Crash Into You by Katie McGarry

Crash Into You by Katie McGarry
Series: Pushing the Limits, #1
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: November 26, 2013

From acclaimed author Katie McGarry comes an explosive new tale of a good girl with a reckless streak, a street-smart guy with nothing to lose, and a romance forged in the fast lane 

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind.

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look.

But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

"I scare the hell out of most people, but you will never have anything to fear from me. Choose. Love me or don't. But tell me now."

I've been trying to write this review for going on a week now, but I'm still having a bit of trouble forming my thoughts into actual, coherent words and sentences. To tell you the truth, I think I'm still kind of shell-shocked. I've always known that Isaiah was my favorite secondary character, but he's never really been built upon like he was in this one. He never really had a chance to shine... but in this one, my God he shines.

My first impression of Isaiah was what stayed with me. I loved the fact that he had tattoos, and that they really meant something to him. I loved that he stood out & stood up for what he believed in. To tell you the truth, I'm pretty much in love with him. Give me a bad boy who has tattoos and earrings... I'm pretty much always gonna love them. What made Isaiah really stand out, though, was that he was a bad guy. He's had a rough time at it, that's for sure, but he still wants to do what's right.

And for him, he thought that was staying away from Rachel; and not "tainting" her with his bad-boyness. She's a good girl, he says. And yeah, she is. I really liked Rachel. She was so innocent and weirdly shy, but the entire dynamic that Isaiah and Rachel had going on between them was magic. Plus, she gets cars. *applause* I'm so proud to find another (although decidedly fictional) girl who likes cars! I'm personally a little bit obsessed with them, so it's always nice to "meet" someone else who is. Also, this quote from her kind of couldn't be truer for me.

"I get cars. I like the feel of them. The sound of them."

The character development for both Isaiah & Rachel was phenomenal. I felt like they really got to know each other before they jumped into a relationship, and that kind of made the book for me. They were so cute & sweet together, as well as being incredibly intense and crazy together. A weird combination, but I think it was the best ever.

I enjoyed the cameo appearances of Beth & Noah, but I kind of felt like [since the story was all about Isaiah] they kind of skipped out for most of it. Also, Noah can be a bit of a jerk. *threatens Noah for being mean to Isaiah* Their familiarity was great, though. I guess that's what gives him a licence to be a jerk. ;) On that note, though, I also enjoyed the introduction of a new secondary character, Abby. She played a very important part. :P

Last but not least, I really enjoyed the drama in this one. The races were a wonderful touch, and the added bits with Eric were pretty much amazing. I loved the action & the suspense. I also loved the possibility of future books that comes from the end of this one - so many characters that need love!

All in all, Crash Into You was amazing. Dare You to may have let me down a little, but this one redeemed the whole series in my eyes. Definitely a keeper.