Joined in 2023 
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It was the slowest burn of slow burn romances. We don’t get much action until 70 percent or so in. And after waiting for so long for this book to be written already, I was honestly just begging to get the ball rolling and not have to wait until I only have 30 percent left to read. I’m not even sure college experiences as well as sorority and frat houses are anything like what this book portrays anymore. Maybe to some extent. In any case, I think I’ve outgrown high school/college romances. Gimme the real deal cause this ain’t it! Once the touching begins, and the teasing still is at play for the "fake" portion of the relationship, Brenna and Jake learn that their "relationship" is one that they have never been able to feel or understand with their previous partners. This one of a kind relationship is what makes Jake crave her touch and her affection and attention towards him, and it is also the one thing that makes Brenna question what she is doing due to her past relationship with a former boyfriend from were she is originally from. Her past is always there to haunt her, asking and chasing her for the bad, and thankfully Jake and her father are there to prevent any sort of emotional damage from happening. Jake knows that this protective side he suddenly has towards her is due to the affection he slowly begins to have towards Brenna; I judged Summer and I’m not proud of myself. To be honest, I don’t think I will be the first or the last reader to do so. It’s hard to look at an extremely beautiful, rich and vivacious woman, with a family who loves and protects her, and not think that she has everything. What could she possibly have to complain about? I became judge and jury finding her guilty of being a bit of fluff, a princess and a spoilt brat. Maybe I was a little jealous and resented her good fortune and thought she was undeserving of the opportunities given to her. I may have even thought she was taking advantage of her “issues” to gain an easy way out of hard work.
Overall, if you're a fan of NA, or sports series, or just like a really great romantic story, then this is the book for you. And I can't wait to see what Elle Kennedy has for us next. I honestly don't know what's to come for this series since there wasn't a very clear set up for any of the secondary characters, yet there are definitely a few that I would love to see get their own book. One of my favorite things about this book was Taylor. Taylor isn't your run of the mill, cookie cutter heroines. She's a curvy girl and she has her insecurities. You don't always have these type of relatable characters, especially in new adult so it was nice to see. I loved how Conor looked at her and treated her and in turn it made her see herself in a whole new light.Brenna is a fun character and has a lot of heart. I loved seeing her overcome sexism in the sports field and work through her past mistakes as well as the relationship with her dad. Jake was the perfect mix of the sexy athlete and the college sweetheart. I adored him. There was something towards the end that kept this from being a 5 star for me, but it wasn't anything too awful. I just felt it was unnecessary. Still, it didn't take my love away from this book. Brenna was as feisty and spunky as I remembered her. Her confidence was a highlight of this book. There were a couple situations I wished she would have gone all out, but in the end she was true to herself. And I loved her for that. And going for what she wanted – Jake – really made my day. Okay, now the hard part. I think I am going to be in a minority here when I say that I struggled a bit with this. Summer came off the first three quarters of the book as so immature. I actually understood her motives. She felt so attracted to Fitz but his actions led her to believe he didn’t have feelings for her. Hunter made it clear he did. She wanted that for herself. To be wanted. With that being said, though, she still should not have let herself consider Hunter when she knew her heart wanted Fitz. And this is where the book started to derail for me a little bit. Don't me wrong, there were some really hilarious and fun dialogue in this book. Some hot and steamy ones, too. But the romance started to become a side plot instead of the main plot. There were scenes in the book where I was just confused because it did not move the story along. I suspect those scenes were added to set up the next book and introduce new characters but it felt like a detour and that really put a damper on the developing romance between Fitzy and Summer. It was a bit disappointing that we're just told about what's happening with their push-and-pull instead of witnessing it because we had to make a detour to some party to introduce these characters who might appear in future books. I didn't mind it but I wanted more Fitz and Summer!
Me: It's a long story, really. I dived into The Chase all too eager and enthusiastic, I started it as soon as the ARC hit my Kindle and the whole experience reduced me into a puddle of hormones, and I think I drooled a little or, you know, a lot. The thing is, there was more angst than I expected, and both Fitzy and Summer irritated me sometimes. *pause* It wasn't a long story after all. At this point I can also confess that the novels in Briar U so far are my most favorite of all Elle Kennedy books, besides Him & US of course. what i didn't love, was the way the relationship played out. one of the things i love most about elle's books is that the relationship is the star of the show. no long drawn out individual character scenes until the 70% mark. we get character interaction. not so in this book. due to fitz being too scared to admit to his feelings, we get a lot of avoidance when i think it would have benefited the book to have the characters interact more. i appreciated most of the interactions. fitz always asked for consent. and he stood up for summer. all great. but i'm sort of over guys who avoid their feelings. too cliche, really lame. In college, I’ve made more of an effort to be social, but deep down I’m still the guy who wants to remain invisible. Summer is the most visible person I’ve ever met.” Sex scene with OW or OM: No There is a scene where the H's roommate's f-buddy walks into the kitchen naked and propositions the H. He turns her down and (I'm pretty sure) this was before anything really happened with the h.While I adored all the characters in this book, there were two things that didn’t work for me. There’s kind of a love triangle in the first half of this book and I felt that it was completely unnecessary. It didn’t add to the story at all and it ended so abruptly that it left me wondering what the point of all that drama was for. I also felt like the ending was rushed. This book definitely needed an epilogue to tie up the few loose ends that were left remaining. Push/Pull: Yes They both push away at times (H more so), and they both pursue the relationship at times (h more so)
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