4.5 stars
I loved 10 Blind Dates, so it was a no brainer to request this one. This one was just as fun. I love the Fab Four, I love the Evil Joes, I loved the romance, I loved the whole premise of the book, but most of all I loved the family dynamic. Olivia's Nonna and Papa had 8 children so their family is HUGE. It's so obvious how close everyone is and it is so incredibly heartwarming.
I thought the whole premise of this book was just so funny. Olivia learns the week before graduating as salutatorian that she blew off one too many of her off-campus PE class and her coach will not sign her form and now she can't graduate. Unless she helps out all week at a golf tournament. But! Her parents are gone for the week and tracking her every move on a phone tracking app and making sure she makes it to all the graduation parties. She can't tell her parents what she's done! How can she be in 2 places at once? Read the book and find out!
Every one of these parties seemed so fun and I felt so bad for Olivia that she had to be at the tournament for most of them. But I absolutely loved how she realized she did wrong and basically took her lumps. And getting to know a handsome golf player (I won't say who) was definitely a perk. Their romance was adorable even though it seemed to come on a little fast.
I really liked how a lot of this book didn't focus on the romance though. Most of it was about Olivia juggling 2 lives trying to graduate.
In my opinion, the ending was absolutely perfect. It wrapped everything up, it had a last minute twist, and it left me with all the warm fuzzies!

This was such a fun read!

The concept is a little bit sketchy, and Olivia's mom was kind of creepy and overbearing, but I did enjoy the reading experience. I was super glad to be reunited with the Messina family and their chaotic vibes that will always guarantee an entertaining story.

As usual, Ashley Elston's writing style is super engaging. I couldn't put the book down! I loved the various plot twists and the drama they added to the story.

I did prefer 10 Blind Dates, but this one was still super fun and I would absolutely recommend it if you're looking for a fun new YA contemporary!

I received an e-arc of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

4/5 stars

10 Truths and a Dare was one of my most anticipated releases for this year. I read and loved 10 Blind Dates when it came out so when I found out that there was going to be another book with the same family but different main characters I was so excited. You do not need to have read 10 Blind Dates before reading this one. However the main character from that book as well as the love interest do show up fairly often in this one and they do bring up some of the events from 10 Blind Dates as well. So if you don't want to be spoiled on any of the craziness that happens in that book then do read 10 Blind Dates first.

I wasn't in love with this book as much as I loved the previous one but I did still find this one very enjoyable and not a disappointment at all. One thing that I think just didn't sit as well for me was the idea that our main characters mom tracks her on this app and seems to check in with her fairly often. The check ins I can understand a little bit since they were out of town and it seems like it's a rare occurrence for her to be home alone so feeling a little over protective. But the tracking on the phone seems to be a bit much to me especially when it seems like our main character is typically a rule follower and doesn't get into trouble much.

I could definitely see the romance coming and who it was going to be between from basically the start but I still found it to be very enjoyable. I loved the build up of the relationship and watching them grow a bit. It was also nice to see the side characters grow a bit during this book as well. This family is such a fun one to read about and I would definitely read more if they decided to continue writing about them. While the storyline can be predictable at times its still a very fun and sometimes emotional ride to go on. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more from this author no matter if it is with this family or not.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

After loving 10 Blind Dates, I was so excited to jump back into this world and read more about this big, loving family.

We follow high school senior, Olivia, who is salutatorian and very devoted to her studies. When she fails to complete a PE credit, she needs to find a way to complete the credit before her graduation...in one week.

Without wanting her family to know of her mistake, she secretly works at a golf tournament while her close family members pretend to be her (her mom is out of town and watches her every move by her phone's GPS).

I really enjoyed the strong family bonds, friendships and romantic storyline. I think it was wonderful showcasing that being "school smart" vs dedicated to extracurricular activities should both be valued equally.

The relationship between Olivia and her mom was very troubling. I think her mother's control over Olivia's whereabouts/business/attire should have been addressed more in the end. It seemed very unhealthy to me and I wish the mom acknowledged that her behavior towards her daughter was more harmful than helpful (especially since she will be living independently in college soon).

Overall, I was pretty underwhelmed. In the previous book, I felt like I was on a true journey with Sophie and all of her blind dates. In this book, the golf premise and various graduation parties did not hold my attention.

