Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Dare You To 
by Katie McGarry
Read: May 8 - 10, 2013
Published: May 28, 2013 by Harlequin Teen
Source: Around The World Arc Tours
Category: Contemporary YA Romance, companion series
Series: Pushing the Limits book 2

NOTE: Dare You To is the second book in a companion series. Book 1 Pushing The Limits featured Echo and Noah, while this is Beth and Ryan's story. These books can be read separately or together. Although some characters overlap, the stories are unique. 

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.... (From Goodreads)
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If you've read Pushing the Limits, I'm sure you're a bit confused about what this book is all about. So before I start off my review for Dare You To, I'm going to go ahead answer your burning questions. 

1) Wait! Who is this Ryan guy? I thought Isaiah was supposed to end up with Beth. 

I know! I thought that too, and it took me some time to emotionally disengage from Isaiah as Beth's love interest. But in the end I think that you are going to love Ryan and Beth together. They are very different, but a better (and healthier) match. However, this book only served to increase my affection for Isaiah, and I'm am very excited for his book to come next. 

2) Does that mean that this is going to be a love triangle? 

Not really. First, only Beth and Ryan have voices in Dare You To, which is always a big tell that they are going to be the winning couple. Also, though it takes Beth some time to sort through her feelings, it is always clear that she is headed towards a relationship with Ryan. She cares about Isaiah, but her feelings for him are different, and I respect her for realizing that. 

3) Is that kissy rain scene featured on the cover going to be part of the book, because I want to read about that?!

Sort of. Although there is not a scene in Dare You To that features Ryan and Beth kissing in the rain against a brick wall, there IS a very important and swoony scene in the book that features these two and rain. I think you will be pleased. 

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On the surface Ryan and Beth do not appear to be any sort of match that would work. Ryan is wealthy, athletic and from a well respected family in his community. Although Ryan can be a little cocky and he likes to win, especially baseball games and dares with his group of friends, he could also be called nice and well-mannered. Beth's life is nothing like Ryan's. She lives with her aunt because her mother is a drunk with a violent boyfriend who likes to hit her (her as in both Beth and her mom). Beth also has a well deserved bad reputation and is closed off emotionally. She is angry and doesn't trust easily, especially jocks like Ryan.

But Ryan's perfect life on the surface is falling apart. His brother has been kicked out of his house for reasons you will discover, his parents are barely speaking to each other, and Ryan feels caught in the middle. However, Ryan can't telly anyone what's going on in his family, because in his home, outward appearances are everything. Although Ryan meets Beth because of a dare, he likes that she is a no frills, and unapologetic about who she is. When he begins to get a glimpse of the broken, honest girl below the tough exterior, he's drawn to her even more. She challenges him in ways that no one has done before. 

Beth can't believe that a guy like Ryan would be interested in her, but the more she gets to know him, the more she hopes that his feelings are real. He treats her with respect and stands up for her, but nothing in her life has ever gone the way she wants, and she's sure there must be some kind of trick. 

Although almost nothing about Beth's life is like my own, I found myself easily connecting to her. I was angry and sad and determined right along with her. One of the most heartbreaking parts of this story to read was Beth's relationship with her mother. Beth's feelings of guilt and responsibility about her junkie mom were hard to read, but I thought that Beth's emotions were realistic and believable, as was the way that their relationship was left at the end of the book. I also really enjoyed the growth of Beth's relationship with her uncle Scott, and how much she struggled to trust him. Like Beth, I wasn't sure about him at first, but I enjoyed watching her slowly see how much he cared for her. 

It took me a bit more time to warm up to Ryan, and to see the chemistry between him and Beth, but as the story progressed I did believe in them together. I could also sympathize with Ryan as he came to the terrible realization about the huge mess his family had become. And I was especially pleased when he began to take a stand for himself outside of his parents' expectations for his life. Although I was very worried about Ryan's role in The Dare plotline - asking a girl out because of a dare almost never ends well - I was  very thankful that the climax of the book wasn't when Beth discovered that she was the subject of a dare (because I've seen a lot of movies and books that go that standard route). 

I'm a big fan of companion series, especially when the second couple wins me over just as much as the first. I also enjoy getting a glimpse at the first pair, without dealing with the excessive drama that happens when they're the star of the book. Dare You To is exactly that kind of follow up to Pushing The Limits, and after reading the sneak peak at Isaiah and Rachel's book Crash Into You, I'm even more excited to for their story. 

Love Triangle Factor: Mild

Cliffhanger Scale: Standalone, part of a companion series