Daring the Bad Boy

Endless Summer #1

by Monica Murphy

Annie McFarland is sick of being a shy nobody. A session at summer camp seems like the perfect opportunity to reinvent herself--gain some confidence, kiss a boy, be whoever she wants to be. A few days in, she's already set her sights on über-hottie Kyle. Too bad her fear of water keeps her away from the lake, where Kyle is always hanging out. Jacob Fazio is at Camp Pine Ridge after one too many screw-ups. Junior counseling seems like punishment enough, but the rigid no-fraternizing-with-campers rules harsh his chill. When a night of Truth or Dare gets him roped into teaching Annie how to swim, she begs him to also teach her how to snag Kyle. Late-night swim sessions turn into late-night kissing sessions . . . but there's more on the line than just their hearts. If they get caught, Jake's headed straight to juvie, but Annie's more than ready to dare him to reveal the truth.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Young Adult Romance, High School, Contemporary Romance, Summer

Audio CD

First published August 22, 2016

About the author

New York Times, USA Today and international bestselling author. A believer in kissing. A believer of love.

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Reviews

[Christine Wallflower & Dark Romance Junkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"But this girl…I don’t know. There was something about her that made me want to keep her around. I wanted to talk to her. Learn more about her. Maybe even give her grief in the hope that she’d dish some back out at me.”

Look I'm 30 but this book was just too freaking sweet. I don't really delve into the clean and tween anymore but getting into some real teen angst was somewhat refreshing. I feel like I should be saying "this is the perfect summer read for young adults" but instead I'll say if you're looking for something light, fluffy and plenty nostalgic you should probably try this book.

This is the first YA book by Monica Murphy that I've read before this I'd only read her One Week Girlfriend series which is more NA. The story starts of with Annie preparing to leave for summer camp. She's a good girl but a loner, she's hoping to reinvent herself. She'd like to do all those things teenage girls do, make friends, be daring and talk to the cute boy.

Jake is your resident bad boy and with the threat of juvie hanging over his shoulder, his father sends him to work with his uncle at summer camp. His uncle is supposed to straighten him out, and if he steps out of line he'll be carted off back home and straight to juvie. For all intents and purposes everything goes well until he sees Annie.

I could cross analyse this book and tell you that its all about 2 teens crying out for attention, but I'll also tell you that its a sweetly romantic YA romance and a perfect beach read.

ARC kindly provided by publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest review

[Norah Una Sumner · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Truth or Dare was never this much fun…"

Such a fun and cute book! I think that it's a well known fact that I love Entangled Teen Crush books and this one was no exception. I absolutely loved reading both from Jake's and Annie's POV - there're really great characters who develop a lot throughout this book. There were a few moments that probably would've annoyed me if they actually weren't quite real - Annie's relationship with her camp friends, her crush on Kyle developed by the whole atmosphere her friends created, that one move she made behind Jake's back. But this all happens in real life, not everything is sugary and perfect so I thought that this was actually quite interesting and relatable. I also loved seeing the relationship between Jake and his father grow stronger and it really made me happy to find out the story of his parents' romance. Overall, a very sweet but still very entertaining book!



*E-copy provided by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.*

You can read this review on BookishFever.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review



Daring The Bad Boy by Monica Murphy is your very sweet, innocent, standard trope of young teen love. Ms. Murphy charms her readers with a cute summer romance brewing between an innocent naive young teen girl and of course the reformed bad boy.

“The best thing would be not to engage. Engaging gave him ammunition, and the guy already had enough on me. I didn’t trust him. I didn’t necessarily like him, either, even if he did save my life last night.”

Summer, the time to let loose and have fun. And for Annie McFarland, the time away at summer camp will be an excellent chance for her to make friends and live a little. As a sheltered young teen, Annie mostly lives in her literary world of books and so when she goes off to summer camp, Annie never expected that a little game of truth or dare would have her falling in love with the camp’s bad boy counselor.



After getting in troubles, Jacob Fazio’s father decides that it would be best if Jake does volunteer work at a his uncle’s summer camp. There Jake would be one of the camp counselors. He is well aware of the bad boy stigma that is associated with him but in all honesty, he is a kindhearted soul that is dealing with issues from his past. And so when he meets Annie, he is intrigued by her and also that she has kind of blackmailed him into teaching her how to swim. As Jake and Annie begin to get close, sparks of attraction and friendship begins to deepen. Will Annie and Jake find themselves sinking or swimming when it comes to summer romance?

