It wasn't her first choice, for Seonaid Dunbar had, like her brother, been trained as a Scottish warrior at her father's knee; but fleeing to an abbey was clearly preferable to whacking on Blake Sherwell with her sword -- which she'd happily do before wedding the man. No, she'd not walk weakly to the slaughter, dutifully pledge troth to anyone the English court called "Angel." Fair hair and eyes as blue as the heavens hardly proved a man's worth. There was no such thing as an English angel; only English devils. And there were many ways to elude a devilish suitor, even one that King Henry ordered her to wed.
No, the next Countess of Sherwell was not sitting at home in her castle as Blake thought: embroidering, peacefully waiting for him to arrive. She was fleeing to a new stronghold and readying her defenses. Swords and sleeping drafts, Claymores and kisses. This battle would require all weapons--if he ever caught her. And the Chase was about to begin.
LYNSAY SANDS is the nationally bestselling author who is known for her hysterical historicals as well as the popular Argeneau/Rogue Hunter vampire series. With her witty and charming personality, Sands describes books as, “Waking dreams or stories, tales to amuse, entertain and distract us from everyday life.” She’s been writing stories since grade school and considers herself incredibly lucky to be able to make a career out of it. Her hope is that readers can get away from their everyday stress through her stories, and if there are occasional uncontrollable fits of laughter, that’s just a big bonus. Visit her official website at www.lynsaysands.net.
This is the third book with 1 "The deed" and 2"The Key". Not my favourite of the three books but worth a read.This is the story of Seonaid Dunbar( the sister of Duncan from "the Key"),and Blake Sherwell (Amaurys friend from "the deed").Seonaid and Blake were betrothed 10 years ago as children by their parents who had a falling out shortly after the betrothal. The King orders Blake to marry Seonaid immediately.Blake has no desire to marry a scottish amazon but will obey the Kings command anyway. Seonaid who wears breeches and is trained as a warrior, is now 24 and has had her fill of waiting patiently for 10 years.Embarressed and furious that it took the Kings command for him to claim her,she runs away to an abbey with her cousin Aeldra .This starts a cat and mouse game with Blake following her catching her, she escapes he catches her again etc.Hence the title The Chase. Like the other two books the secondry characters are brilliant and why this is still a good read i preferred the prequels.
След смъртта на майката на Шона, тя остава на грижите на баща си и по-големия си брат, и заедно с братовчедка си растат като малки войници. Носят панталони и се бият и ловуват не по-зле от всеки мъж в клана Дънбар. Шона е сгодена за Блейк, още когато е едва четири годишна. Когато става на 16 тя започва да чака с нетърпение годеника й да дойде за нея, мечтаейки за своя рицар в бляскави доспехи, с който ще създаде семейство. Годините обаче минават и малко по малко вълнението на Шона се изпарява, заместено от ненавист към английския благородник, който 8 години не я е потърсил. Сега, след като краля на Англия иска брат и да се ожени за една богата наследница с цел да я спаси, Дънкън има едно условие. Краля да принуди Блейк, годеника на Шона да дойде и най-после да се ожени за нея.
Ядосана, че негодника трябва да бъде доведен на сила в Шотландия, за да изпълни брачния договор, Шона не смята да се даде лесно и заедно с братовчедка си бяга в един манастир търсейки убежище.
Блейк се смята за манна небесна за жените и отлага колкото се може повече деня в който ще дойде края на похожденията му. Той е амбициозен рицар, който обича хубавите битки и отзивчивите жени. Примирен със съдбата, че трябва най-после да прибере годеницата си, той заминава за Шотландия смятайки, че само като зърне красивата му външност, заради която в двора го наричат Ангелът, Шона ще забрави годините в които я е пренебрегвал. Пристигайки обаче в дома на бъдещата си съпруга, той разбира, че момичето е избягало търсейки убежище в манастир и от него зависи да я разубеди.
