All the best things in this romance read! Cute, fun, lighthearted, and uplifting! Jayci Lee nails it with this story that brings truth or dare, romance and loveable characters.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Aubrey and Landon are off on their honeymoon leaving Tara and Seth to help out with the opening of their new restaurant. Tara doesn’t really do relationships, but when Seth dares her to go on four dates with him she wonders what the worst thing that could happen is. He’s moving to Parish in a month anyway. Tara agrees, but realizes not falling for Seth may be harder than she thought.

This was another cute and steamy romance from Jayci Lee. I enjoyed getting to read a love story featuring Asian-American protagonists. I was unsure about the premise initially. Not exactly enemies-to-lovers, but platonic acquaintances-to-lovers?

The dates were cute, but the dialogue was a bit overdone. It was very cheesy and a bit unrealistic for me. The flowery language Seth and Tara use to show admiration for each other took away from their natural relationship. There was a solid build up of tension and the pacing was good.

Overall, this was a cute romance but I still prefer A Sweet Mess. The Dating Dare could have been a hit, but just a bit too cheesy for my taste.

Almost sickeningly sweet at times, Jayci Lee is a genius with writing characters that make you want to throttle them for being dense to how perfect they are together. When Netflix decides to visit Weldon, I will be right there waiting.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Tara and Seth are respectively maid of honour and best man at the wedding of her best friend to his brother. Seth is staying in town for a month to housesit during his brother’s honeymoon before moving to Paris, so he challenges Tara to the dare of the title: they will go on four dates, and she can’t fall for him.

There is a pacing problem in this novel which makes an otherwise good story a bit boring. Tara and Seth are great characters, both passionate about their respective interests (beer brewing for her, photography and art for him) and both have a dorky, complementary sense of humour. I loved the beginning of the book, when the two are slightly antagonistic and set the dare, and the end, after the whole thing falls apart. The problem I felt was in the middle, which lacked conflict to make me interested in continuing reading. Lee alternates between Seth and Tara’s points of view within each chapter, so we know how much into each other they are almost immediately, and how quickly both of them develop deeper feelings. While they do have excellent reasons to want to remain detached, in the absence of external conflict, those reasons start to feel pretty flimsy in the face of the intensity of their attraction and attachment to each other.

Sadly, despite the strong characters, charming premise, and moving ending, this novel left me a bit cold for the whole middle section. Maybe it could have benefited from more involvement from their families, who from the glimpses I saw could have lovingly meddled in an entertaining way to complicate things.

This was a lovely easy read. I enjoyed the character build up and it provided me with a fun level of escapism. Also this is a new author to me and that was lovely too

This book was a cute read with a good storyline and wonderfully created characters which made this book a very enjoyable and entertaining read!

This was my first Jayci Lee book and it likely won’t be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story. I found it very easy to get right into. A fun read with great characters. If you love a good love story then this book will satisfy you.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Tara was not interested in a long term relationship until she meets Seth at her friends wedding. I enjoyed the chemistry between Tara and Seth.

SO CUTE. I can easily see this as the plot for a good rom-com movie.
4 stars - (supercute, sofun, soaddictive, smiley)
SYNOPSIS: the story follows two protagonists Tara and Seth who meet at Tara's best friends wedding and Seth's brother was the groom. Seth challenges Tara to go on four dates with him without falling in love, but the catch is that Seth is moving to Paris in a month. They both have emotional pasts and baggage and neither of them expect anything more than a fling because they think four dates are not enough to really create feelings for someone, right?

Yes this was extremely cheesy, but reading it was still fun. It's like when you have the desire/mood to watch a romantic comedy - you know it'll be cheesy and all smiles, but you still want to watch it. That's what reading this felt like for me. The characters chemistry was cute and very much a no-brainer, but I felt hooked and invested in their story so much so that I was awake at 3:00 am reading it.

Overall, it's easy, cute, and fun. Don't expect anything too complex or unpredictable. It's simple enough to get through in one or two sittings and the cuteness of the story itself was everything. It felt like a good beach/trip read and I was smiling so much while reading it!