“I felt like he could never take our relationship seriously, if he couldn’t admit to anyone that we were together. And that hurt. Everything else about our relationship was perfect. Laughing with him, telling each other stories, comparing our likes and dislikes. Kissing him. Lots and lots of kissing… He was always so patient with me. And so sweet. I was the totally inept, inexperienced girlfriend and he never complained. Ever. He could. He probably should. But he never did. ”

Daring The Bad Boy is your quintessential sweet and innocent summer teen romance. With a few little angst and drama thrown into the mix, Monica Murphy serves a cute and lovely teen romance of a young girl discovering her first teen love with the reformed bad boy. They say opposites attract and so if you are looking for a lovely and sweet read, then this book is for you.



Review can also be found on Four Chicks Flipping Pages: http://fourchicksflippingpages.weebly...Monica Murphy

[Natalie ~ The Biblioholic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet. Sweet. Sweet. I sometimes forget how cute and sweet YA romance books can be.



Monica Murphy created two adorable characters with Annie and Jake. Annie was incredibly shy and kind of a loner. She intended to use her camp experience as a way to force herself out of her shell, to make new friends, and to encourage herself to be more active. However, she was terrified of water and coerced Jake to teach her how to swim. Jake was amazing. Gosh, this guy was so dang cute! He was forced to be a counselor at his uncle's camp in order to avoid time in Juvie. He was forbidden to get involved with anyone while there. Yeah, cuz kids really like being told what NOT to do lol. He didn't expect his time there to be life changing.

What ensues is a lot of sweetness. No angst. No drama. No muss and no fuss.

Copy provided by Entangled Publishing, LLC in exchange for an honest review

XO

[Dani (Dani Reviews Things) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
DNF @ 83%

Ok, you're probably wondering why I quit so close to the end. Well, it was going ok. It was on the road to a 3, maybe 3.5. Then the main girl had a complete personality transplant all to add drama that made no sense given the circumstances and her previous behaviour. She went from sweet to cray cray overnight. And this conflict could have happened organically WITHOUT this weird change. It was so ridiculous that I had to put my Kindle down and decide to never finish on the spot.

WHY DID ANNIE HAVE TO SUDDENLY BECOME A BRAT?!

Update

I thought I'd expand as to why the book was on the road to a 3 or 3.5. I think the best way to describe the book until then is "sour Skittles". It was very sweet with a dash of sour bad boy, but it lacked any real "nutritional" value.

- The characters were ok, though it was disappointing for the author to use a shortcut and basically tell us what each character's issues were at the start, not let it be revealed through action and dialogue. It was very much "Hi, my name is X and Y happened to me so now I act like Z."

- Actually, a lot of it was more telling instead of showing.

- The passage of time was a little awkward. It seemed like it jumped around a lot and skipped over important moments. At times, I wasn't sure whether a day or a week had passed.

- While I liked the growth of the romance, I never felt all fluttery inside.

- But it was cute for 82%!

Like I said, the killing blow for me was the moment when Annie went from considerate and relatively mature to being a needy spoiled brat in the flip of a page. She seemed like she understood rules in general and accepted the terms of her relationship with Jake, so it made no sense for her to flip out and make demands and ultimatums and whine.

[Fafa's Book Corner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mini review:

DNF

I received this E-ARC via the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was pretty excited to start reading this. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this. It was slightly dramatic and there is this particular scene where Annie starts talking to her 'friends' after they ditched her. I understood that she felt responsible but I would never talk to someone who would do that to me.

Do not recommend.

[Cátia · Rating 3 out of 5]

