Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆
4.5 Stars

Jake and Andy have been friends since middle school, with Andy always charming Jake into high-risk dares. With a dare gone awry on their graduation night from NYU, the two best friends' futures are put in jeopardy.

The novel spans five dares, each two-fold in the present and the past, showing the evolution of their friendship, and the hold they both have on one another.

Holed up in a beach house to recuperate, Jake and Andy draw closer in a way neither would acknowledge before. Jake has always had a crush on Andy, refusing to tell his best friend he was bisexual, fearing Andy would jump to the right conclusions and it would mess up their friendship.

A lot can change in two months during this friends-to-lovers story. Cute. Humorous. Sweet. Naughty. Sexy. Tension-filled innocence, with the after-effects of heart-punching emotion. Andy baits Jake through a series of dares, forcing Jake to admit how he truly feels, not realizing these same dares will spring forth an existential conflict for himself.

I highly recommend this novel to fans of MM romance, especially the friends-to-lovers trope, with an added kick of angsty deliciousness, where one friend is bisexual and assumes the other is straighter than straight.


Angie – ☆☆☆☆
I will have to be honest, I skimmed through some of this book. The first dare that we read about that leads up to the current story I read, but all the other dares from when Andy and Jake were younger, I skipped, I didn't really need to know about those, they didn't add anything to the story for me. I wanted more current story. The current part of the story was good. Andy and Jake did one more dare before starting their adult lives on two different sides of the country. I liked how both had feelings for each other, even though one didn't really know that he did until he sat down and thought about it. These two were so good together and when they started "experimenting" at the cabin, things got even better. The love these two had for each other was evident when Andy's dad catches them in a compromising position and finally Andy decided to stand up to his dad after talking to his mom about everything. Overall, I enjoyed the story and there was some steamy sex too.


Kris – ☆☆☆
Five Dares was a sweet coming of age, and coming to grips with their sexuality, story. Jake and Andy were best friends since grade school. Jake was Andy's wingman. His crazy partner who would be in on any dare or stunt Andy could conjure. The two were inseparable until college. One last party and one last dare put the two at a huge risk. They end up injured, their hands having third degree burns from a firecracker stunt gone wrong. Hanging out together for one last summer at Andy's lake cottage while their wounds healed seemed innocent enough. But Jake couldn't keep hiding that he was in love with Andy. Especially after Andy dared him to slake their needs together.

The two were very hot between the sheets and I began to really love the intimacy and the steamy scenes. Andy's uptight and controlling father was a good story strife-maker and the book was well written. I did find some references to the "current political climate" unneeded. In fact, it tore me from the story several times. Andy wanting to be a lawyer and his father reminding him what a "straight man, good old boys club" that profession is, was a bit over the top but understandable when wanting an easy road for their child.

I enjoyed the couple enough to finish the story and the epilogue was spot on, a very nice happily ever after for the boys and a feel good moment that made me smile.


Sarah – ☆☆☆☆☆
This sweet story about a lifelong friendship that becomes something more is full of joy. And pain. And hope. And parts of it had me laughing out loud. The book starts with a bang. It’s actually an ill-advised explosion that seemed like a good idea to two drunk BFFs celebrating their university graduation. Both Jake and Andy end up badly injured and the pair are forced to spend an uncomfortably intimate summer together while they recover.

The author of this story beautifully captures the mixture of bravado and uncertainty felt by Jake and Andy as they leave the safety of college and start adulting. Both boys are excited for the future but are still wrestling with family pressures and parental expectations.

I loved Jake from the start. He’s a reluctant follower who will do just about anything for his bright, beautiful, daredevil best friend. I spent most of the story wanting to protect Jake’s heart from Andy’s carelessness. Without Andy’s family money, Jake takes adulting a bit more seriously – but he is also free from the suffocating pressure Andy feels to live the life his father has planned for him.

It is hard not to like Andy. He is exciting and fun. He’s the kid who never had to study too hard. And he loves Jake with a passionate loyalty – but only as a friend. There were a couple of times I wanted to kill him but we also see him vulnerable and breaking under pressure.

The bromance to romance between these two is great fun but it is also painfully slow and the lack of communication between Andy and Jack is incredibly frustrating. However, there are some very imaginative, very sexy scenes along the way.