However, it was definitely enjoyable and entertaining, especially for any high school seniors out there!

Synopsis: It's Senior Party Week, that magical in-between time after classes have ended but before graduation, chock-full of gimmicky theme parties, last-minute bonding, and family traditions. Olivia couldn't be more ready. Class salutatorian and confident in her future at LSU, she's poised to sail through to the next phase of her life.
But when the tiny hiccup of an unsigned off-campus P.E. form puts Olivia in danger of not graduating at all, she has one week to set things straight without tipping off her very big and very nosy extended family.
Volunteering to help at a local golf tournament should do it, but since Olivia's mom equipped her phone with a tracking app, there'll be no hiding the fact that she's at the golf course instead of all the graduation parties happening at the same time. Unless, that is, she can convince the Fab Four--her ride-or-die cousins and best friends Sophie, Charlie, and Wes--to trade phones with her as they go through the motions of playing Olivia for the week.
Sure, Olivia's sudden "passion" for golf is met with some suspicion. And sure, her grasp of the rules is a little shaky. And yes, okay, a very cute, very off-limits boy keeps popping up in her orbit. But she is focused! She has a schedule and a plan! Nothing can possibly go wrong . . . right?

This is the perfect end of school year read for anyone feeling the nostalgia for the end of high school and that giant sea of opportunities before college. Olivia is smart and interesting and her journey. I really enjoyed the relationships with Olivia and her cousins and friends. The drama is both exagerated and totally believable for young teens.

This is a sweet, fun romantic YA story! Olivia is in danger of not graduating and being class salutatorian because of a missing PE credit. She gets the opportunity to fulfill the requirement by interning at a golf tournament but has to enlist the help of her family and friends to keep her mom from finding out. There is a text confusion element, a rather comedic impersonation storyline, and a nice “off-limits” love affair. I loved Olivia and her bond with her cousins. They would truly do anything for each another. The chaos of keeping her mom in the dark about her work at the golf club gets a little hard to follow at times but overall I really enjoyed this book. I would highly recommend it for YA readers and anyone looking for a fun journey.

Thanks to Ashley Elston, Disney Publishing Worldwide/Disney-Hyperion, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It's Senior Week, the time before graduation full of cheesy parties, last-minute bonding, and family traditions. Olivia couldn't be more ready. So when an unsigned off-campus P.E. form puts Olivia in danger of not graduating at all, she has one week to make it right without letting it slip to her nosy extended family. Volunteering at a golf tournament should do it, but since Olivia's mom equipped her phone with a tracking app, there will be no way to hide that she's missing all of the graduation parties. Unless she can convince her cousins and three best friends Charlie, Sophie, and Wes to trade phones as they play her for the week. Nothing could possibly go wrong... right?

I loved being able to read more from this crazy, close-knit family! Although it does follow the same characters from 10 Blind Dates, I think you could read this book as a standalone. The book's concept was a little ridiculous and predictable at times, but it was done very well and was still enjoyable. I also loved being able to see the different themes of the parties and "attend" some of them, as I was unable to have that experience during my grad year. A very solid four star read!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

A few Christmases ago, I was completely won over by Ashley Elston’s 10 Blind Dates. I inhaled that book. So, when I saw that there was a companion novel coming out, I just HAD to read it. 10 Truths And A Dare takes places after the events of 10 Blind Dates and guess what? I inhaled this book too. Apparently, there’s something about big families, hijinks, and more that get me every time. This is the third book I’ve read by Elston, but absolutely will not be the last.

Olivia, member of the Messina family Fab Four, is salutatorian. She’s looking forward to the various graduation week theme parties she’s been invited to — in that week between the end of the school year and graduation. Only, she gets this email that says she failed to complete one half credit of physical education that is required for graduation. In order to satisfy that credit, Olivia has to volunteer at a golf tournament during graduation week.

Unfortunately, her parents are out of town for work and have installed a tracking app on her phone as a condition of her staying alone. With her mom tracking her every move, Olivia enlists the help of the Fab Four to trade off phones and take her place at the various parties while she works the tournament. After all, she’s trying to keep the secret of possibly not being able to graduate because of this class on the downlow.

