Dare You To By Katie McGarry

Way to close out my May with another good book by Katie McGarry.

There is something about her writing that ... it holds just the right vibe. It's never too fast nor slow. It keeps the proper pace and with everything that's happening, she finds a way for you to totally bypass a previous problem and focus on the current one without even a thought. It's like she captivates you so much into this story that you can only focus on word to word and page to page as you go.

I swear she would have lost the momentum she had with Pushing the Limits, but she held that reign with Dare you to and while it wasn't as intense as Pushing the Limits, it was just as good in its own category and I loved every minute of it.

I love, love, love Beth and I am glad she got to keep who she really was from Pushing the Limits. She didn't magically turn BFFs with Echo and she kept all the spunk that made her Beth. Nothing changed with this girl's personality, despite the changes that eventually came.

It was good that Echo, Noah and Isaiah were blended in this book, and we even got a scene that was totally focused on Noah and Echo without overpowering what was Beth's story ... in other words, really loved the hammock scene. It brought back memories from Pushing the Limits and that was really good nostalgia.

I must say I was surprise when I found out that Beth got a new love interest in this novel, as I swore she would wake up one day and realize the love that Isaiah has for her. Still, I liked Ryan's character from the teaser we got at the back of Pushing the Limits and he some how grows on you throughout the book.

And so we come to the topic of Ryan Stone. The biggest gentleman you could meet (Psy would be proud ;) ). His *aheem*  (clears throat) ... situation was a change and I was glad for that realness and difference when it comes to teens and having sex. He wasn't sex crazed and that helped a lot to differentiate him from the previous characters from this and most YA series.

The angle that Ryan's character was taken from was done really well and all that country charm wasn't lost on me either. I was glad for his POV and I love his determination and passion to everything in life.

The bottle of rain scene was a solid one and one of those memorable scenes that just has you replaying it over and over in your mind. This boy's charm knew no limit and that was an incredible feat that made this character what he was.

The minor characters from this book who belonged more to Ryan's side were easy to warm up to ... except for maybe Chris. He rubs me a little!
I am soooo in love with Logan's character and especially when he put Chris in his place at the last game scene. I would love a book for him. Preferably with him in college though. I could revisit these characters from the rural area again.

Isaiah got dealt a blow in this one and for that I wasn't too pleased. But I love the control and suave that his character exudes. He has this vibe about him that you just love and while I see where he's gonna be contending with a preppy girl, I would have totally prefer him with a rough around the edges girl like Beth ... but we'll see.

Still, great story about family, loyalty and trust. I believe those are good themes over the basic one of love and lost any day. This book was written beautifully and the emotions that were pulled from this book was real, raw and wonderful all at once.

I can't wait to get into Crash into you to see what trouble Isaiah gets into, because I could follow these characters around all day!!

- http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17372887-dare-you-to