REVIEW: Dare to Take by Carly Phillips

In Dare to Take (Dare to Love #6) by Carly Phillips, Ella Shaw should be mad at her best friend Avery for sending Tyler, Avery’s brother, to rescue her. But with a hurricane bearing down on the island she’s visiting on a business trip, she’ll take all the help she can get. Even if it is the man who broke her heart when she was eighteen, setting her up for failure in her future relationships. But Ella never has lost her attraction to Tyler. And once they’re in the same space again, it’s obvious that they’ll have to deal with the issue, whether they end up together or apart for good.

She scooted closer to him, bracing her hands on either side of his face, and met his gaze. “You’re the other half of my heart. You always have been.”

Tyler was fighting his own demons when he and Ella has their first go-round. He’s not proud of the way he handled things and never realized how badly he hurt her. Now he has the chance to explain himself. To make Ella see that what they have together could be something strong and true. But Tyler needs to make sure that they are both emotionally ready to commit to each other. Because he can guarantee that the physical part of the relationship will be fantastic. It’s the rest of it that scares the hell out of him.

‘She wanted him as much as he did her. But even if he didn’t understand all the reasons why, he knew he needed to be more careful with her heart.’

The final full-length novel in the Dare to Love series was every bit as sexy and meaningful as the previous five have been. I fell for our hero and heroine, Tyler and Ella, immediately, with their explosive chemistry and emotional backstory together.

“Do you feel that?” he asked.
“What?”
“The heat.” He nipped at her earlobe. “The anticipation.” He tugged harder, and desire shot through her body. “We’re combustible.”

Carly Phillips has done an incredible job with this series. I’ve read every book (they can be read as standalones, though) and I have honestly loved every single couple. The overall set-up for the books have been similar, with a delicious romance being hampered by some mystery or by a person from the past. But each book has been uniquely its own based on the couple themselves, with their personalities and attitudes shining through.

While each Dare sibling has had their own story to tell and of course their family issues all started off in the same place, each of them were shaped differently by the painful events. In this case, Tyler ran off to join the Army and didn’t deal with his reaction to the drama right away so in this story he had to face what happened years ago. I loved that he was protective of Ella and even told her that no matter if they were seeing each other or not, he would be there to keep her safe. Tyler might have been all yummy alpha male, but his mother raised him right. He looked out for his family and friends, putting their safety as priority number one.

Ella was a great character for this series. We’ve seen her time and again and I’ve wondered what her past was really like. We got the details here and it was simply heartbreaking. She was such a tough cookie. But I loved that it didn’t make her overly cynical. Instead she gave back to those she could help and it made Ella cherish her friendships. I felt so bad for her after the way it ended with Tyler the first time around but was completely happy and satisfied with how things worked out for them this time.

While I’m sad to see things end for this series, Carly Phillips wrapped things up in the most wonderful of ways with a reunion of all the Dare siblings for a special event. And be sure to read the Epilogue! It gives us a peek into her next series, Billionaire Bad Boys, which sounds just as hot and emotionally rich as the rest of her work.

Book Info:

Publication: Published May 3rd 2016 | by CP Publishing | Dare to Love #6

She was off limits,
But he couldn’t resist.

There are just some guys you don’t touch–even someone as innocent and inexperienced as Ella Shaw knows that. But when her brother’s best friend is up for grabs and willing, she can’t resist. After all, she’s wanted him for years…

On leave from the army, Tyler Dare is just looking for a little fun, but his best friend’s sister is off limits. Yet unable to deny how sexy and alluring she is, he finds it all too easy to succumb to a night of passion and heat that ends the next morning in the worst way possible.

Now, Ella is stranded on a tropical island with a hurricane bearing down, and only Tyler can save her. It’s his chance to make amends for the past and show the woman he’s never forgotten that he’s coming after her . . . in more ways than one.