Early Review - Pushing the Limits by Katie McCarry

As we meet Echo Emerson, she has been forced by the state of Kentucky (Child Protective Services) to go to regular therapy sessions with the school counselor. Echo continues to have excellent grades, but, she is socially withdrawn from all her friends and outside activities and has been for nearly 2 years. Echo used to be part of the so called popular crowd until a terrible incident left her with scars on her arms. Instead of allowing others in on her secret, she withdrew and rumors and innuendos abound about what really happened to her. She also lost her older brother Aires who was a Marine in Afghanistan at the time of his death. Thanks to the harping of her father, she also gave up the love of her live; being an artist.

Noah Hutchins is in a similar situation to Echo's. He lost his parents in a tragic fire, and has been in and out of Foster Care ever since. He has been trying hard to fight for his brothers Jacob and Tyler who are living with yet another foster family. Noah is forced into court mandated therapy sessions, and his visitations with his younger brothers are fleeting at best. Noah not only has to deal with his grief and his anger issues, but the fact that he's now got a bad reputation as a playboy, and a druggie which could cause him to lose his brothers forever.

Right off the bat, let me say that IF you have a tendency of crying at the drop of the hat, then I warn you in advance that you will go through a lot of tissues before you get to the end of this book. I found this story absolutely appealing and amazing which surprised me because I'm not usually one to read contemporary romances.

One of the things I loved about this story is that BOTH characters had severe emotional issues. They were far from perfect and had to discover a way to deal with their issues without losing themselves in the process. When they do get past their rough issues, their romance is very much likable and heart warming.

This book flip flops between Echo and Noah so that we get an equal opportunity to get inside each characters heads as they struggle to maintain their lives and grow closer in the process. This is one of the few times I can actually say that DUAL POV's absolutely works. We couldn't have watched as either character came to different realizations about their future and about themselves. In Echo's case, we finally get to see what the mystery behind her scars is all about, while Noah eventually grows up and realizes that he's been acting like a dipstick when it came to his brothers and his goals of becoming a family unit again.

Overall, I'll definitely be putting Katie McGarry on my watch list, and might consider buying, or borrowing her next installment once it hits the publishing route.

*ARC Recvd 05/27/2012 via Netgalley for Harlequin

Author - Katie McGarry
Title - Pushing the Limits
Publisher - Harlequin Teen
Releases - July 31, 2012