The one part of the story I found hard to believe was that Jake kept his sexuality a secret all the way through university. It might have been plausible ten years ago but I’ve never met someone their age who cares much about sexuality one way or another.

Andy Tyler has been the class daredevil since middle school. Over the years, he’s convinced his best friend, Jake Masterson, to perform some dangerous-looking stunts with him. But the dare they attempt on the night of their college graduation goes sideways. The firecrackers explode too soon and both of them end up with badly burned palms.

But hey, nothing gets the “terrible duo” down for long, and they recuperate in style at Andy’s family cottage in Nantucket. As the weeks go by, both Andy and Jake grow frustrated over the inability to use their hands for all sorts of daily activities—including getting off. So Andy begins a new series of dares that don’t just cross the friendship line, they obliterate it.

But what might be mere sexual relief to Andy is serious business to Jake, who only recently got over years of secret pining for his straight best friend. Inevitably, the burns heal, summer ends, and hearts are broken. To fix things, Andy will have to face the greatest dare of all.


Five Dates is a story of BFFs that are graduating from college and trying to figure out the rest of their lives. Andy is the daredevil and Jake, his sidekick. Andy convinces Jake to do a stunt at their graduation party with fireworks that leaves them both with terrible burns on their hands. They spend their last summer recupperating and falling in love, but Andy feels like he has to live up to his father's expectations and Jake knows he has to move on.

Andy is an idiot who has always been in love with Jake, but didn't realize it was love he was feeling. Jake's always known he was in love with Andy, but Andy's straight, so he swallowed his feelings.

Five Dares is sweet, sappy, and funny. I really love this book. It's in my top two Eli Easton books (with Mr. Miggles. If you haven't read Merry Christmas, Mr. Miggles, go get it now!). I hope you love these guys as much as I did. Five Dares is now on my comfort read list - it's just that lovely.

5 Stars!

Andy likes to perform dangerous-looking stunts and Jake, his best friend, is the perfect wingman for them. It all goes well until the dare they try on the night of their graduation from college goes awry and both Andy and Jake end up with their hands badly burnt and with them unable to use them for anything until they heal.

Andy convinces Jake to stay with him at his family's cottage, where they'll have someone to clean up after them and cook them meals and a nurse that helps them shower and clean their wounds. However, eight weeks is a long time not to use their hands and both of them grow increasingly frustrated.

When Andy proposes Jake to help each other get off, Jake knows he should refuse. He's been crushing on his best friend for a long time and it's taken him a long time to get to a point where he is almost over him, but Jake's never been able to resist Andy for long and soon the line between friendship and something more is crossed. However, Jake is leaving to work in California as soon as they heal, and Andy is straight, so it's a moot point anyway, or is it?

I absolutely adored Jake. I found him endearing and sweet. Andy was oblivious and practically had to have it pointed out to him in neon to realize what had been in front of him all the time. I have to admit it took me a bit to warm up to Andy, I wasn't too sure what to make of his behavior, but when I realized what was behind it all, well, my heart broke for him. There's a scene in which I had my heart at my throat and my eyes full of tears and I wanted to curse at Andy's dad for all the expectations he'd piled upon him since he was just a kid and then just gather Andy in my arms and promise it would be alright. *sighs*

I loved Jake and Andy together. They had unbelievable chemistry and were hot together, but they were also the best of friends and they had a fantastic rapport. It was so fun to see them goofing off and just being there for each other.

While I wasn't much of a fan of Andy's father, I was happy he wasn't truly a jerk and he was open to discussion eventually.

All in all, Five Dares was an awesome read! It was well-written, sweet, fun, sexy with some heartwrenching angst that thankfully didn't last long. I loved how Eli Easton blended some scenes of past dares into the present story so we could see there was more to them than what met the eye and seeing Andy and Jake's relationship change from friendship to love, even if it was a somewhat rocky path, it was well worth it. Definitely recommendable!

*** Copy provided to the reviewer via NetGalley by Riptide Publishing in exchange for an honest review. ***

Oh Andy and Jake… I loved these guys. I loved the spontaneity of Andy and the fact that Jake always had his back. As the story progressed and the author gave readers little glimpses into their past, I grew to love them even more.

Andy and Jake were quite a pair. They both worked hard to get to where they were. They’d been together forever and for the first time in forever they were heading in totally different directions. It made a crazy kind of sense to pull off one last stunt. Crazy being the operative word. 🙂

Five Dares was one of those books that was just as much fun as it was touching… and heart breaking. Jake had his life after graduation planned. He had a job and his sister was waiting for him. Andy has his future planned too, but it wasn’t a future he was excited about. Leaving Andy behind was only part of what he dreaded.

Both Andy and Jake learned a lot about themselves in Five Dares. They also learned a lot about each other. They had a unique relationship and a great one. I loved that they finally found out exactly how much they meant to each other. The dares were a crazy way to figure it out, but whatever works, right? 😉

I love a friends to lovers story and firmly believe its the person you fall in love with and not necessarily their sex so I was looking forward to this.

Jake and Andy's story was like a tub of sweet sexy buttery goodness. Things weren't rushed, there was no over the top drama, the surprise moment right near the end fit in with the characters as did the bit of angst before that.

My only complaint would be the level of cheese towards the end, but my tolerance for that is low with any book.

So, if you like books focused completely on romantic relationships but that still have steam, then I'd definitely recommend this book to you.

5 Stars


When I saw this story on NetGalley I couldn’t request it fast enough and I wasn’t disappointed!!

Andy is a daredevil and he’s always sure to have his best friend and wingman, Jake at his side and sometimes as a participant in said dares, but when his latest dare on the night they graduate from college, involving fireworks goes wrong, both Andy and Jake end up with badly burned hands, so they decide their best course of action is to stay at Andy’s parents cottage on the Nantucket Sound for the summer while they heal. Andy’s parents hire a nurse to come in to help with their needs, as well as someone to prepare their meals and snacks for them.

As the summer progresses Andy becomes increasingly turned on and with no apparent outlet in sight, he proposes the idea to Jake that perhaps they should help one another out with this situation. Jake knows he should say no. He’s had a crush on Andy forever and has finally prepared himself for their inevitable separation when he leaves for a job out in California, while Andy stays back in Boston to attend law school at Harvard. Unfortunately Jake has never been able to say no to Andy, and this time is no exception.

I absolutely loved Jake. He was sweet, caring, funny and loyal and my heart broke for him and his unrequited love for his best friend. Andy, well, I wasn’t so sure about Andy at first. While it’s good to be goal-oriented and want a secure future, if you aren’t happy what’s the point? As we slowly pull the layers away and learn more about Andy and his relationship with his parents, I felt bad for him. His father put too much on his young shoulders for far too long. Andy’s parents didn’t bother to sit down and listen to what he wanted. And when it all finally came to a head, my heart absolutely broke for Andy and it made me want to strangle his father.

Together, Andy and Jake were electric. The chemistry and connection between them was out of this world and they were hot together. I loved the progression of their relationship and the speed at which they explored their sexual attraction, it was natural considering Andy had never been with a guy or even found himself attracted to one before. I loved the back and forth witty banter between them and I enjoyed getting to see first hand some of the previous and more dangerous dares from their youth.

All in all, Five Dares was an emotional story filled with sadness and confusion, but also with friendship, laughter, love, some hot sex and an absolutely swoon-worthy moment, I know I’ll never be able to listen to Ed Sheeran’s Living Out Loud again and not think of Andy and Jake, that I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommended!

*copy provided by author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

Jake Masterson is a closet bisexual, who has had a crush on his best friend for years! But Jake knows that Andy is straight, so he never confessed his feelings. Instead, he just enjoys the time he has with him as it will all quickly be coming to an end now that they have both graduated NYU, where they had been roommates for the last four years. Andy will go on to study law at Harvard while Jake takes a programming job in California.

Since the two friends met in middle school, Andy has always had a way of sucking Jake into his stunts. From swallowing caterpillars to jumping the quarry on Andy’s motorbike all it usually takes is a little convincing on Andy’s part and three little words to get Jake on board. I. Dare. You! And, it starts to hit Andy at their graduation party that the Andy and Jake show is coming to a close. He can’t resist just one more dare though! But when this one goes wrong it lands both of them in the hospital with second and third degree burns on their hands. The duo can’t use their hands all summer, forcing them to change their summer plans. What will they do all summer with the unexpected free time? What can they do without the use of their hands? Lucky for them Andy the planinator is on the job and comes up with the idea for the two of them to stay at his family’s cottage on the Nantucket Sound. However, when Andy’s dares start to go in a primal and intimate direction they could be Jake’s biggest fantasies come to life or his worst nightmares when it all comes crashing down.

I have to say that I actually enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. It was fun getting to know Andy and Jake through their dares over the years. Although Jake, always came off as quite the pushover, never asserting himself and telling Andy how idiotic his stunts really are. He just wanted to make his friend happy, even if only for a moment.

And, after the two started pleasuring one another because they couldn’t do it themselves, the book kind of became a gay porn there for a bit (not that there is anything wrong with that, mind you), and I really thought that was how the book would stay through the end. But surprisingly Ms. Easton turned on the romance and the book had a pretty sweet ending that left me smiling like an idiot.

This book was a nice steamy read that believes in the ‘two dicks are better than one’ logic. It’s pretty sound logic that I can’t deny. There was also a lot of fun thrown in as well with Andy and Jake’s joking around. And, I never got bored.

The sex scenes are detailed without being too intense, no chapters upon chapters of play-by-play of bedsports, but it’s enough for you to get the idea. And, the overall story ended up being pretty cute, all things considered.

I’m not new to M/M romances and so I knew what I was getting into with this book. There are some gay romance novels out there that are pretty badly done. But I actually really enjoyed this one and would be open to reading more from this author!

And, because this song was mentioned in the book and we were told to listen to the lyrics, I’ll leave you with Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran.

https://youtu.be/lp-EO5I60KA

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

So, I have read quite a few Eli Easton books, and I love that she always steps outside the box with her writing. You never quite know what you are going to get with one of her books, and Five Dares was no exception.

I honestly wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this book. Even once I started reading it, and seeing all the…let’s face it…idiotic stunts that Andy does, and kind of twists Jake’s arm in order to get him involved, I wasn’t sure I was going to like the direction that the book was going.

Then, I started to see what was happening, where the motivation for these stunts/dares came from, and the feels began. Andy was still an idiot 🙂 but you could see where that came from, and how tangled up it was in how he felt about Jake, and even how he felt about his father.

I always do love my HEA, and this author never disappoints, but the way this HEA came about made me smile a big toothy grin, and the epilogue made me laugh (although I had to be quiet, because I finished reading this at work…shhhhh, don’t tell my boss, but I was NOT putting this book down!).

In the end, although I might have hesitated at the start of the book, I ran right through it and enjoyed it from beginning to end. Oh, and yes, there was some good hot sweaty man sex included. Enjoy! 🙂

4 pieces of eye candy

I’d generally consider myself a fan of Miss Easton. I’m also pretty partial to friends to lovers romances. So when I started Five Dares, I expected to like it. What I wasn’t expecting was how hard I’d fall for these two characters and how wrapped up in their story I’d become. This was such a vibrant story- full of fun, humor, sexiness, and a wonderful romance, and I absolutely enjoyed it.

Five Dares is a new adult, best friends to lovers romance, that also incorporates the gay-for-you trope. It follows long-time friends Andy and Jake as they graduate college and prepare to start new lives on opposite coasts. A stupid prank gone wrong threatens their futures, but also uncovers a host of new and unrequited feelings. The book includes a good amount of flashbacks to past “dares” Andy and Jake pulled off together, giving the reader a glimpse into their close friendship and highlighting important moments as they grew up together. I was surprised at how effortlessly those time jumps worked into the narrative. It didn’t feel overdone or inconsequential, and the book maintained a smooth, brisk rhythm even with the flashbacks. As I’ve come to expect from this author, the narrative and dialogue fit together seamlessly, making it difficult to put down.

