Dare You To Review

Dare You To (Pushing the Limits #2)
by Katie McGarry
Genre: YA Contemporary
Format: ARC received through Around the World ARC Tours in exchange for my honest review.  I do not get to keep a copy of the book.
Midnight Minute: Beth is torn from her friends and her mother, and now she has to deal with good guy Ryan, who dares her to risk opening up. 
Expected Publication: 05.28.13
From Goodreads:
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...

Midnight Thoughts:

~I got Pushing the Limits at BEA last year, and I enjoyed it.  My friend Kim said I would love this one even more.   And she was right. 
~ Part of the reason I loved this book so much was Ryan.  He's a good, decent boy who is dealing with many of his own issues.  His relationship with his parents and his brother are very realistic.  Usually the love interests in YA books are bad boys with a heart of gold that's polished to a shine by the girl next door they break all the rules to love.  But Ryan is already shiny, and he actually needs Beth to help scruff him up a bit. 
~ The book flips from Ryan to Beth's pov throughout the novel.  I love this because you get to really see both sides of the things that go down between Beth and Ryan, and get to know both of them. 
~ I thought I'd have a hard time accepting that Beth and Isiah weren't the end game they appeared to be in Pushing the Limits, but Ryan is just too hard to resist. 
~ Beth's relationship with her mom is heartbreaking.  She's in such denial, and she's put so much pressure on herself.  I want to go all The Crow on Beth's mom when he's all like "Mother is the name of God in the lips and hearts of little children" as he's forcing the junkie mom to clean up her act for the sake of her little girl.  
~ It appears that Beth's mom is also a fan of Carrie Underwood, since she goes all medieval on her douchebag boyfriend's El Camino.  And of course, Beth ends up taking the blame.  Which is some major bs, but if it takes her to Ryan I'll keep my mouth shut. 
~ Uncle Scott comes to Beth's rescue, although she doesn't quite see it that way, and proceeds to blackmail her into moving in with him and his new wife (a very pearl-clutching type of woman, who unclenches slightly as time goes by).  I strongly believe in blackmailing to get what you want.  ;)
~ Beth returns with Uncle Scott to the town she was born in, and her old friend Lacy is there, still holding onto the torch of friendship.  Beth is all pricklyish and angry to full appreciate Lacy, especially since Lacy dates one of Ryan's friends.
~ So even though his interest in Beth begins with a dare, I actually really enjoyed the dares the boys challenge each other to.  Especially the car moving one.  I almost always take Truth, since the one time I took a dare as a kid I had to french kiss a tree... before I even knew what french kissing was, so basically I licked bark. 
~ Inside Beth's mom's apartment is a room that no one opens.  For some reason it completely reminded me of briefcase in Pulp Fiction. 
~ I liked Ryan's story line with his brother.  I haven't seen the issue pop up in this way befor but I thought it was handled realistically and that both brothers were to blame for the rift. 
~ I'm sorry, but I am just not buying that Beth's blonde roots really look great as they grow out (Beth dyes her hair black because she's a ball on angst inside).  But since that's my biggest issue witht he book, I'll go ahead and let it go. 
~ Ryan takes a dare to take Beth on a date- and we've now entered the murky waters of teen rom-coms, but I trusted to McGarry not to go all cliche on us, and she didn't. 
~ It's kind of sad that the only thing Beth knows of what a good, loving relationship looks like is what she's witnessed between Echo and Noah.  We do get see the two of them in this book too. 
~ Ya'll are going to melt when you get to the rainwater part of the book.  Seriously, puddles of swooning girls and women on the floor over it. 
~ The lead up to the end was tense and bittersweet and I loved every second of it. 

Timeless Characters:

Beth- are f-bombing heroine with a dark, twisty past.
Ryan- actually made baseball sexy to me, nice, hot guy.
Isiah- Beth's best friend, with the occasional benefits. 
Lacy- Beth's best friend from childhood.
Chris- Ryan's dare buddy, Lacy's boydfriend.
Logan- another of Ryan's friends. 
Noah and Echo- still in love and happy.
Mark- Ryan's older brother.
Gwen- Ryan's ex, bullied Beth and Lacy when they were kids.  Not much has appeared to change with her. 
Scott- Beth's uncle, retired baseball player.
Allison- Scott's uptight wife.
Trent- Beth's mom's evil bastard boyfriend.
Officer Monroe- think Johnny Depp in 21 Jump Street.
Mrs. Rowe- Ryan's nice, if pushy, English teacher.
 

Midnight Moment:

So many!  The barn, the bird that's trapped there which was so parallel to Beth, the pond, the rainwater... I could go on.  But I won't. I need a nap.

Stop The Clock:

I can definitely recommend this, whether you've read Pushing the Limits or Not.  It's mostly sweet, but it's got some heat thrown in!


Katie McGarry — Website |Katie McGarry

Dare You To gets a Midnight Book Rating of: 

The Trouble With Flirting Review

The Trouble With Flirting
by Claire LaZebnik
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Format: ARC from Around the World ARC Tours, in exchange for my honest opinion.
Midnight Minute: A modern take on Jane Austen's Mansfield Park with a few tweaks and a much better end.  I loved it!
From Goodreads:

Franny's supposed to be working this summer, not flirting. But you can't blame her when guys like Alex and Harry are around. . . . Franny Pearson never dreamed she'd be attending the prestigious Mansfield Summer Theater Program. And she's not, exactly. She's working for her aunt, the resident costume designer. But sewing her fingers to the bone does give her an opportunity to spend time with her crush, Alex Braverman. If only he were as taken with the girl hemming his trousers as he is with his new leading lady. When Harry Cartwright, a notorious flirt, shows more than a friendly interest in Franny, she figures it can't hurt to have a little fun. But as their breezy romance grows more complicated, can Franny keep pretending that Harry is just a carefree fling? And why is Alex suddenly giving her those deep, meaningful looks? In this charming tale of mixed messages and romantic near-misses, one thing is clear: Flirting might be more trouble than Franny ever expected.