For more reviews click HERE

Actual Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Stars

*I was provided a copy by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

By now you might know that normally Entangled: Crush books don’t disappoint me. They are always full of cuteness and adorable and I love it. This book was going in the right way until it got to about 80%. After that I hated it and I’m still mad about what happened. Basically the book took a 180º turn and ruined everything and that’s shown by my rating for this book. But let’s talk about other things first.
I really did like the book in the beginning. I can see where Annie was coming from. We have a 16 year-old girl who was always shy and lived in her own little world where she loved to read (I can’t see the problem with that but okay…) and she decided she wants to go to summer camp for the first time and start living more. We also have Jake that is a “bad boy” with a good heart and who is forced to work at his uncle’s summer camp to avoid serious problems. However, Jake is not that bad of a boy. He’s just a teenage boy who wanted to be noticed by his father after his mom’s death and because of that he did some really stupid things. Annie and Jake don’t really like each other in the beginning (well, Annie didn’t like Jake and Jake was already interested in her but he knew he couldn’t date a camper) but I really liked to see those two together when they were fighting with each other. It was kind of cute. It doesn’t help that Annie has a crush in a guy she just met, Kyle, who is an asshole. That’s when my frustration with Annie started. I know people have crushes, I understand that but I couldn’t understand Annie’s fascination for Kyle. First of all, he didn’t know her name. He wanted to hook up with her but he didn’t even know her name. Why?? Because he’s an asshole as I said before. Second of all, Kyle already hooked up with most of Annie’s roommates. What did they say to her?? #You should definitely hook up with him”. WTF?? And lastly, Annie almost drowned because of one of Kyle’s dares. Do you know what he and her roommates did?? THEY RAN AWAY WHEN SHE WAS DROWNING. WHAT THE HELL? They didn’t even say sorry after that. I don’t know about you but if that happened in my life you can be sure I would cut those people from my life. But okay, I forgave Annie for that. She came to her senses and understood she didn’t like Kyle and she did like Jake. She also realized her roommates (with one exception) where not really her friends (unfortunately this part didn’t last long). After all of this this book was getting to a solid 4 stars. I was loving to see Annie and Jake together and how they trusted each other and told each other things they wouldn’t tell other people… it was cute. They even started dating, even if they had to keep it a secret so Jake wouldn’t get into some serious problems. I liked it. Then the chapter where they get together ends and EVERYTHING starts going downhill. I’m still trying to forget that last 15% of this book. Suddenly Annie wasn’t okay with keeping their relationship a secret. She felt like she was Jake’s “dirty little secret” and she couldn’t handle it. Okay, I can understand that. What I can’t understand was how she did an ultimatum to Jake even after he explained to her he couldn’t break the rules or else he could go to juvie or, even worse, jail. I can’t understand why she listened to her “friends” (basically her stupid roommates who left her to die before) and went to talk to Jake’s uncle without him knowing. I can’t understand why when she talked to the uncle she told him she and Jake were “messing around with each other” and not that they actually liked each other making Jake look like someone who didn’t care about his job and rules. I just can’t deal with how childish Annie became from one moment to another. From all the drama I thought that could happen between them this would be the last thing coming to my mind and I hated it. I also didn’t like how fast all the drama was solved and how Jake was actually able to forgive Annie. She put his life in jeopardy and less than 24 hours later they are okay again.
Another thing I can’t understand was Kelsey’s role in this book. She was Annie’s roommate and she was the only one that was actually her friend. But suddenly she started disappearing and anyone knew where she was. I can’t even understand why Annie went to talk to the other girls when she was having “problems” with Jake if supposedly Kelsey was her real friend in that camp. And don’t even make me talk about the fact that Kelsey was a lesbian. I wouldn’t have problems with that at all but for me Kelsey’s sexuality was only used to connect this book to the other book in this series, Keeping Her Secret, which features a lesbian couple. I wouldn’t understand if this was something that had some importance in the book but it didn’t. Basically Annie found Kelsey with another girl and told her she shouldn’t be scares of coming out because people in the camp accepted the girls from the other book pretty well… that was it. WTF??? At least the epilogue was cute. YAY -_-‘
I did like the writing style and I really liked the dual POV. I think Annie and Jake’s voices were distinct and this was a really fast paced book but I just can’t forget that last 15% that completely ruined the book.
Overall, this could have been a cute contemporary and perfect for summer but Annie’s change of personality ruined everything. I would love to recommend this book because it was good for the most part but I really can’t because that ending ruined everything.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sure this will shock absolutely no one, but I love love love reading young adult books. Experiencing those feelings of first love, those warm fuzzies, the butterflies and nerves, I genuinely enjoy every second of it. And even a lot of times I like the endings a lot more than the new adult counterparts that I read. I don't need a diamond ring and a baby in a storyline to satisfy me as a reader. If an author can nail emotions right, I'm perfectly content without all that physical stuff too. That's another thing about YA. More often than not, there isn't explicit sexual scenes or at least they're fade to black. This forces the author to focus on the emotional attachments instead of physical. Sometimes it's a nice change up from the everyday sex crazed culture that we live in.

"Four days into camp, and I’d come to some realizations.
Summer camp is just as clichéd as I wished it to be. And this wasn’t an insult, either. I liked the fact that the camp director was sort of odd and crazy yet lovable. That Nancy, the lady who ran the arts and crafts building, believed she was a hippie and wore flowing skirts and flowers in her hair. That all the boys checked out all the girls and the little kids ran circles around us every night no matter what we were trying to do, and that our bathroom looked like a girl bomb exploded inside and that our counselor Hannah left every night after lights-out so she could go hook up with Brian, one of the counselors for the teen boys’ cabins."

When starting Daring The Bad Boy, I was ecstatic. As an older teenager, for two and a half months every year I worked at a summer camp. I lived day in and day out with my friends and know first hand exactly what this camp experience is all about. Monica brings back all of these feelings of camp within the first few chapters and not only was I reading about Annie's story, but I was having flashbacks of my own. These memories are priceless and Monica writes them in the exact same way.

