing emotion through his voice very well. I wasn’t as fond of C.J. Bloom, but her voice did match Summer. I wasn’t too fond of her as a character at first either.The world building was great. There were a lot of details about the process of creating a new video game, beta testing and so on. I also liked the fact that Summer has a learning disability. It definitely helps to give insight into why she is the way she is and a bit into why Fitz has a problem with wanting to date her.The chemistry was explosive, and the main characters were terrific and the supporting characters were great as well. This was pretty much your standard new adult sports romance, though I really liked that Fitz was about more than just sports. He was more into his game development and art than hockey, it was just like he happened to play hockey as well as all the other things he had going on. I also like that he is more of a geek than a jock.

i really enjoyed the dynamic from the two characters. the book flowed on very well. i would 100% recommend to readers

Dean Di Lauretis' little sister Summer has been kicked out of Brown for burning down her sorority and her father has pulled some strings to get her into Briar University. Unfortunately for Summer her sorority sisters refuse to let her join at Briar, citing her bad behaviour, so she is suddenly homeless just before term starts.Dean arranges for her to take his room at the townhouse he used to share with Hollis, Hunter and Fitzy which is great, if Summer hadn't been dissed by Fitzy and retaliated by kissing Hunter at a New Years' Eve party - awkward!Colin Fitzpatrick has spent most of his childhood and all of his adult life as a pawn in his parents' acrimonious divorce, he daren't tell anyone how he actually feels for fear it will be used as a weapon in a divorce battle that has never truly ended.Summer may be the daughter of two successful lawyers and obscenely wealthy by anyone's standards but that doesn't mean she's had it easy. A form of ADHD means she finds studying difficult and writing essays a herculean feat, when the rest of your family are hot-shot lawyers it can be devastating when you are failing a fashion course for the written work. Self-esteem issues aside, Summer is Colin's opposite: outspoken where he is reserved, gregarious where he is a loner, fashion to his jock. Yet neither of them can deny their attraction.I liked this, but I didn't love it. It was funny and sweet and sexy, yet I'll be honest, three hours after reading the book I couldn't remember the heroine's name.

I have had this book in my kindle library for a while now after I downloaded it for free - absolute bargain!I decided to read it and I’m so glad I did, it was just what I needed to get myself out of a little book funk. Once I started I didn’t want to stop. It took me 3 days to read but it would have only taken less than a day if I didn’t have parenting commitments!It’s a young adult/college romance story but it is well written and whilst reading it, I almost forgot that that was the trope of the book. It is witty, well developed and includes several taboo issues which again are written with taste.I found all of the characters likeable and relatable and the humour infused throughout the speech and dialogue and the constant banter was hilarious and had me laughing out loud.The book was a slow burn but the connection and the eventual spice between the two main characters was worth it.The side characters/storylines really made this book- like Brenna and Summer’s relationship and the ‘fake British guy’; setting the reader up for the next books in the series.I really enjoyed this book and was sad to end Summer and Fitz’s story it had me wishing the book was a little longer - although I imagine most readers all think the same thing about a good book.Overall I would honestly 100% recommend this book, it is well worth the read.

“𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝙸’𝚖 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝. 𝙼𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚗. 𝙷𝚎’𝚜 𝚊 𝚓𝚞𝚍𝚐𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚢.”🍷🍷🍷🍷 / 5🌶🌶 / 5 (the locker scene is *chefs kiss🤌*)»»————-✼————-««Review:First of all I just found out that we don’t get a sequel about Hollis who is my actual favourite and I’m heartbroken😭 In our buddy read gc I’ve claimed him as mine🤭 and I’m sad that we don’t get to see him find love😭Also I really enjoyed The Chase! Fitz and Summer are so good together! They balance each other out and help each other strengthen their weaknesses! They’re utterly adorable🥹✨Slight Spoiler✨Summer has ADHD and as someone who also has a learning disability (how do you spell dyslexic again?😂😅) I found her incredibly relatable! I’ve thought and felt a lot of Summers inner monologue and I’ve struggled like her as well it’s incredibly comforting reading about someone who’s going through something similar to yourself. And I feel like I haven’t read many (or maybe any?) other books that highlight a learning disability before (if anyones got any recommendations pls drop them below!) and I personally thought Elle Kennedy wrote in such a positive way🥹Anyway I found Summer annoying at first but once I got past her surface level attributes, she was funny and sassy! Mixed with all the sarcasm and on point comebacks I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Chase!Also Fitz😍 Fitz is hot, not just in looks cause yum, but he’s nerdy, he likes art and reading and video games and once he gets over being a dick (come on man you’ve got enough in your pants) he’s so perfect for Summer and like looks after her and helps her with studying and says cute things and just all round melts my heart🥹 also he deserves better parents than that my poor baby😢I have one tiny small problem, I don’t like love triangles and my bean Hunter deserved so much better! Also, okay I guess it’s 2 tiny small problems, I don’t think Fitz would’ve opened up the Summer like that, he went from 0 to 100 too quick in my personal opinion, I think it would’ve be over several conversations with Summer idk does anyone else agree?😅For lovers of:- Sports romance- Hockey romance- Grumpy x sunshine- Feminism- Love triangle (sorry peeps it’s in there and makes my heart hurt for my lil bean Hunter🥹 (also Shy it wasn’t a spoiler it’s in the blurb!!))- Learning disability rep🤭✨

I have had this book on my TBR for years and I don't know why I never picked up it earlier because I can remember having such a reading depression after finishing The Goal. I loved being thrown back into this world and seeing previous characters from the other series. I really had to think back and jog my memory. I thought the storyline was super fun and a really easy romance but I loved the underlying issue at hand with the shaming of the stereotypical blonde and made to feel stupid or creating an issue out of nothing. Summer's character embraced everything women and I think she really brought forth the women of today with her feministic attitude and I loved it. She's definitely the type of person I would hang out with anyway and I seem qualities of myself in her which was laughable. Fitz really developed in the story, more so than Summer with his growth mindset on how he needed to open up and become more vulnerable to someone else. I really appreciated that and it made me go see him as a genuine character rather than the douche I saw at the beginning of the book.The most important bit is that I cannot believe Leeds got mentioned!! I live around the bloody corner. It made my absolute day!

check triggers🤍did i want to bang summer and fitz head together and just tell them to be together already and stop fighting it? YES I DID. did i fall even more in love with tall, quiet, mysterious, protective, tatted up fitz? ABSOLUTELY I DID! i fell for him in the off campus series, because i can never resist a hot nerd.. but his own book?! swoon.summer and brenna’s are hilarious together, i love them so much! their friendship makes me so happy! i’m sad there wasn’t an epilogue, i wanted more—feel so attached to them both! we love a character development story, and summer’s delivered, she’s a bad ass we love her!