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The Dating Dare

The Dating Dare

A Sweet Mess, Book #2


by Jayci Lee
Narrated by Natalie Naudus


⭐⭐⭐ /5


Trigger Warning - past partner abuse discussed.


What happens when you put two people together that are very attracted together but also very broken from past relations? The dating dare, in which one dares the other to go on 4 dates with them without strings and not fall for each other…


…Of course they fall for each other, but that’s where the real dare begins. Do they dare to do the work and look into themselves to let them make this 4 date arrangement into something more permanent?


Both Tara and Seth have a history of partner abuse that tarnishes their views on relationships and love. They both had so much to work on that at points I found this romance hard to read. There was a lot of self sabotaging and generalizing about the opposite sex or partners. I did find it interesting that both he male and female leads used casual relationships to both boost their self esteem and to erect a barrier from getting hurt again.


I listen the audiobook and read along and found that the audiobook glossed over any of the discussion of partner abuse and that a listener without a print copy would be given a very whitewashed version of the characters past. Our narrator also did not have a very definitive male voice for Seth’s parts. Her pacing and expression was on point for the reading.


This was not an easy read/ listen for me. The characters underlying issues made it difficult for me to truly enjoy their journey to the HEA. I respect that there are people out there that need stories like this to relate to, but for myself, it just wasn’t the light hearted story I was hoping for.



The Dating Dare by Jenna MacGregor is scheduled to release August 3rd, 2021.



I received a complimentary copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press and the audiobook from Macmillan Audio through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.



 

#TheDatingDare #JayciLee #Netgalley #pinkcowlandreads

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