Book Review: Dare You To by Katie McGarry

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....

I love me some romance. I've read the third and fourth in this series before reading this one (the second in the series). It doesn't require you to read them in order but you would recognize the characters and it would follow the timeline. 
This has been my favorite of the three I've read so far. I'm a sucker for the cliches/tropes in romance novels/movies. This one was the "Dating this girl for a bet and oh no, I actually love her". I loved it. I really loved it. 
I could really relate to Beth, surprisingly. I was trying to figure out why I liked this so much and really liked reading from Beth's POV- then it hit me. She is constantly running away from her emotions and any person who wants to show love/affection for her. I'm constantly thinking in other novels that I'd run away if I was put in an emotionally charged situation, but they never do. Except this time. I liked it. Others might not. 
Beth is also a badass. I was scared of her but also wanted to be her friend most of the time. A goal I hope to achieve later in life. 
Then there's all that angst. I love angst. Angst means a cute and wonderful make-up or at least some kind of comfort that's all fluffy. Of course dating someone on a dare is a sure-fire way of getting a lot of angst and I wasn't disappointed. So this also serves as a warning if you don't like angst. (Which I enjoy. For some reason.)
I should add a warning for a possible trigger to anyone who does not want to read about physical abuse or drug abuse. This book deals with it, but it's not the entire time. But just letting you know.
This book is on my "to-buy" list for sure. I want to be able to re-read all the swoons and angst over and over again.


Read: April 2015
My Rating: 5 stars / 5 stars