Cover Image: Don't You Dare

Don't You Dare

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Member Reviews

I loved this one. The characters were so well written and the plot was unique and well thought out. This was one of those rare books that is so well written that you feel like you know the characters and are actually in the book. Totally immersive and spine tingling!
This moved at a really good pace with plot twists and turns. The then and now chapters really brought this one to life. I didn’t want to put this one down.

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Don't you dare skip out on this amazing read. Yeah I couldn't help myself there. But this was amazing. I was hooked and fighting for reading time to really get into this. Amazing book

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Hannah, Thomas and Scarlett are college friends who find thrills in playing the Daring Game. They thrive on making each dare more sensational than the last. Within the dares, the dynamics of the trio are also at play. Then, one dare goes a little to far. The trio is separated, and the game stops. Then, years later, the game is back. Hannah receives a message from Thomas. Someone knows their game and wants to start them up again. However, they're not sure who it is, but this human seems to know a whole lot about them. This one was great at bringing the thrills and suspects of who might be behind the game as the story went. I also always love an overlay of the past and present storyline, and this one utilized that device well. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this May 2023 release!

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A great fast paced thriller with surprising and exciting end. I loved every minute of it. THanks to NetGalley for advanced copy for a honest review.

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Back in college Hannah, Thomas and Scarlett all played The Daring Game, a game that ended in tragedy. Now 16 years later Hannah is unhappily married with two kids. She hears from Thomas and he wants to restart the game. Why, after 16 years Hannah wonders. Trouble quickly arises and secrets and lies are revealed. This was a great book and full of suspense. Hope to read more by this author. Thanks NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC!

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Thrilling, steamy, and mysterious. 3 friends play a daring game with each dare riskier than the last. The last dare results in a tragic accident.

A great fast paced thriller with an explosive ending!

Thank you netgalley and crooked lane books for the e-arc.

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Summary
Hannah and Scarlett were best friends from the moment the met. Inseparable. Then, in college, they meet Thomas and the duo becomes a trio. The three concoct their own, more dangerous, version of Truth of Dare. Essentially removing the option to choose truth, and dishing out punishments for unfulfilled dares. Simply called, The Daring Game. With each round, the dares grow more and more risky until irreparable damage is done.

Sixteen years later, Hannah is unhappily married, Scarlett has moved to Australia, and neither of them knows where Thomas has been or what he’s been up to. Until, out of the blue, Thomas reaches out to Hannah and invites her back to the Daring Tree. The two begin playing the Daring Game again without Scarlett. But, just as last time, things escalate and what follows is love, loss, revenge, and redemption.

Review
What a rollercoaster! Don’t You Dare has many constantly contrasting themes changing smoothly at every turn. From steamy romance to loveless marriage, from free and wild to restrained and confined, from best friends to strangers, from past to present. So many interwoven themes to keep you engaged throughout.

Every character is pretty unlikeable in their own ways. Many of them selfish or hypocritical. Honestly though, this made me enjoy the book more because I was questioning everyone. With so many unlikeable characters, everyone seems capable of the worst.

Very sexy and fun to read thriller!

(Thank you to Crooked Lane Books, Jessica Hamilton, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be published May 16, 2023.)

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Don’t You Dare by Jessica Hamilton is one of my favorite books I’ve read this year! Hannah, Scarlett, and Thomas were all best friends in college and had a deep connection. They played something called the Daring Game. They would dare each other to do small things at first , Eventually the dares get worse and more dangerous. Something bad happens and Thomas gets kicked out of college and they never really speak again.
Present day Hannah is married with two kids and her marriage is struggling. One day she gets a strange letter in the mail from Thomas. They reconnect and start playing the Daring Game again. Being with Thomas again reawakens Hannah. She’s been sleepwalking through life’s since he left. She is having a great time with Thomas. However, someone is watching and knows what is going on and starts threatening them. I don’t want to say too much more about the plot and give anything away.
I enjoyed this book so much! I love books that have dual timelines. My favorite books are the ones that take an ordinary person and put them in a dangerous situation and then I get to read about how they do or don’t get out of danger. I have read Jessica Hamilton’s previous book, What You Never Knew and it was outstanding also. Jessica Hamilton is quickly becoming an author that I will read without even looking at the description of the book. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions on my own.

