I was sent a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Right off the bat, I was extremely excited to get an ARC for Jayci Lee's "The Dating Dare". As a POC, it's refreshing to get a book with diversity in main characters, ESPECIALLY if happens to be for one of my favorite genres.

With that being said, I truly appreciated Tara's character. Right from the first page, her attitude, her wit, and her general state of being felt super fresh and REAL. I dislike coming across female MCs that lack personality, or whose sole personality being meek or a mess, but Tara was none of that. Despite feeling lonely in love, she had goals. The other areas of her life were stable, and, as I mentioned, just because she was lonely in love, didn't mean it reflected or defined her entire life.

Seth just happened to be the spark that set off a wildfire in Tara.

Unfortunately, that's also where the book felt lukewarm to me. I appreciated Seth's character from the start, but this chemistry with Tara felt nonexistent at times. I tried to get giddy because their dynamic was cute and funny at times, but I wasn't truly invested in their romantic relationship. I wish I had been, though, because there was definitely potential there.

“Clear and uncomplicated” is never really that.

Jayci Lee’s new novel, The Dating Dare, offers a new perspective on the old “dare you to date a girl” plot line. This time, the “girl” is included in the decision to participate in the dare! (Consent is a common motif in this novel).

Tara, a brewer, and Seth, a fashion photographer, have a witty banter that produces some sweet and funny moments (Tara’s PG substitutions for explicit outbursts are endearing and comical). Yet, despite being utterly attracted to each other, both avoid real commitment, in order to save their hearts.

I love a good multiple perspective read. I often get bored with the inner monologue of only one lead, so having both Tara and Seth’s side of the story was a treat. While, I adored Tara’s character, I found Seth to be less fascinating. However, his understated charisma was made up for by his sweet attempts to romance the rambunctious beer aficionado.

I will say that the development of the love between these two had some holes in it. The move from enemies (or perhaps unhappy acquaintances) to lovers was a bit fast for me. I would have liked to have seen some more of the “love to hate” before the “love to love”.

Tara and Seth’s love story is a follow up to Lee’s novel, A Sweet Mess. Tara is the best friend of Aubrey and Seth is Landon’s younger brother. While, it is not necessary to have read A Sweet Mess prior, it is fun to watch the continuation of Aubrey and Landon’s relationship throughout the two novels and to witness the development of some more minor characters from the first book.

Thank you to @NetGalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC!

What is your art? This delightful book follows Tara and Seth as they navigate re-discovering themselves and overcoming their past traumas. Over the course of four dates (the result of a drunken dare between the Maid of Honor and the Best Man), the two fall for one another as they grapple with their emotional baggage. The result? The perfect pandemic novel that will make you ask yourself: what is my art? What am I that passionate about?

I had not read the first book in this series but found that I followed the plot surprisingly well. I would have liked to have learned more about the supporting characters, but that's what the other books are for!

If you're looking for a light pandemic read with Parisian vibes, this is your pick. The plot is set against a backdrop of scrumptious treats and malty beer. I was hungry the entire time I was reading it!

TW/CW: emotional abuse, physical abuse, gaslighting.

I will preface this review by saying I haven’t read the first book in this series. I don’t think you need to—the story works as a stand alone and the references made to the first book were few and it was easy to pick up the gist.

That being said I wished I liked this more. I was excited to read it, based on the premise and description of the characters, but the book itself fell a bit flat.

I love tropes usually but they seemed formulaic here. Acquaintances to lovers, secret dating-not-dating, big declaration moments, feisty independent heroine, cocky hero who’s actually a sweetheart—I usually love that but here it felt almost too tropey? Predictable. Sketched in rather than fully developed. I wanted more depth from the characters. The back story for both of them needed more development. Some reveals came late and would have been better integrated earlier and others needed to be better fleshed out.

Overall it was an ok read but I’m not inspired to read the first book in the series after reading this one.

