Dare to Stay

The sizzling second novel in the gritty contemporary Sons of Steel Row series from the author of Dare to Run.
Bruised and bloodied on Boston’s mean streets, Chris O’Brien is reeling from the loss of his childhood best friend. But after barely escaping a hit placed on his head, Chris is desperate to live. A safe haven comes to mind—the home of the perfect girl from his childhood, Molly Lachlan. Before he has fully considered what it would mean to involve her in his mess, he finds himself on her doorstep.   When Molly agrees to let Chris inside her home, she realizes she’s also letting him into her life. Danger and desperation are coming off of him like steam, and yet she can’t bring herself to turn him away. His bad boy charm always had a hold on her, but now there’s a soulfulness and sorrow in him that she’s never seen before. And despite the heart-stopping risk of helping him, she hopes against all reason that he’ll stay... 

Dare to Stay is the second book to Jen McLaughlin’s The Sons of Steel Row series. I was a little leery on reading the second book in the series since it would be Chris O’Brien’s book. If you read the first book, you would already know what Chris did to his close best friend in that book. I’m not going to give it away to readers who haven’t this book/series yet. Let’s say everything that happened in this book, Chris felt he deserved it for what he almost did to his best friend.  

Storyline/My Thoughts: If you read the previous book, you would already have a love/hate relationship with Chris O’Brien. In my case, I didn’t like his character. What he did in the first book was unforgivable. This book starts with him being injured by a rival gang. His childhood crush, Molly Lachlan (a kindergarten teacher), finds him and offers him help. He will be stubborn about it, but that’s due to him not wanting to get her involved with everything. He finally gives in, and he ends up at Molly’s place for a while, hiding out. Molly knows Chris is in a gang and doesn’t like that he’s in a gang. In the meantime, these two have a history together of living close together. Molly is attracted to Chris, and Chris is attracted to her. There is going to be serious angst between these two characters. Chris will do anything not to have Molly falling for him. Unfortunately, Molly already has made her mind that she will do anything to win over Chris and try to convince him to quit his current life. Molly would end up in the crossfires of what Chris is dealing with when it comes to the rival gang wanting revenge on Chris.

It’s a lot of back and forth between Chris and Molly, and it drove me crazy. I could understand Chris’s issue with it, but he needed to stop dragging it out. These two characters will not be my favorite in the series. Their relationship was doomed to have issues. Molly is a sweet, innocent young woman who teaches children. Chris has grown up in the gang life and doesn’t know anything else until Molly pushes him that he has another talent that he could use that will help him get out of his current life. Chris is stubborn, and Molly is determined to change Chris. I always have issues with a hero or heroine trying to change either character when they have been like that forever. It’s going to take the other person to really transform themselves.

There was a more significant thing revealed in the first book that continued in this book. Chris’s former best friend’s brother, Scotty, has a proposition for Chris that can help them both. Molly doesn’t want Chris involved with it because it makes him still work for the gang.

I did enjoy the storyline of this book. Chris is dealing with the repercussions of the first book, and things are revealed about his father. His father is a jerk, and his mother was no savior either, especially after discovering what Chris went through as a child. Thank goodness he now has people on his side, like Molly.

Overall, this book only receives three stars from me. I was hoping to like it, but unfortunately, the characters annoyed me at times. I didn’t connect well with them. The storyline is what kept me reading the book. Now, I want to know what happens in Scotty’s story since the next book is about him.

Standalone or Part of Series: It’s part of the Sons of Steel Row but can be read as a standalone.

HEA: Yes, somewhat for the characters.

Steaminess: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫

Trope: Bad Boy Romance; Childhood Crush

Triggers: Gang Activity; Violence

Would I recommend this book? Yes. If you enjoy Contemporary Romance that has Organized Crime activity in it, and if you are also a fan of Jen McLaughlin’s books already. This book may not have gotten a high rating from me, but other readers may enjoy this book/series.

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About Jen McLaughlin

Jen McLaughlin is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of sexy books with Penguin Random House. Under her pen name, Diane Alberts, she is also a USA TODAY bestselling author of Contemporary Romance with Entangled Publishing. Her first release as Jen McLaughlin, Out of Line, hit the New York Times, USA TODAY and Wall Street Journal lists. She was mentioned in Forbes alongside E. L. James as one of the breakout independent authors to dominate the bestselling lists. She is represented by Louise Fury at The Bent Agency.

Though she lives in the mountains, she really wishes she was surrounded by a hot, sunny beach with crystal-clear water. She lives in Northeast Pennsylvania with her four kids, a husband, a schnauzer mutt, and three cats. Her goal is to write so many well-crafted romance books that even a non-romance reader will know her name.

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FranJessca

Owner/Reviewer at A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog

I guess I should type a bio here. I'm FranJessca, or Fran for short. I'm the owner/reviewer behind A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog. I've been reading and reviewing books on my blog since leaving the Navy in 2011, and I will keep doing it as long as possible. My favorite genres will always be Romance & Fantasy, and I read every subgenre underneath those two genres. (Sorry, not a fan of nonfiction, so don't try to convince me to read it.)
My obsession with reading started over 30+ years ago when I went to my first Scholastic Book Fair and found R.L. Stine's Fear Street series. Later, I came across Anne Rice's novels at my public library when I was fourteen when my obsession with vampires started. I was the girl who preferred to be a vampire over a princess any day. My husband says I would leave him a heartbeat for a vampire that looked like Spike or Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. (It's true, though, and he's accepted it.)

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