Шона обаче няма намерение да се даде с лекота и да прости годините прекарани в чакане, и ще преведе Блейк през цяла Шотландия в едно преследване, което никой скоро няма да забрави, преследване за което дълго време ще се носят легенди из Шотландските планини.
Книжката беше динамична и интересна. Блейк беше чудесен, герои и ми беше супер забавно да гледам как Шона го изважда от равновесие. Шона от своя страна бе доста колеблива, и не се доверяваше на инстинктите си, тъй като самочувствието й бе доста пострадало заради годините в които е чакала Блейк, но компенсираше с магарешки инат и доста войнствено поведение. Всеки път щом почувстваше колебание посягаше към меча, което бе на моменти доста забавно. Хареса ми че Илдра и малкият Джордж се откриха един друг и много ми допадна, че бащата на Дънкън и Шона се събра с майката на Илияна. Макар да си го казаха в предишната книга, да ги видим тук като двойка беше чудесно. Допадна ми появата на Хелън, и нейната история, за това как годеника й, иска да я убие, и че трябва да се върне в Англия при баща си. Още в началото се видя, че между нея и Ролф прихвърчаха искри и той не предприе нищо, защото я мислеше за монахиня. Очаквам сега да има книга за тях двамата и пътуването им през Шотландия. Надявах се да хванат и да ги венчаят на бързо, но ще изчакам тяхната книга.
Blake Sherwell, knows how to charm any woman. From his time in the King's court, he can make any woman smile and come to his bed. When he goes up to Scotland, he is expecting to find his future bride to be, sitting at home waiting for him....well this bride isn't the waiting on a man type of woman. Seonaid Dunbar, lost her mother at a young age, and was raised by her father and brother, and learned everything they know. From swordplay to hunting, she dresses in Braies, rides a horse astride, and can fight just as good as any other solider. So when she hears that her fiancee is finally coming up to claim her when he is ten years late, she has little patience for him, and wishes to be rid of him. So she and her cousin, run away and head to a convent. Blake isn't a happy camper when he learns of his fiancee's fleeing him, so he chases her and she is more determined than he gave her credit for. Now he must woo her in a way he has never courted a woman before, will his intelligence match her wits and will Seonaid decide to choose to trust in the one man whose kisses blow her over and make her feel in ways she never has experienced...
The Chase is by far one of my favorite novels from this author, especially her historical romances. After falling in love with her paranormals, I have been wanting to give more of her historical romances a try. And boy does The Chase come out on top as a winner in my book. One of the best books I have read so far this year, so good that I stayed up all night reading it!! That is a rare occurrence, since I adore my beauty sleep. So I do love that one book that keeps you from your rest, but you don't care because the story is so good. First off I want to say that this couple was so entertaining from the first page, I knew I would have quite a fun time reading it. Blake Sherwell, has such a commanding presence, and I loved his confidence, although it tends to get him in trouble quite a bit, with Seonaid at the helm of the ship called Trouble and Strife. Now Seonaid is one unique heroine,she has spirit, independence, a will of iron, and a fighter. I loved how she can fight like a man, but still has many feminine qualities that made her into a winner of a package.
At the beginning Blake and Seonaid are at odds--with Blake chasing and Seonaid constantly harming him in one way or another and running. But you see that once Seonaid starts to slowly form a trust with Blake, that their relationship really kicks off at full speed. I find that I couldn't help myself into being held captive by this story and the beautiful and tender love story that builds. The only downside to the story is some of the language, tends to throw the reader off a bit at the beginning, but once you get fully into the story, you adjust and then you barely notice it.
A charming highland romance to captivate your attention, a tale to remind you of the magic of historical romance, a exquisite love story full of enchanting characters and a richly filled emotional tale to pull you in! PURE BLISS IN EVERY PAGE!!
