Rowena’s review of Take Me On (Pushing the Limits #4) by Katie McGarry.
Bonus novella included: Crossing the Line.
Acclaimed author Katie McGarry returns with the knockout new story of two high school seniors who are about to learn what winning really means.
Champion kickboxer Haley swore she’d never set foot in the ring again after one tragic night. But then the guy she can’t stop thinking about accepts a mixed martial arts fight in her honor. Suddenly, Haley has to train West Young. All attitude, West is everything Haley promised herself she’d stay away from. Yet he won’t last five seconds in the ring without her help.
West is keeping a big secret from Haley. About who he really is. But helping her-fighting for her-is a shot at redemption. Especially since it’s his fault his family is falling apart. He can’t change the past, but maybe he can change Haley’s future.
Hayley and West have agreed to keep their relationship strictly in the ring. But as an unexpected bond forms between them and attraction mocks their best intentions, they’ll face their darkest fears and discover love is worth fighting for.
Take Me On is the fourth book in Katie McGarry’s Pushing the Limits series and it was yet another great addition to an already fantastic series. And that’s saying something because I didn’t like West AT ALL in the last book. West is Rachel’s brother from Crash into You. He’s the one that stole Rachel’s money and left Rachel to start drag racing to raise the money that West stole from her, in order to get herself and Isaiah out of trouble. I was not expecting to like him but McGarry does a really great job of redeeming him because by the end of the book, I loved the hell out of West. He was probably my favorite character in this book. Aside from Abby.
So this book follows West as he starts to turn his life around. He got into that fight at his private school because some guys were talking trash about his sister and even though the Principal understood why West fought, they couldn’t turn away from how many other fights West had gotten into and how much trouble he caused as a student there before so West was still expelled…which pissed his father off. Pissed him off so much that they get into the biggest argument and West gets kicked out of his house too.
Before he starts at his new public high school (the same one that Isaiah goes to), he runs into a girl who is running from some bad news and being the gentleman that he is (or is trying to be), he keeps an eye on her, even when she disappears and the two guys that were chasing her, jump him. And this is where their story begins.
Haley doesn’t have an easy life. Her father was laid off a year ago and their home life just keeps sinking further and further into a shit hole that she’s desperately trying to stay out of. Her family lost everything. Their house, their car and with each passing day, Haley feels like she’s losing herself. Her family lives with an abusive uncle and trying to keep their family unit strong is a trial each and every single day. She doesn’t need any new complications in her life but West just doesn’t seem to get the hint.
There’s so much going on in this book and it made the pacing move quite fast but for me, it completely worked. I thought the evolution of West was well written. He was completely redeemed in my eyes by the end of the book. I really liked his character. I liked that he was aware of everything he did and he was trying to make amends for it all by growing up and being the man that would make his family proud. I loved the way that he was with Haley, so protective and loving at the same time. I loved that they bickered quite a bit because West wanted to help Haley and Haley was content to stand on her own two feet. I loved seeing the dynamic between both Haley, Kaden and Jax and then West, Ethan and Rachel. Their support system was probably one of my most favorite things in the book. I loved that they were all estranged in the beginning and you see them all find their way back to each other.
This book was just full of awesome. I enjoyed it from the beginning to the end and that surprised me because I was so ready to not care about anyone. Especially West. But McGarry did a great job of telling West’s story and I shouldn’t have doubted that she’d write a kick ass story. If you haven’t checked this series out then you should change that because it’s just damn good. And this book was no exception.
Grade: 4.5 out of 5
This book is available from Mira Ink. You can purchase it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by Mira Ink in exchange for an honest review.
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