I really enjoyed the change in Jake's character. I wasn't the biggest fan of Annie but he was a nice solid addition to the story that was extremely beneficial to the plot and the heroine. Also his struggle with the forbidden love aspect was well done. The worst thing that can happen at camp is a camper/counsellor relationship, so he knew exactly what he was risking.

She nodded, looking determined. “I want to.”
“You’re nuts!” Kelsey yelled, and Annie flashed her a dirty look.
“I am not.”
“You kinda are,” I said, low enough so only she could hear.
“I’ll only do it if you jump with me,” she said.
My eyes widened and I popped my mouth open, not sure what I should say.
“I trust you,” she added, her gaze never flinching from mine. “The only way I can do it is if you’re holding my hand. I know you won’t let go.”
“I won’t,” I said. “I promise.”

Writing wise, my criticism would be that is tends to read young. But the weirder part was it wasn't bad all the way through. The beginning was understandable, but the farther the story progressed, the characters acted younger and younger. I know it's a young adult book, but there are tons that I find no problem with as an adult reader. This one feels most like it's directed for actual 14, 15 and 16 year olds to read, not really much beyond that. Because of this, there were times that I tended to skim or get a bit bored. Other than the age thing, the story kind of started to fall apart in the second half. It's like small twists were randomly thrown in because we didn't know what else to put there. But then these were haphazardly dealt with and tended to make the story messier (and not in a good way).

The climax of the novel could've gone in a different direction and had a much stronger impact. It was like all of a sudden Annie started going psycho paranoid clinger girlfriend and I was instantly turned off. What the heck happened for her character to turn practically over night? Then demand answers? This was a major turn off. I 100% agreed with Jake, the hero, AND how he dealt with things. He was completely justified, the heroine on the other hand, was not.

Overall, I'm sad to say this wasn't my favourite young adult story ever. I think both the plot and character development needed some more ... Development, and the ending needed to slow down. It seemed like all of a sudden everything was trying to come to a point and conclusion all at once. I've always enjoyed Monica's work and was so glad the first half of this book made me incredibly happy, but then the second half fell a little flat for me. Because of this, I'm rating it as 3 stars.

*An ARC was received in exchange for an honest review.

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[Elaine - Splashes Into Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3.5/5
This is a cute summer read, with teens heading off to summer camp and some dramatic changes to their expectations and behaviour. It has some strange parts to it but perhaps they just add to the story? Annie is determined to make changes to how others perceive her. She’s fed up with being the shy nerd who most folk never even notice. To make the change, she convinces her very protective parents to let her go to summer camp by a lake - even though she can’t swim and the family has a traumatic history regarding water safety.

The male main character is Jacob/Jake. The camp is run by his uncle and Jake is there as a junior counsellor, with strict instructions not to start any relationship with any of the campers. He mustn’t make any mistakes as the alternative is being sent to juvenile prison as a result of his one too many rebellious escapades. Whilst his past history may make him somewhat undesirable, his maturity, consideration and determination to try to do right make him a brilliant young man, IMHO.

I initially thought Annie was a great character, too, but then, soon after arriving at the camp, she succumbs to focusses her attention on the first good looking and confident handsome bad boy, Kyle, even though she doesn’t really know anything about him but his looks. Not only that but this initially quiet, caring and considerate young lady has a further change in attitude as she takes a stupid life threatening risk and then threatens and bribes to get her own way. Now, whilst it is great that she’s more confident and prepared to stand up for herself, she starts to make unconsidered decisions some of which could have far reaching negative consequences for both herself and for someone she supposedly cares about. Sometimes it is important to keep the common sense regardless of other changes you’re trying to make in your life, behaviour and attitude!

The story is still great with all the things you’d expect from a well run summer camp, with new friends, plenty of fun, a few folks who are out to spoil things and plenty who aren’t. There’s fun, challenges, spooky ghost stories, a moonlit walk and, of course, the possibility of romance for many of the participants. Go escape to the lakeside camp for summer fun in the sun!

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Jessica Hull · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 - 3.5 YA stars

This was a very cutsie YA romance that I read in one sitting. As someone who never went to summer camp as a kid, I'll say that this story reminded me of every fictionalized summer camp I've ever seen on tv or in movies: ghost stories, swims in the lake, arts and crafts, chatty cabin bunk mates, secret romances between camp counselors. This story really captured first love, summer love, in the middle of summer camp, with a bit of a forbidden spin on it. The characters are very young so the drama that evolves is not of the angsty, emotional sort, but it's much more consistent with young, teenage crushes. The characters are immature, rightfully so, and the antics and dialogue and drama that ensues is consistent with what you'd expect to find in a story about a 16 year old introvert and the 17 year old camp counselor who's been prohibited from dating the campers. All in all, it was cute. Was it the most memorable storyline from Monica Murphy? Not really. But it's a fun little refreshing change of pace and prefect for younger readers.

