I Dare You by Ilsa Madden-Mills

​NEW ADULT ROMANCE

Publication date: 04/26/2018
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

There are a few things here that would have normally irked the crap out of me, but because I love this author so much, I was able to overlook them and really enjoy this story.

Here’s what went right:

Adorable hero
Maverick is freakin’ adorable. He’s good and honorable and works so hard for the people he loves. What he’s willing to do for his sister is nothing short of awesome. Does he always make the most sensible choices? No. He’s a desperate kid. OF COURSE he’s not always sensible. But that just makes him more relatable. He’s also cocky without being an a-hole, confident without being smug, and sexy without being insufferable. He was a PERFECT new adult romance hero as far as I’m concerned.

A decent heroine
Delaney was a little harder to warm up to. (And that might just be because I liked Maverick so much, but I digress…) I thought she was way too hard on Maverick a time or two, and judged him harshly based on her ex-boyfriend’s bad behavior. I kind of wanted to smack her a few times and remind her that just because her ex was a cheater and a football player, not ALL football players were cheaters who were going to hurt her. (Especially not Maverick who never did anything but treat like a goddess at every opportunity)

But I mostly cut her some slack because she, like Maverick, is a stupid kid. It’s probably unrealistic of me to expect adult behavior and rationale from a couple of stupid kids. But minor irksome bits notwithstanding, Delaney was smart and compassionate and quirky and ultimately pretty darn likable. (Just not as likable as Maverick)

Angst: just the right amount
One thing this author does consistently right is the angst level in her stories. There’s not too much, there’s not too little. It’s JUST RIGHT. There were definitely angsty moments, but they never overwhelmed the story.

Hot, hot, hot
Another thing this author does consistently right in her stories is chemistry and sexy times. The chemistry between Maverick and Delany is off the charts. And the sex scenes are of the holy-hell-that’s-hot variety.

Fair warning, though (just so you can’t say I didn’t tell you everything):

1. The blurb is not AT ALL representative of the story. It’s full of things that are just plain wrong. First of all, it’s not a hookup. Delaney and Maverick know each other and are pretty serious about each other when they have sex for the first time. Secondly, Delaney spends Valentine’s Day alone because her boyfriend cheated on her and she recently dumped him. And the spend-one-night-in-my-bed dare? It literally never happened. Maverick always wanted more from her than just one night. So, I guess what I’m saying is that you shouldn’t pay attention to the blurb, because if you’re looking for the story described in the blurb, you won’t find it here.
2. It’s a stuffed book. The story ends at a little past the 50% mark, and the rest of the book is a sample of Dirty English. (Which, by the way, is an awesome read that I highly recommend. But again, I digress...) So, if you can’t tolerate a stuffed book, this one might irritate you.

But, at the end of the day, this is another sexy, sweet, somewhat angsty and emotional read about a grade-A, damn-near-perfect book boyfriend finding his HEA with the heroine of his dreams. I highly recommend it, folks.   

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
It’s clean and sober. No rehab needed.

Other reading suggestions
Spider is one of my favorites from this author. But honestly, all her books are pretty great. You can’t choose a bad one, really. ​

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