***4 Stars***

Intense, frustrating, but overall a great read with characters that were likable and real.

I really liked Ivy and Aiden. Ivy has been through it, and is punishing herself over her choices, but she’s also working at making herself better. Aiden is focused and determined and it sometimes leads to being tunnel visioned, but he’s a good guy once you peel back the layers. Their journey to their HEA is a rocky one and while the push/pull drove me nuts, I understood where they were both coming from. I liked their flow and how, despite everything, they found that they could be themselves when they were together. So, in the end, I liked how everything has worked out for them.

This is my first read by the author and I enjoyed it. There is quite a bit of angst, but given the characters backstory, especially Ivy’s, it’s understandable. There are some triggers which may make this a difficult read for some, but it is necessary to understand the characters. As for the supporting cast of characters, I really liked Caleb and DJ ended up growing on me, so I’m looking forward to getting my hands on their books to see what their HEA’s end up being.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and author for the copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love B. Celeste! She delivers with this college sports romance!

The one who got away...

Well, more accurately ran away.

Ivy was drowning in the contempt and anger swirling in her house. Living in that kind of hostile environment makes lasting trauma. Enough so that a young girl ran away and bately survived.

Seeing him again is difficult. He was her everything. She left him behind. But they both know ignoring it won't maje it go away.

Aiden has no intention of letting her go again. He Dare(s) You (Her) to Hate Me.

Intense and real. DARE YOU TO HATE ME is a rough around the edges and realistic story. I found Aiden and Ivy to be perfect for each other and you will too!

- College
- Sports Romance (Football)
- Childhood Friends
- Second Chance
- Traumatic Past

I am a bit torn with this review. I loved seeing Ivy’s resilience and determination to make something of herself after running away at 16, but I didn’t like how she had zero support other than Aiden (debatable really) and I guess she had Bea too, but I felt like she deserved at least ONE female friend her age. Whenever I read a book with this much dark emotion/heavy content there needs to be a balance of lighter stuff too and that was lacking here at least in my opinion.
By the end I was just not convinced with the romance between Ivy and Aiden, I think they should have just remained friends. I was also just mad at conversation with her parents. Ivy deserved better.

3.5⭐️
2🔥

Dare You to Hate Me is a fabulous college sports romance by B Celeste.
I love everything about it. The writing, the dual first person pov, the characters, the storyline, etc.
College sports romances are my absolute favorite type of read. And this is definitely going on my re-read list. I love Aiden is the overprotective leading man we all swoon over. He's a winner of a book boyfriend.
Their story has family issues, including verbal abuse, neglect, etc. It has a second chance theme, as well as an enemies to lovers theme.
If you love college romances, read it. You won't be disappointed.

I will always love childhood bestfriends to lovers - it's just a superior trope!!

This one was really enjoyable and I really liked. It was also really heartbreaking to see the FMC journey.

But Aiden? omg what a perfect MMC!!

If you love:
-college romance;
- sports romance,
- bestfriends to enemies to lovers

this one is the perfect choice for you

~ thanks to netgalley and the author for the review copy ~


Ummm, first of all, I thought this was kinda enemies to lovers or like a hate to love romance development, but it wasn't that, but it's still fine.

I think my problem with this book was the characters, especially Ivy, I mean, I understood where she's coming from, but from time to time, it felt really frustrating since there's kinda no development at all. Aidan kinda likeable, though, same with Ivy, I can't see any significant development of him nor the romance. I felt like it was somehow forced, and I honestly didn't like their romance.

Other than that, it was also underwhelming. The whole plot was not really giving, I don't know if it was the writing, the execution, or the pace, but I just know it felt underwhelming.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy in exchange for a review.

DNF at 50 percent

I tried with this book, I really did. I just feel like I couldn't connect with the characters and I just got really bored at times. I would definitely try this again, but for now, I have way too many review copies I need to read and so many books that are on my TBR this month that I can't spend my time on something I'm not enjoying entirely.

I didn’t love the writing style and I didn’t like how rude the heroine was. She was not what I expected. I also found myself skimming a lot. I just didn’t love the main characters unfortunately.

This book is the first in its series. Please review the trigger warnings before reading also.
With that said I so enjoyed Ivy and Aiden’s romance. I’m not a fan of the friends to lovers but this did it for me! B.Celeste did an amazing job with this book. When I read it, it was like a movie in my head from all of her descriptions.

It’s a college sports romance where they are attracted but don’t like each other initially. It’s got chemistry and emotion. I love a sports romance and this book delivers.

