Liz Loves Books
I love to read and to talk about books. I review many of the books I read. I do not accept any author/publisher submissions for reviews. I do not read or review ARCs. I do not enter any giveaways or contests. I obtain the books I review by purchasing them at the same price they are offered to the general public at the time of purchase. My reviews are intended for the use of my fellow readers. They are not advertising or promotion. They are not beta reads or constructive criticism or editing or advice to the author. My only obligation to the author is to pay the price charged for the book at the time of purchase. My reviews are sometimes critical and I will not stop posting critical reviews just to spare delicate authors' feelings. I am happy to make new friends, but friend requests from authors or promoters who have few or no books (and/or friends) in common with me and write or promote categories I do not read (especially new adult) will be ignored. I used to read more self-published books. After recent meltdowns by self-published authors, I now only read self-published authors I've previously read or who have been recommended to me by fellow readers I trust. I also used to read young adult/new adult books but rarely do so now.
Giving Chase (Chase Brothers, #1)
I have enjoyed Lauren Dane's paranormals (Cascadia Wolves & de la Vega Cats) very much so I was looking forward to trying one of her contemporaries. And I enjoyed Giving Chase very much as well. I do think Ms. Dane has grown a lot as a writer over the last several years and her more recent books are better but that is to be expected. This book was sexy, suspenseful and fun. The hero is alpha in all the good ways - protective and assertive and confident without ever being a jerk. The heroine starts out with substantial self-esteem issues but we get to watch her self-confidence grow and grow as she is surrounded by the loving Chase family and as her relationship with the hero grows. There is a nasty, creepy villain and a handful of groupie-like town bimbos giving the heroine and the plot plenty of drama. And then there is the heroine's family. This was the one minor drawback to the book for me. I thought they were overdone and that their venom was a bit of overkill. It helped explain the heroine's self-esteem issues but it seemed like there were too many sources of drama to me. I also couldn't understand why the heroine's friends, (including the hero's mom who she serves on a board with and who later speaks like she's known about this situation forever) never spoke up for her before she started dating the hero. If one of my friends' mom's was that nasty, I'd have plenty to say about it! But again, this was a comparatively minor issue. They are not all that present in the book.The relationship between the hero and heroine is written well here. It grows fairly slowly. There is no insta-love. And it feels like a natural progression. By the end of the book I could see them surrounded by grandkids and blissfully happy. The love scenes are excellent and very hot. I think that is something Ms. Dane excels at and she is also very good at incorporating them organically into the story. I think that is something that is difficult to do. Ms. Dane's love scenes enhance and further the story rather than feeling formulaic and stuck in for the heck of it.Overall I thought this was a good start to the series and I'll be interested to see if the other three books in the series get better and better the way Cascadia Wolves did.