Giveaway - we DARE YOU TO enter...

  GIVEAWAY!  

Are you a fan of Katie McGarry's Pushing the Limits? Well here's your chance to win the next smash hit by the amazing YA Contemporary author!

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.... (Description from Goodreads)

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Thanks to Harlequin Teen Australia, I'm giving ONE lucky Aussie a chance to get their hands on this fantastic novel - trust me, you don't want to miss it. You can read my thoughts HERE. (spoiler: I loved it!)

It's really simply to enter.

Just leave us a comment telling us why you would like the book and then fill out the form below. Easy! You must be an Australian resident to enter.

CONGRATULATIONS!
Kelly Ryan

Kelly, we will be emailing you for your details soon, so keep refreshing your inbox! Congratulations again, and thanks to everyone for entering. 

Details
* One entry per person.
* You must be at least 16 years old or have permission from your parents before entering.
* Must be an Australian resident (sorry international followers)
* The giveaway is open now and will run until 11:59pm (AEST) 19th June 2013
* Winners will be picked by Random.org and announced on the blog.
* Winners will also be emailed and have 1 week to reply before a new winner is picked.
* Prizes will be sent from the publisher. We are not responsible for lost or damaged property



Good Luck!

Kerrie


Thank you Harlequin Australia for the copy of Dare You To. 

Dare You To - Katie McGarry

Dare You To (Pushing the Limits #2) - Katie McGarry
Grade: YA
Rating: 5/5 Stars

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

Description taken from Goodreads
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Katie McGarry has done it again with another tear jerking, heart warming, unputdownable novel. I become so engrossed in this novel I finished it in one sitting (ended up going to bed at 2am because I simply couldn't stop reading). Dare You To was one of my most anticipated reads for 2013 and I can safely say it will also be one of my favourites.

After reading Pushing the Limits and learning that the next book would be about Beth I immediately assumed Isaiah would be the love interest. Instead we are introduced to dare loving (as in "I dare you to..."), baseball and all round golden boy Ryan. As I began to get into the story and really understood who Ryan was, I realised why Ryan is Beth's "perfect fit". He's good for her. He gives her the ability to grow, to leave her past behind, and become who she's meant to be without being dragged down by the ugliness of her past. And she's good for him too. Ryan hides who he really is from everyone. Scared to break the "perfect" image everyone else has of him. A lot of this has to do with his parents who are all about keeping up the image of being up-standing members of the community. People who other families look up to. Needless to say, what happens behind closed doors is anything but perfect. And Ryan's not perfect (no one is), but it's Beth who ends up helping him to realise that that's ok, and to be proud of who he is.

Ah Katie, this is what I love about your writing! There are so many positive messages for teenagers (and young adults) to take away from your books. Your characters, although struggling and dealing with so much ugliness that life has dealt them, are true role models.

I loved this book and can't wait for Isaiah to have his happily ever after.


Kerrie

Originally Posted on Goodreads

Pushing the Limits - Katie McGarry

Pushing the Limits - Katie McGarry
Grade: YA
Rating: 5/5 stars

SO WRONG FOR EACH OTHER...AND YET SO RIGHT.

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with “freaky” scars on her arms. Even Echo can’t remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.

But when Noah Hutchins--the smoking hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket--explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo’s world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she’ll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again. (Description from Goodreads)
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I never remember how much I love YA contemporaries until I stumble across a story that touches me in every way. ‘Pushing the Limits’ is one of those stories. After doing a little research into the book, I couldn’t stop thinking about meeting Noah and Echo; I was convinced I had to know them. I’m so happy ‘Pushing the Limits’ lived up to my expectations and more.

No-one would believe Echo Emerson – ex-socialite and hot topic for the school’s rumour mill – and Noah Hutchins – stoner bad-boy and foster care child – would ever consider talking to each other. But that was before their mutual school social worker pushed them together in an attempt to help them through their individual issues. Echo is struggling to remember her the last moments with her mother, the moment that scarred her and changed the direction of her life; while Noah is fighting to escape the foster care system and to find a way to get guardianship of his two younger brothers. I must be slightly evil, because I love when characters come from troubled pasts – there wouldn’t be a story if there was nothing to overcome. But it’s not just the story of how to overcome the past that made me love ‘Pushing the Limits’ so much. It was seeing them get there and the emotion that came with it. And there was a lot of emotion. Katie McGarry grabbed two teens from their life of hell and threw us into the deep end watching them try and pick up their broken pieces. I was torn apart watching Noah get ripped away from his family and I love books that make me feel so deeply for its characters.

Part of what made this emotional journey so powerful was the switching first person POVs. The story bounces between Echo and Noah’s thoughts so we get a full range of their feelings and emotions. I wasn’t expecting this, as the book’s blurb makes the story sound like it’s told entirely from Echo’s perspective. I loved that we got to see inside both characters’ heads. It’s a different experience jumping between male and female perspectives, but McGarry does it so well. You can’t stop being pulling to Noah and Echo’s lives through their individual voices.

There is an inevitable plot-arc for most contemporary novels that you can predict from the start. The Girl and Guy meet under strange circumstances and are drawn together; they fall in love, have problems and break apart, before being pulled back together in the end. It was obvious from the start of ‘Pushing the Limits’ that this book would follow that pattern too, but I like the stability it brought. There’s something relaxing about knowing one direction the story will take. Without knowing the outcome of Echo and Noah’s separate problems, it’s safe to say the future of their relationship will be wrapped up nicely by the last page. But that doesn’t making experiencing their romance any less fun. Noah’s reputation as a bad-boy, who only ever commits to one-night-stands, meant there were new obstacles and territories he was exploring by acting on his growing feelings for Echo. I loved seeing his transformation from the guy who could care less, to the one who would do anything for Echo. I may be focusing on Noah a lot; that’s not just because he was an awesome male character and I want him to get the attention he deserves; but because his romantic struggle touched me more than Echo’s. Echo had done the full-on relationship before; she knew what needed to be done to commit to. That’s not to discount her emotions, but Noah’s comments, touches and endless thoughts of Echo made my heart melt. I adored it all.

I was so sad when I came to the end of the story. I wanted more of Noah and Echo’s journey. But there’s only so much we can see when their stories come to an end. I loved every moment of this book and can’t wait for the companion novel next year.

5/5 stars


Kim
(Originally Posted on Goodreads)