ARC Review: Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Name of book: Dare You To (Pushing The Limits #2)
Author: Katie McGarry
Publication: May 28th 2013 by Harlequin Teen
Genre: YA Contemporary
Source: Provided by the kind publisher...
Goodreads

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 Rating --

4.5 Oscars: Really liked it...

-- My Thoughts --

      When I read the first book in this series, Pushing the Limits (my review here). I fell in love with Katie's absolutely enchanting characters and I couldn't let them go. I knew this book would be about a different set of characters but I was equally enchanted.

     Beth is not a bad girl. No. She has just had a bad life and that is the only way to let go. But when she gets moved back to her old town and reunited with her only relative besides her mother, she is not happy. And when she meets the captivating jock boy, Ryan, she knows that she should not let down her guard. Ryan's had a complicated life, too, but in a different way. And he knows well not to let Beth ruin his future. Sparks fly. But will a love built on pain survive the challenges it will face?

---

Winning feels great. Awesome. Drives me higher than anything else in the world. The twisting and pressure that I so often feel - gone. Winning leaves my muscles loose, makes me lift my head higher, and damn if it doesn't bring on a smile. "You may not want it, but you need it." - Ryan

---

     Again, I absolutely fell in love with Katie's characters. There is something different about them. They are broken, but they still hold so much hope that it's refreshing. I knew reading from Beth's perspective would be unique and it was. I don't have anything in common with Beth, but I felt WITH her and FOR her. Ryan is an amazing guy. Almost too perfect to be true, as Beth says, and she is right. But he is real to Beth and to watch them grow so much as characters was exhilarating to witness.

     I loved the little scenes we got of Noah and Echo (the main characters in Pushing The Limits). I missed them so much, and I gotta say that I prefer Beth over Echo, and Noah over Ryan.  But I KNOW that Beth and Noah, or Ryan and Echo, or Beth and Isaiah would have never worked out. It's so strange but Katie knows exactly how to pair off her characters so that they are perfect for each other. Two faces of a coin, they say.

     Even before I finished this book, I knew who the third book would be about. It seemed like the most obvious choice, since Isaiah still has to tell his story. CRASH INTO YOU looks amazing and I cannot wait for Miss Katie to write it! I know I won't be disappointed from one of my favorite authors of all time!

---

A silver of hope sneaks past my walls and I slam every opening shut. Emotion is evil. People who make me feel are worse. I take comfort in the stone inside of me, If I don't feel. I don't hurt. - Beth

---

It's an innocent kiss at first. Soft lips meeting; a gentle pressure that creates a slow burn. The type of kiss you give to someone that means something. This isn't the type of kiss to be wasted on me. - Beth

---