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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Making Chase, July 23, 2008
This review is from: Making Chase (The Chase Brothers, Book 4) (Paperback)
Tate Murphy couldn't believe her eyes when she opened them, and found herself staring into Matt Chase's handsome face. She had lusted after him from afar for many years, and to have finally met him after being hit by a car was disconcerting. He is a fireman, so of course came running when the accident happened. He had never met her before, but Matt couldn't get Tate out of his mind after her close call, and when she brought him homemade cookies as a thank you, that gave him the perfect opportunity to spend time with her. He found himself making a point to be places he knew she was going to be just so he could see her. When Matt realized that Tate was "the one" for him, he asked his mother about her background. Just from their few conversations, he knew she had a rough childhood, but wanted to know what they were facing. None of it was good. Tina Murphy was a whore that was only home if she didn't have a better offer. Bill Murphy was a drunk, but not just a drunk; he was a mean drunk that dished out more emotional and physical abuse than anyone should ever have to handle in a lifetime.
Matt was from a good decent loving family, and it never occurred to him how horrible people would treat Tate especially when they found out they were a couple. He couldn't believe his ears when he heard comments like she was a fat nobody from the wrong side of the tracks. No wonder she had such a self esteem problem. Between her family, and the town, she gets bombarded from all directions. Matt wanted nothing more than to protect Tate, but it wasn't until they were attending the homecoming game that he finally understood what she went through every day. Just when everything started to settle down a few months later, Bill Murphy started blackmailing Tate. He told her he would make the Chase family regret ever letting their son get involved with her. He frightened her so badly that she paid him for months until she was caught. Matt reacted badly because he thought she still didn't completely trust him. When he walked out of the home they had built, Tate wasn't sure he would ever be back.
What a wonderful story! Each book in this series gets better. Tate is such a complex character. She has literally been tortured her entire life, and has all the baggage that comes with that type of treatment. Feeling unloved and unattractive, she doesn't understand how Matt can love her. Matt just wants to love Tate, and make her world better. He simply wants to be with her, period because she makes him feel complete. A very emotional read, so have a couple Kleenex handy.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
5 blue ribbons from Romance Junkies, July 10, 2008
This review is from: Making Chase (The Chase Brothers, Book 4) (Paperback)
Tate Murphy may have come from the wrong side of the tracks but she's worked long and hard pulling herself and her siblings from the abusive and neglectful trailer where they'd spent their childhood. Together with her sisters, Anne and Beth, she owns and operates a successful salon directly across the street from the fire station. Each morning she eagerly awaits the sight of her `visual donut' - Matt Chase.
Matt Chase has a well-known reputation for dating drop-dead beautiful women but he's very much aware that none of them have the qualities he's looking for in a long term relationship. He's watched each of his brothers fall in love and marry and he would love to find a woman who completes him too. It isn't until he meets Tate Murphy that he realizes that his perfect woman doesn't wear a size two and come with a impressive pedigree. Now all he has to do is convince her of that fact.
Even though Matt and Tate have lived in the same town their whole lives they don't really know each other. Matt comes from a wealthy close-knit family, and Tate comes from the trailer park with abusive and neglectful parents. It takes her getting run down by a car and Matt's professional persona to bring them together for the first time. Of course, it's just her luck that her dream of being rubbed all over by Matt happens while she's bleeding, lying in the street like a drunken hobo with a torn shirt and wearing back of the drawer panties - not that he saw the panties but it's bad enough that she knows she's wearing them.
As a thank-you for helping her, Tate sends Matt a batch of homemade cookies. Cooking is something that Tate does especially well and thoroughly enjoys - her home is often invaded by any number of her siblings hoping for a meal and she's always happy to oblige. Matt is thrilled when he receives the cookies and realizes that they're even better than Maggie or his mama's cookies and they're both excellent cooks. It isn't until he goes to her salon to thank her for the cookies that he gets a really good look at Tate and realizes that she's a woman worth getting to know - very well. Matt's drawn to Tate's warm loving family oriented personality and her cooking skills are a huge added bonus but the more he falls for the charming little woman, the more he realizes that she has serious issues resulting from her past that he may not be able to overcome and that scares him. He may just have to call in the rest of the Chase gang for a little help at capturing the woman who's stolen his heart.
MAKING CHASE is the last book in Lauren Dane's CHASE BROTHERS series. I'm really going to miss visiting the town of Petal and hearing all about the brothers and their lives. I've loved every book in this series and they've all pulled at my emotions in one way or another. Ms. Dane saved the one brother we were all dying to know about for the last story. Let's face it, Matt would have been extremely easy to dislike because of his treatment of Liv but he's completely redeemed himself in my eyes now. Readers are going to adore Tate. She's one strong woman who's suffered a lot of abuse and has some very real self-esteem issues. Matt and Tate make a wonderful couple - they're both caring individuals who put family first. I highly recommend not just this book, but the entire series. The entire Chase family is so welcoming that readers will feel like they belong - and who doesn't want to belong to such a warm, loving family?
Chrissy Dionne (Courtesy of Romance Junkies)
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Story, October 28, 2009
Tate is from "the wrong side" of town, she's also a beautiful and full figured woman with a heart of pure gold with low self esteem. Matt is the youngest of the infamous and handsome Chase brothers and the last available Chase brother. Tate is the oldest of five siblings in fact eventhough both parents were alive Tate,at the age of 10 years older raised her brothers and sisters on her in the family trailer while her father drank and her mother left them alone more often than not, leaving Tate and her siblings to fend for themselves. Tate would scoure the garbage cans of neighboors looking for clothing she could salvage for her siblings. Matt on the other hand came from a very stable, loving and wealthy family. Eventhough Matt has it all he's a very stable and down to earth guy, often quick to lend a helping hand and a smile.This is story about Love, emotional abuse and acceptance. I have read all four books and found "Making Chase" one of the best novels I've read to date (and that's saying alot considering the number of books I read in a week). I highly recommend this book and all of Lauren Dane's Chase novels. Bravo Lauren!!
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