Dare You To (Pushing the Limits # 2) by Katie McGarry Review

Name: Dare You To (Pushing the Limits # 2)
Author: Katie McGarry
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: May 28th, 2013
Format: Harcover
Buy the book on Amazon
456 pages

Summary:

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....

Goodreads

My Review:

What another thrilling book by Katie McGarry: excellent writing, engaging plot, and wonderfully constructed characters.  After first reading Pushing the Limits, I was a little hesitant about starting this sequel; after all, I had absolutely loved the first book and did not expect to enjoy this one as much, not to mention the fact that I had loved Isaiah and Beth as a couple, and was thus not too thrilled to be reading about Beth with a different boy.  However, I was blown away by this sequel, and found myself loving it even more than the first.

Beth has a very messed up, and very sad, home life; that being said, she is, understandably, quite wary of trusting the people around her.  Enter Ryan, who, from the outside, seems entirely perfect: he's a gorgeous and polite baseball star who is friends with everyone and wildly known and respected around town.  However, he is quite different on the inside, struggling with who he is and what he wants from his future, all while dealing with major family issues.  Both characters were complex and wonderfully developed, making the book much more interesting.

I also loved Beth and Ryan's relationship.  They each see each other as superficial in the beginning of the book, neither of them realizing what the other is going through, and I loved seeing how they progressed throughout the novel.  They started off constantly butting heads, and finally working their way towards a point where they began to understand each other.  Their relationship had its ups and downs (with someone as volatile Beth and as obsessed with winning as Ryan, the two were bound to butt heads often) and I loved reading about both parts.

Overall, I loved this book!  There was a great mix of action, romance, and regular high school drama, which created an amazing YA read that I won't be likely to forget soon (and one that I will definitely read again!).  I would highly recommend this book, and its predecessor, Pushing the Limits, to YA romance fans who are looking for a well written and somewhat intense read.

My Rating: