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The tougher they are, the harder they fall…

Professional mercenary Dare Macintosh lives by one hard and fast rule: business should never be personal. If a cause appeals to him and the price is right, he'll take the mission he's offered. But then the lovely Molly Alexander asks him to help her track down the men who'd had her kidnapped—and for the first time, Dare's tempted to combine work with pleasure.

Fiercely independent, Molly vows to trust no one until she's uncovered the truth. Could the enemy be her powerful, estranged father? The ex-fiancé who still holds a grudge? Or the not-so-shy fan of her bestselling novels? As the danger heats up around them, the only anchor Molly has is Dare himself. But what she feels for him just might be the most frightening thing of all…

448 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 26, 2011

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About the author

Lori Foster

427 books11.5k followers
Since first publishing in January 1996, Lori Foster has become a USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly and New York Times bestselling author. Lori has published through a variety of houses, including Kensington, St. Martin’s, Harlequin, Silhouette, Samhain, and Berkley/Jove. She is currently published with HQN.

Lori hosts a very special annual “Reader & Author” event in West Chester, Ohio. Proceeds from the event have benefited many worthy causes, including the Hamilton County YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter, the Animal Adoption Foundation, The Conductive Learning Center for children with spina bifida and cerebral palsy, and The One Way Farm, Children’s Home.

Each year Lori donates all proceeds from one book to charity. You can see the benefit romance books here: http://lorifoster.com/benefit-books/

Career Highlights
•In 2001, Lori received the prestigious Romantic Times “Career Achievement Award” for Series Romantic Fantasy.

•In 2002, Lori’s book Too Much Temptation was the top-selling romance title for Amazon books.

•In 2003, Say No To Joe was the second “Bestselling Original Contemporary” romance title for Waldenbooks.

•In 2004, Lori Foster was a clue in the New York Times crossword puzzle.

•In 2004, The Secret Life of Bryan was the “Bestselling Original Contemporary” romance title for the BGI group.

•In 2005, Lori received the prestigious Romantic Times “Career Achievement Award” for Contemporary Romance.

•In 2006, Jude’s Law was the “Bestselling Romantic Comedy” romance title for the BGI group.

•In 2007, Lori launched a new “urban fantasy” series under the name L.L. Foster. See more on her “dark side” at www.llfoster.com.

•In 2007, Causing Havoc was among Amazon’s Top Ten Editor’s picks in Romance.

•In 2008, Hard to Handle made #2 on The New York Times.

•In 2009, Servant: The Acceptance was Amazon’s #1 Editors’ Pick in Romance.

•In 2010, Lori was a clue in the USA Today Quick Cross puzzle.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,051 reviews
Profile Image for Logan.
516 reviews98 followers
June 27, 2011
First impressions: Hello, pretty cover. I'd ask how you are, but I think it's fairly obvious. You're doing great. So what's going on back there, behind your beautiful abs of awesome? No, you're right. I don't really care.

Lasting impressions: A smart, strong woman meets a smart, strong man and somehow both are surprised they fall in love. I'm all about the slow burn, but with this one I was snapping my fingers hoping they'd move it along. I gots thangs to do.

Conflicting impressions: Dare is a mercenary, and a lot of time is spent talking about his job or watching him protect Molly, but we get snubbed when it comes to actually seeing his dare I say, daring rescue? I could pun all day with this guy.

Overall impressions: It took me probably three weeks to get through this book. I would read a few chapters, put it down, then not ever really get the urge to pick it back up. I was on board with a handsome mercenary who rescues a young woman, then falls in love while trying to track down her kidnappers. If only that was the book I got.

Instead, I got a really boring but handsome rich dude who says he's a killer mercenary but in reality is just dull and likes dogs. A LOT. He calls them "his girls" and I think that's supposed to be cute but I thought it was weird. The author wanted to make us think he had daughters by using this vague phrase.

Yeah. We get it. Very clever.

The book starts after the main event, which annoyed me. Dare has just rescued this woman out of the goodness of his heart while actually in Mexico to rescue his friend's sister from human traffickers. There was this extra American lying around so he just scooped her up and put her in the bin with the others. It's a good thing Lori Foster doesn't try to make Molly feel indebted to him for going out of his way to save her because that would be super extra annoying.

But no. Molly feels indebted not because Dare rescued her, but because she hasn't paid him. She spends the rest of the book worrying about the expenses Dare is racking up in order to get her things like food, clothing, and shelter (the nerve!) and is so overly apologetic about being scared and seemingly weak that she drives Dare (and us) crazy.

The secret is that Dare doesn't think she's crazy for being scared. He thinks she's actually handling things really well and is so impressed with how awesome and strong she is that he wants to smooch her. Instead of going all Moonstruck and slapping Molly while Cher-ily telling her to "Snap out of it!" he just dives in and plants a kiss on a shell-shocked recovering kidnapping victim who was beaten and starved in a Mexican shack for almost two weeks.

Surprisingly, Molly reacts by wondering if she can get some more of that smooching. That pain in your eye? That's called an eyeroll sprain. You may want to go put some ice on that.

The single most frustrating part of this book was that despite the somewhat forgivable back-and-forth nature of the characters' escalating feelings, the plot itself didn't really go anywhere. We come in after the exciting rescue and then spend a few hundred pages watching Molly try to build her life back up to normal, then spend the last 50 pages finding out whodunnit and watching Dare take them down in a very brief scene. Where was the danger I was promised in the summary? I wanted way more action than I got, and was disappointed with how slowly the book moved.

Our main characters spent most of the book telling each other the same thing over and over again, highlighting their mutual admiration. "You're perfect." "No, you're perfect." "You're so strong." "No, you're so strong." "I secretly love you." "No, I'm the one in love with you secretly." Ad nauseam. If you can stomach the slow pace and just want to follow the romance, this is for you. If you're looking for some excitement or surprises, I wouldn't recommend it.
Profile Image for UniquelyMoi ~ BlithelyBookish.
1,097 reviews1,712 followers
May 13, 2013

When You Dare is the first book in the Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor series and my introduction to Lori Foster’s writing.

The basis of this story is one of the more heinous crimes imaginable - human trafficking, and the rescue of a group of females being held in Tijuana, Mexico. We don’t see the actual rescue, which was unfortunate, but pick up almost immediately afterward when our hero, Dare Macintosh, has brought two of the victims, Alani and our heroine Molly, back into the United States. Dare hands Alani over to her brother, Trace, a friend and business colleague of Dare’s, and the hero of the next book. But Dare isn’t ready to part company with Molly because she won’t be safe until they can find out who was responsible for her kidnapping and why she was targeted. The bulk of the book is devoted to solving this mystery and while it was interesting and sometimes exciting, what I would have liked was to have actually been there for the rescue, rather than just hearing about it after the fact. Romantic Suspense is one of my favorite genres, and I’ve read some amazing books recently, so maybe that’s why When You Dare didn’t quite WOW me in the action/adventure department as much as I had hoped it would. Overall, it was an entertaining read, but I felt that the actual suspense was lacking.

Dare was what I typically expect in an alpha hero. He’s a take charge kind of guy, wanting to protect the female, but at the same time wanting to get in her pants! He was sexy as hell and he had that whole “to do her or not to do her” internal struggle going on, and that made for some great sexual tension.

Molly wasn’t my ideal type of heroine. For someone who had just gone through what she had, I would have expected her to have been more adversely affected by it, more traumatized than she was. Now, don’t get me wrong! I don’t mean I wanted a simpering, weak female who couldn’t event take herself to the bathroom, but for a good deal of the book she was almost as alpha as Dare was, and that’s just not my cuppa when it comes to my romantic suspense heroines. This story went from a solid 4 to 3 stars because, with her actions and attitude, I just couldn't picture Molly as someone who had gone through the kind of hell we're supposed to believe she went through.

The bottom line – this is an entertaining, steamy story and a pretty decent start to a new series!

The reading order for this series is -

.5. Ready, Set, Jett in The Guy Next Door anthology.
1. When you Dare
2. Trace of Fever
3. Savor the Danger

This book was provided to me for review by netgalley.com and had no bearing on my rating.
Profile Image for Mirjana **DTR - Down to Read**.
1,459 reviews794 followers
September 17, 2015

***4 Stars***

First and foremost, let's address that cover!



DAMN! Nice abs, great pecs, perfect dusting of hair, badass shoulder holster, aviator sunglasses...I could go on and on and on and on...

Ok, now what's on the inside.

This was my first book by Lori Foster and it most certainly won't be my last!

Molly was fantastic! After the ordeal she'd been through she didn't turn into some wilting flower. She didn't whine, panic, melt down...nothing. She had her weaknesses and was deeply affected by what she went through, but she didn't let it control her.

"Bravery is something I admire a lot. Intelligence, ingenuity, control, logic. You've got it all in spades, lady, and I think it's sexy as hell."


Under the circumstances, she could have become needy, withdrawn or paranoid....but she didn't. She was more concerned with figuring out who did this to her and why. It was difficult for her to wrap her head around the fact that it was probably someone close to her that had her kidnapped and tortured. She didn't know who to trust, what to believe....all she had was Dare and how he made her feel. Protected. Cared for. Safe.

And Dare...he was just the perfect domineering, protective Alpha male. He admired Molly's perseverance and strength. She challenged him, understood him and above all, trusted him implicitly. And little by little he realizes that his world and life has been missing someone like Molly. He begins to fall for her, but with everything she's been through, they have to move slow. Plus, he can't let his desire distract him from figuring out how this happened to her. He needs to stay alert, on point and focused. Molly has become very important to him, and he refuses to let any harm come to her ever again.

And so commences some serious slow burn and...



Normally, having to wait soooooo long would have driven me crazy, but I understood it. This couldn't be rushed, it wouldn't feel right if it were and I applaud Lori Foster for the pacing of that part of their relationship....it definitely ended up being well worth the wait.



I think the main reason I don't read much romantic suspense is that I find the balance between the two are off most of the time. But here the balance was great. I was just as invested in both aspects of the story. I was guessing for a large part of the book, but even when I figured out who was behind everything I was interested in how everything would unravel.

The secondary characters were well fleshed out and I'm so glad to see that further on in the series there's a book for Chris!

I will say that there were times that the story did drag, but even with that I was still fully engaged in the story and characters. I'm looking forward to continuing on with the series.
Profile Image for Bubbles  Hunty Honest & Direct Opinions .
1,314 reviews277 followers
November 12, 2015
First I am a gay man and I am 25 at the time of this review. That is going to influence how I enjoy this book.
Second I only started this because I want to get to Chris' book What Chris Wants

This book starts off okay. Not really exciting or actiony. It starts after all the action has already happened, kind of a WTF, right?

I did like them getting to know each other and all that stuff. At first I liked that they were always together, but now I'm 55% and it seems like nothing has happened (by 'seems like' I mean nothing has happened). It's really dragging and become quite tedious. Most of their conversations feel are repetitive. And it's like they keep having the same thoughts and this isn't really moving anywhere. The sort-of-sex on the dock just seemed unbelievable and I was like "huh, am I really reading this?" And nothing's happening. This big bad mercenary stays home and cooks and cleans and jogs with the dogs and bosses everyone around. The bad guys must be trembling in fear with him on the case. He did go to her dad, and to show how tough he is, he grabbed the old guy by the front of his shirt and said menacing things with their faces real close together. Yeah old guy be scared now, mr muscles approached him in the country clubs parking lot! It was sacrilege, if he'll show up in a parking lot, he can show up anywhere!

I'd love to know what weird sound bubble they live in where the sound travels so clearly. I'd understand If noise was traveling these distances over the water and land but to actually clearly hear the words of whispers? Even when inside a cabin? Okay.

The best part is Chris. He is the best character so far IMO.

Isn't a big strong guy picking up and moving the tiny, (but oh so perfectly curvy) helpless female condescending? She try's to back away, he picks her up puts her on counter. He picks her up puts her on stool. Lost count how many times he's picked her up and put her on his lap.

He says or thinks boner a lot. I'm just like seriously? Does any man over 14 say the word boner? Let alone one that's 32 and supposed to be smart and mature?

I also get he's a "boob man" but I got tired of reading about her impressive "rack" way back when it was first mentioned. Not sure there is any way left to describe her perfect melons, her plump mounds of womanly flesh.

"Watching her, he asked, "Are you wet, Molly?""

Omg gross dude I was trying to eat.

They now hang out at Molly's and conveniently all the people they want to check up on stop by one by one.

It started to pick up a little with Natalie and Jett there. The conversation went directions other than sex. All the sex talk and thoughts have been really dull and repetitive. And then Jett goes to get dinner and they leave Natalie in the middle of a conversation to go have sex, again. Seriously? Starts to get good to just suck. The sex isn't even hot "you look good enough to eat ... Again" or this gem "god baby, how I do love this ass" I just want this to be over.

There is no action at all, so I find this cover/blurb misleading. They just hang out waiting for the clues to come to them. Of course Dumbass Dare points his gun at everyone, but there has yet to be a situation he needed it for.

78% and I figured out why I can't get into this. Dare is too perfect to be hot. Physically he's a god, "not an ounce of body fat" and "above average in every way" *wink wink* and we're told he's good at everything. He's just unbelievably perfect. And it's just not hot or relatable. He never seems like a real character just a stereotype of what a perfect man should be. He even cooks and cleans.

Molly's description changes. First she's five eight and 125 pounds. Then she's five seven and 95 pounds. (She was starved for 9 days but she still has "killer curves" an "amazing rack" and her butt's apparently out of this world. To me she sounds like an unhealthy bag of bones. And she's always described as tiny. So yeah she doesn't sound real, unless she's a meth head. And then the guys are saying how hot and soft she is and all I can think is you mean how boney and sickly. She's also still covered in bruises from her kidnapping that happened before the book starts.

And Molly blushes all the time. Look at her, she blushes. Talk about sex and she blushes. And she's supposed to me an erotic author?

To summarize, neither character seems at all like a real person or like you'd ever meet someone like this. Even for fiction this is stretching it too far for me to relate or enjoy (especially considering this is contemporary)

Eh during first boring sex scene Dare makes a big deal about only having one lone condom. A few hours later for second scene all of the sudden they magically have more condoms. Yay for magic!

Not a direct quote, more of a wtf read between the lines "I know you were kidnapped, beat and tortured by a bunch of men, and you're feeling really vulnerable, that's why I'm going to fuck you like a dog, bitch. You were held captive and forced to sleep on the dirt like a dog so that's how I'm going to roughly fuck you..." blah blah boring sex scene.

Dare's giant mansion is only half as big as her daddy's estate. Look at her slumming it with Dare. That will show her daddy how rebellious and independent she is.

Then she thinks how good of a person Dare is because he made his fortune helping people. Which isn't really true At All! He only helped people that could afford his steep prices. In fact, in the begging he was really put out that Molly wasn't capable of walking away like the other female victims. And that he saved her without being paid.

There is no Robin Hood in Dickwad Dare. If you want his help you better be able to pay for his expenses like private jets and all that fancy stuff.

Gah, every time a real conversation starts between them it's quickly ended by DirtyDouche Dare picking her up, placing her on his lap and making out with her. So annoying.

I like the dialogue with other characters. But when it's just Mousey Molly and Doublebore Dare they are so boring and drag everything out. I don't see any chemistry or romance between them.

The sex is also always all about Molly. Which is really one sided. I don't think she even touched his penis yet and we have all these scenes all about pleasuring Molly where Dare doesn't even get off. I'm more used to reading romances with mutual pleasure. Not one does all the work and the other lays there the whole time like a bored, possibly dead hooker. Molly is just so passive. When I finally finish this she'll be one of those characters you instantly forget.

Dare tells Chris to tell Trace to pick a place for them to meet and have dinner. A few pages later Dare is telling the reader why Dare picked that restaurant. What happened to Trace picking it? The continuity issues in this drive me crazy. As if it being too long and dragged out isn't enough, it can't even stay consistent.

This makes absolutely no sense.

This has so many plot holes I'm wondering why it's even trying to have a plot so late into the book. I mean we're 94% now and the first "action" scene happened and it's just so weak it might as well not be there. We already know who wanted her kidnapped and all that. And why. It was very obvious, so now there is finally a little tiny bit of action and it's just too weak to enjoy or find at all plausible.

96% and gun is fired for the first time. Followed by another gun shot. Neither of which were Dare. But then Dare tackles the gunman punched him in face and the action is over. The cover and description make this sound like a suspense but there is nothing suspenseful or exciting about it.

Dare says honey so much and it's so annoying. He almost instantly starts calling her honey and never stops.
Profile Image for Stacey.
1,446 reviews1,137 followers
January 18, 2021
Only a slight adjustment...

It had been years since I read When You Dare and when I saw it available on Audible, I had to give it another try. Very quickly I remembered the storyline, characters and setting. It gave me nearly the same enjoyment as the last time, but like all things, I have changed over time.

Back in the olden days (wink, wink) I was all about the bossy alpha and his controlling ways. Now, while I still appreciate a bossy alpha, I'm not so much a fan of the controlling ways. Not having a conversation because they want to protect the heroine just seems silly and counter-productive. How can the heroine be smart about her safety, if she doesn't even know she's in danger? Don't get me wrong, the heroine in this story does make sure she's in the know, but the hero does it begrudgingly.

So, my little adventure back in time was still enjoyable, just a smidge less. I've dropped my rating down from 5 stars to 4 stars. The storyline was a wee bit corny and the hero just a little too perfect. The heroine survived the worst experience getting kidnapped, drugged and abused, yet seems to recover quickly and looked at the hero with lusty eyes almost immediately. There was probably a lot of 'feeling protected' that helped with this, but it all just fell into place a little too easily.

The narrator does a decent job but I admit to finding it hard to connect with the characters with only a male performing the narration. This is quite humorous to me, to be honest. More times than not, I have mentioned in previous reviews that certain narrators should have just gone it alone. Now that I have a narrator going it alone, I'm not satisfied...there's just no pleasing me. 😂🤣😁

If you don't mind a wee bit of cheesiness, love a bossy alpha hero who can intimidate baddies with just the crossing of his arms and a glare, you will love When You Dare.

I will definitely consider going on listening to the rest of this series in the future.

Profile Image for Holly.
441 reviews339 followers
December 4, 2013
This is the first book in a new series from Lori Foster, and let me say what a fantastic start to the series it was. There is a prequel in the anthology The Guy Next Door, just and FYI.

As stated by LF herself, the new series revolves around uber-Alpha hunks. The men are similar to private mercenaries, so they're big, capable, a little dangerous and oh-so-sexy. When it comes to rescuing the innocent, they do what has to be done. Foster calls them the men who 'walk the edge of honor!'

The first in the series is about Dare Macintosh, and yes, he is as delicious as he sounds. The story begins with Dare having rescued his friends sister from a human-trafficking ring in Tijuana and while doing so he rescued another woman being held, Molly Alexander. Dare is not sure what to do with her and she is totally not what he expected. This is one of things I liked most about this book, the heroine was incredibly strong, she was hurt but not broken and Dare, while being and Alpha and needing to protect, did not coddle Molly and let her actively participate in uncovering the mystery of why she was taken.

There are some great secondary characters in this story as well, Natalie & Jett, who we meet in The Guy Next Door, along with Dare's assistant/friend Chris who lives with him and his 'girls' Tai & Sargie!! All in all, I loved this book and cannot wait for the second and third installments, Trace of Fever & Savor the Danger!!



**This book was provided to me as an ARC by Netgalley!!
Profile Image for Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️.
1,979 reviews34.3k followers
December 7, 2013
The premise of the book sounded exciting, but it failed to deliver. Honestly, this book was just boring and it reminded me why I stopped reading Lori Foster. Her dialogue always comes across as so contrived to me and her plot lines do too.

The supposed climax of the book was unexciting and not surprising at all. Also , I felt nothing for Molly or Dare and if I had known Molly's character was a well known fiction writer I wouldn't have picked this up. For whatever reason, I usually never like stories where one of the main characters is a well known author. I don't know why that seems to be the case, but it just is.
April 24, 2011
4.5 stars!

Hot action and scorching romance, Lori Foster delivers it all in When you Dare!

Dare Macintosh is in Mexico rescuing his friends sister from flesh traders when he sees another woman in the shack looking worse off then any of the others. When he finds her unconscious he can’t leave her there, so he brings this new complication out with them and back across the border.
Molly Alexander is a romantic suspense author and she has no clue why she was kidnapped, she is definitely not like the other women who were held; young and sexy. Unsure who to trust in her life and not wanting to contact anyone Molly hires Dare to protect her.
Little did Molly know, that it was her heart that needed protecting the most…

I absolutely loved When You Dare, it is my first read from Lori Foster and a great start to a new series. I especially love the play on words for the title, and the cover is sexy as hell. (I kept going back to it while reading; it’s the perfect representation of Dare.)

Dare is all male, and all alpha. Sexy, smart, sensitive and not afraid to show his feelings, this man has it all. (Definitely one to add to my harem of book boyfriends!) He is good at everything, until Molly. When it comes to her Dare doesn’t always know up from down or even the right things to say in a lot of instances. Sometimes I found myself cringing with came out of his mouth, but he found a perfect way to get around those small blunders- kissing the heck out of his lady!
His love for his ‘girls’ and assistant Chris is so sweet, and he knows when to back off and not smother Molly; giving her the space she needs to come to terms with her traumatic experience and what they could mean for her future. He is incredibly sensitive to her ordeal, being patient and supporting with her. Molly herself is strong, levelheaded and an admirable leading lady; she is the perfect fit for Dare.
His and Molly’s relationship developed fast but felt natural and not at all rushed. The chemistry and sizzling love scenes between the two were pure perfection and masterfully written.

Occasional there was a scene that moved a bit slow and felt drawn out but the story held it's entertainment and excitement. I really liked delving into the world of men that fight for good outside of the law. I also found it interesting, a romantic suspense author writing about a character that is a romantic suspense author, and it makes me wonder if any of the things written may have some truth to them (I later found out that yes, it does!)
As for the main plot; the twists and turns kept me intrigued, though I did figure out the villain beforehand I was still riveted to every page.
I enjoyed all the secondary characters, they were fleshed out just as well as the main characters and I hope to see much more of each one.
The ending came too quickly for me, I wanted Dare and Molly's story to keep going but alas, all good things must come to an end. Thankfully the first three novels in this series are releasing back to back!

All in all, Lori Foster definitely lived up to her claim of producing super sexy alpha males who are private mercenaries and ‘walk the edge of honor’. I can’t wait to read more in Trace of Fever and Savor the Danger! This series is a must read for sure! And if you couldn't tell, I just loved Dare!
Profile Image for Dee.
1,500 reviews173 followers
November 6, 2015
Re-Read February 2012

I loved this book much more than I did when I originally read it and would definately not dither now rating it at 4 stars! I think my original thoughts were because it was the first book in a new series and because I was a little miffed about the anthology The Guy Next Dooras I thought this book/story was not necessary to the series and felt it was a bit of a money spinner/page filler.

Dare is a super sexy alpha male and a good guy who rescues 2 women from a human Trafficking ring. One of whom is his friend's sister and the other who is the heroine of this story. He looks after Molly and takes her back home to recover as unlike the other women he set free Molly was definately kidnapped by request, held, beaten & tortured and starved. He quickly realises that his feelings are starting to grow with regards to this woman and decides to help discover who had a hand in hurting her.

Molly is a strong woman who is determined that her ordeal would not break her and that she would stand strong. She has moments of what she considered weakness when her fear and the trauma took over but it never took her long to gain back full control. Several attempts were made by the kidnappers to get her back but of course Dare stopped them and protected her and together they uncover who wanted to hurt her.

July 2011
I really like Lori Foster's style of writing and enjoy most of her work and I enjoyed this one too. I was dithering between a 3 or 4 star as I was a little disappointed with the Suspense side of the story - it was just a little too slow and I had already guessed who arranged her kidnapping before I got half way through the book but then when I looked at the rest of the story I decided that it deserved a 4 star.

