Review: Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Posted 7 May, 2013 by Pushy in Blog, Bookworms, Danny, Danny's Book Review, Featured, Heather, Heather Book Review, Pushy, Pushy Book Review / 11 Comments

Review: Dare You To by Katie McGarryDare You To by Katie McGarry
Series: Pushing The Limits #2
Published by HarlequinTEEN on May 28th 2013
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Pages: 462
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
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5 Stars

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....

Katie McGarry’s Second Book Takes Angsty  Contemporary Romance To New Levels of Awesome!
DareYouTo

Beth…a girl with a past

Pushy: Oh man, I was so excited when I heard the next book would be about Beth.  And then I realized she wouldn’t be with Isaiah at the end.  ENORMOUS FROWNY FACE!!!  Beth and Isaiah go together like tattoos and hot guys!!!!  Still, you know there’s no way I wasn’t going to read this book!  So as soon as I got my grubby paws on it, I settled down to be convinced that there could possibly be anyone else for Beth.  I should have known that when Katie McGarry tackled Beth’s story, it would be about so much more than romance!

Danny:  I admit I wasn’t the biggest fan of Beth in Pushing The Limits. Still, I know Katie McGarry and I knew I would end up caring about Beth!!

Did you guys read Katie’s post about what happened to Beth and Isaiah getting together and why she decided to change this? I loved this post from her!!

Anyway, getting to know Beth better in DARE YOU TO was simply amazing, I started caring for her an also understanding her. She truly had a hard and really tough upbringing any my heart ached for her when I discovered the truth about her family situation! How can a young girl like her handle these things and not go nuts? Well, Beth is unbelievable strong and I admired her strength and loyalty to her family. Even though.. I sometimes wanted to slap her and tell her to open her eyes. But thankfully, Ryan was around for this…

Heather: Beth certainly pushed my buttons in Pushing the Limits, but I had complete faith in Katie McGarry’s ability to write a compelling and interesting story for her. We caught a glimpse of how troubled Beth’s life is in that first book, but boy, we didn’t even breach the surface…

Ryan…a boy searching for a rush

Pushy: There’s just something so sexy about a good boy with a bad streak, isn’t there?  And Ryan is all kinds of sexy!  I love the way he’s constantly looking for something…more!  And he’s so ballsy, which he definitely needs if he’s going to even attempt to woo Beth.  But he’s vulnerable too and by the end…yeah….he won me over!

Danny: Holy shit Ryan – how I LOVED this boy and we was so freaking perfect for Beth!! I loved his cocky attitude and the way he handled Beth. He was her Knight in Shining Armor and I loved this boy for it so bad! I can totally understand why Katie decided to get Beth together with him. They were pretty perfect for each other – he didn’t take her crap and was standing strong when she behaved like.. well, like Beth.

Heather: I totally agree! Ryan is like so many of the guys I grew up with in my small, country town–seemingly perfect jocks who have it all–popularity, good grades, tons of friends. But Ryan isn’t as in control of his life as he thinks as his parents ultimately pull the strings of his post high school baseball career leading and even who he should date. But the facade of a perfect life is hard to keep up, even for his parents and the walls come tumbling down…

But what about Isaiah????

Pushy:  I seriously loved Isaiah in this book.  Even though he doesn’t get what he wants…even though he’s put so much into Beth only to see it not turn out the way he hoped….he’s a good guy and I know that when he gets his HEA it’s going to be all the sweeter for the fact that it’s with someone who will truly be in love with him!  *sigh* I can already imagine the sweet, sweet angst Katie’s going to give us in this book!

Heather: Isaiah makes all of the tough decisions for Beth in this book, especially when she keeps making the same mistakes over and over again. My heart broke for him when Beth kept leaning on him, especially knowing that he was in love with Beth as far back as Pushing the Limits. But as Pushy said, Isaiah’s road to love will be bumpy, but he will find the one for him in the next book. He and Beth just enable each other’s bad behavior.

Emotion Much ? Yes .. please! More Please!

Danny: .. Sigh.. See this is why I love Katie McGarry so much. She writes books that are so full of emotion that make my heart melt and swell. And.. I admit I was a little afraid of DARE YOU TO being too similar to Pushing The Limits, but it was sooo not!!! It had a similar emotional intensity but the characters weren’t all broken. Sure, Ryan had his own demons, but he was not broken. So clearly, Beth and Ryan were not Echo and Noah.

Heather: Katie McGarry just writes pure emotion onto the page, and the pain that Beth and even Ryan have to deal with in this book is palpable. How Beth is still fighting after all that she’s been through is beyond me, but Ryan certainly doesn’t shy away even when he slowly learns about her past and as she pushes him away from her. As Danny said, Ryan isn’t really damaged like Beth is, but he does have his own battles to fight before they can truly be together.

Bewitched Rating

magic rating of awesome! 

Bottom Line

Emotionally gripping and as compulsively page turning as Pushing The Limits, Dare You To is a MUST READ for Contemporary Romance fans!

   

Additional Notes

Right now, there is a pretty amazing blog Tour going on and you can win tons of books and amazing Grand Prize! visit our Tour Stop for a delicious excerpt and amazing Teaser and enter to win!

DareYouToTour

Now go and get lost…in a book!
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Lover of words and authors; absolute fan girl of books! Give me a good story, with characters I can love (and hate) and I'll follow you anywhere. Sing me a song of worlds I can dream of, and I'll listen forever.

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11 Responses to “Review: Dare You To by Katie McGarry”

  1. Ahhhhhh you guys!!!! I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH! Originally I had a giant frowny face when I saw Beth wasn’t going to be paired with Isaiah as well, but it didn’t take me long to fall madly in love with Ryan. They just fit so well. And Isaiah! He broke my heart in this book, but like you guys said, it’s going to make his book all the sweeter. CANNOT WAIT!
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  2. I didn’t even remember Isaiah. I thought he was a druggie and an addict in Pushing the Limits. Maybe I need to reread it. I had no idea he’d be in this book or that Beth had any real feelings for him. I also kind of got the feeling this book happened before Pushing the Limits since the teaser we got had Isaiah, Beth and Noah in the car. I haven’t read it yet since it doesn’t release until the end of the month but I can’t wait to read it.
    Heather @ Buried in Books recently posted..Blog Tour: Zenn Scarlett- Interview with Christian Schoon and Giveaway (US only)My Profile

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  3. Shocking that you all liked this one. 🙂 I can’t wait to read it. I’m really hoping I liked it better than the first book. It’s not that I didn’t like the first book but it didn’t blow me away. I think it’s because I read it at the wrong time. I want to read this when I’m in a better mood.
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  4. “See this is why I love Katie McGarry so much. She writes books that are so full of emotion that make my heart melt and swell.” UM YES, this perfectly describes why I love Katie so much. This book was so amazing! I can’t believe she was able to make me stop rooting for Isaiah and Beth and start rooting for Ryan and Beth. Ryan….he’s just kind of perfect, isn’t he? *dreamy sigh*
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  5. Kamla L.

    I am right there with you on the Beth/Isaiah thing. I remember the night after the night after the house party thinking ‘Yep, they’re going to make a great book…can’t wait’. But then I got that book 2 teaser chapter at the end and thought ‘oh no she (yes you Katie) didn’t!’! But after it all settled in I realized this means we can get Isaiah’s story in book 3 (Please, Please, Please). I loved Pushing the Limits and both Beth and Isaiah. Dying to read Dare You To!!!

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