A runaway bride.
Her older brother’s off-limits friend.
Taking one more shot at love should be easy, right?
Not on a dare.
Samantha Dare had one thought when she found out her fiancé was a lying cheater. Escape. So, she ran from her wedding…straight into the arms of the man who once gave her the hottest kiss of her life. But rebounding with her brother’s friend would be a huge mistake…wouldn’t it?
The last thing Dex Sterling needed was more chaos in his life. Retiring from football and starting over in broadcasting gave him plenty of that. But even though Samantha is chaos personified, for some reason, he’s still not able to keep his mind—or hands—off her…
Is a little bit of forced proximity and a lot of sexual chemistry enough to earn them a second chance at happily ever after?
Samantha and Dex are about to find out…
| Title: | Just One More Dare |
| Author: | Carly Phillips |
| Series: | The Sterling Family (Book 2) |
| Pages: | 280 |
| Genre(s): | Contemporary |
| Trope(s): | Second Chance Romance Runaway Bride |
| Point of View: | Third Person, Past Tense, Dual Viewpoints (H&h) |
| Location: | New York, US |
| HEA: | ✔️ |
| Release Date: | 23 July, 2024 |
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Lovely second chance romance
I always look forward to a new Carly Phillips’ story and here we’re getting the second book in the Sterling Family series (coming after Just One More Moment). This book also links into the Dare to Love series (and pretty much all the other Dare series’) as our heroine, Samantha, is a Dare. I have read many, many of the previous books but keeping the family connections straight in your head is nigh on impossible. So whether you have read all of Carly Phillips’ books or this is your first – you will understand and enjoy this story without feeling lost.
Samantha Dare is about to get married. Sure, she might not feel all-consuming passionate love for the guy but he’s her business partner. When she realises she’s been fooled, Samantha runs – straight into Dex Sterling – her brother’s friend and a man she shared the hottest kiss of her life with, ten years ago. While Samantha heals, she tries to keep her distance – but maybe Dex has been what her life has been missing all along.
Samantha was a great character and someone who I liked from the start. Her emotions felt real and I loved the way she was determined to heal and to get her life back on track. Although she wanted Dex – and had a sizzling chemistry with him – I also understood her need to keep him at arms length. She was a strong and resilient heroine and exactly who I want to read about. There was also no problem, for me, with the speed of Samantha’s relationship with Dex after her cancelled wedding. It felt right.
“…if there was any hero that was more perfect for Samantha than Dex, I don’t think you’d ever find him.”
And if there was any hero that was more perfect for Samantha than Dex, I don’t think you’d ever find him. He was all in with Samantha within moments of their re-meeting when he almost hits her with his car as she escapes from her wedding. As I said, the chemistry was palpable but Dex was just respectful enough, and just naughty enough, to make me cheer for this pairing. I loved how he was happy to wait for Samantha to be ready for a relationship – but used every dirty trick in the book to make her realise they were forever.
With the pair’s chemistry, the sex scenes were always going to be hot – but then again, they always are with Carly Phillips. But it’s not just them that packed the punch – all their interactions had an emotion and underlying sizzle to them. You can feel that they care about each other and it’s just lovely.
I really liked the pace of the story and there was lots going on – always something different to keep your interest. I was about to say that this was a fairly short story, but I just checked and it’s actually 280 pages long. I must have whizzed through it as it felt short to me. Credit to Ms Phillips’ writing that kept me engaged and interested from beginning to epilogue! Loving these Sterlings and can’t wait for the next in the series. 5 stars.
*I received this book in exchange for my honest review*
Carly Phillips gives her readers Alphalicious heroes to swoon for and romance to set your heart on fire, and she loves everything about writing romance. She married her college sweetheart and lives in Purchase, NY along with her three crazy dogs: two wheaten terriers and a mutant Havanese, who are featured on her Facebook and Instagram. She has raised two incredible daughters who put up with having a mom as a romance author. Carly is the author of over fifty romances, and is a NY Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestseller. She loves social media and interacting with her readers. Want to keep up with Carly? Sign up for her newsletter and receive TWO FREE books at www.carlyphillips.com.
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The Sterling Family Series:
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