Series: Pushing the Limits #2
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….
5 Drink Me Potions
With that being said, I would like to TAKE THAT ALL BACK. Katie McGarry is truly one amazing author. I was taken into Beth and Ryan’s story. Beth is all sass and attitude, not afraid to dish it out to the guys. Ryan is the golden boy or Prince Charming stereotype of many YA novels; the kind of gentleman character that was missing in McGarry’s previous story. I must say, I do like sweet guys a little more than bad boys so you can see why I was drawn into this story more than Pushing the Limits.
McGarry continues with her amazing story telling and characterizations. Ryan feels like a real guy you may have met or known back in high school. Yes, he’s been raised to be a gentleman, but of course he still thinks like a guy and acts like one. As for Beth, she’s just as hard-edged as she was before but the development of her character throughout the story was beautifully done. Not only was it realistic in the way that she slowly tore down her walls for Ryan, but falling for each other wasn’t done in a way that made no sense. It was well-paced throughout the story, not rushing into their romantic feelings for each other until they started trusting each other more.
With both protagonists fighting their particular emotional battles, readers won’t be able to put down the book. I swear. I sure couldn’t. I think the ROMANCE here was a lot more entrancing, like a spell was cast over the story. Beth’s insecurities that a guy like Ryan would never fall for a girl like her was endearing, especially seeing how Ryan goes to great lengths to prove her wrong.
Overall Recommendations:
Beth and Ryan are both well-thought characters with emotional baggage that needs to be resolved. Although they may seem like opposites initially, as McGarry put it, they’re the perfect match for each other. Dare You To will NOT disappoint, with many heart-touching moments between the 2 protagonists as they slowly fall for each other (against their will initially, I must say) and learn to trust one another with their secrets. ROMANCE lovers, this is for YOU!
This is the “Prince Charming falling for the girl no one thought he should” kind of story. The 5 stars are well-deserved. If you enjoy cute love stories, give this is a shot and you won’t regret it.
Down the Rabbit Hole 
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