Chasing Forever Down by Nikki Godwin
Published March 14th 2013
Age Group: Young Adult Contemporary Romance
Series: Drenaline Surf #1 
Source: ecopy from Author
After seventeen-year-old Haley Sullivan meets a mysterious stranger who plays by his own rules, she’s more than determined to learn every trick of the trade from the master himself. But her dream-chasing mentor disappears after that night, and according to the local newspapers, he’s been dead for years. Knowing he’s very much alive, Haley enlists best friend Linzi to join her on a scavenger-hunt-style road trip that ultimately lands them in the surf town of Crescent Cove, California. Mystery guy is no mystery here, though – he’s Colby Taylor, the west coast’s biggest professional surfer.
If Haley wants to talk to the wave rider again, she’ll have to get past his four intimidating bodyguards who are highly skilled in the business of sending starstruck fangirls back to where they belong. Haley is up for the challenge if it means chasing her dreams and escaping the perfectly corporate future that’s been planned for her. But dealing with these bodyguards isn’t exactly what Haley imagined it’d be. Sure, being thrown off a jet ski sucks, but falling in love with one of them might just be worse.
I really liked the premise of Chasing Forever Down. I am a big fan of beachy summer books and I like scavenger hunt road trip mystery premise, but the actual book fell a bit short for me. I feel like I am in the minority here though. Chasing Forever Down has a really high goodreads rating and great reviews, so if this seems like the kind of book that you would enjoy, you probably will! A lot of other people really really love the romance and story in this one. It just wasn’t for me.
I liked the main character Haley, but she just seemed super impulsive to me. She met a guy at a party with her parents one night and they both really hit it off. I thought that first night they hung out and spent together was really cute, but then he leaves and when she tries to track down who he was she found out that he had “died” years ago. So she decides to track him across the country to figure out what is really going on. It just seemed to sudden and kind of crazy to me. But honestly it wouldn’t have bugged me as much if she was all for the mystery aspect of him, but she had to go the love route. She just knew him for a couple of house one night and she loves him so much that she is dropping everything and driving across the country? It just seemed a bit obsessive to me.
The other characters we ok but kind of immature. Some of their dialogue was hard to follow, and Colby’s friends all rubbed me the wrong way. I just couldn’t really connect with anyone, and that made it really hard for me to get into the story. The girls kept doing stunt after stunt to try and get past all of his bodyguards. It started to make them seem like obsessed stalkers. It just didn’t feel realistic to me, but like I said a lot of people loved this one.
But don’t just take my word for it.
Check out these reviews from bloggers that LOVED Chasing Forever Down
Amber @ Paradise of Page gave it 5 Stars
Francine @ Always Lost in Books gave it 5 Stars
*Note this post contains affiliate links. Any/all money made through my amazon affiliate account goes back into the blog for giveaways.
I do find that reading young adult books as an older reader, that if that characters are immature I cannot handle reading the book!
Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings
The premise of the book sounds good but I’m not a beachy YA reader. I’m like Missie, If the characters are immature I just can’t handle the book.
Nice review though 🙂
–Kimberly @ Turning the Pages
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I like stories with suspense and mystery, especially more so if it’s included within a romance, but I think I agree with what you’ve said about Haley. I’d find it unrealistic for someone to seek someone out across the country when she’s only known that person for a very short amount of time. Maybe I demand more realism in the stories I read? Or maybe I don’t expect that kind of behavior from young adults? Perhaps that is why this might be more of an indulgent beachy read than something too serious. Thank you for your review!
[…] This book was a great read! Even if you’re not a fan of surfing, I think you’ll find that there’s a lot to love about Chasing Forever Down. The second book in this series is coming out at the end of this month and I can’t wait to read it! 4/5 stars. Want some other opinions? Check out what these other people thought of this book:Paradise of Pages – 5 StarsAlways Lost in Books – 5 StarsOops! I Read a Book Again – 4 StarsHome of a Book Lover – 3 StarsBook Briefs – 2 Stars […]
I love this book, i couldn’t put it down. I cannot wait to read the next one. I would really recommend if you like easy to read teen/romance that keeps you ‘chasing’ onto what happens next. Love the characters and love the way it turns out.