The Chase boys are seriously hot and falling in love one by one … now there’s just one left!
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Making Chase
Chase Brothers series
by Lauren Dane
Genre Adult Contemporary Romance
Publisher Carina Press
Publication Date August 28, 2018
Blurb:
The Chase boys. Ridiculously hot and notoriously single.
All of Petal, Georgia, is waiting for the last Chase brother to fall. At least, thatโs how it feels to firefighter Matt Chase, whoโs getting a little anxious himself. His brothers have all found loveโwhy hasnโt he? But fate, in the form of a curvaceous hairdresser, is about to change that.
Salon owner Tate Murphy has come a long way from her trailer-park roots, taking care of her seven siblings along the way. Even though sheโs put the past behind her, she knows someone like Matt Chase is way out of her league. But that doesnโt stop her from getting a good eyeful every chance she gets.
When a car accident throws them together, Tate gets more than an eyefulโshe gets the whole package. Not that sheโs complaining. But when small-town bias and her own insecurities get in the way of their relationship, Matt will have to prove he doesnโt care where she came fromโฆonly where she goes.
The Chase is on. One small town. Four hot brothers. And enough heat to burn up anyone who dares to get close. Donโt miss the other books in the series: Taking Chase, Giving Chase and Chased.
Amazon ย https://amzn.to/2O6ordy
Kobo ย https://goo.gl/oBDCiK
Barnes & Noble ย https://goo.gl/MY2Zt3
Google Play ย https://goo.gl/bMWYA3
iBooks ย https://apple.co/2NwlotO
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Excerpt:
Matt opened up the box and the heady scent of cookies greeted his senses. Mouth watering, he read the note, ascertained the cookies were from Tate, the woman heโd helped out earlier in the week after the car accident. He vaguely remembered her from school. Perhaps a year or so behind him, definitely not from his circle though.
Knowing she wasnโt a terrorist, he gave in and shoved a chocolate chip cookie in his mouth. And moaned. Holy shit, that was the best thing heโd ever eaten, even better than Maggie or his mommaโs cookies though heโd never admit it to them. An oatmeal cookie followed. Nope, that was the best cookie heโd ever eaten. Peanut butter chips in oatmeal cookies? Fabulous. Thank goodness sheโd been okay after sheโd gotten whacked by that car. The world couldnโt live without this cookie-baking goddess.
Looking at the outside of the box, he realized the address was the beauty salon just across the way. Heโd have to go and thank her in person.
Heโd saved some folks, helped at quite a few accidents and emergencies and fought fires in and around Petal for the last decade. Still, he could count the number of times heโd received a thank you note on one hand. It felt good to be appreciated.
Finishing up in the late afternoon, Matt grabbed what was left of the cookies, knowing heโd have to work out extra after the dozen or so heโd scarfed down since the mail came. Heโd had to hide them from the rest of the weenies at the station whoโd have swiped them if theyโd known. And with cookies as good as the last five in the box, he wasnโt gonna share.
Heโd never been inside the beauty salon though heโd seen it just about every day for years. He had a vague idea that the women in his life got their hair done there, but that was the extent of it.
When he opened the door, the jingle of pretty wind chimes greeted him first, followed by the pleasing sound of feminine laughter. Oh how he loved the sound of a womanโs laugh.
Smiling, he headed toward it. He saw her before she saw him. Her hair was the prettiest blonde heโd seen on a woman and unless he was mistaken, she came by it naturally. It hung in a high ponytail and still cascaded down her back in a long spiral curl. Those wide blue eyes of hers were set off by some floaty-looking blouse that was a sort of pinkish-orange. He was sure they had a name for it, women always had names for colors like that. Heโd say that Nicholas had light green walls in his room but Maggie had told him they were sea-foam green. Heโd just looked at his brother over her head and Kyle rolled his eyes back at him.
She was short. Like really short. And all curves. Her musical laughter cut off when she caught sight of him and then began to choke.
Dropping his things on a nearby counter he rushed to her, concerned as she waved him off, her eyes widening as she backed away.
โSheโs all right,โ one of the other women said.
Tate recovered and turned a shade of red he was sure they had a name for too, but it was clear sheโd either injured herself or was mortified.
โFuckety fuck,โ she muttered as she tried to catch her breath.
โAre you all right?โ He touched her arm.