Hero was engaged to the heroine when she was a child but when she turned 16 he never came for her. He was sowing his wild oats and was kind of a manwhore. The king finally tells him when the heroine is 24 that it is time to get her. He goes after her but she is a warrior and very good at it. She leads him a merry dance and he is trying to catch her. He falls for her then. There were some very funny parts. I did enjoy them even though I wasn't a big fan of the hero. They marry. At one point, he gets hurt and the heroine happens to meet two of his ex mistresses/skanks and they are both blonde and beautiful and feminine and so while he's in a coma she starts trying to be a lady and when he wakes up he is mad. He liked her the way she was. The one had thing about this story is the ending leaves you hanging and I have no idea what happens to Rolfe and lady Helen. There are only three books in this series so now I have to go see if I missed that part. Her betrothed was trying to kill her and off they go back to England and then it's the end! I hope Rolfe has a story. I love him! LoL. I love this author but this book was good but not great in my opinion. I did laugh and I stayed up late to finish it though. And this is my second read. I still couldn't put it down.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Funny! It tickles the silly side of me lol! I never laugh as much for too long now and this book's author just brought it out of me again... This book's heroine and her cousin also reminded me of Xena and her sidekick ... The heroine tall, dark hair, blue eyes and a bit muscular yet still has feminine curve and her cousin small, blonde and pretty! Hoooowaaa they give me an impression of Xena and Gabrielle!
And just like Xena's quote in the image, our heroine certainly didn't give up! She tried to escape her wedding again and again and again and every time she does I can't help but laugh out LOUD... Well I can't blame her reason, she was hurt and feeling humiliated with the hero's continuous negligence ... I adore her for that, the bitterness of her situation didn't weaken her instead it strengthen her ....
My complain is just that it didn't have epilogue T.T (the usage of new terms and words are so funny instead of irritating so I let it pass)
First of all, I pretty much already knew that I didn't want to have anything to do with Seonaid after her escape put so many people in danger. If she didn't want this marriage she should have said so a while back. Anyway, I gave it a try.
1/3 of the book was taken by Seonaid complaining that Blake didn’t collect her years ago, and running away or plotting to run away
1/3 of the book was taken by Seonaid claiming she’d help Helen get back to England. Yet when she arrives at Dunbar she doesn’t say anything to her family. How weird. She doesn’t trust them? She feels guilty after her first escape and yet she plans another one? Stupid secondary plot
Blake is shallow (I am so pretty; is she pretty?), selfish (could have told her why there was a delay) and conceited (as soon as she sees me she'll want to marry me). I don’t see a relationship developing between Seonaid and Blake except for seeing each other naked and seeing each other fight. At the end it seems they (will) get together because they are both attractive. How convenient for them.
I am 75% into the book (oh, I skimmed!) and still don’t know why it took him, let’s say 8 years to collect Seonaid, and I am done!
4.5* A very enjoyable book This book just full of fun, and excitement... If you look at the summary it is truly funny with 'merry-chase around' theme, the 'Groom to be' chase his 'Bride to be', and she run away, and run away, and run away again...^^ Lynsay Sands is great, I feel never a boring moment in this book. Also with nice tension & lovely love-scene add the sweetness in the story.
I feel like this was a down ending - even though the hero/heroine couple had a HEA, Blake's arguement with Amaury is left unresolved (and since I happen to like Amaury as a romance hero better than Blake...). This was also less-funny (IMO) than the others, so I just didn't find it a fitting conclusion to the "Deed" trilogy.
Quite an enjoyable re-read, as I always felt Lynsay Sands's earlier medievals were the crowning height of humorous writing. But what happened to Lord Rolfe and Lady Helen? There is no mention of such a critical plot-driving character after she disappears down the secret passage. At least let us know she is safe, even if her tale won't be told!
This book had so much potential. If only Seonaid and Blake got to spend more time together to show off the playful teasing chemistry Lynsay Sands told us they had once they got married.
I do like that Seonaid being who she was won Blake over. It was a nice message.
