Malin’s #CBR5 Review #143: Crash Into You by Katie McGarry

4.5 stars

Disclaimer! Harlequin Teen granted me an ARC of this through NetGalley in return for a fair review.

This is the third in the series of books (both excellent) about troubled teens who become attracted to their seemingly complete opposite. Previous books’ characters appear or are mentioned, but the book works fine on its own too. If you are interested in starting at the beginning, though, start with Pushing the Limits.

Isaiah Walker should be living in foster care, but is secretly living with his best friend Noah (the hero of Pushing the Limits, who’s the only person he really feels close to. However, rent money is hard to come by and if they can’t find enough cash, Noah will have to move into subsidised college housing, while Isaiah has to go back to the indifferent foster parents he was so relieved to escape. He agrees to drive a car in an illegal street race to get extra money, and that’s where he first meets Rachel. More on my blog.

Malin’s #CBR5 Review #60: Dare You To by Katie McGarry

4.5 stars

Dare You To is the sequel to Pushing the Limits, which I reviewed last year, but works fine on its own, and may even be better if you don’t have any preconceived impressions of Beth from that book.

To say that Elizabeth “Beth” Risk has a sucky home life, would be an understatement. Beth’s mum is an alcoholic and recreational drug user, with an abusive boyfriend. Yet Beth feels responsible for her father leaving them, years ago, and is willing to do whatever it takes to keep her mother out of jail, even if it means taking a beating now and again. Thanks to the help of her two best friends, Noah and Isaiah, she manages to stay mostly safe. Neither of the two boys think she should be protecting her mother the way she does. When Beth’s mum smashes up her boyfriend’s car, and Beth takes the blame for it, getting arrested so her mother doesn’t violate her parole, the two foster care boys are relieved when Beth’s uncle, Scott, arrives to bail her out of jail, and demands that she stay with him until she turns eighteen, even if it means they won’t get to see her much anymore.

Scott is her father’s younger brother, who knows exactly what sort of a dead beat Beth’s father was. He left to become a baseball pro while Beth was still a little girl, and has just moved back into town with his wife. Unless Beth agrees to stay with him until she turns eighteen, and follow his rules, he’ll make sure the police know all about Beth’s mother and the things he found in her flat when he came looking for Beth. Defeated, Beth agrees, even though Scott’s new wife is less than thrilled to have what she considers a severely messed up juvenile delinquent staying under her roof. More on my blog