Her blush deepened as she nodded, sending her ponytail swaying. โFine. Um, canโt breathe and swallow at the same time. Apparently I forgot that.โ
He grinned. โIโm Matt Chase. I just wanted to come by to thank you for the cookies.โ
โOhโฆoh, Iโm glad you got them. I should have just brought them over but I didnโt know when Iโd get the chance to get away and my family was sort of trying to steal them and if I hadnโt wrapped them up theyโd have ended up at the University of Georgia with my kid brother and sister.โ
He couldnโt stop grinning. The woman was like one of those little dogs with all the energy. โItโs fine. Theyโre really good. Like criminally good. In fact, and if you repeat this, Iโll deny it, theyโre the best cookies Iโve ever eaten. You missed your calling you know. You should have opened a bakery.โ
โHer cookies are a drop in the bucket. She makes a peach cobbler thatโll bring tears to your eyes and the most perfect scratch biscuit you ever tasted. Thatโs until you try her chicken paprika,โ one of the women, clearly a relative, told him proudly.
โStop it now. I already said you could have Saturday off.โ Tate winked and the other woman laughed. โOh, my manners! Iโm Tate Murphy. Aside from bleeding all over you the other day, I figure we havenโt been formally introduced.โ
He shook her hand, still wearing a stupid grin.
โThis is my sister Anne and the sister just younger than her, Beth.โ
He nodded to all of them and noted they all had the same nose but they were redheads with green eyes while Tate had blue eyes and blonde hair. She was also a lot shorter than the other sisters, who were at least five-seven or so.
โNice to meet you all. I think I know your brother Tim. He and I were just a year apart in school. We had a few classes together. Redhead right? Green eyes? Freckles?โ
โThatโs our brother.โ Tate grinned.
โHeโs a nice guy. Tell him I said hello. Well, I donโt want to keep you all. I just wanted to thank you for the cookies.โ
โWell, thank you for helping me. A few cookies are nothing in comparison.โ
He liked her smile. Wide, open.
โIโll see you around then.โ And he realized that heโd never bumped into her at all around town. Which was sort of silly considering they worked right across the street from each other.
โNight, Matt. Nice to meet you. Your mother talks about you all the time.โ
He stopped as heโd reached the door and heard her laugh. โYou knew thatโd get me, didnโt you?โ he said, looking back over his shoulder at her.
Her eyes widened in mock surprise. โMe? I have seen you naked though. With a cowboy hat on even.โ
He groaned, knowing the picture. His momma did love to show that picture of him at about eighteen months old, naked as a jaybird wearing a cowboy hat.
โAre you imagining me naked now?โ he teased back and she blushed bright red again. He toyed with asking her what women would call that shade of red but decided against it. He winked and waved. โSee you around, Tate Murphy.โ
He whistled all the way to his truck.
*****
Review:
I think Matt might be my favorite brother … but don’t tell the others ๐ย He’s patient, caring, and smart enough to realize what a great thing he could have with Tate.ย I love how he takes his time wooing her, in a way that she doesn’t even realize what is happening until she’s too far gone over him.
Tate may have a few insecurities thanks to the way she grew up but I love her grit and spunk.ย She’s a little prickly but it is totally understandable,ย Not too much for the Chase charm to overcome, of course.ย And the closeness of the Murphy family is awesome to behold, enough to rival the Chases, and I do think Dane handled their issues really well.ย It was realistic and gave a believable drama moment between Matt and Tate that worked well with the relationship they’d created.
I do wish a little more time had been spent resolving the issues with how Tate is viewed by people in the town.ย There are “mean girls” who make trouble for her and for the most part they handle them really well.ย I just needed one more scene, I think.ย I felt like it wasn’t quite wrapped up as much as it could have been, especially with how well the family portion was done.
Realistic characters with real world troubles and believable reactions, Dane does a fabulous job giving her readers an awesomely emotional finale to her Chase Brothers series.
*****
Author Info:
The story goes like this – While on pregnancy bed rest, LAUREN DANE had plenty of down time so her husband took her comments about “giving that writing thing a serious go” to heart and brought home a secondhand laptop. She wrote her first book on it before it gave up the ghost. Even better, she sold that book and never looked back.
Today Lauren is a New York Times bestselling author of over fifty novels and novellas across several genres.
Website http://www.laurendane.com/
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/AuthorLaurenDane
Twitter https://twitter.com/laurendane
Goodreads https://goo.gl/pg3R22
Amazon https://amzn.to/2uDfIHF
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Giveaway:
To celebrate the release of MAKING CHASE by Lauren Dane, we’re giving away a $25 Amazon gift card to one lucky winner!
GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS: ย Open to internationally. One winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card. This giveaway is administered by Pure Textuality PR on behalf of Carina Press. ย Giveaway ends 9/3/2018 @ 11:59pm EST. Limit one entry per reader. Duplicates will be deleted.
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