Although the story itself was interesting and unique, it was the characters who grabbed me. I loved how much depth and emotion came through with Jake and Andy, and I really enjoyed seeing them grow over the course of the book.. I didn’t quite understand the rushed events at the end of the book, but I so enjoyed everything else and appreciated that the story didn’t go down the overblown angst path that I initially anticipated. Rather, this was a well-rounded romance featuring great characters with a good dose of heat and humor. I definitely think Five Dares will appeal to a wide range of readers.

💫💫🌟🌟🌟💫💫4 daring stars💫💫🌟🌟🌟💫💫

What was I expecting. No idea. But I got a love story that needed to be told. Jake and Andy were two peas in a pod and I enjoyed their interactions, how they fed off of each other and tried never to disappoint one another. I silently cheered them on and laughed out loud at the silly dares that they participated in. Yes, it seemed as if Andy had a death wish, but he just needed his best bud. Nothing like best friends coming together and making it work...eventually. Andy acceptance of his best friend years prior sealed the deal and made it easier for him to introduce dares that kept Jake closer.

Jake was a sweetheart and tolerant of Andy. He was the glue that kept them together, the voice of reason. When a ruined summer becomes something more, I saw a maturity in Jake that helped him perserve his relationship with Andy.

Andy learned his lesson that summer, but he also understood the reasons he became the man he was and what Jake really meant to him once summer was over.

This book included some far out dares, a homophobic father who needed to take several seats, and two best friends who learn that dares were not for the weak at heart.

Jake and Andy or "The Andy and Jake Show"

Friends since ever... both always in for stunts...until the last one....
Read the blurb and you know what happened..

Jake was in love with Andy for so long...he didn't want to lose him as best friend so he compartmented his feelings...because Andy was straight...right...!
When they are recovering from their injuries from the last stunt they spent 24/7 together.
After weeks without the possible to use their hands they both are horny as hell...
Andy has an solution....position 69. Jake is scared because how can he hide his feelings...

The tension was really great put down.... the building up...jummie...

Both had their own identity... I loved both their personalities...
When their time together is over Andy makes a totally wrong disturbing comment Jake is done and gone....

It was very endearing to see them grow up in no time....from young careless boys to men who cared deeply about each other...
The daring stunts made sense at some point.
Andy's redeeming is heartbreaking and emotional.
Written in a steady pace ...further in the story it got better and better....in the first part i found it busy and somewhat messy but it was getting better and stronger.

The last two Eli Easton books I read were Snowblind and Second Harvest. I loved each book for the characters and their wealth of life experiences, the unexpected, and those small quiet moments that make a good book a really good book. I wasn't sure how Easton's style would translate to a New Adult book, but Five Dares is a fun fairly low-angst read with two memorable characters.

The Andy and Jake Show has been going strong since middle school with Andy thinking up crazy dares and Jake acting as his wingman / shill. As Jake says: "Andy loved to fuck with people’s heads, and he said I was the best wingman ever. I certainly did my best to help freak people out." But after four years at NYU and their new adult lives right around the corner, Andy convinces Jake to do one more stunt ... which spectacularly backfires and leaves them with second and third degree burns on their hands and one final summer together, sharing a Cape Cod cottage with a bunch of grabbers and tools to help them do just about everything ... except jerk off. And ... cue the crazy dares, as in:

“Okay. So. What if we sucked each other, like, at the same time, and pretended we were doing ourselves? Sort of self-suck by proxy.”

What follows is a steamy smutty sexy story with Jake trying to hide his bisexuality from Andy in the hopes it won't completely destroy their friendship, and Andy slowly realizing that he, too, is bisexual:

"I also loved how easy it was to be with Jake every minute of the day, how having sex only opened up even more time and more ways for us to be together. I couldn’t get enough of holding him, kissing him."

I love the dynamic between Jake and Andy, but really disliked Andy's father and his plotting and planning of Andy's life after Harvard Law (and his contention that coming out would ruin Andy's career). Andy's willingness to become a lawyer, if only because he didn't want to struggle for money, seemed so ... shallow. And when Andy returns to Harvard and Jake goes to California, - SPOILER - Andy's drunken call to Jake from the rooftop seemed completely over the top. Adrenaline junkie, yes. Almost totally breaking down and contemplating suicide? No. - END SPOILER.