Such a fun idea! Love the attraction from the beginning and the slow burn throughout the book. These characters are perfect for each other! Very fun from the very beginning. Sucks you in!

A cute, easy read about a couple that get together due to a dare, hence the name :) Both have been burned in the past and are expecting a few weeks of casual fun but their relationship quickly escalates to much more. Like able characters and I alway enjoyed getting to know a bit more about the other characters too.

"The Dating Dare" was the over-the-top, but in a funny, sweet, and cute way. At the wedding reception for Tara's best friend Aubrey and Seth's older brother, Landon, Tara catches Seth ogling/gawking at her and confronts him. Their banter eventually leads to them leaving the wedding reception and going to the Weldon Brewery, which Tara runs with her family, and a game of truth or dare involving beer. After some more conventional rounds of truth or dare, Seth gets the opportunity he was hoping for and he dares Tara to go on four dates with him and not fall for him. They both know that he is leaving for Paris in a month to take a chance of a lifetime job as a fashion photographer. Plus neither one of them is looking for anything serious. Seth views it as something fun to help occupy his time while he housesits for his brother and Aubrey and oversees the renovations of his brother's restaurant. Tara, in agreeing to the dare, also views it as an opportunity for a fun fling.

However, in a happily ever after romance novel, that is not the way things turn out. Tara and Seth quickly discover that a simple fling is not going to happen. They have both been badly burned in love in the past and so they are both committed to having things ends in a month, but their attraction and connection is deeper and stronger than they expected. Adding an element of humor is that Weldon is a small town and Tara does not want anyone, especially her family, to know that she is dating Seth, which means some creative excuses and planning to arrange their dates, but keep them secret. Things become more difficult as Tara and Seth realize they want to spend much of their non-date time together as well.

The author has crafted great banter between Tara and Seth, as well as numerous funny and heartfelt moments, including an episode where Seth finds himself pretending to be a prince (and Tara a dragon guarding the prince) for a group of children and an episode involving a promposal (proposal to prom). The story also involves Tara and Seth sharing with each other the details of the past relationships that have profoundly shaped their lives, including Seth's choice of career, and Tara's perception of her inability to risk truly loving someone. Their budding relationship ends up being life-changing in multiple ways.

"The Dating Dare" is an enjoyable book and one I would certainly recommend.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I want to start off this review by saying that the rating is a reflection of my personal taste and not at all on the author's writing itself. Jayci Lee is clearly a very talented author who has the ability to weave an entertaining story that, at times, definitely made me chuckle out out. Objectively, this book is everything that it sets out to be with its dating date. It has all the tropes you expect and delivers on its promises, following the formula perfectly. It's cute, romantic, and albeit it a little cliché (but there is absolutely nothing wrong with that). If you love a straight-forward romance, this is for you.

However, it was sadly not my perfect brew. I had a very difficult time getting into it from the jump. The interactions between the main characters felt a bit forced and awkward to me and with very little build-up from Tara sniping at him in the initial wedding scene to them being hopeless attracted to each other, I had a hard time feeling deeply moved or charmed by the characters themselves. The story never went beyond just surface level amusement for me, unfortunately.

Again, this is a matter of my own taste and while this might not have been the book for me, I think there are readers of romance out there who would truly love this book.

This was an adorable read! Seth and Tara’s attempts to not fall for one another was fun reading because their obvious chemistry speaks for itself! Their dates ranged from the cute, to fiasco, to swoony sigh sweetness, but all of them were memorable. I also enjoyed how Lee incorporated Seth and Tara’s respective families in to the mix.

“You’re all I see. You’re all I want.”

I voluntarily read an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley/St. Martin’s press. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Dating Dare by Jayci Lee is part of a series. Tara Park does not want a serious relationship. But then she is taking a dare to have 4 dates with her best friend’s brother-in-law who she is very attracted to.
II was a little lost in the story –turns out there is an earlier book. I felt if I had read the first one, I would have enjoyed it more. I did feel the writing is good and the story cute.
I recommend that you read the first one to make this one more enjoyable.
Thank you, Net Galley, for an advanced copy for an honest review.

