Customer Reviews

Giving Chase (The Chase Brothers, Book 1)

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(28)

 

 

I was browsing through Amazon's kindle store when I came across the Chase Brothers. I bought the first two right off the back (one was free so I only paid for one). Once I started this series it was great. I fell in love with each and every Chase brother, their parents, and their significant others. Giving Chase is Maggie and Kyle's story, but starts out with Maggie and Shane. Shane bumps into poor Maggie and starts this book and series, he makes it up to her by taking her out and he seems like a total gentleman, except he forgot to let Maggie know that he had no plans to see her exclusively. Maggie falls for Shane and realized quickly that he is not the man she thought he was, and then Kyle comes in and sweeps her off her feet. You are introduced to all the Chase brothers, their parents, and a future Mrs. Chase. Polly, their mom is one of my favorite characters and you will fall in love with all five feet of her. Maggie has a mom and sister from hell and a stalker ex-boyfriend that was never really her boyfriend (this brings in the action part of the book). This was my favorite book, maybe because it's the first, but I love Maggie and Kyle. This is a must-read series.

I will say that there are some parts that were just like 'really' (as in a little out there and corny)and you'll know it when it comes to it, there's a part like that in all the books.

Chase Brother Series:
Giving Chase: Maggie and Kyle's story
Taking Chase: Cassie and Shane's story
Chased: Olivia and Marc's story
Making Chase: Tate and Matt's story

I read about 2-3 books a week. I love to read and love a juicy romance novel. But how on earth this book got four stars I'll never know. Sure, Maggie is a spunky character but I have no clue why she's first introduced to us as a dowdy school teacher and then turns into a sex kitten almost overnight. Was the author trying to say that the right man brings out something wild? Except she only got brazen with the Chase boys- BOTH OF THEM. Dating Shane then Kyle made her want to dress up. Pretty pathetic message that you can only look good when you're interested in a man. I don't believe for a second that Shane would be ok with his brother poaching Maggie since the theme through the book is that he sort of made a mistake letting her go. Plus, it seems to me that Petal is a small town where everyone knows each other pretty well except, somehow, the Chase boys, who are the hunks of the town, aren't as well known personality wise to Maggie and her friends (even though they all went to school together... Now I don't know about you but I find it odd that crushing on a guy in your small town wouldn't allow you to know someone better- even from afar). The storyline has a lot of holes in it and feels completely contrived. The dialog is forced. Maggie falls for one brother right after another. Her mother and sister are evil but not believable and half the female population in the town look down upon Maggie as not being pretty enough or running with the right circles. I'm not even going to get into the whole stalker storyline because it was a terrible attempt at a catalyst. I found myself asking why I bothered to continue to read this book. I honestly can say I HATED it. Thank god it was free for the Kindle and I didn't waste my money. Now I only wish there was some way I could get the hours spent reading it back!

Maggie has spent her entire life in the shadows of her mother and sister's beauty. Nothing she's ever done has been good enough so she's quit even trying to please her family. Unfortunately, the years of mental abuse have Maggie doubting her own appeal and unable to stand up for herself - until she confronts Shane Chase over his lack of manners.

Kyle Chase has never paid much attention to Maggie. He'd been a few years ahead of her in school and generally goes for the more flamboyant women. He sure notices Maggie when she rakes Shane over the coals, and he can't believe his eyes once he sees her after her friend Liv gives her a make-over. It's just too bad that his brother Shane's also interested in her.

Shane may be the local sheriff, absolutely gorgeous and a member of one of the most prestigious families in Petal, but there's no way Maggie is going to allow him to get away with chiding her when he's the one who backed into her and caused her to spill food on her clothing. What she doesn't realize is that her chastisement of Shane sparks the interest of all of the Chase brothers. The following day Liv gives Maggie a make-over that has the Chase boys sitting up and taking notice. Maggie accepts Shane's apology and even goes out with him a few times but he's still hurting from his ex-fiancé's betrayal and not ready to exclusively date only one woman. Kyle allowed Shane his chance with Maggie. When he blows it and Maggie is once again available, Kyle makes his own interest in her known. While Kyle and Maggie's relationship grows, so does the danger from a third man who believes that Maggie belongs to him.

