Book Review: The Chase

I’m sure you all now how much I love the Off-Campus series since I can’t stop talking about the books. I didn’t intend to read Elle Kennedy’s Briar U series, which is a spin off series set in the Off-Campus universe. But then I found out that the first book in the series, The Chase, is about Summer and Fitz so I had to read it.

Summer De Laurentis is Dean’s younger sister. She is mentioned in the Off-Campus books and first appears in The Score when she visits her brother for a weekend. We see her again in The Legacy at Tuck and Sabrina’s wedding. Fitz is a teammate and friend of the guys in Off-Campus who is a year younger than them.

In The Score, when Summer comes to visit Fitz (the big, tattooed hockey player who also codes video games) shows up to hang out and she instantly thinks he’s the hottest guy she’s ever seen. Summer, a very perky, bubbly, beautiful blonde girl actually asks Allie who he is and says “That was the hottest piece of man meat I have ever seen. And I want him.” This is especially funny because Fitz is pretty quiet and in The Goal he actually says she terrifies him with how outgoing and forward she is. So I knew I had to read a book about their love story!

The Chase begins with Summer transferring to Briar for the spring semester after being asked to leave Brown. She was set to live at her sorority house, but on her move-in day they say she’s actually not welcome since she would besmirch their name after her “incident” at Brown. Not sure where she’s going to live, Dean calls her and tells her to come to the city for New Year’s Eve and he’ll help her figure out her housing situation without having to call their parents. Fitz now lives in the house the guys in Off-Campus lived in with Mike Hollis and Hunter Davenport – also hockey players. They’ve been looking for a 4th roommate so now Summer has a place to live.

It could be exciting living under the same roof as your crush, right? Except on New Year’s Eve she overhears Fitz saying some not nice things about her. What she doesn’t know is that he was saying those things to try to convince himself he wasn’t into her.

Now she has to live with a guy she used to really like – and maybe still does – but is mad at for hurting her feelings and Fitz has to live with a girl he doesn’t want to be attracted to because he doesn’t want a life in the limelight with Summer’s outgoing and dramatic personality. Add in to the mix that one of the other roommates, Hunter, does like Summer and isn’t afraid to make it known and you’ve got lots to read about!

I absolutely adore Summer and Fitz. They are the perfect example of opposites attracting, but they work so well together. I loved getting to know Summer and see how things aren’t always sunshine and rainbows for her – she has struggles and things she doesn’t show to people about herself. I loved seeing Fitz start to open up and not be so introverted and getting to know why he is like that.

You don’t have to have read the Off-Campus series to read this, but if you have then you might be interested to read about Summer and Fitz. Plus, some of the original characters make appearances so that’s always fun!

This is great if you like sports romance and forced proximity tropes.

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