If the Suspense side of the story had had more pace and mystery then I would have given it a 5 star.
Profile Image for ~ Becs ~.
708 reviews2,175 followers
February 25, 2012
So I read this last summer and it was one of my favourite suspense stories of the year and a great start to a new series. Just adding an update now because Harlequin are offering a totally awesome and drooltastic wallpaper on their Facebook page. I have it on my desktop an my heart skips a beat every time I look at it.

Le sigh.



You just need to 'like' their Facebook page to get it --> clickie


Profile Image for Steph.
1,364 reviews3 followers
March 4, 2015
Omg, it was soooo so good!!

I loved Dare. Loved Molly. It was super sexy at times and the storyline rocked.
This was just exactly what I was looking for right now.

I cannot wait to read more of the series :)
Profile Image for Regina.
625 reviews425 followers
April 26, 2011
This is my first Lori Foster book and it is the start of a new series by Lori Foster and I have to say I was impressed. I typically do not like straight romance novels, they just are not my preferred reading genre – basically I get bored with them. What Lori Foster does in When You Dare, is definitely romance. Foster adds in strong elements of suspense, mystery and mixes these with great character development and the result is a story that is a fantastic read. I could not put it down and I cannot wait for the sequel to this series!

When You Dare addresses issues if human trafficking, but does it in a way that the reader feels like there is hope and it is not too depressing. The setting for this story begins internationally, but moves back into the United States in an almost rural location. The setting was appealing and at the same time, realistic. The lead female character is very accessible. She is a strong woman who is successful (and a writer of romantic suspense!), but she is not physically perfect. This real life touch made her accessible to me and I believe will make her likeable to many readers. The lead male character, well he is perfection. We are introduced into his world, his home, and his friends. Foster has these great side characters that show other sides of the main characters and lead the reader into the next book of the series. The thing about some romance books that I do not like, is the inner voice of the characters (especially the male “voice”) feels distant or not legitimate to me. I did not feel that way reading When You Dare, Foster writes her characters in a way that we see them interact with friends and family members, we learn about them in different settings and as a result their “voices” seemed real to me.

Some things were predictable, I figured out who the bad guy was and some things that were supposed to be a point of confusion between the “couple” early on were pretty obvious. But these points do not take away from a great story. I will definitely be reading on in the series and I recommend this series to people who like romantic suspense or contemporary romance books.

This series started out with a short story Men Who Walk The Edge Of Honor in the anthology The Guy Next Door (Includes Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor #0.5; Donovan Brothers Brewery #0.5) by Lori Foster , and the series continues with two more books yet to be released, Trace of Fever (Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor, #2) by Lori Foster Savor the Danger (Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor, #3) by Lori Foster
March 6, 2020
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5 Daring Rescue Stars!!!

It’s been awhile since I’ve read a Lori Foster book so I’ve decided to revisit a few of my old favorites.

Dare Mcintosh, is a mercenary on a mission to rescue his best friends sister (Alayni) from human traffickers in Mexico when he notices another American captive who’s been beaten, dirty and malnourished in the same shed Alayni is behind held captive. His honor won't allow him to leave her behind, so he rescues her too. Molly has been drugged and damaged. When Molly Alexander comes awake in the back of a strange van, scared out of her mind, she struggles to get her bearings and kicks Dare in the face in an attempt to escape, and thus her introduction to Dare is complete.

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Molly has no idea who or why she was kidnapped since she wasn’t as young and beautiful as the other captives (in her opinion) now it’s up to Dare to protect Molly as they try figure out who is behind her abduction. Dare is definitely my kind of Alpha protective hero!

Molly lacks just a tad bit of self confidence in her appearance, nonetheless Molly is comfortable in her own skin and didn't fall victim to the plain Jane gets the hottie Hero. Dare falls for Molly hook, line, and sinker. She’s no shrinking violet and he admires and respects the hell out of her! He’s falling in love with her Just as she is with him. Now he just needs to figure out who has it in for her.......

*Originally read but never reviewed in 2011
Profile Image for Jacqueline J.
3,539 reviews350 followers
May 2, 2011
This was a solid read but nothing really lifted it out of the ordinary. The heroine didn't have any real TSTL moments but she didn't have anything really outstanding in her personality that would make me remember her as a heroine after the book is over. There weren't any of the funny bits that I know Ms. Foster is capable of. The suspense was okay but a bit slow moving. A lot of the story was the relationship between Dare and Molly. Dare was not as fully developed as Molly so you didn't know him as well. We didn't know his history. For example what is his relationship with Chris? Why are they such friends? He says they've known each other for 20 years and they love each other so obviously there is a story there.

There was a bit of self biographical stuff in the book where Molly talks about the bad reviews one of her books received. In view of the bad reviews any long time reader of LF knows she received for one of her recent books, that was just a little too obvious for me. Especially since some of the words out of her month are the exact same as words that I received when I corresponded with LF about said book. (My letter, while it expressed my disappointment with the book, was polite and appreciative of all the other books of hers that I've enjoyed over the years). So seeing those exact words come out of Molly's mouth knocked me out of the story and made me think "Look! a writer writing about writing."
Profile Image for Nσҽɱí.
466 reviews184 followers
November 12, 2020
#retorita4 #RitaFoster
Al leer este libro pensé que era el primero que leía de la autora, pero revisando unos libro, vi que ya había leído el primero de otra serie. Que por cierto me gustó mucho más que este.
No ha estado mal, al menos cuando lo empecé me gustó bastante pero a medida que ido leyendo habido momentos que se me ha hecho un poco pesado.
Él no ha estado mal, pero a veces me parecía demasiado "perfecto" por decirlo de alguna manera. Que no quiere decir que no me guste.
Ella, parece que le han querido poner como que es muy fuerte y tal, después de todo lo que pasa. Pero para mi, demasiado y más cuando decía a cada momento que estaba bien, siempre estaba bien.
También habido dos momentos en el piso de ella que me pareció surrealista.
Aún así como tengo más libros en papel de la autora, les daré una oportunidad.
Profile Image for chanceofbooks.
214 reviews25 followers
March 2, 2011
Dare Macintosh is a hero who spends his life rescuing people from dangerous situations, going where traditional organizations can't or won't. Thus, when he's rescuing his friend's sister from human traffickers, and he discovers Molly Alexander, he rescues her too, without regard to how complicated his life just became. Luckily for all of us, Lori Foster is an author who excels at resolving complications like Molly for men like Dare.

