Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Goodreads
462 pages, YA Contemporary Romance
Pushing the Limits #2
My rating: 4 stars

Synopsis

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....

My 2 cents

First off, I have to say that I LOVED Pushing the Limits. I was excited to read this one, but I was expecting that it probably wouldn't be as good for me, as I just loved Noah and Echo! I was right, it wasn't as good, but it was still awesome, and I loved the read!

This is a dual POV story between Ryan and Beth. Beth was Noah's good friend in Pushing the Limits. Ryan is a whole new character. Beth tries to help her mom and ends up with a baseball bat trying to hit the disgusting boyfriend, Trent. She covers for her mom, and her mom officially loses custody, and Beth's long lost uncle, Scott, takes her to his mansion in another town. Scott is a very famous and rich retired pro baseball player for the Yankees.

As you would imagine, Beth hates this whole thing, but Scott threatens Beth if she doesn't change her ways he will send her mom to jail. He has a ton of rules, and poor Beth ends up at a surburban school, the same one she went to when she was little. There she meets Ryan, star baseball player. He has been given a dare to get Beth's phone number and take her out on a date. And Ryan doesn't like losing!

Since this story has a character driven plot, let's look at the characters in the book.

The Characters


Beth

Positives: She is very feisty, spunky and spontaneous, and really knows how to stick up for herself. A true individual.

Negatives: She can be a real biotch, and she has misguided loyalties to her druggie mother. She also has major trust issues, and doesn't want to make new friends.

Ryan 

Positives: Hot, built, athletic, a real gentleman to the ladies, and a sense of loyalty to his family and friends.

Negatives: Needs to stand up to his parents, and cut Beth some slack.

Lacy One of the best characters in the story. One of Ryan's true friends, she's as perfect as it gets.

Chris Ryan's best friend, and he annoyed me constantly. He can't understand why Ryan is into Beth, and he only seems to care about baseball. Luckily, Lacy straightens him out a lot.

Isaiah Oh, poor Isaiah. He is still desperately in love with Beth, but it ain't happening. Their friendship gets really rocky in this story. I can't wait for his HEA!

Scott Scott was a jerk a lot, until the very end when he actually starts trying to listen to Beth. I get that he's trying to straighten her out, but asking her to cut off all her style and friends is really harsh. 

Gwen The true evil girl in this story. I wanted to pull all her hair out! 

Noah Not in this story as much, and same with Echo. But he does help Beth several times, and is the same gorgeous guy as always!

This one was full of drama, just like Pushing the Limits, and lots of angst ridden romance as well! I loved the ending, and was so proud of all the characters growth by the end! This one is a great contemporary romance! FYI, there is not any graphic sex, but there is a lot of foul langauage.