This was a fun light hearted read. I was so engrossed with the plot I had to finish it in one night. I enjoyed that both characters were of Korean descent although it wasn't a large factor of the story. Korean culture was mentioned but very sparingly. I would have loved to hear more about an Asian American dating experience. There are nuisances of our culture which makes romance books like these difficult to relate to.

I think a person’s appreciation of a book often has to do with whether it is what she is in the mood to read at the time. If she is in the mood for a rom com and picks up a thriller, it probably won’t be that enjoyable.

This is a perfect book for anyone who is in the mood for a light romantic read. Yes, a beach book, but I don’t mean that in a pejorative way. Sometimes you just want a book that has characters who are normal people, living normal lives with the emotional baggage we all have, and who navigate it like reasonably sane adults. Granted, the whole “dating dare” thing might be a little out there, but it is a fun premise.

This story has the requisite conflict, both main characters have issues from past failed relationships, but there is no melodrama or pages of angst to get through. It was a little heavy on the internal dialogue for my taste. Also, while I appreciate being drawn into a story by the author providing scene stetting details, this seemed a little heavy on describing all their food. Seriously, can we just say they had a nice dinner without describing each dish? Sometimes less is more.

Other than those minor issues, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to friends to stuff in a beach bag. Good plot and relatable characters are surprisingly hard to come by these days.

The Dating Dare could be cute and romantic but Jayci Lee kind of sabotages herself by going overboard with her characters and their emotions and insecurities. Seth and Tara, the protagonists, each had a previous bad relationship – and because of that one bad relationship they’re both never, ever going to love again. They’re just going to have a fling with each other while her best friend and his brother are on a honeymoon and before Seth leaves for Paris. But they just can’t stop having all the feels for each other. And if Lee had written it so you felt the warring emotions between not wanting the relationship to be serious and it actually becoming serious it would have been great. Instead the characters ruminate constantly about how they’re feeling. I would prefer to feel the emotions as the characters experience them instead of having it constantly overexplained for me by the characters. There’s parts of the book that feel very organic and natural and read quickly, but there’s other parts where the situation, dialogue or introspection feel awkward and disruptive to the flow of the story and they could have been written better. This is also the second book in a series, and while for the most part I was able to read it as a standalone (having not read A Sweet Mess, its predecessor) the beginning of the book in particular presumes that the reader has background knowledge from the first book, and it felt like I had to catch up as the book went along. I love the diversity of the characters, the small town setting and the characters’ career choices (lady brewer, woo hoo!) but the story overall just doesn’t quite hit the right notes for me.

**While this is a sequel it can be read as a standalone**

This book was witty, sweet, flirtatious and kissing. Lots of kissing.

I loved the relationship between Tara and Seth. Two people who didn't expect anything more to come from their four-date dare. It's cute how after one date they both wanted to hang out more outside of their dates. You can tell that they've had a friendship before and that it's just progressing into something more. It feels a bit like a romcom but like the good kind (like How To Lose a Guy In 10 Days ). I was rooting for Tara and Seth from the beginning and loved reading their story. I highly recommend this one!

What to expect from The Dating Dare:
- Insta-love :: This isn't my favorite trope. I'm not opposed to reading it, I just want it to be done well. In this case it was so immediate I absolutely couldn't get on board.

- Dual POV :: You read from both POVs, which I have never had an issue with in the past. This book however didn't seem to have anything extra added to it by having both POVs. They were experiencing the same feelings in alternating chapters. It was like re-reading the previous chapter. I probably would have liked the book more if there was only one POV and a bit more mystery.

- Baggage :: Both MCs are guarded and have been hurt by a prior partner. Because of this they are closed off to love and don't want a relationship. HOWEVER, they enter into a dating dare knowing they are much more attracted to each other than they should be to keep things casual.

- Predictability :: I don't mind predictable romcoms, I enjoy them usually. This plot is SO overdone and there is nothing original about the characters though. They went on a vacation where one of them tried something new and right as I was thinking an injury is about to happen... an injury happened.