Overall, I liked this story and thought Andy and Jake were great, but had some quibbles about some out-of-character actions (and the final dare in the epilogue was just a bit too much for me). 4 stars for Five Dares!

Wow! What a delightful, sigh-inducing book!

I picked this one up and went on a straight-up reading rampage. Eli Easton’s Five Dares is all about the first niggling of awareness and the ups and downs of friendship and the inevitable draw of growing up and growing apart. And maybe—just maybe—finding more in the most unexpected of places.

I have a massive soft spot for a coming-out story and add in the best-friends-to-lovers? It doesn’t get any better than that. The emotion is dragged straight out of the reader.

Jake has been in love with his best friend for years, but there’s a problem. Andy is straight. But after a particularly dangerous stunt leaves them without the use of their hands, they decide to recuperate together in a lakeside cottage. Their last hoorah before they go their separate ways.

The close confines and the lack of the use of their hands leave them with a little bitty problem. Andy has always led with his reckless urges—with his dares—and he jumps head-first into any problems. So, it’s no surprise to Jake that Andy’s ready to get off with his best friend.

But Jake doesn’t want to open Pandora’s box. He can’t keep his feelings casual…can he? And the biggest question of them all: can friends still be friends when emotions—and blazing sexual chemistry—comes into play?

I loved the structure of this story. The use of dares, the situation of burned hands, the slow burn. Jake and Andy are such dynamic characters, and everything is revealed piece by piece in such a way that made this book absolute magic.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to experience the butterflies and the sighs and the blurry-eyed reading. There’s a lot of hidden beauty in this book, and I’m putting Eli Easton on my must-read author list because of it.

5 stars!

Friends to lovers is like my crack! It’s like a moth to a flame- I can’t resist them, and when I saw Eli Easton was releasing another one I did a happy dance. She’s the author of one of my all-time favorites friends to lovers story,Superhero, so I knew she was going to nail it, and she did.

In Five Dares, Andy and Jake have been best friends since middle school and have been inseparable since. They’re now at NYU but now find themselves with the reality that life is taking them in different directions. Jake is headed to California to live as an out bisexual man finally and wants to move past his secret crush on his best friend, Andy. Meanwhile, Andy is headed to Harvard. Neither is too happy about being separated, but that’s life.

On the night of their graduation, Andy talks to his loyal sidekick into one last dare – a showstopper! Except it was a bit too much of a showstopper and the two wind up injured. They have burned their hands and are unable to use them…and while they wait for their hands to heal things get… interesting…

Some highlights:

-I love stories about sexual discovery. Andy has always identified as heterosexual except he’s attracted to his best friend, Jake. It did take Andy a bit to come to terms with his feelings for his friend, but it was mainly to do with the pressure put on him by his dad.

-Narration. The story was told from alternating POVs which worked great here. It gave us readers an insight into both their feelings.

-Both characters were endearing and impossible not to fall for.

-Their summer activities were smokin’!!

-The vibe of the story is feel good/low angst.

-The flashbacks. I’m typically not a fan of them, but they were essential to the story and kind of brought us full circle.

-And the end was all kinds of romantic!!

All in all, I adored this book! Five Dares was sexy, sweet, funny, and romantic. It took me to a happy place. HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. 4.5 Stars!

Optimist ♰King's Wench♰ - 4.5 Hearts

They call themselves the Andy and Jake Show.

I called them stupid boys.

Andy and Jake have been best friends since seventh grade. Through high school and their undergrad studies at NYU they've been doing these crazy dares. It's usually Andy leading Jake by the nose hairs into these hijinks, because Jake is a sheep. This last one, though... lands them both in the hospital and without the use of their hands for 6-8 wks! So they wend up at Andy's parents Nantucket cottage for one last summer before Andy enters Harvard Law and Jake moves to Silicon Valley.

The dares take on a decidedly sexual tone at the cottage. They start off practical but Jake's got a secret: he's been in love with his best friend for years and he's bisexual. Five Dares really digs into the complexities of bisexuality in a multitude of ways. The only niggle I had was this concept (which I've seen often) that in choosing to be with a man there will be more sex. The implication being that women have a lower sex drive than men. I wish someone would kill that perception in a fire. But in all other ways I thought the bi representation was strong. And I LOVED how gung-ho Andy was.