Thank you for the copy of The Dating Dare. Overall, I enjoyed Tara and Seth's friends-to-lovers story. I had a hard time getting into the story in the beginning and found it difficult to relate to both characters' motivation. Having additional backstory come to light near the end of the book was tough to read - I wish this either happened much earlier or was left out.

I tried twice and I couldn’t get through this one right now. The voices didn’t work for me in particular. I really liked the bones of the characters and their families (sweet man, feisty woman etc) but then they would internally say stuff that felt way too calculated/obvious / part of moving the plot which would take me out of it. Im a very character driven reader so that was hard for me to work with. Maybe it’s my mood, or we just don’t mesh and that’s okay. I hope it works well for others I was excited about the rep.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a fun story. I liked the characters and it was a cute premise. The dialogue was clunky and a lot cheesy but if you can move past that, it's fun. The only thing I wasn't a fan of was the random insertion of a past abusive relationship at the very end of the book. It seemed unnecessary and like an afterthought. I received an ARC for my honest review.

Tara is never going to fall in love again. So she’s confident she can take Seth’s bet to go on four dates with him and not fall for him. He’s a playboy who’s leaving town for a job in Paris, so there’s no chance of real feelings. For his part, Seth can’t wait to have some mutually-agreed fun with Tara, especially when they’ve agreed to keep it casual. But the two have more in common than they thought, especially when it comes to past heartbreak. They might just be what they both need.

It was nice to revisit the town and some characters from A Sweet Mess. Both leads are likable. Their romantic pasts were almost too coincidentally similar, though. And some of the drama felt manufactured for the sake of the plot. Even the way they agree on their “dating dare” lacked tension.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

I didn't read the first novel in this series, but I think they can be read as stand-alone books as well.

Cheesy, predictable, steamy and I loved every minute of it (aside from the mention of domestic violence near the end which I do not think needed to be included to move the plot forward - emotional abuse is traumatic enough without including physical abuse as well).

Dating Dare is a cute, funny and sexy feel good book! Two strong characters with a vulnerability that makes you fall in love with them both!

This was a cute book for a winter day in quarantine, but pro tip: read the first book in the series before starting this one! I do wish the backstory of Tara’s ex had been more of a string throughout the book, or it shouldn’t have been present at all.

In this book, the two main characters were of Korean descent. I never read a book where the two main characters were Asian so it was very fascinating to learn about their culture. This book is a romance novel but throughout it the readers learn about Korean food and culture. I enjoyed how this book was unique with it's racial composition. This cute love story was about how two people afraid of falling for each other face their fears of love and learn to move on from their past relationships. I feel like people can relate to these characters because a lot of people are afraid to fall in love after a heartbreak.

I really enjoyed reading this novel! It was very cute and well written. It's your typical no strings attached arrangement with some twists along the way.

I recieved an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a digital copy off Netgally for an honest review.

I have to say, it's not very often that we get actual Korean-American/Korean-American romances. This was very much an #ownvoices rom-com, and I think that really does show in the authenticity of the relationships between the characters and their families. Seth's family is a little more open-minded than Tara's, but I enjoyed the interactions overall. I really loved that Tara's family owned a brewery, and it was very obvious that this was Tara's passion. It shined when she talked about all the different types of brews and concoctions she made up. I really enjoyed Tara and Seth as characters. I did think their chemistry could have used a bit more work. I didn't really feel it, even when things got steamy.

I found the sudden addition of Tara's ex being abusive to be verbal whiplash, and I don't know why that was even added. He already did a number on her emotionally, there was no reason to add that he was physically abusive as well. It just felt tacked on and added nothing to the story. I believe there was a fade to black scene of their first kiss that I didn't understand AT all. Fade to black for sex? Sure. But for kissing? I'm not sure if the author just wasn't feeling like writing out the kiss, but first kisses are important. They help us readers see the chemistry and feel that these two at least are compatible in the bedroom. When you fade to black for a KISSING scene, you damage that connection we readers need with the characters. I need to get invested in them as a couple or I'm not going to care if they become HEA.

The dialogue also felt a bit stiff in some places as well as the writing. This clearly isn't the author's first rodeo, but this feels like a first book. The story was cute, and I'm always down for more #ownvoices, but this story came and went for me. I wish the author all the best, though.

The story line for this was cute but there were wayyyyy too many explicit scenes as descriptions etc for me. If you don’t mind that, you may really enjoy this book!

Well that was super cute! Tara and Seth’s story was exactly what I needed right now.

I quite enjoyed reading about a female brewmaster/brewery owner, it’s not something you get in stories very often. Both Tara and Seth were quite likable, I may have even liked Seth best for being sweet and wearing his heart on his sleeve. He was quite adorable.

I actually haven’t read the first book in this sweet series of books, but I don’t believe it hindered any of my enjoyment of this story.

Thank you for the ARC, NetGalley. It was a lovely read!

I love a cheesy rom com, but this did not deliver.
To start, the writing needs a lot of work. There were so many gaps in information and clunky, forced conversations, that I cringed through most of it.
The characters are so forced into stereotypes it's painful. While at the same time, very little is shared about them to the point that I had absolutely zero interest in the story. Interesting facts only presented themselves when needed to shove the plot in another direction.

Okay, I recognize that romance novels don’t always have the most original plots, but this one really scraped the bottom of the barrel.

The plot in a nutshell: A friendly game of truth or dare leads our main character to a four-date arrangement with her best friend’s husband’s little brother. The only rule? Don’t fall in love.

I can hear the groans from here. It’s bad, I know. Sometimes, a romance novel with a lousy plot can still be enjoyable though, it just needs to have things such as likable characters or good character development in general. This book had none of them. I couldn’t stand the main character, Tara. She was incredibly mean and self-centered. The author tried to give some back story to explain her baggage, but it wasn’t enough. I also didn’t understand why Seth liked her so much so soon. His character was actually one of the only points of light in this story, yet it wasn’t enough to make me like it.

Another big complaint I had with this book was that it wasn’t a stand-alone novel. I didn’t read the first, and this one starts right where it left off. You find yourself feeling like you missed a bunch, and that’s never a great way to make your audience feel.

Finally, I just have to say that I would have happily stopped reading at any point in this story, which is incredibly unlike me. I asked for an ARC, so I was definitely going to deliver a review of the whole book, but it was super painful to force myself to finish.

Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing a digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Jayci Lee has done it again with her newest book, The Dating Dare. With characters who grab you from the first page, Lee invites her readers into the lives of two romantically dented protagonists who find one another despite the odds. Tara Park is a serial dater, after a past relationship that scarred her for life, she has decided that love is for other people. But, she is more than happy to help others celebrate their happily-ever-after which is how she meets her best friends new brother-in-law. Seth Kim is everything that both compels and repels Tara, suave, sophisticated and, smoking hot. However, looks can be deceiving and when Seth dares Tara to go on four dates with him, all bets are off. What happens next is a wild joyride of meet-cutes, laugh-out-loud moments and sparkling dialogue. Lee hooks readers with a heartwarming but realistic look at what happens when love dares you to take a chance on the unexpected.

Tara Park doesn't do love, and neither does Seth Kim. When a friendly game of Truth or Dare leads to an uncomplicated four-date arrangement with Seth, Tara can’t say she minds. But will they be able to maintain the agreement to the dare and not fall for each other as they get to know the real person of the heart?

I read this book before I knew this was the second book in the series. While the books can be read independently, I can see how the characters play into each of the books, overlapping but not vital to read in order. I do wish I read the first book, A Sweet Mess.

I really enjoyed the characters, their family and friends, and how they progressed in the book. Yes, it's a predictable story, but I couldn't help falling in love with Seth and Tara and learning more of their backstories.

It a fun, easy-read romantic read that I enjoyed more than expected. Reminded of the Wedding Date series by Jasmine Guillory, if you ended that series, you likely want the Sweet Mess series by Jayci Lee.

Thank you Netgalley, and St. Martins Press, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.