[Deniz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect summer read

This in fact made me think about summer camp. You see I actually never went to summer camp. I don't think it exists in Switzerland. Well, maybe it does NOW, but I don't live there now (nor am I in school for that matter but anyway). There wasn't summer camp when I was growing up, let's just leave it at that. The whole summer camp reminds me of several films I liked as a teen. I kept wondering if I would have liked it in the first half of the book. To be honest I am not sure.
It does sound fun, but .. I don't know. Maybe I am too old for that now.
But what I am not too old for is reading about it. I think Murphy did an amazing job at setting the ambiance. At least how I imagine summer camp could be. And that's where my little off the track musings come in: What do people who went to summer camp think?
After finishing it though, I frankly don't care that much. Because if I know one thing, Murphy go the summer love crazy thing just right. The odd teenage dance around each other, the boys and the girls.
I love her descriptions of the summer time activities, and it did remind me of many summer holiday. Being reminded of countless hours around bonfires and daring jumps, hikes in the woods ..the feeling of endless summers. Elegantly done.

When it comes to character building, I gotta say the same thing. Murphy made me change my mind on several of the side cast. My opinions being totally swayed by the narrator's opinion. This being told from both Jake's and Annie's POV with well chosen times for the switches. Both of them have a distinct voice both have their own battles and insecurities. Jake being older also has a slightly more mature voice. in fact, I adore his POV.
The parents, who actually feature really little, are interesting. Because I feel like I know them, where they are coming from- a good example of Murphy's skill at character building and storytelling

The plot is super cute. The romance is slow and super sweet. I was loving the build up and dying for a kiss to happen. It's a great story.
My only little dislike would be the hug blow up- well not the blow up it self, but rather how quickly it all blew over. And then it was the end. I didn't want it to end! I also wanted them to have to fight more, it's this big huge drama and then it's sorted and the book is done. Did I say I didn't want it to end? Well, I didn't, so I am beyond grateful for the epilogue.
And now I am hoping there will be more book set at the camp?
Also I am planning on reading the companion novel Keeping Her Secret, because I want more summer camp fun but also I wanna see what happens to Kelsey.

A must read for lovers of cute&fluffies. Guaranteed summer romance fix.

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Entangled Teen Crush for the free review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was super cute and I really enjoyed my time with it. There's a bit of angst and drama, and maybe a few things I would change or fix up, but overall, it was just what I was looking for to lighten up my summer TBR list.

With the dual POV, we get both Annie's and Jake's thoughts, which seemed to work well here. I really liked Annie and Jack, and found myself empathizing with them both, although I have to say I became more attached to Jake than I was expecting to! He has done some bad things, but really, it's pretty evident from the beginning that he has a heart of gold. Annie, on the other hand, frustrated me occasionally, what with her trying to get together with Kyle all of the time. I wanted her to give her head a shake, but considering how completely inexperienced she was with boys, I was able to forgive her lapse of judgment. She went to camp to learn and grow and to come out of her shell, so in a way it was good that she had a crush on Kyle first, just to figure out that he wasn't really the one for her.

I do wish that there was a bit more description of the day to day workings of the camp - did Annie really spend a month learning how to make lanyards? Likewise, I wanted to know more about how Annie's relationships with the girls in her cabin developed. It felt like one minute everyone was ignoring Annie or ditching her to drown, and the next they were giving her makeovers. There just wasn't enough explanation to take me from point A to point B, so I didn't really believe the change in attitude there. In contrast, Annie and Jake's relationship felt really well developed, so in that regard I was quite satisfied.

So, if you're looking for a sweet, summer romance to melt your icy heart (haha!) don't hesitate to pick up "Daring the Bad Boy" - I guarantee you'll have a hard time NOT falling for Jake and Annie!

My rating: 3.5 stars

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

This is a very sweet and cute YA romance. And I read it quite quickly.

This story is based around summer camp – ghost stories, arts and crafts, lake activities, etc. Along with the forbidden romances. All very cutsie.

I enjoyed the overall story of this book. Monica does a great job keeping this book moving at the right pace. The characters are young and the drama that goes down is perfect at their age. However, my biggest issue is that sometimes, not all the time, their mannerisms and they want they talked was almost too young – like 13/14 instead of 16/17.

Monica does a great job of building the scene and visualizing all the camp ground activities. The interactions are entertaining and will make you feel young again. Awww…young love.

