Review: The Dating Dare by Jayci Lee
Thank you St. Martin’s Press and Libro.fm for my copies of The Dating Dare. All thoughts are my own.
We know how much I love Romance, so I was excited to read The Dating Dare. This is the second book in the A Sweet Mess series but I didn’t read the first book, so you can read them out of order. I’ve found I really love to listen to RomComs on audio because they’re quick and joyful. I enjoyed the audio production of this book but sadly it didn’t work for me.
Synopsis: “No serious relationships. This is the one rule Tara Park made for herself and it has been working swimmingly, thank you very much. The occasional fling is fine, especially since she’s busy with Weldon Brewery. But when Seth Kim, temptation personified and her best friend’s new brother-in-law walks into her life, Tara might be willing to bend her golden rule…but only for four dates—the four dates she agreed to after a few good rounds of beer and a game of truth or dare. It’ll be fun. No biggie.
Seth Kim can’t believe Tara agreed to his dating dare. He’s leaving for a new job in Paris in a month and a no-strings attached fling seemed like a nice little distraction for both… But their secret dates, while sweet and sexy, always hit roadblocks straight out of a romantic comedy. Thankfully, their non-dates and chance meetings are smoother, frequent, and heated. However, the more Seth sees of Tara, the less willing he is to let her go—and what was supposed to be a fun little game turns into something that neither of them are ready for.
But sometimes, the best things in life are the ones we never see coming.” —NetGalley
What I Liked:
A Female Brewer—I loved that Tara owned a brewery! I feel like so many female leads in romcoms have jobs at bakeries so this was a nice change of pace.
The Pace—This wasn’t too long or too short. It moved nicely on audio!
What Didn’t Work:
The Plot—It was a little too cheesy and predictable for me. Sometimes that’s what I look for in a romcom but it didn’t really feel like there was much substance to the issues, besides the characters having negative relationships in the past.
The Lack of Tension—I love banter and tension between characters and a dare seemed like the perfect set up. But for me, it just felt like Tara and Seth were staying away from each other as a plot device, because the characters words and actions supported their attraction.
TW/CW: mention of emotional intimate partner abuse
Character Authenticity: 3/5 Steam Rating: 1/5 Overall Rating: 3/5