Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Published: May 28, 2013 by Harlequin Teen
Series: #2 (Pushing the Limits)
Length: 456 pages
Source: Harlequin Teen (ARC)
“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….“
Dare You To is a companion novel to Pushing the Limits and I was really surprised (and happy) when I found out that it was a companion and that we have two different protagonists. Honestly, I was putting this book off because I thought it was still going to be about Echo and Noah. I didn’t really enjoy Pushing the Limits as much as I wanted to. Just like Pushing the Limits, Dare You To is told from two different perspectives – Ryan’s and Beth’s. Beth is a character from Pushing the Limits and is a friend of Noah. First off, I thought that this one is so much better than Pushing the Limits. I read 300 pages straight in one day and that’s like once in a blue moon for me.
Beth is such an amazing character. There’s character development all over the place and she has lots of flaws which made her a realistic and relatable character to me. She’s so witty and kick ass but oh my, she breaks down at times and I felt so sad! It’s easy to feel her emotions and she’s one of those people who puts on a fake smile but at the end of the day, deep down, she’s sad and tired. I love how she’s very responsible for her age. I also like Ryan’s character. He plays baseball (one of my favorite sports) and I love his relationship with his friends at school. They dare each other to hit on other girls, etc. and one day he was dared to ask Beth’s number… and that’s where the story begins!
Overall, it was an amazing read. There was also a love triangle, but it was an awesome and realistic love triangle. It wasn’t just there in the sake of just to have one. The only thing I did not like was that I wish the supporting characters, especially Ryan’s friends, were given more personality. They were a tad flat for me. I recommend this to all young adult contemporary lovers and to those who are looking for a great romance.