But overall, its a good read for young readers or for anyone who wants a storyline that is not full of angst and has that young love vibe. It’s a refreshing and quick read.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, sweet romance between Jake, a junior camp counsellor, and Annie, one of the campers. Also has the bad boy with the good girl thing going on.

Love the campfire scary stories scene in particular!

[sarahthebibliomania · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was originally going to be a three-star read but as I continued reading I realized that the chapters kept repeating again and again. I’m also pretty sure this book may have put me in another reading slump so kinda upset over that. I also couldn’t stand the characters we have Annie the main character and my god she was so boring and honestly, her only personality trait was not being able to swim and doing arts and crafts. And then we had our main lover interest Jake who’s the most boring “bad boy” I’ve ever come across in my life and his character brings some of the most beautiful paragraphs like “You should take off your shirt.” He literally said this to my boobs.” and another example of poetic words is “All I really wanted to do was kiss her for understanding about my mom's death. Oh, and stare and her ass in those bright pink bikini bottoms. Maybe even touch that ass in those bright pink bikini bottoms.” Like pardon me sir but how did we just go from moping over your mother to wanting to touch someone’s ass? Overall the book did have some fun moments and I did enjoy it at times so if you’re wanting to read a story that was most likely written on Wattpad when the author was thirteen then this is your kinda book.

[Suze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Annie has a mission, she wants to reinvent herself during the summer. She wants to have a boyfriend, she wants to be noticed and she wants to be a confident and fearless girl. Summer camp is the place to change her image. There's only one problem, Annie doesn't know how to swim. Fortunately there's someone who can give her lessons, which is exactly what she needs. Jake works at the camp as a lifeguard and somehow he makes Annie feel safe. He helps her to conquer her worst fears and while doing that he also steals her heart.

Jake had no choice, he has to work for his uncle as a summer camp counsellor to stay out of juvie. There are strict rules and one of them is that he can't date campers, which means he's supposed to stay away from most girls at the camp. When he rescues Annie from the lake and finds out she can't swim he agrees to give her lessons. Jake likes her, which means he shouldn't be with her all the time, but that proves to be too difficult. Is Annie special enough to risk his entire future for?

Daring the Bad Boy is a story with two fascinating main characters. Annie is shy and she's still looking, she doesn't know exactly who she is yet or what she wants to do in her life. That makes her interesting, especially since she manages to grow up quickly during her summer at the camp. She makes sure she has plenty of new experiences and she doesn't stay away from a challenge. Jake is moody and not easy to approach. He's in trouble, which is why he's at his uncle's summer camp. There's a lot at stake for him and he knows he has to follow his uncle's rules. Jake is trying to change his ways, but sometimes love is too strong and can't be ignored. He struggles with his feelings, but he doesn't give up. He tries to do what's best for him and Annie and sometimes that might mean breaking a few rules. Annie and Jake have great chemistry and I couldn't wait to see what would happen to them.

Daring the Bad Boy is a sweet love story. I really liked the setting. Monica Murphy's vivid descriptions of the summer camp make it come to life very well. I could easily picture the lake, the beautiful waterfall, the stunning mountains and the cozy cabins. It's the perfect place for a cute romantic story, which is exactly what Monica Murphy delivers. There's more than just cheerfulness though. Both Annie and Jake have been through a lot and she writes about it in a sympathetic way. It gives their characters extra depth and I liked that about them. Their past experiences are being told bit by bit and that made me curious. I'm a big fan of summer camp stories and this is definitely a good one. Daring the Bad Boy is a wonderful summer romance.

[Paula Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annie McFarland is the type of girl who though stunning has never stood out , she has perfected her life in being invisible and the one nobody takes notice of . This summer at sixteen she finnally has the chance to attend Summer Camp and she has a plan to make herself into someone else - Annie McFarland - Miss Confident and Risk-taker. This summer she will make sure that sheds her Miss Invisibility cloak and become one of the girls and possibly have her first kiss and maybe even a summer fling. Jacob Fazio aka Jake has been in trouble one too many times now and this time his sentence has landed him working his community service hours at his Uncle's summer camp. When Jake was younger he loved this place but even since his mother died, he has drifted away from it. Will this be the summer where Jake can finally find his old self ? Or will the temptation of hot girls be too much for him and he will find himself into more trouble ? For Jake and Annie it will be a Summer that neither of them will ever forget and will be one that will remain after summer ends. What I loved about Daring the Bad Boy is that they kept other potential love interests in the novel - and not just focused on the main two as often romance stories do . You have heard of Love Triangles but in Daring the Bad Boy we have a Love Circle - As Lacey and Presley are interested in Jake , Jake is interested in Annie and Annie is interested in Kyle ? Though this summer sometimes what the heart thinks it wants won't be where you will end up .
For those YA and NA readers looking for a Sweet Romance read , Check out Entangled Crush's title "Daring the Bad Boy". A read that will make you dream of either your days of Summer Camp or have you wishing that you attended a Summer Camp of your own.

