Rating: 3.75 stars
Buy Links: Amazon | All Romance
Length: Short Story
Chase Williams is the stereotypical embodiment of a geek. He’s a web designer who works from home. He prefers peace and quiet to going out and partying. He wears glasses. He doesn’t make friends easily. His most recent ex-boyfriend made this point achingly clear with words like boring, too nice, not fun, not outgoing, and recluse. Unable to say no to his elderly neighbor, Chase finds himself in the ER when a do-it-yourself light kit meets a rickety ladder. The result being an aching, swelling, horribly colored wrist.
Waiting is the worst part…well, besides the pain in his wrist, but it’s made marginally better by the handsome nurse practitioner, Matt Owens. Matt is the embodiment of what Chase is looking for, but Matt couldn’t be more confusing. And Matt holds himself to his self-made rule not to date anyone he works with or any patients. But Chase can’t help but want the beautiful nurse. If only he were brave enough, courageous enough to take that first step to ask Matt out.
Letting the perfect moment pass him by, Chase walks away without taking the chance to step outside of his geek box. But when he finds himself stranded at the hospital, he’s both shocked and nervous when Matt, now leaving work, offers him a ride home. In the next twenty minutes, Chase either has to find the courage to face his fears and ask the beautiful Matt out with the possibility of rejection and hurt on the menu, or facing his fears and possibly reaping the reward.
Chasing Matt is a tale of facing one’s fears and following one’s heart. It’s the story of a sweet beginning to a seemingly perfect relationship. The basis and setup of this story is precious. I adored everything from Chase’s relationship with his neighbor, to the subtle flirting between Chase and Matt, to the tension created by rejection, to the perfect ending complete with the ex-boyfriend confrontation. It’s a nice story.
I adore both Chase and Matt. Chase is the stereotypical geek. He’s quiet, a little shy, and a homebody. His confidence is shot after a recent breakup so his self-esteem is zero. When he meets Matt, he takes a step to change himself into a less boring, more confident geek. But in all honesty, he remains himself. It’s sweet to see how Matt helps him realize that there is nothing wrong with him. Matt is a precious, slightly jaded man. Hurt once, he’s afraid to take a chance. Really, these characters are perfect for one another when it comes to showing each other that what they perceive as faults are not faults at all.
There’s not really much to this story – a sweet friendship with the elderly man next door, a meet-cute, a rejection, a new beginning – but it’s a precious story. I only wish it had been longer. It was much shorter than I would have liked. When I say that it’s the beginning of a relationship…it’s literally the beginning of a relationship and that’s it. I would have really liked more. I felt like just as I was getting to know and really like the characters, the story ended.
But overall, Chasing Matt is a sweet story. Even the punny title is cute. And the characters are adorable. I’m hoping that someday this story will be expanded or added to so that Chase and Matt can have their happy ending. Recommended.