I just loved 10 Truths And A Dare. I read this book basically in one day — past my due date. It took my mind off the fact that my new baby isn’t here yet. Instead, I found myself whisked away to the drama of the big Messina family and Olivia trying to pull off secretly working the tournament. PLUS! The romance between Olivia and this new character, the Evil Joes’ friend, Leo, is SO adorable.

There’s a lot of secrets floating in this book, but it’s well worth the read. I also loved how Olivia’s family really had her back, as well as Charlie, Sophie, and Wes. And the themed graduation parties were pretty awesome to read about. Those are not a thing here where I live, at least not 16 years ago when I graduated. This book is releasing at the perfect time — in May — to add to your summer reading list.

This was just such a fun book. Olivia is such a relatable character and I love how she has created such a strong friends group with her family. I also like how the romance between her and Leo grows. Teens are going to love how real all the characters come off. Overall just a great read and one I can't wait to recommend.

I came into this book with high expectations since I loved 10 Blind Dates so much. This book didn’t disappoint. Olivia’s story was fun to read and though she drove me a bit crazy with her need to be perfect it was fun seeing how she and the members of the Fab Four handled things. I really loved returning to these wonderful characters. I hope to read another YA contemporary by Ashley Elston soon.

This book was a super cute story about a teenage overachiever and her biggest failure. Her friends band together to help her fix things and cover up what she feels, is something incredibly shameful. It was a fun, easy read right when I really needed that to balance my crazy life. I’m a big fan of teen/YA despite being MUCH past that age. This was the perfect story to keep me interested and cheering the lead character on! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my free arc in exchange for my honest opinion!

This was a cute easy read! I think the story was a little young for me and I really disliked the mother. I think a much younger adult than myself would enjoy this a little more but nonetheless it was a quick, easy read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Publishing for the advanced digital copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own

I was really hoping I was going to love this as much as I did 10BD, but I did not. The romance between Olivia and a certain someone just kind of happened with not much build up and felt like this book could've done without it. The golf setting in this just felt unnecessary to the whole plot. Also did not get to experience the Messina family as much like you do in 10BD. And this just me being nit picky and it's not go towards the rating of my review, the e-arc of this was SO HARD to read.

10 Truths and a Dare is a young adult cotemporary novel that focuses on the last week before high school graduation. It follows a great cast of characters including the main character Olivia and her cousins. Olivia is trying to make up a credit for school so that she can graduate on time with the rest of her class as she is salutatorian. She has to go to a country club and help out with the gold tournament to earn her PE credit. Chaos ensues when she has to hide it from her mom and she gets her cousins to help her out.
I love the family aspect of this book. It is so much fun to read about all of her aunts, uncles, and cousins. The family relationships in this book are well fleshed out and realistic.
The friendships in this book with Olivia and her cousins and close friends are my favorite. I loved seeing them all interact and the jokes they tell together. There are so many great scenes of them hanging out and trying to keep her secret.
The romance was so sweet and well developed. I recommend this book if you like young adult contemporary or books about high school.
It's a lot of fun and nothing too bad happens so if you are looking for a more lighthearted read this is for you.

Aw I had no clue there was a sequel to 10 Blind Dates coming out! In 10 Blind Dates, Sophie’s crazy huge family sets her up on, you guessed it, 10 blind dates over Christmas vacation. In 10 Truths and a Dare, it’s Sophie’s cousin Olivia’s turn with the drama. Olivia basically has 4 days to earn a missed high school gym credit in order to graduate as salutatorian with her class. But she also has a week of graduation parties to attend and an out-of-town mom who has Life360 on her ass - a tracking app where her mom can see her every move. So she sets up a super convoluted plan with her cousins to switch phones every day while she’s at the golf course, a modern parent trap.

Other than all that confusion, the story is pretty straightforward. Olivia goes to the golf stuff, trying to make the parties when she can, trying to spend time with family and friends, trying to keep her almost-failed graduation a secret. It’s a really hectic week, made even more so when she starts to crush on her cousins’ friend Leo. It’s definitely not a revolutionary story but it was fun and heartwarming with a big cast of characters. I liked getting the POV of everyone on phone duty - it gave a little more depth to the story and was also just funny.

This might not have ALL the charm of the first book, but it’s not far off, and would make the funniest teen summer movie on Netflix. Definitely recommend if you’re looking for something quick and fluffy.

