Beth. She stands her ground. Owns the space around her and smirks if someone comes too close, as if she's daring them to take her on. 

I have been looking forward to this book since reading the amazing Pushing the Limits. I have to admit that I always pictured Beth and Isaiah together. They were so close and so emotionally intertwined and stuck in a bad situation together. But this is a much more complicated story. It is truly a journey of self discovery for Beth. It is messy, heartbreaking, and hard. It means big changes for Beth and Isaiah. It means sometimes to move forward, you have to take a step away from your past. And it shows there are different levels of love but they are all important. It was a slow build for me, but I became more and more emotionally invested each page. And now that it is over, I am left feeling that I was on this long emotional journey right along with these characters.

Friday night I went out with Noah and Isaiah and put Taco Bell Boy in his place. Early Saturday, Mom tried to become a felon. Saturday morning, Scott ruined my life. 

Beth's whole life is changed by two events. One she meets cocky baseball player Ryan one night at Taco Bell and on a dare he asks her out. She shoots him down and he loses his bet. The next event is tangled up in her co-dependent relationship with her mother and Beth ends up in a situation where she really need help. She is reluctantly rescued by her Uncle Scott and it sets off a whole new path to her life. Suddenly she is thrust into a new home, school, and community and pulled away from her trusted friends and pseudo-family of Isaiah and Noah. Beth is angry, rebellious, and scared. She has concrete walls around her and does not want to let anyone in. She has plans to fix everything in her old life and is just biding time til she can run away and move forward with those plans. But fate, brings Ryan crashing into her life again unexpectedly when her Uncle introduces them and asks Ryan to help her get adjusted at school.

Ryan and Beth are so different on the surface. She is a pierced, tattooed girl with her hair dyed black and a big chip on her shoulder. Ryan is the apparent baseball Golden Boy with a wealthy family and a big future ahead of him in pro baseball. But the facade of a  perfect life is just an illusion. His family is just as fractured as Beth's.

It all started as a dare. And for awhile the dare is resurrected and continues. They both challenge each other,   hide things,  and even use each other. They have a snarky rapport and undeniable chemistry. But along the way the lines get blurred and before they know it , they are under each other's skin and seeing the real person they hides behind their masks.

"I like you. I. Like. You. I'll admit, you're annoying. Sometimes you agitate me to the brink of insanity, but you can throw it back at me like no one else. When you laugh, I want to laugh. When you smile, I want to smile. Hell, I want to the the one to make your smile. And you're pretty. No, you're sexy..."

"Guys like you don't fall for girls like me."

She's been running from me from the moment I met her. No matter how hard I try to hold on to her, she finds a way to slip out of my grasp.

They both think they have their life plans set, but it becomes obvious that maybe they need to look in other directions . The layers of protection are peeled off for both Beth and Ryan as they learn about each other, themselves, and their loved ones and how they fit into their lives and future. I really loved Ryan. He has problems with his own personal life and future, but he is sure about what he wants from Beth. Even when it seems like everything is against them. He is strong, sweet, kind, patient, and loving. 

And then there is the other big issue: Isaiah. I loved Isaiah since we first met him. And he and Beth truly have a special bond. Their relationship iss deep and meaningful. They are best friends, confidantes, and truly like family. But will Isaiah be able to let Beth go and settle into her new life? Or will he convince her that are meant to be more than just friends?

Beth has a lot to deal with in regards to her new life, Ryan and Isaiah, her mother, and her future. And she is poorly equipped emotionally to do so. She is not used to trusting, feeling safe, or having choices. No matter what decision she makes, someone gets hurt. So who will she choose? What future path will she choose? Either choice is risky but it comes to a point where you have to dare to make your own choices and let the consequences happen. 

This ended up being a raw, emotional, deep, beautiful story with rich complicated characters. I loved the alternating points of view and truly seeing the fears and insecurities and hopes of Ryan and Beth. I really felt invested in their relationships with each other and loved ones, and the outcomes of their personal struggles. I look forward to the next book in this series Crash Into You. 

Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Teen for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Katie McGarry Website/Facebook/Twitter/Goodreads