Disarming Dakota

by Sumeya Abdi Ali, Alison J. Summers

Right when Sylvia Ellington is about to start her senior year, her mother decides to have her move in with her aloof father and his "perfect" family in California. She promises to be on her best behavior, and for the most part, she's able to keep her snappy attitude in check...until she ends up meeting a mysterious boy one chilly night.

In the adolescent madness, she finds a tattooed boy named Dakota. He's ungodly tall and has crystal blue eyes that can sway any good girl to do bad things. When they first meet, he makes it his job to show that he doesn't like Sylvia—and he's got reasons.

All she has to do is disarm this bad boy and unlock the secrets he's keeping deep inside. Before they know it, Sylvia and Dakota embark on an emotional roller-coaster of a relationship that is bound to ruin a few lives. But when Sylvia's own secrets come knocking on her door, will it tear them apart or will love prevail?

Genres: Romance, Contemporary

Unknown Binding

About the author

Before I turned four, I arrived in the United States of America as a Somali refugee. Early on, I was told about my dyslexia. Because of my learning disability, I forced myself to read more out loud to improve. Popcorn reading, inside my English classes, was the leading cause. I was deathly afraid of reading aloud for years. After getting a local library card, I gained a love for reading and writing.

I wrote my first full-length novel at the age of fourteen. By the time I was a senior in high school, I started my Wattpad account and began posting on the site to share stories with the world. Disarming Dakota is my debut novel.

Predominately, I write Young Adult and New Adult stories. I always manage to add a dash of romance in the book, no matter the genre.

Currently, I live with my husband in the golden state of California. In the summer of 2025, I graduated from UCLA with a degree in History and Black Studies.

Reviews

[Ezgi T · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[:) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could literally make an entire review based off of my tags.

[Sundae 💋 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am pretty sure this book deserves a 5/5 because I remeber loving it when I read it. Its unfortunate though that I read it last year so it can't be on my 2021 reading list. This book has a sequel called dismissing Dakota (I think I read them both on wattpad). Regardless I think I would totally reread this book some time in the future and so I recommend it to all. This can also be found on wattpad btw but I feel like the published version is more edited, and it may have extra scenes (don't quote me) I am saying you can read this on wattpad for free but the published version may be better.

[Gayatri Ramchandran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can just go on and on raving about this book 💖

[Daniela Radu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful

[Leyla · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didnt like it, way too childish 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish i could block it from my memory tbh😯

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

everyone in this book is absolutely insane. freak behavior from beginning to end

[Sanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Lauren A · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2/5