REVIEW: Dare You To Run by Dawn Ryder

In Dare You To Run by Dawn Ryder, Navy SEAL Vitus Hale meets Damascus Ryland on a rescue mission. Their attraction is instant, and by the time he brings her home they’re engaged. When her father Jeb, a powerful politician, threatens to have Vitus killed, Damascus breaks off the engagement to keep him safe. Her father then gets him kicked out of the SEALS. Three years later the pair meet again when Vitus, no part of a Special Ops unit, receives a medal for his efforts to rescue her, and she needs his help again to rescue her from her father’s plans for her.

If you’ve read the previous book in the series, you know that the Special Ops teams believes Jeb Ryland and their former teammate, Tyler, were behind the attack that killed a couple of their teammates and almost killed more. They’re determined to bring them both to justice, and helping Damascus gets them closer to the cause. Now they also have to deal with another threat, Carl Davis, the man planning on running for president and makes a deal with Jeb to marry Damascus.

I liked Vitus. Once reunited, he comes across as a bit of a jerk, but it’s only because he was still hurt about Damascus breaking up with him, not realizing that she had only done it to protect him.

I also liked Damascus, although I wished she would have confessed to Vitus why she broke up with him sooner than she did. She was smart enough to find a way to get away from her father, even though he didn’t realize her plans and made his own for her. Despite the kidnappings and threats on her life, she never caved to anyone. She stood up to her father and Carl, and never backed down from her tormentors, which Vitus admired.

She was arching, turning toward him as he swept her hair away from her ear again and leaned down to look at her injury.
“This,” he rasped next to her ear, “is a mark of valor.” He tucked her hair back, standing just an inch from her. “Proof that you didn’t roll over for your daddy’s plan for you, that you dug deep and found the strength to fight back.”

While it’s not necessary to have read the first book, it would be helpful if you want to understand the team’s hatred for Jeb and Tyler. And while this book isn’t a cliffhanger, it’s clear that the battle with Tyler is going to continue in the next book.

The first part of the books moves a bit slowly, but the second half really picks up the pace with plenty of action. If you like romantic suspense, this might be a book for you.

Book Info:

Publication: August 30, 2016 | St. Martin’s Paperbacks | Unbroken Heroes #2

For Vitus Hale, only one mission has ever gone wrong. All he had to do was rescue a beautiful woman from her kidnappers. But falling hard into bed—and into love—with the stunning innocent was not part of the game plan, and when she leaves him in the dust, Vitus has nothing but a blemished record and a hardened heart. Now, after three long years, his beauty has finally come back into his life—and this time, failure is not an option…

Damascus Ryland knew from their first steamy embrace that stoic warrior Vitus Hale is the only man for her, but when her power-hungry Congressman father offered her an ultimatum—sever ties with Vitus, or he dies—Damascus knew she had to walk away to save the man she loved. But now, three years later, a new threat is closing in on her—and tossing Vitus right back into her life. Damascus needs to keep her love for him locked in her heart if she is to keep him safe, but the old flame that burned between them is still as vibrant and hot as ever. Now, Damascus and Vitus must risk it all to find their freedom…and embrace their love…