Review: Dare You To

Goodreads Summary: Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."

"No." I whisper the reply. 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 dare 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....

You guys couldn't possibly begin to imagine the squeal fest I had when I got approved for this title on Netgalley. I absolutely loved Katie McGarry's Pushing the Limits and I couldn't wait to read what she had chosen to follow it up with, especially when I knew that it was following Beth. 

I loved Beth's snark. I loved her attitude. I love how she was tougher than nails and she wasn't about to take sh*t from anyone. She was who she was and you could either deal with it or move on. I liked that she wasn't your quintessential girly girl but not a total tomboy either. Its hard for me to explain. Its like, well, Beth was a girl without shoving in your face. She could walk the walk and talk the talk but she could play in the mud too. Also, she was curvy and sassy and I just don't think we get quite enough of that in YA.

As for Ryan, he was sweet but he didn't make my heart pound in the same way that Noah did. [And yes, I know I shouldn't compare the two because they are completely different characters but I can't help it!] He was a good boy. A bit too cocky at times and desperately in need of someone to put in him his place. But despite appearing to be the golden boy around town he had his own secrets, he had issues that he needed help with and he wasn't your average "dumb jock" stereotype either. [I also wouldn't mind getting to know some of his friends better!]

One of the things that I love the most about Katie McGarry's books is that everything isn't perfect by the last page. There are still problems that need to be talked about, things that need to be worked through...basically its real life. Even at the best of times, with the "ending" you want, in real life there are still things that you have to get through. Her books are about getting there. About working through who you are, what you want out of life and how to get it. Her books are about her characters embarking on the journey of finding themselves. Yes they are contemporary romances, yes there is usually quite a bit of smooching from the characters, but they are real coming of age stories...love/romance just happens to be part of it.

4/5