Title: Pushing The Limits
Author: Katie McGarry
Release Date: July 31, 2012 (hardcover)
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 416
Source: Copy provided by publisher

Overall: 5 Stars

Summary:

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.

But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again. 

My Thoughts: 
In a way, Pushing The Limits took me by surprise. A part of myself was expecting to read a book that would feature a clichéd storyline and unoriginal characters (you know, popular girl falling for a boy on the wrong side of the tracks sort of thing), but there's so much more to the novel than meets the eye. While there's plenty of romance to leave you swooning, Katie McGarry's has written a novel that's emotionally hard-hitting and makes your heart reach out to its main characters. 

Noah once had a bright future, but after a terrible house fire took the life of his parents a few years ago, he found himself lost in the foster care system. Since then, he's gained a bad boy reputation at school, but he actually has a heart of gold, not that he'd let anyone truly see it. He's also fiercely protective of his two younger brothers and would do anything to make them happy.  

Echo's life is also far from perfection. She's still struggling to piece together the part of her past which left her arms with scars and traumatized enough to wipe her memory of the event. Her best friend, Lila, has stuck by her side through everything, but not even Lila can help make Echo feel normal again, not after all the heartbreak and family drama that has happened in her life.   

I really liked how when the inevitable moment came along that would try to break the couple apart, Noah and Echo dealt with it openly together. Too often, I'm frustrated when one character suddenly decides to call all the shots while leaving the other person with no say, but this didn't happen in the book. Noah and Echo's personalities complemented each other, and they were able to offer strength and comfort to one another when nobody else understood the tough times they were going through.

Katie McGarry's debut novel Pushing The Limits is one of the best romantic contemporaries I've read all year. I could have sworn I saw sparks flying off the pages because the chemistry between Echo and Noah was too hot to be contained! I'm definitely considering it to be among my favourites, and I'm sure I'll be finding myself reading it again and again in the future. I'm really excited to read the companion novel, Dare You To, which will be released in 2013!  

Thanks so much to Harlequin Teen for providing this review copy!