[Nancy The book junkie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.25/5

Review to come!

[Kelly Akemann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this one. A true classic fun summer camp romantic book. Definitely a highlight for me to read after volunteering at a camp. I would recommend it to all to read - a great ending to summer!

Annie was a classic 16 year old who wants to change herself for the better. Jacob is the Bad Boy who truly wants to get on the straight and narrow but can't overcome his past. Together they help each other overcome things they never could alone. And I LOVED the epilogue.

Just an overall fun quick read that for me is a perfect end to summer.

(I received this from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.)

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this YA book. I always wanted to go to summer camp when I was younger and never got the chance so I'm kind of a sucker for a YA book that's setting is a summer camp. My feelings are a little torn on Annie. I liked her, then I didn't like her and then I liked her again. I loved Jake though and really enjoyed his pov. This was a light and fun, an enjoyable YA book!

[Ania · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute at times, but so many cliches that I really could not give it 3*...

[Moriah Chavis · Rating 4 out of 5]

*This review will also appear on A Leisure Moment in concordance with the blog tour hosted by YA Reads*

**I received an eARC from Entangled Teen via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**



Ah, summer camp. Yeah, I wasn’t a fan of summer camp. By the time I turned fourteen, I told my mom I was done and read as many books as I could get my hands on that week that I was supposed to be at camp. Nineteen-year-old me does not regret this decision, but I do love a summer camp story, especially considering that I never went to an outdoors-all-the-time, The Parent Trap-esque camp like this. I most definitely did not discover I had a secret twin living in Europe, either.

Annie McFarland didn’t want to spend another summer with air-conditioning—she wanted to branch out and do something that she had never done before. Summer camp landed on the top of that list, and while she had trouble finding her footing at the beginning and let herself get sucked in by the popular crowd a bit, she did become a new Annie. I liked watching her grow and stand up for herself, speak her mind, and dare even the most dangerous of boys to spend time with her, even teach her to swim. While summer camp played an integral role, as it was the setting, Annie’s blooming relationship with Jacob Fazio really impacted the story.

I would hate to say that Jacob, more commonly called Jake, was the reason for Annie’s change—because he wasn’t. That belonged solely to Annie. In fact, Annie picked a difficult target when she decided to dare Jake, and that struck the beginning of an unlikely friendship. Or should I say forbidden friendship? I liked Jacob, though it did take me a few chapters to like him. When the story first switched to his narration, I grimaced because I disliked him so much. Summer camp changed Annie, but a whole month without Annie as a tangible person (since this was a two session camp) impacted him, too. Neither one of the MCs change was brought upon by another person. Yes, they helped each other become new people, but they decided on their own that they wanted to be those new people. Jake supported Annie and was along for the ride; transversely, Annie supported Jake and watched him turn into a new boy, not the only defined by his bad boy tendencies.

The ending—eh. I had a few issues with that. Annie made some stupid decisions, mainly one really stupid decision, that didn’t quite fit the new Annie that I had in my head. Though, as we all know, “old habits die hard.” Either way, the epilogue was sweet and ended in a way that gave me hope for the future.

Daring the Bad Boy has summer camp kisses, late night swim lessons, and jumping into the unknown.

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[Dawn West · Rating 4 out of 5]

**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for honest review.**

Awwww!



This book was so adorable! It's rare, these days, to find a sweet teenage/YA story that isn't flooded with mean girls and drinking/drug use that makes you cringe imagining your daughter reading it. Yes, this story has a bit of both, but neither play a large part or ruin the experience. The dual POV was written nicely and kept me intrigued.

In Daring the Bad Boy, we have two lost and lonely teens who are trying to go a new direction in their lives. Leaving for summer camp might be the perfect way to reinvent themselves. Annie wants to leave her timid and practically invisible self behind. Jake needs to escape the sins of his past which could very well land him in jail, if he doesn't watch his step.

But neither of them have an easy go of things. Annie has convinced herself that the best way to challenge her new persona is to go after the hottest guy in the camp, Kyle. But Kyle already has his share of admirers and barely registers Annie's existence. It will take a lot more work than she thought if Annie is going to snag the camp dreamboat.

Jake would rather be anywhere else instead of in his uncle's camp. Spending his days working and surrounded by temptations that he can't afford to act on, he finds that laying low may be his best option. But when a pretty blonde camper jumps into the lake, in the middle of the night, he has no choice but to save her.

