Friday, August 30, 2013

Dare You To by Katie McGarry


Title: Dare You To (Pushing the Limits #2)
Author: Katie McGarry
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Release Date: May 28, 2013
Source: Purchased
Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository
Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."

"No." I whisper the replays. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again…

"I dare you…"

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does…

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock--with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dar becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams--and his life--for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all…

Seeing as I am a lover of all things contemporary, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I love Katie McGarry and her books. I absolutely loved Pushing the Limits last year, and this year I fell completely in love with Dare You To. These stories are the reason why I love contemporary as much as I do.

Beth hasn't had anyone in her corner for a long time. It's always just been her and Isaiah against the world. But things are changing, especially now that her uncle Scott is back in town. For Beth that means leaving everything she knows and everyone she loves behind. And that's when she meets Ryan, the golden boy with the perfect life and all the opportunities. Ryan couldn't annoy Beth more. But sometimes, the ones that get under your skin are the one who are worth keeping. Even if it all started as one big dare.

Katie McGarry writes addicting stories, there's no doubt about it. Even if I knew that when I sat down to read Dare You To, it still took me by surprise when I didn't get up again until I had finished the book. Right from the start, the story grabbed my attention. I wanted to see how far Ryan and his friends would take the whole dare thing. I wanted to know why Beth was so angry at her uncle. And more importantly, I wanted to see where the story would take Beth and Ryan. Because, if anything, I loved Beth and Ryan's story even more than I loved Echo and Noah's story. There was just something about Dare You To that captured my heart and I think that had a lot to do with Beth and Ryan themselves.

When I read Pushing the Limits Beth was the girl with Isaiah, and to me they just seemed to belong together. But when I got to know her more in Dare You To, I realized that Isaiah wasn't what was best for Beth. Even though seeing that play out broke my heart a little because I could see how much it all hurt Isaiah, I knew it was for the best. But Ryan really brought out the best in Beth, no matter how cliché that sounds. And the reverse is also true. Beth challenged Ryan in a way no one else could. And the more Ryan moved away from being who everyone wanted him to be and towards who he really was, the more I loved him. But more than anything, I loved who Beth and Ryan became when they were together, for reasons I can't really seem to put into words.

Once again, Katie McGarry wrote an amazing story. Dare You To was even more than I hoped it would be. I said this after reading Pushing the Limits and I'll say it again now: broken characters are the ones who make for the best stories. 

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1 comment:

  1. Sounds awesome! I enjoyed Pushing the Limits a lot, mainly because of the growth of the relationship. I'm definitely curious to read about Beth and Ryan too.

    -P.E. @ The Sirenic Codex

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