Foster has been one of my very favorite authors all the way back to Mr. November (which is still one of my all-time favorite books), so I was super excited to get a chance to read an ARC of this title from Netgalley. Her last two single title releases, Back in Black and My Man Michael, while enjoyable were not my favorites from her, so I was eager to see if When You Dare would push her back into auto-buy territory for me.

And, I couldn't be more thrilled--Foster is back in the groove that brought us Hard to Handle, Jude's Law, Say No to Joe, and Jamie. One of my favorite Foster titles is Unexpected, a Kensington Single Title Romantic Suspense, and I always hoped she'd return to more action and suspense as she has a real knack for light suspense. When You Dare is a great example of light suspense--it's got a great overarching mystery, but Foster's trademark humor shines through, and it's the relationship that drives the story.

Dare is my favorite kind of Foster hero--a sensitive Alpha male. He cooks, he has nice decorating tastes, and he has two adorable dogs--I love it when Foster works animals into her stories as like Linda Lael Miller, her love of animals and empathy really enhances her characterization--the animals become secondary characters in their own rights, but also reveal key details about their owners--sometimes, especially in the case of Dare, more than the owners might choose to reveal themselves.

Dare is also deadly, unapologetic about it, and take-charge. Once he decides to help Molly, he handles the situation with the same efficiency that he carries to all his missions--however, unlike most of his missions, Molly keeps getting under his skin. The chemistry between them sizzles, but Dare is very sensitive to the ordeal that she has just been through. This was a pleasant change from many books I have read lately where the heroine goes through a horrific experience and the hero's main response is hot lovin'. Not that there's not hot lovin' here--this is a Foster book, and the love scenes are smoking as usual, but the sensitivity of the build-up made them more believable and that much more sweet.

Molly is a romantic suspense writer, and I have such a love/hate relationship with writer heroines and heroes--done right they are one of my favorites, as what aspiring writer doesn't love peeking into the lives of other (even fictional) writers? But done wrong, it feels a bit like the real writer's alter ego is walking around the book, transforming a fictional story to something more akin to wish fulfillment. Luckily, Molly is far from Foster's alter ego, and her profession is very much tied to the plot. Molly seemed completely her own character, free from the author intrusion and pitfalls that often accompany characters who are writers.

If I have one small quibble with the book, it's that this sensitive-yet-funny focus on the relationship sometimes overshadows the suspense. Especially in the opening scenes, I kept waiting to find out exactly what had happened to Molly, and later on, I felt like they were taking a bit long to confront the danger and to go check up on her life. However, I think Foster was portraying Molly as shell-shocked and needing the gradual awareness of the real danger she was in and what had happened to her. In this she succeeds admirably, and the relationship focus didn't detract from the pacing--this was a fast, fun read.

This is a highly recommended contemporary romance read, and if you've never read Foster, this is a great place to start. There's a reason why Foster is one the most beloved and bestselling contemporary romance writers, and this book is a key illustration of that. This is going on my keeper shelf, and I'm considering getting a paper copy just to have the amazing cover to gaze at from time to time. Foster must have been exceptionally good to the cover gods to get a trio of three of the best covers I've seen in a very long time. Book Two's cover is absolutely delicious. But, an amazing cover is worthless (not mention disappointing!) without an equally compelling story to fulfill its promise of an A+ read. Luckily, this series seems poised to deliver exactly that!
Profile Image for Hbeebti.
2,039 reviews50 followers
December 4, 2013
I have read one or two books by Lori Foster and would get about half way through and the book just kinda fizzled for me. This one however was soooooo good! Yep I have to say that I seriously loved it. Cant wait to read the next one in the series. The next one is about Trace....

Dare is out to rescue his best friends sister and he find not only her but other women held captive in Mexico for a flesh trade. But Molly isn't there like the other women . She is held separate and is pretty much tortured and starved. There is an immediate connection between Dare and Molly.

Dare is just so WOW.. I mean I'm not even sure how to explain him. I have a serious crush on this man. Yes he is possessive and so totally alpha male. But when it came to Molly and what she needed in order to heal. He was so sweet and kind. OMG the way that he was with her just melted me. He just knew what she needed and was always there. Always sensed her moods. Even in the middle of the night he would feel her unease. It was a beautiful thing.

Molly had endure a lot . Some other reviews thought that she didn't act like someone who endure what she had. But after reading about what she is like , her personality and her family life. To me it all made so much sense. She had her annoying moments of the classic " I'm Fine". But then that is who she is and seriously that is what she is so use to saying. I believe Molly had her vulnerable moments and it was so touching . I loved that she could look into Dare's eyes and see that he wasn't going to hurt her ever. For all that Molly is in her everyday life, deep down she seems a little insecure. I liked that about her . It meshed well with her other traits.

On the action side it wasn't big. On the mystery side of the who and why of it , it wasn't a huge reveal to me. I kinda put it together before the end. It meshed well with the book. Ok on a side note Dare has a secretary slash everything else.. lol whose name is Chris. I so love that guy. Not only is he like a brother to Dare but he was such a sweetie.UGH.... I hope he is in the other books as well. I loved the connection that he had immediately with Molly as well. Oh and Dare's girls were super cute too.
Profile Image for Riverina Romantics.
428 reviews28 followers
May 18, 2011
I am still practically a virgin to the writing style of Lori Foster. Apart from this novel I have only read a novella by her, so I am still undecided on how I feel about how much I like her.

She is definitely a talented lady, that is evident from the amount of books she has released – however I don’t think she is anywhere near the caliber of someone such as Pamela Clare who has you hooked with every word.

I really enjoyed When You Dare. Dare was the strong, sexy type that I can vividly imagine embracing me with those rock hard arms and his protective side was extremely endearing.