I absolutely love Lauren Dane's GIVING CHASE! While Kyle and Maggie's relationship is a joy to read about, it's really Maggie's developing self-esteem and the way she finally stands up for herself that had me eagerly devouring the pages. The way she tells off her mother and sister is simply delightful and I wanted to applaud her. The entire Chase family is a marked contrast to Maggie's dysfunctional family but their acceptance quickly wins her over. All the Chase boys are drool worthy and I can't wait to see what happens next in this promising series. Ms. Dane's GIVING CHASE is sure to be a hit with readers everywhere. It's definitely a book you'll want to add to your keeper shelf.

GIVING CHASE is the first book in a four book series entitled CHASE BROTHERS. The stories are each about one of the four small town brothers and the women who will be lucky enough to capture his heart.

Chrissy Dionne (courtesy of Romance Junkies)

Giving Chase
by: Lauren Dane

Book 1 of 4

This was recommended on a mailing list that I'm on and I needed something new to read so I thought what the hey!

The story centers around Maggie Wright, her group of friends, and the Chase brothers. Maggie is what she would like to call a ho-hum history teacher. She likes to be completely buttoned up and to herself - unless you're part of her inner circle. Her mother has given her ideas about who she is and what she looks like that has made for a lifetime of low self esteem. It doesn't seem to help that her sister is a beauty queen.

Tired of always seeing her being second best, her friend gives her a makeover. Finally everyone in the town can see what her friends have seen forever - she has a good heart, but she's also a beautiful woman. She's ready to meet someone and have a good time.

Enter Shane Chase! The eldest of the Chase brothers and Sheriff of Petal, GA. Having had his heart broken before, he's now the town whore. Shane knows he won't be settling down, but he wants to spend some time with Maggie. Once she gets to close, he starts to push her away. Right into the arms of another Chase man - his brother, Kyle.

While it sounds like it would make for a completely cliched triangle, the thing that saves it is the suspense. In Maggie claiming her new life and becoming another force all her own, she grabs herself a stalker. She and Kyle become close as the stalker does his best to keep her guessing and Shane does his best to keep her safe in the name of the law.

The first chapter of this book is pretty dynamic and keeps on going for the whole thing. The Chase family has now become one of my favorite families in the books I've read. Polly, matriarch, is really one of the best characters ever. Truthfully when I get to be her age, I wanna wear high heels like her and have helmet hair. She's given me new aspirations!

This is a very strong first book. I went into it not expecting to like it as much as I did. Pick it up, you'll enjoy it!

4 out of 5 stars!

I don't usually write reviews about books, because everyone has a different reaction to them and should be able to make their own opinions without me having a say so. However, when I came upon this book I HAD to write a review. I'm not even sure how this got published. I'm an avid reader and will finish every book I start even if I hate it.

This book had absolutely no plot, no development; the reader received random acts of description for things you could care less about. The POV changed right in the middle of the paragraph in some instances that left me wondering what in the world just happened.

When reading this I felt like I was reading something written by someone with no writing background. The character started out as the typical mousy-no-one-will-look-at-me characters and within one chapter (or at least I think that it was a chapter since they aren't actually marked) becomes a woman that everyone lusts over even though she's lived in the town her whole life?

I don't understand how people are giving this book such stellar ratings, unless they are all the author's friends. Any one who actually reads and enjoys reading who be baffled by this book.

In Giving Chase, a brainy history teacher is coming out of her shell and finally getting attention from the most attractive men in the small town of Petal. The plot is actually a decent one with little twists and turns added in... but the author does such an abysmal job at pulling it off that it's almost painful to read.

Not only is the conversation between characters beyond awkward, but it's irritatingly unbelievable. It almost feels like you're watching a B movie where the actors are so bad that you can only laugh at their cheesy theatrics. Except this is in a book, and it's not meant to be funny... they're actually being serious. There isn't even any sort of gradual transitioning - everything seems to be done in stage whispers and cue cards.

Whereas women want their "romance hero" to be virile and handsome - the author surpasses what's appealing and instead gives us womanizing man whores. Who the heck wants a guy that's slept with every eligible attractive female in town? And what, it's original to have one of the towns players suddenly fall for a geek hidden under unflattering clothes that's suddenly turned beautiful swan? Ugg, really?