Soon after, the pair find themselves needing each other. Growing closer and growing up, at the same time. But since relationships between counselors and campers are off-limits, their summer love threatens Jake's job and his future. They both have to decide how much risk, if any, they are willing to take for the chance to possibly find their happily-ever-afters.



In closing...
Charming and heartwarming story that is the perfect summer read! The writing flowed smoothly, the dialog was believable and the romance was perfectly swoon-worthy. I might have even blushed a few times while reading. Likable characters with a dash of humor kept me turning the pages. Four sweet suns!

Full review on blog: http://uptildawnbookblog.blogspot.com/2016/08/review-blitz-daring-bad-boy-by-monica.html

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was the perfect summer read. Daring the Bad Boy was charming, funny, and adorable. I had such a fun time reading this book! I really liked the summer camp setting in this book. The summer camp created such a fun atmosphere for the characters, and it lead to some really sweet moments for the main characters.

I really liked the main female character, Annie. I thought Annie was sweet, caring, and very relatable. I enjoyed watching her grow into a more daring person. One issue I had with her character was that her development seemed a little sudden. She became very bold very quickly, and I felt like that should have taken more time. I thought the change was nice, but I would have liked to see it develop at a slower pace.

There was one thing that Annie did near the end of the book that annoyed me beyond belief! She did something behind Jake's back, and I wish she would have just discussed it with Jake more. Everything ended up being okay, but Annie still really annoyed me with her one action.

Jake was such a heartthrob! He was such a charming and adorable character. Since he was labeled as a "bad boy", I was expecting him to be more of a jerk. However, he really wasn't a jerk at all. He was a little standoffish at times, but he was never as mean as I assumed he would be. I really enjoyed his character! I want my own Jake.



The romance was sugary sweet. I thought Jake and Annie were so cute together! I loved all of their romantic moments together. Their romance was everything I wish I had when I was their age, and what I wish I had now!

One thing I didn't really like was Annie's crush on Kyle. I understood that she thought he was cute, but it didn't make sense for her to like him! It annoyed me that she liked him at all. I am glad it didn't last the entire book, because it was very obvious that she was suppose to be with Jake!

Overall, this was a fun and entertaining read! I would recommend this to anyone looking for a cute summer read.



4 / 5 Fangs

*This ebook was given to me in exchange for a honest review. *

MrsLeif's Two Fangs About It
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[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed Daring the Bad Boy so much! It was the perfect light summer read. Annie is determined to reinvent herself at camp this summer and a big part of her plan is kissing the super hot Kyle. Sadly, her fear of swimming is seriously derailing her plans. Lucky for her, a nighttime game of Truth and Dare is the answer to all of her problems. She gets Jacob to agree to give her swimming lessons. Jacob is the quintessential bad boy with a heart of gold you cannot help but love and I enjoyed every second spent with him!

Jacob is not happy about finding himself at Camp Pine Ridge. He is there because he has no other choice and he knows another screw up will land him in juvie. He is not happy at first to be tricked into giving Annie swimming lessons and the summer has seemingly gone from bad to worse. Soon Annie is convincing him to give her lesson on landing her crush and late night swimming turns to late night kissing. Will Annie land Kyle by the end of summer or will she realize maybe the person she needs to help her be who she want to be has been right next to her all summer?

This story was so fun! It wasn't too heavy and the characters were entertaining and enjoyable to read about. Monica Murphy hit this YA story out of the ballpark.

A copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[***Cheryl*** · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great read from Monica Murphy.

Annie wants to be a different person at summer camp. However her fear of water is getting in the way until a game of truth and dare that buts her in line with the camp's bad boy. And what will happen when she starts to fall for him?

This was a sweet summer romance read. There is little bit of angst and a little bit of rule breaking . I loved Jake and Annie together, they had great chemistry. It is set in a great location that really puts you in a summer mood. This one is more on the YA side than i have read recently but I did enjoy it. If you are looking for a sweet summer romance story then this book is for you.

* I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone probably knows by now that I am a massive fan of anything by Monica Murphy and Daring the bad boy was a super fun, sweet teen romance that I totally loved, it ticks all the right boxes and is the perfect end of summer read. I think what made this book even better for me is the fact that you get two POV Annie's and Jake's and they're both totally lovable characters that you can really get behind. I love the growth that the characters both go through in this book also how some relationships that were strained are strengthened. It's a great read full of first loves, family heartache and making new friendships.

Copy received by the author through netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

[Meegz Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 Stars*

Copy kindly received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This one was a fun and quick read. I don't think I connect as much with certain high-school aged character books, but I did enjoy this and found it quite easy to read. It's a coming of age story about discovering yourself and I liked the characters.

Would recommend.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come 3-3.5 stars

[Farah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summer camp love story.It's good,do give it a try