Molly was a bit of a seesaw character for me, at moments she annoyed me and others I quite liked her. I would have much rather seen her in the novella instead of her sister. Her sister rocked my socks and I wish she would have received the full length novel instead of Molly.

I also really loved Chris - who was a supporting character in this novel and I hope to read more about him in the future.

The story line was dramatic and exciting and kept me interested throughout the book.

**I would like to point out that in my spaced out ramblings I placed a comment on Goodreads stating that a scene in this book was exactly the same as one that I had read in a Lora Leigh novel. It wasn’t until a few chapters later in the book that I realised I had been a total tool – The scene was in the short story about Molly’s sister – NOT a Lora Leigh novel. That just goes to show that I don’t have a brain in this head of mine and my opinions should be taken with a grain of salt. So I do completely apologise.**
Profile Image for Elle.
655 reviews13 followers
April 25, 2011
Something's different. Did you do something to your hair? New glasses? Why do I ask? Well, something different and you look great ... not that you didn't look good before but now ... wow.

Take that (above) and apply it to Lori Foster and her latest release. It was just: wow. I am just dripping ... from excitement over this book. It was an absolute joy to read.

I read the prequel which appears in The Guy Next Door and didn't care much for it. I actually got an advanced reader copy of this particular story ages ago but had such little interest because of the prequel. What a mistake. Not only was this a great story but it prompted me to go back and look at the characters from the prequel (who reappear in a believable and useful way in this story). This was such a great book, it even makes other books better.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Lori Foster really excels (in my opinion) in her character construction. Every character in every book is different and new, like real people. I've hated characters she's written, and loved others, her characters always incite some sort of emotion for me. I would say that the two characters in this story hit me the hardest and I loved them the most. You have to understand that Dare is a solid character. Especially in alpha-hero romances, we sometimes get these 2D macho men, not that there is anything wrong with that, but Dare had more depth. He really was the ideal man for Molly (the heroine), more so than just coming across as a bland ideal man for everyone/anyone, and there is nothing better than that when reading a romance than to see two people who seem so great together.

Now Molly was amazing. She is my new girl crush (step aside Meg from Call Me Irresistible ). She had quite the story and experience under her belt and she really made this story. She goes through a devastating experience just before the story begins and we see her recover from that. I really think the story would have fallen flat if Molly was weaker and more vulnerable right from the get-go. But she wasn't, she was remarkably resilient and it was amazing to watch her accommodate after her incident. I thought Molly was incredibly strong, so it annoyed me when Dare and his associate Chris kept soliloquy-ing on how vulnerable she actually was. I would say she was no more vulnerable than the rest of us, except she could keep her shit together better than most.

The plot always kept me guessing. Right from the beginning I had no idea where the book would go or the types of conflicts the characters would encounter in this well paced story. Just a warning, the topic matter, human trafficking, may not be pretty or pleasant but it is a reality that happens in the world, and so I think Foster should be applauded for bringing this uncomfortable issue to light in these romantic suspense books.

Oh man. I love love loved this book. Have I communicated that clearly yet?

I couldn't help but draw parallels between Molly the writer and Lori Foster the writer, especially when Molly talks about her process and her experiences with fans. Why do authors do this to me? They write about characters who are writers and say that it isn't a self representation. I get that but somehow can't help but stubbornly persist in drawing parallels. There is this one point in this book where Molly talks about a fan who is outraged by one of her secondary father characters. Now maybe it's because I just listened to Annie Get Your Guy but seems to me that there were some similarities in the character that Molly explains and a character in Annie Get Your Guy. That sort of things just further encourages me and now I will always believe that the author parts of Molly are Lori Foster writing what she knows, i.e. herself. I have to say though, this author-character parallel is nowhere near as bad as the one in I had to deal with in Dahl's Talk Me Down.

Let's get back to the fact that this is a great book, one of the best Lori Foster novels I've read. If you enjoy contemporary romance you need to give this book a try, it has a little something for everyone: alpha hero, spunky heroine, suspense, evil, mystery, comic relief, sexual tension, dogs, and so much more.

I've already started the next book in the series Trace of Fever and it's looking to be a great follow up. This is a can't miss summer read in my opinion and I can't wait to see how the entire saga plays out.
Profile Image for Mandi.
2,320 reviews727 followers
April 26, 2011
When you Dare is the first book I have read by Lori Foster and also the first in a new series. We are introduced to the super sexy, majorly alpha Dare Macintosh. Smexy approves.

Dare has made his living rescuing women who have been kidnapped by human traffickers. Dare has helped many and made a lot of money and is now winding down his career. That is until a good friend of his is kidnapped and taken to Tijuana. During her rescue he finds Molly Alexander among the women caged, abused and half starved. After he gets his friend to safety, he realizes Molly’s kidnapping is different. She isn’t the beautiful, young girl that are normally sold by white slavers. There is another reason she was taken, and he wants to get to the bottom of it.

Molly is a popular author, who lives a quiet life in Ohio. Waking up from nine days of pure horror, she finds comfort and safety with Dare. Even though he has such a large presence and a violent edge, she trusts him immediately. Dare promises to keep her safe until he can uncover who is after her.

I’ll be honest and say the cover totally drew me to this book. Hello hot man chest and big gun. And Dare definitely does this cover justice. He leads a very rigid, strict life. He expects perfection and 100% effort from those around him. When Molly comes into the picture, his overprotectiveness goes into full throttle. Although this book is a romantic suspense, there is not a ton of action. Yet, with Dare’s personality, it felt like there was more suspense than there really was. He is always on edge and always prepared. He is so overly cautious and just a bad ass. I think he is a really well done alpha male.

Which then leads me to Molly. I had a very hard time liking her and it is hard for me to pinpoint exactly why. I like that she is more on the plain side and lacks confidence with her appearance after nine days of being beaten. But for most of the book I didn’t connect with her. She comes across as a little too perfect. I would classify her as a Mary Sue heroine. She just acts too perfect in every situation and it really grated on my nerves. Dare sees her as this strong, proud woman and this really attracts her to him. But I had a hard time seeing that. Everything is just wrapped up too nice and tidy with her and I just didn’t like her.