OMG the phonetically spelled Scottish accent nearly put me off of the book. Then the convoluted “The Camerons are coming! Now, Let’s swap nuns! That nun isn’t who you think she is! That nun isn’t who you think she is again! We need to take Lady Helen back to England but not this way! That way! No, a betrayal is happening! No, the Greenwelds are coming!” subplot had me really confused and kept breaking my immersion.
I do enjoy Lynsay Sands’s touches of humour and how well she writes steamy scenes. This book just wasn’t for me.
B-O-R-I-N-G. Let me tell you what the story was all about ... the chase. From the beginning until the very end. It was about the heroine trying to run away from the Hero and him chasing after her. Period. Enough said.
𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖/𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒: Lynsay really knocked it out of the park with this one! I felt 𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 while reading this. I couldn't stop laughing and smiling! This was genuinely such a fun read. And it really had that gritty yet cozy vibe I love from my romances. The Chase was first published in 2004 and now we have a beautiful 2022 reprint through Avon, which I love! It has such a gorgeous cover. They sent me a review copy which actually helped kick my butt into action to finally read it! I'm a huge Lynsay fan and I own each edition of her books. I've read all of her books except just a few, and this was one! And of course I'm kicking myself now for taking so long to read it. What I love so much about this is that it proves that the old school romances like this can still correlate with readers today and that we still want this kind of content! It's in many ways historically accurate enough to make it a little gritty, a little dark, and dramatic, but also modernized just enough that, you don't lose that historical accuracy, but you don't have to worry about it going too far down any dark paths. You get all the cute sweetness, warmth, and steaminess but in a way that doesn't feel like the story holds back. There's the perfect amount of dark, intrigue, and danger alongside such great humor and characters, and some really great relationships and messages to take away! Lynsay did an amazing job at showcasing how there are more sides than one to all of us. Seonaid was fierce and strong and a great warrior. She was very equal to Blake in many ways, and yet she understood that her strengths weren't always quite the same as his, and vise versa. She had her own strength. She could defeat a man and yet not be at quite the same level of body strength as him. And I felt that showed her individuality and humanity realistically. She wasn't perfect but she was strong and capable. With her own unique strengths. Using her strength with her own particular methods of fighting and a specially made weapon, to use it to her best capability. And this I found showcased how men and women are biologically different yet we can have equal strengths, just carried out in different ways. Seonaid might not have had the physical force and strength behind her as a male warrior but she could accomplish the same things by using her strength to her best advantage. By being quick, precise, and knowing how to expect her opponent's next move early. In the book Blake sort of compares her to a feline. And I found that a great analogy for her strength. Like a lioness protecting those she loves. But what I loved most about this story was that I'm not a big fan of overly powerful female protagonists. I like to relate to them and see their humanity and emotion. And Lynsay gave us both in Seonaid. I loved this story and I loved Seonaid. She was strong and yet she had weaknesses and fears and doubts. And when it came to the man she loved, she chose to try and be what she thought he'd want in a wife, to make him happy and earn his love in return, by giving up her normal way of life. It was the wrong way to go about it but she did it out of love for him and that showed her strength of a different kind. She faced everyone's confused looks and the stereotypes of her as a strong warrior and tried to be something else for Blake. She faced embarrassment and fear by showing her emotions and weaknesses. That she was also just a woman, who wanted love and affection. And Blake showed her that it's okay to be open and to show weakness. That they could both be strong for one another when the other was in need. And that he loved her just as she was. I found it really showcased loving and accepting yourself for who you are and that when you find real love, they'll do the same. That it's normal to have strengths and weaknesses. Nobody is wholly perfect. There's so much more to all of us than just one thing and I loved that this was sort of a central focus throughout the story. If you haven't read this, you really need to! I promise you you'll enjoy it. Seonaid leads Blake on a hilarious chase for awhile, there was so much laughter and cute moments. And the sexy scenes will not disappoint!