I love all sports romances but this one brought out so many emotions out of me in the best way. I went into this book not having read much from the author but i was not disappointed! Ivy is also such a strong FMC

Absolutely loved this book!
This is my first book from this author and it did not disappoint.
Cannot wait to read more from the series and author.

I could sense that this book would be heavy on the feels and with a strong hint of angst. It was but really took me by surprise.

When I started reading Ivy’s story, I was afraid that her journey would lead to tons of drama. It truly didn’t. The storyline pulled me in right away. Ivy and Aiden took my breath away.

I read it in one sitting, totally captivated by the strength of this girl, a survivor who owned her scars and kept people at distance. Until the boy she once knew managed to break all the walls and started to win her over. A girl who had for so long experienced a tough life, seeking for control and wasn’t afraid to speak her mind.

Aiden was focused on football and also on Ivy’s too. A secretive and protective guy who had found his girl back and never let her go. Intense about everything on Ivy. A sweet soul who proved to her every day how much she mattered, cherished and loved.

The two best friends found their way back together after all those years. Tense at first but slowly turning into something more. They were upfront, passionate and sweet together.

I appreciated their banter and also how their relationship was built on communication and respect, considering each other's feelings.

This story is by the same author of Underneath the Sycamore Tree. It follows Ivy around her freshman year as a non-traditional student at Linden University after overcoming adversity and verbal/emotional abuse by her parents, which caused her to runaway as a teen. Now its four years later and she is a 20 year old student and works at a bakery in her college town when se runs into her childhood best friend and neighbor, Aiden. They for a quick attachment to each other and have to grapple with how to carry on a friendship/relationship with Aiden seemingly leaving school after the end of the semester to prepare for the NFL draft and attending the combine. They are on borrowed time, and they lost each other once when Ivy ran away from home, can they survive the pressures and find their way back to each other if life pulls them opposite directions again?

I think that this author wants to write very angsty stories, but this one did not hit the mark for me. It seemed dragged out, and very few thing actually happened in the plot. If you are looking for a storyline that will keep you wanting to read more, like in Underneath the Sycamore Tree, this is not your book. It was a fast and easy New Adult read, so if that is what you are looking for, then this is for you.

SPORT ROMANCEEEEE

I just needed it so bad in my life and couldn't be happier to have gotten this e-arc.

- Friends to lovers
- Sport romance
- It won't last you 24 hrs (yes that addictive)
- Please do check for trigger warnings

Ivy and Aiden's story has so much depth it's impossible to describe in such a short amount to space also not without giving a whole lot of spoilers but definitely not your expected light full of spice sport romance.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the chance.

Ivy has been through a lot and has some dark demons in her past and right now all she is trying to do is get by and pass her college courses. She doesn't want attention. Especially when that attention comes from Aiden Griffith Lindon U’s star tight end.⁣ Though when that star football player starts talking to her and coming around more and more and has his teammates keeping an eye out for her it's kind of hard to ignore him. Ignore the fact that he was the boy next door when they were kids, ignore he used to be her best friend, ignore that she once asked him to run away with her when they were sixteen, but he said no. and ignore the fact that he now seems to want to get back to where they used to be and then some. Ivy though is stubborn, she's been used before and doesn't trust easy, and everything has to be on her terms but when a situation arrives where Ivy needs a place to live Aiden doesn't give her a choice on where she will live, and she moves in with him. It's hard to ignore someone who you share a bed with and you never quite got over.
I loved Ivy and Aiden. Ivy gave a lot of sass, but Aiden could give it back and didn't put up with Ivy's antics to push him away. Perfect together and had a sweet HEA.

Okay I actually read this in ONE day!!! I loved the enemies to lovers and sports romance aspect. The characters made me mad at times but I still could not put it down! 4.5 stars

Sports romance is all the rage right now! (Although this is football, not hockey.) Friends to lovers, second chance, fated mates (sort of).

I enjoyed this story enough that I'm definitely going to read the next one in the series; however, I didn't really enjoy the characters a great deal. I understood Ivy and her situation completely made sense to me. I didn't appreciate Aiden staking his claim and acting like a caveman. The initial stalking of Ivy's workplace seemed a bit much to me, but it made the story more intense.

I did like that Aiden waited for Ivy and wanted to improve her life because he knew what she had already been through. He went out of his way to bring the goodness back to her life and connect her with the things that she missed. The side characters really made this a great story - Aiden's teammates, Ivy's "chosen" family at the bakery, the few friends Ivy made - they bring a warmth that this very intense story needed.

This book helped me not hate friends to lovers as much which is always a win. I prefer enemies to lovers for the angst and you can just do so much more with the plot but the author did an amazing job in the tropes she was writing in