Review and Giveaway: Chase by Chantal Fernando and Dawn Martens

Synopsis

Moving in with a guy you only met once? Stupid.  

But for student Layla Crawford, this was reality.  

Chase Jackson is a renowned playboy and self professed commitment phobe, that is until he meets Layla.
 
Blinded by his intensity to have her, Chase will stop at nothing to make her his.
 
With a jealous ex and old conquests repeatedly making appearances, Chase's skeletons come out of the closet one by one, each one pushing Layla further and further away.
 
Layla is determined to keep her distance. Chase now has to convince the only woman he has ever wanted that he is worth the gamble.


4 star review 

I received an advance copy of Chase from the author and loved it. From the moment I read the first chapter I knew I was hooked.  Chase is a fun, witty, sexy read with just the right amount of drama.   

We start off meeting Layla who has left home to go to college to become more independent and get some distance from her over bearing and sometimes over protective family.  It is two weeks before class starts and she is out looking for a place to live.  Her last option is a beautiful home that looks great when she pulls up, but her roommates are three guys.  This is where we meet Kade and James who are brothers.  They welcome Lalya in with open arms and immediately treat her like a sister.   They want to protect her and make her feel comfortable in her new home.  There is another brother/roommate but he is a little bit of a mystery in the beginning.  One night while out with her best friend she meets Chase who is hot and sexy and someone that she has an instant connection with.  What she soon learns is that Chase is the third roommate and landlord of her new home.  He is also the guy she heard the other morning kicking some girl out of his bed.  Regardless of his reputation and what she heard the other morning, she can't seem to resist Chase and agrees to give him a chance.  Chase has every intention of proving himself to her and proving that he can change.  

Chase is your typical sexy, hot, alpha-male, man whore who has had many one night stands and many woman.  His childhood wasn't perfect, he grew up with a rich father who wasn't exactly the best role model.  He has issues from his past that I think have messed him up in some ways.  He was never into relationships, at least monogamous ones.  He was never with a girl more than once and was always honest with the girls he met, it was just sex and nothing more.  Chase never wanted anything more than that until he saw Layla and knew at that moment that she was the ONE.  He knew that she would eventually have his heart, and would be the one to make him change his ways.

I loved Layla and Chase together.  And while the connection between them was instant and as much as they both wanted each other, I don't think their relationship itself was rushed.  Chase knew from the moment he saw her how he felt about her and Chase usually got what he wanted, and what he wanted was Layla.  But Layla was a little more hesitant.  She was attracted to Chase and she liked him but given his reputation she had some trust issues and was afraid of getting hurt.  After all he was probably one of the biggest players she had ever met.   His feelings for her were something he never experienced before and it caused him to become possessive and jealous at times.  But that wasn't the biggest issue in their relationship.  It was Chase's past that would come back to haunt him.  Layla was falling for Chase but it seemed like every time things were going great, a run in with one of his past conquests would change things.  Chase's past begins to catch up with him and slowly the secrets from his past begin to come out.  Layla starts to wonder how much more can she take and what else is he not telling her.  Chase loves her and wants a forever with her, but will his past ruin what they have together?  Can Layla come to terms with the man that he once was and be able to move on and see that he has changed?

Chase could be arrogant, and a little obsessive and controlling but he was also had a sweet side to him.  He loved Layla and wanted to be a better person and make her happy.  Chase had his moments but you couldn't help fall in love with him and love the way he wanted to change for Layla.  I  fell in love with all of the characters. Layla is fun, witty, smart and independent and someone most people can relate to.  Layla's relationship with James and Kade was funny and cute and I loved how they protected her.  James and Kade have their fair share of woman coming and going but have never made Layla feel uncomfortable or awkward and in fact tried to protect her from the comments and scowls that she received from some of the woman they brought home.  There was also Layla's cousin Ryder who was more of a brother to her and we cannot forget about her feisty BFF Nikki.  Chatal and Dawn created a wonderful cast of characters who all deserve their own story.  I loved everyone of them for different reasons.  I cannot wait to find out what is really going on with her and Kade in the next book in the series.  Overall I loved this story, it was a roller coaster of emotions and just enough drama with a few twists that you didn't see coming.  Wonderful job by Chantal Fernando and Dawn Martens.  I cannot wait for Kade's story.   
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