Dare You To [Book Review]

Disclaimer: I received a e-copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinions.

Stats:
#2 in Pushing the Limits series

Kindle Edition, 480 pages

Expected publication: May 28th 2013 by Harlequin Teen

ASIN: B00BED2UE6

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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 Thoughts:
Beth has never had an easy life. Her dad walked out on her mom and her at a young age. Her mom goes through more men and alcohol than Beth can keep track of - and that's what Beth tries to do, keep track of her mom. Keep her mom out of trouble. Keep her from violating her probation. Her friends, Isaiah and Noah, have always been there for her.

One day Beth takes the fall for her mom who has busted the rear window of her abusive boyfriend's car and is taken into custody. What Beth didn't expect was to be bailed out by her Uncle Scott and taken to his home in the small town nearby where she had lived as a little girl.

Ryan is an all-star baseball player with what looks like a picture perfect life. He regularly takes and makes dares with his friends for fun. He didn't know how much his life would change when his friends pick Beth as a dare. All he has to do is get her phone number and he wins.

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Like I said before, Katie McGarry is a brilliant author. Her characters have so many dimensions. They have so much depth. Her books are the kind that stay with me and I just think about them for days on end, thinking about the characters like they are real people that I know.

I enjoyed Beth and Ryan's story more than Echo and Noah's. I love the dual perspective and I think McGarry nailed the hardships of a girl with struggles like Beth's. McGarry blows me away!

Previous Review:
All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill [here]

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