Dare You To Book Review

Title: Dare You To
Author: Katie McGarry
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: May 28, 2013
ISBN-13: 978-0373210633

480 pp.

ARC provided by publisher

Dare You To by Katie McGarry is the second of her contemporary romance trilogy following a group of friends. I haven't read Pushing the Limits, which has gotten a lot of positive reviews and was a Teens' Top Ten for 2013. While the two stories are linked by crossover characters, you don't need to read one to enjoy the other.

And I did thoroughly enjoy Dare You To. It's the kind of swoony romance that keeps itself grounded in reality. In Beth's case, her reality is a gritty, bleak one, with a mom who's a barfly and probably worse, but Beth doesn't let herself think about. She's just trying to get through the day, making sure the bills are paid and her mother eats.

Then she meets Ryan at a late night taco joint. Ryan seems to fit the total jock stereotype, good-looking, full of himself, and only out to use someone like Beth. And when she finds out that Ryan wants to buy her dinner just because his dumb jock friends have dared him to get her phone number, Beth shows him no mercy.

But Ryan isn't the stereotypical jock. His family life is broken, although his parents are trying to do everything they can to keep up appearances. He's torn between following his dream of going pro in baseball and the realization that the dream might actually be his father's and Ryan has more options than he thought.

Cut to the twist of fate that brings the two back together. The romance is realistic and true to the characters. The chapters alternate between Beth and Ryan and the reader is able to see how they're able to change their first impressions of each other and learn to love each other, although this love is not easy for either one of them.

Dare You To is a winner for fans of contemporary romance.

Dare You To book trailer: