Release Day Review & Excerpt: The Dare (Briar U #4) by Elle Kennedy

Get ready for another binge-worthy romance from New York Times bestselling author Elle Kennedy!

College was supposed to be my chance to get over my ugly-duckling complex and spread my wings. Instead, I wound up in a sorority full of mean girls. I already have a hard time fitting in, so when my Kappa Chi sisters issue the challenge, I can’t say no.

The dare: seduce the hottest new hockey player in the junior class.

Conor Edwards is a regular at Greek Row parties…and in Greek Row sorority beds. He’s the one you fall for before you learn that guys like him don’t give girls like me a second glance. Except Mr. Popular throws me for a loop—rather than laughing in my face, he does me a solid by letting me take him upstairs to pretend we’re getting busy.

Even crazier, now he wants to keep pretending. Turns out Conor loves games, and he thinks it’s fun to pull the wool over my frenemies’ eyes.

But resisting his easy charm and surfer-boy hotness is darn near impossible. Though I’m realizing there’s much more to Conor’s story than his fan club can see.

And the longer this silly ruse goes on, the greater the danger of it all blowing up in my face.

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Excerpt 

“Tell me something…why aren’t you already here with someone?”

“What do you mean?”

“There isn’t a guy in the picture somewhere?”

It’s my turn to shrink away from the topic. I’d probably have more to say with regards to thirteenth-century textiles than dating. And since I’ve embarrassed myself enough for one evening, I’d rather not compound my humiliation by sharing the details of my non-existent love life.

“So there is a story there,” Conor says, misreading my hesitation for coyness. “Let’s hear it.”

“What about you?” I volley back. “Haven’t settled on that one special groupie yet?”

He shrugs, unbothered by my teasing jab. “Don’t really do girlfriends.”

“Ugh, that sounds slimy.”

“No, I just mean I’ve never dated anyone for more than a few weeks. If it’s not there, it’s not there, you know?”

Oh, I know the type. Bores easy. Constantly looking over his shoulder at the next thing passing by. A walking meme in the flesh.

Figures. The pretty ones are always aching for their freedom.

“Don’t think you’ve distracted me,” he says, giving me a knowing smile. “Answer the question.”

“Sorry to disappoint. No guys. No story.” One unremarkable entanglement sophomore year that hardly fulfilled the definition of a relationship is too pathetic to warrant mention.

“Come on. I’m not as dumb as I look. What, did you break his heart? He spend six months sleeping on the sidewalk outside the sorority house?”

“Why do you assume I’m the kind of girl a guy would pine over in the rain and sleet?”

“You kidding?” His silvery eyes sweep over me, lingering on various parts of my body before returning to meet my gaze. Everywhere he looked is now tingling like crazy. “Babe, you’ve got the kind of body that boys build in their heads under the sheets after dark.”

“Don’t do that,” I tell him, all humor draining from my voice as I start to turn away. “Don’t mock me. That’s not nice.”

“Taylor.”

I jerk when he takes my hand, keeping me in place so that we’re still facing each other. As my pulse kicks into overdrive, he presses my shaky hand against his chest. His body is warm, solid. His heart beats a quick, steady rhythm beneath my palm.

I’m touching Conor Edwards’ chest.

What the hell is happening right now? Never in my wildest dreams did I envision the Kappa Chi Spring Break Hangover party ending this way.

 “I mean it.” His voice thickens. “I’ve been sitting here having filthy thoughts about you all night. Don’t mistake my manners for indifference.”

 What I thought about The Dare

It all starts with a dare. Taylor Marsh is dared by her sorority sisters to take the hot, ripped hockey star Conor Edwards to an upstairs bedroom for some horizontal fun. She's not really thrilled with putting herself out there for potential humiliation, but Conor is a good sport and helps Taylor in front of her sorority sisters (who really don't act like sisters, imho)

But the dare results in Taylor and Conor being friendly with each other, and when Conor hears the sorority sisters talking trash about Taylor at a event, he steps up.  Conor is super sweet and nice, and although he says he's not really into relationships with women, he's drawn to Taylor and he makes it his personal mission to get her to see that she shouldn't listen to her nasty sorority sisters.

Taylor does have a hard time believing that Conor really is interested in her.  She's got some significant body issues that translate into massive insecurities. And here's where Conor is just fabulous as he tries to get Taylor to see that she's gorgeous just as she is.  He's so patient with her (I'll admit she got on my nerves at times.) and doesn't allow her to use that as an excuse for why they can't be more than friends.

Conor does have some problems from his past that he has to resolve, and he ends up hurting Taylor in the process. He does get a clue and eventually fixes the problem, but when Taylor experiences something that has her all of her old insecurities blow up, she turns around and avoids it in a way that causes a lot of pain for Conor.  If you like your romance with a good dose of angst, you'll get that in The Dare!

Fans of the previous books in the Briar U series, you'll be happy to know that there are some terrific scenes with old favorites from the series.  And of course, last but not least -- there's hockey to go along with the romance!

I love it when I read a book and want to immediately read it again.  That's how it was with The Dare.  The dynamic between Conor and Taylor was terrific, and I loved that they found each other as they really were perfect together.  Leaving the sorority sisters out of the equation, both Conor and Taylor have some terrific friends ready to come to their aid when they need it, and that was an awesome part of The Dare as well. Oh, and did I mention that in the bedroom, Conor F*** Edwards is fabulous too!  

Overall, a great addition to the series.

An ARC was provided. This is my honest review.

  

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