Oh how adorable was this book?? It was such a quick and easy read and such a fun read.

Its the best time for Olivia. She's approaching the end of her senior year and she's excited for all the parties and bonding moment with her friends and family. Of course a wrench is thrown in everything when she finds out she may not graduate due to her off campus golf class. So of course she has to make that up. When does she have to make it up? During the highly anticipated Senior Week. Such an adorable story that can be read by all ages!

Thank you so much to Disney- Hyperoin and to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Good book! I enjoyed it! Thank you to Disney Hyperion and Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book. It was so entertaining and funny! I could see it as a Disney Movie! I liked the main character Olivia and her friends called The Fab Four. And of course every story must have a conflict. Hers are her cousins The Evil Joes. You see its Senior Week when everyone is having parties and Olivia is expected to be at them. Just one problem Olivia lacks one credit of having enough credits to graduate. Her only chance is to make up some work to get the credit but somehow Olivia has to be in two places at once. That's where the fun begins. I would like to see a sequel to this book. Check it out for a great read!

The entire plot of this book is laid out right at the beginning, which makes the whole story totally predictable. Olivia has to finish her last requirement for graduation without the rest of her family finding out, so she has to swap her phone with her cousins while she is at the golf course for three days. Each of the days feels almost exactly the same and totally drags. There are communication mishaps and parties to be missed. The plot doesn't deviate much from what's expected, with the exception of a new love interest. I had a hard time getting through it when each day felt repetitive and predictable. It was like I was reading an essay with a clearly defined thesis. Books are not supposed to be organized that way!!
I did relate to Olivia a lot, though. She is very academically minded and stresses about this a lot. But knowing how she was thinking, I couldn't figure out how she had managed to mess up the whole off-campus PE thing. Anyone so concerned about graduation would have figured that out weeks or months before. And because the stakes of her entire book were so low (oh no, her family could find out and make fun of her!!), I didn't find myself caring much at all.
I haven't read Ten Blind Dates, but this felt like it could have been the first book featuring these characters. The whole family felt pretty clearly defined, and as far as I could tell, I didn't really miss out on anything without having any background knowledge.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review :)

This book was nearly everything I could have wanted from the Messina family. The charm of 10 Blind Dates (in my opinion) was the whacky, wild, loving family dynamic and the way that everyone was in everyone’s business. There was slightly less family involvement in this book, since the premise was that Olivia and the rest of the Fab Four had to keep her situation under wraps. But even without full on meddling from Nonna and the rest of the aunts and uncles, there were plenty of humor.

I also really liked getting to hear from Sophie, Wes, and Charlie’s perspectives every once in a while since they were characters that I already really liked from 10 Blind Dates. The love story was also very sweet and my heart was mush by the end.

Overall, I would rate this book 4.5 (rounded up to 5) and will definitively be recommending it and probably re-reading in the future!

3.5/5 stars (rounded up to 4)

I received an ARC of this book, and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Olivia is so excited to graduate. She’s the class salutatorian, and she’s got her future college picked out and everything. But an error involving her off-campus PE class throws her into a huge mess, putting her graduation in jeopardy. With no choice but to volunteer at a golf tournament, Olivia starts creating a plan to fix everything without letting anyone know just how badly she messed up. There are just a few issues: it’s Senior Party Week and she doesn’t want to skip all the parties, her mom has a tracking app that will reveal that she’s not where she’s supposed to be, and she doesn’t know anything about golf. She recruits her cousins to play “Olivia” by swapping phones with her, but all of them quickly find themselves in way over their heads.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book? The large and loud family? Loved it. The shenanigans between the Fab Four? Excellent. But the lies, the over-bearing mom, and the lackluster romance? Those were a bit frustrating and made this book less enjoyable than it could have been. A lot of headaches could have been avoided if there had just been more communication. Also, I hated that Olivia had been given a chance to redeem herself with this tournament after blowing off all the other opportunities she had to bring her grade up, and still failed to show up on time and kept ditching it for parties. Someone who is terrified of not graduating wouldn’t risk all of that. While the romance wasn’t great, the ending was still good so I enjoyed that. And the cousins were pretty fun, especially when it was their POVs!

Overall, I liked the family dynamics and the concept of this book, but the actual romance and graduation issues were irritating. It’s a fun YA read, but it just wasn’t for me.