Although I didn’t like Molly, the story entertained me and I enjoyed Dare. I’ll be checking out more from Lori Foster.
Profile Image for Mrs. Badass.
566 reviews227 followers
March 29, 2011
YES! Lori Foster is BACK! I've read a lot of books by this author, most I liked, some I didn't. The ones I didn't like (Impetuous, My Man Michael) are kicking up dust to this new series of uber sexy alpha men. Look, Look at the sexy cover! DELICIOUS!

Dare Mcintosh, a mercenary on a mission to rescue his best friends sister from the human traffickers of Mexico; stumbles upon a beaten, dirty and disheveled woman in the same holding shed as Alayni (the sister) His honor won't allow him to leave her behind, so he rescues her as well. Complicated situation to say the least.
Dare is my kind of Alpha hero. Although He did seem a little too perfect, it worked for the story. He can boss me around in bed anytime!

Drugged and damaged, Molly Alexander comes to in the back of a strange van, with a scorchingly hot man in front of her, scared out of her mind, she struggles and kicks him in the face in an attempt to escape, and thus her introduction to Dare is complete.

Molly lacks self confidence in her appearance, but at least she didn't fall victim to the Plain Jane gets the Hot Hero "just because" syndrome. Dare falls in love with all of her, especially her guts and brains (oh and the breasts... he's a breast man LOL)

Molly Alexander is a Romantic Suspense author who has no idea why she was kidnapped.

This is a lighter romantic suspense novel, and was more relationship based than suspense based. Still, it was well written, and the characters were well drawn. I felt that the relationship aspect was done up right, with Dare not pressing Molly into a sexual relationship, and leaving it all up to her to decide when to take it to the next level.

While not extremely complicated in plotting, and I figured out who the villain was about midway through, this was still a good read. Nothing overly new, but good nonetheless.

I can't wait to read the next one "Trace of Fear"
Profile Image for Tina Cipolla.
112 reviews14 followers
October 3, 2011
I have not read a Harlequin romance since elementary school. I will be the first to admit that this is much improved over the stuff I read from Halequin in the late 70's. That said, there is no way around the fact that this book (and the others in this series) are nothing other than pure, unmitigated garbage. The crime, the characters, the dialogue, the relationships, the villians--not any of it is believable. Because it is Harlequin, even the sex scenes are watered down. I'm forcing myself to read the entire series because I'm currenly trying to read some of the best books from all genres and in the Harlequin Romance category, this is really popular stuff. If you are into formulaic romance, you might like this because it edges away from formula a tiny bit--enough to make it more interesting than the standard Harlequin, but in all three books the romance plays out in pretty much exactly the same way. Warning: If you are an aspiring novelist or a writer, you might set your hair on fire wondering why this author is out there making money and you are not. Don't say no one told you.
Profile Image for Lisa Kay.
924 reviews538 followers
October 27, 2011


★★★★✩ I enjoyed this book. Shades of a past book of hers Just a Hint - Clint, but that's okay, b/c I re-read that one from time to time. Loved Molly and Dare. Molly is a nice, plain and shy writer who is about to get a movie deal. Dare a strong, dangerous hunk, who knows how to get people out of serious trouble in perilous locals; nevertheless, he’s gentle with Molly. I was a little thrown, when he lowered her to the dock to make love to her… and I turned the page… and there were almost two pages of Dare’s thoughts on the investigation of her kidnapping; but, that is my only complaint. I figured out who the antagonist was early on, but it was good for my ego.
Profile Image for Fanny.
2,386 reviews52 followers
October 8, 2016



Emociones Secuestradas es el primer libro de los cuatro que forman la saga Mercenarios creada por la autora Lori Foster y tiene como protagonistas a Dare y Molly.
El genero de suspence romantico es uno que disfruto cada vez mas, por lo que de vez en cuando me gusta leer algun libro de este estilo para salir un poco de la rutina. Hace varios años lei algunas novelas de la autora pero habia pasado tanto tiempo que no sabia muy bien que esperar de Emociones Secuestradas pero en general fue una buena lectura, quizas no tan agil de leer como esperaba en un principio pero entretenida y atrapante.

2.75 Estrellas!
Profile Image for Floripiquita.
1,396 reviews166 followers
September 24, 2017
No conocía a esta autora y la descubrí a través de esta saga de suspense romántico, que recomiendo mucho y trata un tema tan escabroso y doloroso como la trata de blancas.

La pareja protagonista, Dare y Molly, me encantaron, son dos personajes muy fuertes a pesar de lo que han visto y sufrido y la química entre ellos es genial.
Profile Image for María.
313 reviews32 followers
November 9, 2020
Esta es la típica historia de pelicula de antena 3 de los sábados por la tarde. Un buenorro policia/fbi/mercenario se enamora de la chica que estaba secuestrada y que por su puesto él salva. Pero que le voy a hacer... me gustan estas historias. Lori Foster es una escritora que había leido antes y me gusta mucho como escribe.
Los protagonistas de este libro no me han defraudado en absoluto. Molly no es la típica mujer desvalida que suele estar presente en esta clase de libros. No ha sido histérica, es bastante práctica y me ha resultado muy simpática. Creo que su carácter está muy bien representado así como la dificultad de superar esa horrible experiencia.
En cuanto a Dare, ay! Dare! a ver... este es un señor buenorro, sensible, comprensivo, tierno, que tiene dos perras y no le da miedo mostrar su amor incondicional por sus amigos. Me ha gustado mucho su relación con Chris. Sí ha tenido momentos de machote posesivo de uff "Daddy chil" pero tampoco han sido desmesurados además tampoco es que fuese una situación muy normal y tal...
La relación de nuestros protagonistas es muy acelerada casi "instalove" pero también es verdad que ellos mismos reconocen que no entienden lo que les pasa y que es demasiado pronto pero es lo que están sintiendo. A parte de eso, me ha parecido preciosa su relación y las escenas de sexo han sido estupendas.
En cuanto a la parte de misterio, bueno, no es que haya sido muy dificil imaginarse que estaba pasando. De hecho fue bastante evidente y fácil de descubrir, pero no por ello me ha parecido mal, simplemente me faltaba saber el por qué y el cómo.
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