"I hate you," I said. "With the power of a thousand Foo Fighters concert amps."
Andy blew me a sarcastic air-kiss. "Liar. You love me to pieces. Come and get it, baby."

Andy and Jake tell this story and both are strong and well developed characters. Jake's fears of backsliding and never being able to get over Andy after this summer endeared him to me. Andy's struggles with redefining himself as bisexual were heartfelt and sometimes heartbreaking. As the summer unfolds they become increasingly intimate and it was hooooooooooootttttttttttttt. Their sexual chemistry might have caused smoke signals to come out of my kindle. Especially the Andy bottoming scene. UNF!



If you have trouble with characters not communicating, this could be a miss for you. Neither are good at expressing themselves which is why I liked being inside each of their heads. It's a simple as breathing for them to springboard from best friends to lovers, but I honestly began to think that Andy's epiphany would never happen. Once it does, he gives it 100% effort. I might have read the big grand gesture scene a couple of times. Oh my feels!

I wanted to crawl inside him. I wanted to sink to the floor and die because it would never be enough.

Five Dares for me was one of Easton's better reads. She does characters with depth that are real and accessible so well. Both of them read like twenty somethings on the cusp of adulthood and struggling with that transition. They both like to have fun, have their dorky moments and worry about their futures.

Andy's father is the strongest secondary character. He's hardworking, pragmatic and serious. There will probably be controversy about his likability but there are two things that I think Easton did exceptionally well with his character: (1) you can really see how much Andy takes after him; (2) he brought many relevant contemporary sociopolitical concerns to the narrative without resorting to hyperbole. In a Trump America bigotry and racism are en vogue again so his concerns are not only valid but they resonated.

Recommended to college/coming of age and friends to lovers romance fans!

ARCs were provided by NetGalley.

Friends-to-lovers is one of my favourite tropes. In this book, the friendship between the MCs is front and center. Before Jake and Andy take things further, readers get to see how close they’ve been since their childhood, and how the two dread going their separate ways after graduation.

I was grinning like a fool at all of their jokes and cute moments, and their previous stunts. I couldn’t wait to see the two fall in love, especially since Jake was already halfway there.

The shift from friends to lovers happens gradually. Andy, who’s the more daring of the two, decides that the best way to deal with blue balls and a lack of hands is mutual blowjobs. Jake doesn’t agree at first, but he’s certainly tempted.

Once Jake gives in to his desires, he and Andy are hot, hot, hot. I really liked that Andy had few hang ups, even though he’d never been with a guy before.

Their relationship in the bedroom is an extension of their existing friendship, and so the two just click physically the same way they do emotionally.

It was interesting to see the relationship from both sides, and how it builds differently for the two. Jake’s had feelings for Andy for years, while Andy slowly realizes how much more Jake really means to him.

When the two weren’t getting down and dirty, they were being sweet, but cautious, lovebirds outside of the bedroom. They have conflicting emotions and don’t know what the future holds, but being together just feels right.

However, the big stumbling block in the relationship is that Andy struggles to reconcile his feelings for Jake with what he and his dad had planned for Andy’s life. I don’t want to give anything away, but the resolution was so perfectly romantic!

Overall, I really enjoyed ‘Five Dares.’ It’s full of love, laughs, some hot sexin’, and a few feels to top it off. Recommended!

Not my favorite of Eli Easton's books...though she sets a pretty high bar for herself, being one of my auto-buy authors.

The friend's to lovers tale of Jake & Andy, two boys who grew up together from youth through college, building an almost codependent relationship with one another, was sweet. The pace lagged at times and I think a lot of that had to do with the jumps between present and past.

My biggest issue with the book is that I felt the characters read really young. I kept forgetting that they were college graduates rather than high school graduates. I also struggled with the typical "over bearing father" character in Andy's dad.

All that being said, it was still an entertaining read and Eli Easton remains one of my favorite storytellers in queer romance today.

This was just not for me. I generally love reading Eli Easton but I didn't like this as much as her other stories.

It was a bit too predictable for me. I enjoyed the last few chapters but overall I found it boring.

So not for me.

Copy provided by Riptide Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.