There are a few people that I will always run out and pick up their books as soon as they hit shelves. Even though I get them in the mail, even though I know some of the authors, I can’t help but want to support them. Estelle Maskame is one of those authors.
Now, when I found out Dare to Fall wasn’t going to be available near me, I gladly shelled out the $30 bucks to have it shipped across the ocean to me. It wasn’t until after I ordered it that I found out that our blurb for her DIMILY series was inside the cover.
Here’s the thing that I love desperately about Estelle’s books – she creates these characters that feel complicated and real. You know, HUMAN. I don’t feel like it’s someone that I could never meet, someone that could never be real. People are complicated, people are intense – they aren’t all perfect. They are damaged.
People have issues.
Dare to Fall is Maskame’s latest book and dare I say it – it’s better than her first series.
Death.
She was afraid of it.
He was used to it.
There’s not much that MacKenzie Rivers is afraid of. In the small town of Windsor, Colorado, she is known for her easygoing, strong personality, some would even say she isn’t afraid of anything. But MacKenzie knows that’s not true. She’s afraid of losing those closest to her. Recovering from a family tragedy, Kenzie is fully aware of just how big an impact death can have on those it leaves behind. Seeing its effects on other people is something she just can’t quite handle. From now on, Kenzie is her own priority.
There are not many things that Jaden Hunter can make sense of. He doesn’t understand why it was his parents who lost their lives last year. He doesn’t understand why his friends don’t crack jokes around him any more. He doesn’t understand why his teachers still insist on letting him skip assignments. He doesn’t understand why MacKenzie, the girl he was falling for last year, has suddenly distanced herself from him.
Too afraid to get wrapped up in Jaden’s world as he deals with the tragic death of his parents, Kenzie has stayed away from him as best she can, until one night when they unexpectedly come face-to-face for the first time in months. As old feelings resurface and new memories are made, both MacKenzie and Jaden show each other how to appreciate the little things in life, the moments that are taken for granted. But will MacKenzie dare to fall for the one person she’s so afraid of growing close to?
Now, I am all for a tear jerker, one that hits you right in the feels. I like a good story that makes you think about what life could be like, how blessed you are and how you shouldn’t take things for granted. From the romance, to the roads traveled and the roads not taken, to the pain to the craziness of live, Dare to Fall makes you fall for it.
I fell hard.
Now, I always have a character in a book that I hate – it just seems inevitable. It was hard for me with Dare to Fall, because for quite a bit I didn’t like Kenzie. It’s hard when it’s the main character that makes you want to bang your head into a wall. But it was like I needed to take this journey from hate to like in order to understand Kenzie.
I needed to grow with her.
I needed to fall with her.
I needed to grow with Jaden.
It always amazes me when people compare a book to another book an author has written. I never went into Dare to Fall expecting it to be DIMILY and I was pleasantly happy that it wasn’t. Now, let me say I love DIMILY, but what I love more is that Maskame is proven that she is more than a one series wonder. The girl can write. It’s not all stuck in one world. She knows happiness, sadness, pain, heartache, heartbreak, and love. She can develop characters. She can write in places that she doesn’t live, but makes you feel like you are right there.
I didn’t know what I wanted from Estelle as a writer, but what I know now is that she will always surprise you and give you what you didn’t know you needed. Dare to Fall is an honest look at grief, love, and everything in between. It’s a can’t miss contemporary.
Dare to Fall is available now.