I'm all for the "white knight" scenario, but this is taken to such an extreme that I literally snorted out loud in disbelief repeatedly while simultaneously mumbling my annoyance - just ask my other half who was giving me sideways glances (apparently my constant scoffing was interrupting his video games). Even the love scenes were embarrassing: "I wanted to be sure because I respect you so much." Jeeezus, give me a break. If Kyle praises Maggie with long drawn out lists of her good qualities any more, he'd need a thesaurus just to keep from being repetitive.

The author's attempt to convey her point that the men are good looking, the "heroine's" family is horrid, the women in the town relentlessly "chase the Chases", and Maggie is finally standing up for herself borders on hacking the dead horse into pieces, rather than simply beating it.

This book was so artlessly cliché and over the top, I could barely stomach it until it finally ended - and not a moment too soon.

Giving Chase by Lauren Dane is about a romance that blossoms between Maggie Wright, a school teacher, and Kyle Chase, one of the small town's baddest and most attractive men. The blurb on the page may lead you to think that this would create for an interesting story, however, this was one book I could not bring myself to finish. Dane manages to successfully create flat, unrealistic characters who find themselves in equally unrealistic situations. The horrendous dialogue between any two given characters, but especially so for our two lovebirds, was stilted and awkward, bearing no real semblance to any conversation I have ever heard. Any and all romantic interludes were lukewarm at best, punctuated again by those strangely worded comments from one of the characters that completely killed the scene. Please allow me to quote:

Kyle:"...I bought them thinking about how you'd look with the candlelight flickering off your skin."

Maggie: "Dude, you say the best stuff. You're so getting lucky."

Well, I can safely say I am ever grateful that this was free. All that was lost was my time and a bit of my literary soul that died along with any real interest in this book.

I love romance novels, and the description of the Chase Brothers series got my attention. Unfortunately, the writing style and dialogue was so painful to read, I had to stop after the first couple of chapters. I'm sure the storyline is good, since there are so many positive reviews, but I couldn't stand the way the book was written.

As a fan of Lori Foster, Rachel Gibson and Erin McCarthy, I've seen similar steamy romance novels done better than this. But I like book series about brothers, so I ordered the other four in this series anyway. I liked the Chase family. The brothers tease each other but they would do anything for each other. Their slightly overbearing, but very loving, mother Polly is sweet. I'd love to marry into a great family like that. So that was the part of the book I liked.
Maggie, the heroine, is okay. She's smart, which is always good, but of course, she has self-esteem issues. Kyle Chase watches as his older brother Shane blows his chance with Maggie and steps in to become her hero. I was a little bummed by the way the book started out with Shane and Maggie flirting and then switched to Kyle. I had already started to like Shane and it was strange to switch my affections over to Kyle. But Kyle is a likable hero, so in the end, it's all good.
I didn't mind the plot or characters of this book at all. There was good romance with some action/suspense thrown in. It was the actual style of writing and dialogue that I didn't care for. But I'm going to read the other three brothers' stories and see if they get any better.
If you like books like this, you should really try the Buckhorn Brothers series by Lori Foster. The concept is quite similar, she just does it way better.
Oh, and the cover is possibly the worst cover I've ever seen on a romance novel. I almost had to put a paper book cover on it so it didn't wreck the image the book portrays of Kyle being a strong, sexy, hunk of a man.

Thank goodness I got this book for free on my Kindle, it was tough to read (but as I am one of those people who must see a book through the end, I stuck it through). This book was utterly ridiculous. The main character made absolutely no sense. She was a prim, conservative school teacher to start out with. Suddenly she turns into this lusty sex kitten who nobody recognizes now that she wears skirts and non-button up tops. Maggie is a mess of contradictions. She's supposedly shy and cannot see how beautiful she is, but has no problem completely and publicly bitching out anybody that rubs her the wrong way. She is annoyingly open with people she just met about how her family hates her and of her horrible childhood. Her relationship with her mother and sister is ludicrous. Whenever she encounters them in public they belittle her in front of others, demean her, laugh at the prospect of her having a boyfriend, and remark how she will never be as good or beautiful as her sister. This happens several times in the book, and whoever Maggie happens to be with at the time rises to her defense to fight off her mother and sister. She's supposedly a devoted teacher and volunteer; but I have a hard time believing a teacher that is out at a bar or dance club several times a week and getting into public confrontations constantly, while swearing like a sailor. Save your time and money, get yourself a Nora Roberts.