Chaser by Rick R. Reed

The Chaser series:

Chaser (book #1) – in this review
Raining Men (book #2)

Make sure you check out the Book Trailer below.

The Blurb…

Caden DeSarro is what they call a chubby chaser. He likes his guys with a few extra pounds on them. So when he meets Kevin Dodge in a bar bathroom, he can’t help but stare, even if he does make an ass of himself. As far as Caden is concerned, Kevin is physically perfect: a stocky bearded blond with a dick that’s just right. (They met in the bathroom—of course he looked!) But Caden gets tongue-tied and misses his chance.

When Caden runs into Kevin one night on the El train, he figures it’s fate offering him a second shot. Caden manages to get invited back to Kevin’s place for a one-night stand that turns into the kind of relationship he’s dreamed about.

But the course of true love never did run smooth, and Kevin and Caden’s romance is no exception. When Caden returns from a few weeks away on business, Kevin surprises him with a new and “improved” body—one that fits Caden’s shallow friend Bobby’s ideal, not Caden’s. Caden doesn’t know what to do, and his hesitation is just the opportunity Bobby was looking for. This isn’t the same Kevin he fell in love with… is it?

So what did I think?

I liked the uniqueness of this story, focusing on attraction to a larger body type and it provided a really interesting view of judging people by their outward appearance.

When we first meet Caden, he’s not having a lot of luck in the relationship department. Caden compares his success with his best friend Bobby who is attractive and has high standards in regards to the men he hooks up with – only the most gorgeous will do. And Bobby has a lot of success. Caden is often left behind and he questions his own attraction to chubbier men.

Caden sees Kevin at a club and is immediately attracted by his size and they later meet up again on the train “…he liked this guy. Not only was he his physical ideal, everything about him indicated he had brains and a sense of humor too. That trifecta was something Caden had yet to encounter in his romantic life…..”

Caden and Kevin share a perfect night and it is sad to see Kevin doubt himself so much afterwards. He has such low self-esteem that he thinks he is a last resort for Caden, a fall-back option. In fact this couldn’t be further from the truth and after another date, Caden is even more taken with Kevin. “This one dished out sweet and sexy in equal measures, and that combination, Caden thought, was hard to come by.”

The problems start when Caden needs to go away for six weeks and Kevin uses this time to ‘improve’. He diets and exercises and by the time Caden returns, is a new man. He had now become one of the gorgeous types favoured by Caden’s best friend Bobby. What follows is an interesting series of miscommunication and sabotage with Kevin largely stuck in the middle and not really knowing what is going on.

What struck me as a standout in this book was the reversal of roles. Caden is attracted to, what could be called less-than-perfect men, which seems a good thing, but then he turns out to be quite shallow, judging Kevin on the changes to his outward appearance.(Luckily he realises his error). Bobby seems to get all the best guys but really doesn’t have a lot of happiness “As he stood shivering in the dark, he felt alone, and it occurred to him that, for someone as promiscuous as he was, he felt alone a lot.”

I still don’t fully understand Bobby’s actions and will be interested to see if I can grow to like his character in Raining Men.

Kevin was my favourite character in this book, whether in his original form or the new, smaller version. He didn’t allow the change in his outward appearance to alter his behaviour and he remained the same man he always was. He was honest, kind and thoughtful. Luckily he had a wise mother and the guts to chase after Caden.

“You have to go after him. You have to make things right. See, people are precious. In the end, they’re all we have. And our connections to them are so fragile – they’re like the most tender plant shoots, needing nuturing, and without it, they can wither away to nothing.
And they can be gone in a flash.”…….
“Love is too valuable to toss away over a misunderstanding.
You need to at least try.”

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