Book Review: The Dare

I finished the last book in the Briar U series by Elle Kennedy last week with The Dare .

The Dare is a fake dating love story between Taylor Marsh and Conor Edwards. We meet Conor in The Play. He is good friends and hockey teammates with Hunter Davenport. The Dare begins at a party at Taylor’s sorority house. She is not the typical sorority girl and joined freshman year to make friends and forge some sisterly bonds since she’s an only child. But, it hasn’t exactly worked out like how she imagined and she has just one best friend in the sorority and spends the rest of the time trying to fly under the radar. Her more outgoing and meaner sisters like to play a game called “Dare or Dare” and since they like to humiliate Taylor she is often picked for the game. Taylor doesn’t like to be in the spotlight since the girls like to humiliate her and she doesn’t feel the most comfortable in her own skin since she’s curvy and not the stereotypical stick figure like many of her sorority sisters.

At the party Taylor is dared to get Conor to go upstairs with her. Everyone knows Conor is a huge flirt and player and the girls are certain that Conor will shoot Taylor down and she will be incredibly embarrassed. She heads over to Conor and whispers in his ear asking if he can do her this huge favor and go upstairs with her but not to do anything, they just have to pretend they are going to hook up. Instantly intrigued, Conor decides to help her out. This begins a fake dating ruse to put Taylor’s sorority sisters in their place, but soon the line between fake dating and real dating begins to blur as they both start to have feelings for each other the more time they spend together. But, Taylor doesn’t know why Conor would like a girl like her since she feels like she’s not as attractive as the girls Conor normally goes for or could get with his perfect looks and body. Conor has a troubled past due to some bad friends when he was growing up and even though he’s distanced himself from his past, he always feels like he’s a phony and it’s going to catch up with him. Like how Taylor doesn’t feel like she’s “good enough” because of her body, Conor thinks he’s not good enough because of his past. Can they get through their own issues and hangups to be together?

I really liked the book and liked Taylor and Conor a lot. I thought a lot of insecurities Taylor had were relatable. It was really sweet to see their fake dating turn into a real friendship and then into something more. Side Note: If you’ve read The Legacy from the Off-Campus series then you’ll recognize Taylor’s mom as Coach’s date at Tuck and Sabrina’s wedding!

This book is great if you like the fake dating trope and sports romance (although this book definitely has the least amount of hockey because the novel begins towards the end of the season).

I’m sad to be done with the Briar universe now that I’m done with the Off-Campus series and Briar U, but I can always reread like I’ve already done so much with the Off-Campus books!