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I couldn’t stay interested in these characters and their behavior. The story line was also very slow paced.

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I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book alternated between college days of three wreck less, co- dependent, brought-the-worst-out-in-each other students, and a depressed, directionless alcoholic mother-and-wife. Maybe it's me, who cannot imagine myself doing even a quarter of these dares, it was hard to imagine the exhilarating thrill they got from the dares, and binding power that came from it.

Overall, a quick and fun read.

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Oh my gosh I really, really enjoyed this book! It literally hooked me from the first page and kept me on my toes!

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I'm sorry, this book drove me crazy, and not in a good way. The plot seemed to move pretty slowly, with the only consistent thing being the main character's poor choices. Also, she's absolutely clueless... one of the "big reveals" was something that was entirely obvious from the moment it happened. Yet, she was shocked. The final action sequence was so nonsensical that it actually made me angrily rant to my boyfriend. It felt like much less of a thriller novel and more a chronicle of a woman cheating on her husband for the majority of the book, followed by a lightning fast escalation to a bunch of action that made no sense. It was a great premise, but execution leaves something to be desired.

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Received an advance copy of this book via Netgalley. It’s not my usual fare but it kept me interested, gathering pace the closer I got to the end. A fun read full of characters whose motives draw you in.

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So many twists and turns. The characters were very likeable and the book was fantastic. It definitely kept me engaged and I did not want to put it down. The ending happened quickly. I loved how the book went to the past and to the present; I felt as though this transition happened seamlessly. I can't wait to read the authors other book.

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I found the plot interesting but some parts of the book seemed way too rushed, especially the ending. Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Land Books for the ARC!

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Let me start this review by saying that as soon as I finished this book, I went back and picked up Jessica Hamilton's first book, because I loved it THAT MUCH. This author is now an auto-buy for me.

Hannah, Scarlett, and Thomas are best friends (and... gasp... more!) from college. But things did not end so well for them. Fifteen years later, they've scattered across the globe and have full-on lives of their own. Hannah is a stay at home mom these days, increasingly dissatisfied with her life, and unfortunately stuck with a conniving husband who's effectively blackmailing her. When Thomas comes back into town, and she sees him for the first time since college, they decide to take up an old game... The Daring Game, that they played along with Scarlett back in college. When it ended in tragedy. This time, it will be different, though.

Unfortunately for them, someone else knows they're playing the game. Someone, who wants revenge.

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Loved this book. So many twists and surprises. I didn't suspect what was happening and who was behind it. Recommend reading it.

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Hannah is living a harried life - an unhappy marriage that she deals mostly with by drinking. When her college love turns up in town she is more than happy to meet him for a drink. Thomas brings back some of her wilder days however, and Hannah has a hard time turning down his requests. Through a series of flashbacks we are transported to their college days when a Dare game was their main obsession. Thomas disappeared for a reason however, and bringing back the Dare game is only opening a terrible can of worms. If you like a college reunion, Daring thrillers or just want a twisty story, Don't You Dare is for you! #Crookedlanebooks

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This book was so captivating at the beginning. I love thrillers with an unreliable main character. The ending felt a bit rushed for me which is why I gave this 4/5. I will definitely be reading more of this author!

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I just spent the past 10 minutes stalking Jessica Hamilton.

Don’t You Dare, is everything I never knew I needed.

I have always been a huge fan of college thrillers. I’m not sure it’s the nostalgia or the unrelenting mean girls that seem to appear within every college experience . Either way, I’m here for it.

This is not your run of the mill thriller. Narrated between past and present we follow along side Hannah (Henny).

Struggling within the walls of her home in a loveless marriage we see Hannah run straight into the arms of her old college flame, Thomas.

Now, here is where I tell you this book gets STEAMY and ohhh so hot . Ugh ok I just sounded like a menopausing cougar.

Anyway, back to the book.

This was a fast paced novel that came together for an explosive plot twist at the very end . I loved the “Then” chapters, that told the story leading up to a tragic event that led an indestructible friendship straight into chaos.

I’m on a roll but I’m not complaining … this is without a doubt a 5 star read and I am so excited to see what Jessica Hamilton comes out with next.

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