*REVIEW NOTE: All of my reviews vary, but have a general outline/layout. Some are long, and others are short. Meter ratings determine how the content in the book affected me. They're not solely based on the actual amount of the content within the book, although that does play a role. Any books needing content warnings (imo) will be noted in my reviews. And any closed-door books (no sexual content) will also be noted in reviews.
Blake has dallied 10 years in going for his betrothed Seonaid. Now forced by the king, he finds himself chasing after a verigo who has decided not to make things easy for him.
This was a really good read. The characters were believable and not at all unlikeable. It also didn't fall into the romance novels cliches, keeping the story fresh and interesting.
A great ending to the series. It brings you back to the start with all three couples, plus a couple others. While the story was mainly about Blake’s chase of Seonaid, Little George also found love after the tragedy of his wife’s murder in the first book, and old Angus, Seonaid and Duncan’s father, found love again. A fun read with characters you can’t help but like.
This series would be so cute if only Lynsay Sands could keep herself from ruining it with unnecessary misogyny and sexism. The male lead is a promiscuous man and the female lead is a virgin. Throughout the book there are constant references to how many women he’s had sex with. Of course, the wife has to face a maid he had sex with when she was sobbing over him being hurt and then she was confronted by a peer who had a sexual relationship with him. It was so gross. That kind of male lead is not attractive at all. I didn’t want him for the female lead. WHY THE F do female authors keep writing this BS!
Such a funny read! I really enjoyed reading the story of Seonaid and Blake! Seonaid's shenanigans had me chuckling and I'm so happy they found their happily-ever-after!
I enjoyed this charming historical romance set in Scotland.
The hero was handsome with a heart of gold and the heroine was beautiful and feisty. Seonaid was trained as a warrior and she wasn't going to sit tight and get ‘caught’ by the handsome “English devil” she’d been promised to.
There is a lot of chasing going on in this book - I was glad when Seonaid decided to stop running!
Thank you to @avonbooks for this #gifted copy of The Chase by Lynsay Sands.
This is the 3rd book in the "The Deed" series following The Deed and The Key. It fell flat on it's butt.
Where The Deed was hysterical and The Key engaging, The Chase was boring, which is weird given that the heroine was wonderful (it's the books only saving grace). It actually took 3 days to read this book and anyone who knows me well, knows I read a book in 4 hours.
The heroine, Seonaid is sister to the hero in the previous book "The Key". She was a lively heroine that Sands was able to give a glimpse into her vulnerabilities and make her a more complex hoyden.
Unfortunately, the hero came across as flat. He was in the first book, "The Deed" and was much more interesting and funny then. So he went from being a funny lady's man to an arrogant lady's man.
The story line has been used before but Sands is able to make it new and tolerable (perhaps one more saving grace).
It's worth the read if you've read the first two but as a stand alone, there are many other books to read. There are also some loose ends in the series that were left open - .
Lynsay Sands is an awesome author and I love her books. This book here was no exception.
A couple that was bethroded to each other since they was young and never met each other. Now the groom has showen up finally and now the bride to be is leasing him on a chase to capture her and when he does they begin by arguing with each other and giving each other a hard time.
When he does finally merries her and they are going to be going to his home and meet his family her life is in danger or is it him that is in danger. After he gets stabbed and they go to his best friend's home and things get done will her recover or will the new bride loose her husband after only a few days?
This is a 3 book series, even though you don't need to read book 1 (The Deed) to understand book 2 (The Key), you really should read book 2 to follow this book 3 (The Chase). I didn't care for the hero who kept talking about how handsome he was, he was so full of himself, the heroine was an ok character, not my type of heroine I like, which is more feminine. All she did was run around thwarting the hero, it got to be a tiresome story. The romance was flat too.
I struggled through this story a bit. Normally I like stories where the heroine doesn't just sit around and wait defenselessly for a man to come get her. However, the heroine in this came off to me a little childish.
After the hero finally catches her for good, the story got better for me. I loved the changes in both characters and how they grew together.