"So stop looking at the past and all the things you can't change. They're done and over with. Now is the time for you to look to the future, grasp it by the hand, and decide where you want to go." (Nikki Wagner)
Chasing Nikki is told through the POV of Chase Walker, a player and a bad boy who is still mourning the loss of his father and slips into a world of drinking and partying as a way of dealing with his grief. After getting arrested for underage drinking, his mother relocates them to the countryside to live with her parents, Chase's grandparents. It's there that he meets Nikki, a girl who has sworn off dating football players such as himself and he vows to win her over.
Chase Walker is a typical bad boy. He's a player, drinks, takes drugs, gets into trouble, fights and detention and has just the right amount of confidence and attitude to pull it off, but he also has a swoony, soft, romantic and vulnerable side and this is shown through his interactions with his family, friends and Nikki and her family. The only other time that I've seen a bad boy that's not all bark and has a swoony and vulnerable side being done extremely well is Noah from Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry. Chase's POV also shows his personality, thoughts, witty hilariousness and allows the story to flow naturally.
The secondary characters are also great for the most part, although there are some stereotypical, flat characters. Nikki is Chase's love interest and she's sweet, but she's also direct and I liked that about her. Chase's mom strikes a great balance between being a friend and being a parent and Chase's grandfather, who I thought was going to be hardcore and full of strictness and discipline, ends up having his moments with Chase and encouraging him along the way. I also enjoyed the relationship that Chase had with Nikki's family and his affection towards Nikki's younger siblings, Clara and Timmy and Nikki's grandmother shows his soft side. It was Chase's interactions with his family and friends that helped develop his character and showed that he wasn't a jerk.
The romance between Nikki and Chase naturally takes center stage. Chase and Nikki have a cute romantic relationship and off the charts chemistry. These two characters are made for each other and they have a positive relationship with each other, supporting each other, loving each other and helping each other to grow. Their relationship is also drama free, something that I didn't expect from a romantic contemporary and it was entirely refreshing. However, even although there is attraction and a first date, the pace at which the romance developed was too fast for my liking. I feel as though this is a personal preference as I am used to epic slow-burning romances where it takes 2-3 books for people to finally admit that they have feelings for each other and kiss. Don't get me wrong, there's no insta-love in Chasing Nikki but the pace of the romance made it feel insta-lovey. (I hope this makes sense.) I think this was due to romantic scenes and interactions that occur off-page, over a long period of time, but I'm not entirely sure why I feel the way I do about the romance.
I thought that Chasing Nikki was going to be a cliche' read, but Part Two of this book surprised me. Part Two is when this book stopped being a surface level contemporary romance and ended up being extremely heart-wrenching and sad. However, I wasn't completely absorbed in the emotions, but I could feel the grief and pain that Chase was going through and this book ended on a note that was bittersweet, but still beautiful in a sad way. There couldn't be a better title than Chasing Nikki for this book!
This book also deals with aspects such as sports, which I wish I could have seen more of, grief and different ways of dealing with it, the past and the future, drug and alcohol usage and abuse and judging other people before getting to know them and these aspects were done quite well (within the confines of Chase's situation) and are dealt with without judgement.
Chasing Nikki's cover and blurb made me think that this book was going to be an angst-filled and shallow new adult contemporary romance, but it ended up being an extremely engaging read about dealing with grief, preconceived misconceptions and had believable characters and a refreshingly angst-free romance.