Midnight Thoughts:

~I figured this would be a cute book, but it was even better than I thought.  It was fun, flirty and a perfect YA Contemporary Romance. I don't know if I can do justice to this book, but I really, really loved it!
~ Based on Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, which I'm not that familiar with- I read the book once long ago and vaguely remember the movie version with Johnny Lee Miller (Angelina Jolie's ex), but partly because Franny didn't really impress me as an Austen heroine.  I actually (shock, horror!) like LaZebnik's Franny! Do not expect this plot to follow Austen's completely faithfully.
~ I loved the mix of Shakespeare's plays in the novel, especially Twelfth Night, which I thought was pretty fitting considering the plot.
~ Franny is an average girl from an average background in the midst of privileged teens, but she's not envious or overly intimidated by them, which I liked. 
~ I loved the setting!  A bunch of teenagers together for six weeks, all drama students, with minimal adult supervision?  How can that not be fun?
~Franny and Alex have a cute, friendly, easy friendship.  I wish I'd been that cool around guys in high school... of course, I wish there'd been guys like Alex and Harry when I was a teen, but that was pre-Dawson's Creek days, so teens didn't speak all witty and cute.  The boys in my school only had the Frog Brothers from The Lost Boys as role models...
~ Franny knows Julia and her brother Alex from 8th grade, back when Franny still acted- before her mom decided that acting wasn't going to get her daughter anywhere in life. I'm all for getting your kids into a good school, but I'm pretty sure drama club isn't an activity that's frowned upon by colleges.  By all means, stop your kids from building meth labs in the shed, or starting a Sunday School Fight Club, but acting is actually a suitable pursuit to put on the college apps. 
~ So Franny likes Alex, but she's rendered invisible whenever Isabella is in the room.  It's like Alex can only see Franny if Isabella is somewhere else.  It's possible he thinks Isabella is Superwoman, and Franny is her alter/Clark Kent persona. 
~ Isabella and Harry are veryclose.  There is instant animosity between Alex and Harry- a case of too many cocks in the hen house syndrome. 
~ Harry is possibly a man whore, but it's not off putting.  I was Team Alex, but it didn't take long before I was Team Harry.  Mostly because Alex was all Ashely Wilkes- he loved Mellie, but he also liked Scarlet panting after him.  Although, Isabella is more Scarlet, and Franny is more Mellie, so this is probably a bad comparison.
~ Austen's Franny was pretty timid and quiet, but our Franny here, while quiet, is not timid.  She's not weak, although she does make mistakes, she's also funny- love that she compares Harry to a dog rubbing up against anyone to get petted- and isn't quite the doormat that I remember her being from Mansfield Park. 
~ Did I mention that I loved Harry?
~ My feelings for Isabella were all over the place, I wanted to dislike her simply because she "came between" Alex and Franny, but in all honesty, she had nothing to do with it. 
~ Franny suffers from  Kovtapyroergasoiphobia.
~ That's a phobia of fireworks.  I Googled the phobia name so you didn't have to.  I love when people have weirder phobias than I do, because then I can feel all superior... until a bee flies by and I lose my shiz. 
~ Franny's Aunt Amelia is very repressed.  Plus she's in a book club that only reads books that "expands their horizon".  I suspect the ladies are really reading Fifty Shades of Grey!
~ The dialog between the characters, especially Harry and Franny, was wonderful, even if it was more Gilmore Girls clever than I can be in my life. 
~ After reading this book, I texted four of my book blogging friends to let them know that I would be buying this book when it comes out and that I will share it with them like an STD in a sailor's port of call.  Which led to a future feature you'll be seeing on here called Book STD, when a book is so good, you need to pass it around!  I am worried that might offend people, but then I figured that if you read my blog on a regular basis then you're probably not easily offended.  Besides, Book STD is good, and the treatment is better than penicillin! 

Timeless Characters:

Franny- our heroine, forced to work her fingers to the bone to sew costumes for a summer drama program. 
Alex- Boy #1, sexy and sweet.
Harry- Boy #2, sexy and not-so-sweet.
Isabella- beautiful, talented and into Alex.
Julia- Alex's sister, initially crushes on Harry, like every other girl.
Marie- spoiled, beautiful (seriously, ugly people need not apply to YA books), and after Harry despite dating:
James- Marie's lap dog boyfriend. 
Vanessa- Franny's friend, would have liked to see a bit more of her.
There's also several other teens at the camp, but I failed to write all the names down. 
Aunt Amelia- Franny's aunt, a bit uptight.  

Midnight Moment:

Probably for me, the best moment was the shopping trip all the kids take, and Franny and Harry's grocery store hook up.  Kind of sexy, Harry.  ;)

Stop The Clock:

                                         So freaking cute!!  I can't wait until I can own this!!!



  Claire LaZebnik— Website |

The Trouble With Flirting gets a Midnight Book Rating of: