You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
cala_p 's review for:
Dare Series Collection
by Shantel Tessier
ARC received from the author. Voluntarily reviewing and all opinions are objective and my own. I had read each book individually before this, so this is a review of all three books in summary, as well as the bonus content.
I Dare You:
It just pulls you right in from the first line and refuses to let you go. I went through so many feelings while reading, with fear being at the forefront for most of it. Some happiness in there, more fear, sadness and then ending happy.
Austin is literally unwanted by her mother, harassed by her mother’s boyfriend, ignored by the father she is sent to, and tolerated, at first bordering on liked, by her stepmother. So she’s sent to her father only to stumble into a group of boys, with one taking the lead on her demise.
Cole sets out to destroy Austin emotionally. After an accident that he took blame for, he decides how else live life but to make other people suffer, so that’s what he does with Austin. She stumbles into a dark secret, so he has fun with her to ensure that she won’t rat him out.
For the first chunk of the book that is how it goes. The hate between these two are so strong and so hot, my Kobo almost melted. And then we see the big bag Cole melt more and more for her. What I loved most about these two was the slow burn romance. The physical happened much sooner, but it took a long time for either of them to realize their true feelings. Austin knew it sooner I believe, but ignored it, knowing he didn’t want her in return, while Cole fought it every step of the way. Until a certain point. Then they melted my ereader for just being so cute together. I loved their bantering, their romantic moments, and his protective moments. All the moments just fit these two so well.
So on top of this dark YA romance, there is a game of dares, a boy’s club, a twisty plot filled with horrible fathers, jealous stepmothers, bad people, and a jerk of a friend. Let’s not forget to add a nice friendship, a wonderful male secondary character, a cute secondary character romance...oh, and violence, murder, and hot sex. Curious how these all fit together? I hope so, because then it’ll make you read it.
5 stars all the way!
I Promise You:
I was slightly disappointed by this one, mainly because I was under the impression that this was about Deke only. Instead it’s more of a 1.5 book/middle book rather than a second in a series. It takes place after the first one, after the fallout of finding Austin attacked at the end. While the main book jumped to the future, this one gives us Cole’s POV to show what happened when he found her, and after when she was in the hospital dealing with the fallout. We also got to see a lot of the scenes from the first book in his POV; or all the bad things he did to her, we now see what was in his head at the time. So that was a great insight.
At the same time, this one is introducing Deke to us. In the first book, he was just the interesting best friend, but now we get chapters in his perspective (about half the book) and we get to see first-hand what the problems are that he is having; thus hints about the next book. I am very excited for the next book because I really want to see what will happen to the group, and how Deke’s romance will work out for him.
I really enjoyed this one; the insights were great. I just didn’t expect it to be what it was.
If You Dare
I received an ARC from the author.
After the hit of the first two, I knew I’d be in for a wild ride! Deke is life!
The author took me by surprise with this book from the very beginning. After the first two, this one is set up to be about a certain character paired with Deke. In fact, the book starts with him working to get her back. So I was totally surprised when a new player came into the game...and then quickly became player number 1. In fact, ex-player number 1 became villain number 1, and has been for so much of this plot, going back to book 1. This is written in an odd way to avoid as much spoilers as possible.
But I loved it! Because the beginning sets Demi up to be one type of character, but that quickly changes and I just felt for her. The poor girl. More so, I loved how this book played out and appreciate the author for it. In book 1 when it’s designed that there are couples all around, and happily-ever-afters must be in the air. But it doesn’t follow that pretty cut-and-paste path. She builds these characters right from the beginning to have a bigger play. So when we’re assuming this book will be a HEA with them, she surprises readers, throws a twist in the pre-HEAs, and gives it a 180. I love when authors still give me the ending I need, but made it happen through an unexpected and even unconventional way.
I guess this could be considered a love triangle at its loosest, but Deke’s love triangle is unlike any I have read. It’s dark, twisty, and plain ol’ fun.
This book reveals so many answers and background stories that help enforce what occurred through the first book. Again, a sign of good writing. For this large, complex story, it may be told in the POVs of different players, but it’s all focused around the same story that started in book 1. So by the time this one rolled around, the events of book 1 were not simply that; events of the past. They shaped this story, made this story happen, and provided so much background, it’s insane. In fact, I think this one helped make the first book even better by strengthening it.
Overall, I loved this book! I’m taking the “The End For Now” to heart and will just be waiting impatiently until more occurs. I have a suspicion which two characters the next one will be about. It was a fantastic read!
Bonus Content:
I think the bonus content is a great addition in seeing how their lives and marriages progressed. Definitely sets up the future surprise the author mentioned at the end!
I Dare You:
It just pulls you right in from the first line and refuses to let you go. I went through so many feelings while reading, with fear being at the forefront for most of it. Some happiness in there, more fear, sadness and then ending happy.
Austin is literally unwanted by her mother, harassed by her mother’s boyfriend, ignored by the father she is sent to, and tolerated, at first bordering on liked, by her stepmother. So she’s sent to her father only to stumble into a group of boys, with one taking the lead on her demise.
Cole sets out to destroy Austin emotionally. After an accident that he took blame for, he decides how else live life but to make other people suffer, so that’s what he does with Austin. She stumbles into a dark secret, so he has fun with her to ensure that she won’t rat him out.
For the first chunk of the book that is how it goes. The hate between these two are so strong and so hot, my Kobo almost melted. And then we see the big bag Cole melt more and more for her. What I loved most about these two was the slow burn romance. The physical happened much sooner, but it took a long time for either of them to realize their true feelings. Austin knew it sooner I believe, but ignored it, knowing he didn’t want her in return, while Cole fought it every step of the way. Until a certain point. Then they melted my ereader for just being so cute together. I loved their bantering, their romantic moments, and his protective moments. All the moments just fit these two so well.
So on top of this dark YA romance, there is a game of dares, a boy’s club, a twisty plot filled with horrible fathers, jealous stepmothers, bad people, and a jerk of a friend. Let’s not forget to add a nice friendship, a wonderful male secondary character, a cute secondary character romance...oh, and violence, murder, and hot sex. Curious how these all fit together? I hope so, because then it’ll make you read it.
5 stars all the way!
I Promise You:
I was slightly disappointed by this one, mainly because I was under the impression that this was about Deke only. Instead it’s more of a 1.5 book/middle book rather than a second in a series. It takes place after the first one, after the fallout of finding Austin attacked at the end. While the main book jumped to the future, this one gives us Cole’s POV to show what happened when he found her, and after when she was in the hospital dealing with the fallout. We also got to see a lot of the scenes from the first book in his POV; or all the bad things he did to her, we now see what was in his head at the time. So that was a great insight.
At the same time, this one is introducing Deke to us. In the first book, he was just the interesting best friend, but now we get chapters in his perspective (about half the book) and we get to see first-hand what the problems are that he is having; thus hints about the next book. I am very excited for the next book because I really want to see what will happen to the group, and how Deke’s romance will work out for him.
I really enjoyed this one; the insights were great. I just didn’t expect it to be what it was.
If You Dare
I received an ARC from the author.
After the hit of the first two, I knew I’d be in for a wild ride! Deke is life!
The author took me by surprise with this book from the very beginning. After the first two, this one is set up to be about a certain character paired with Deke. In fact, the book starts with him working to get her back. So I was totally surprised when a new player came into the game...and then quickly became player number 1. In fact, ex-player number 1 became villain number 1, and has been for so much of this plot, going back to book 1. This is written in an odd way to avoid as much spoilers as possible.
But I loved it! Because the beginning sets Demi up to be one type of character, but that quickly changes and I just felt for her. The poor girl. More so, I loved how this book played out and appreciate the author for it. In book 1 when it’s designed that there are couples all around, and happily-ever-afters must be in the air. But it doesn’t follow that pretty cut-and-paste path. She builds these characters right from the beginning to have a bigger play. So when we’re assuming this book will be a HEA with them, she surprises readers, throws a twist in the pre-HEAs, and gives it a 180. I love when authors still give me the ending I need, but made it happen through an unexpected and even unconventional way.
I guess this could be considered a love triangle at its loosest, but Deke’s love triangle is unlike any I have read. It’s dark, twisty, and plain ol’ fun.
This book reveals so many answers and background stories that help enforce what occurred through the first book. Again, a sign of good writing. For this large, complex story, it may be told in the POVs of different players, but it’s all focused around the same story that started in book 1. So by the time this one rolled around, the events of book 1 were not simply that; events of the past. They shaped this story, made this story happen, and provided so much background, it’s insane. In fact, I think this one helped make the first book even better by strengthening it.
Overall, I loved this book! I’m taking the “The End For Now” to heart and will just be waiting impatiently until more occurs. I have a suspicion which two characters the next one will be about. It was a fantastic read!
Bonus Content:
I think the bonus content is a great addition in seeing how their lives and marriages progressed. Definitely sets up the future surprise the author mentioned at the end!