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Review

After Pushing the Limits completely rocked my world last year, I promised myself that I would read everything that Katie McGarry publishes, and three books later, I’m not regretting my decision one little bit. Crash Into You finally brings the story of Isaiah – the tattooed, pierced, car-obsessed bad boy that I fell for when I first met him as Noah’s best friend in PTL.

At 17 years old he is a true victim of ‘the system’, he has been moved from foster home to foster home since he was 6 years old, feeling completely unwanted and unloved, and has developed a tough persona to help him survive. After being left broken hearted by the girl he thought he loved, Isaiah is one angry boy, but on the inside, he considers himself broken. But OMG, you’ve gotta love him! Despite his badass exterior, he has a massive heart, is determined to make a good life for himself, and is unwaveringly loyal to those he considers his family.

“Noah and I — we’re brothers despite not sharing blood, and Echo became my sister the day she put a smile on his face. They’re my family and I’m going to fight to keep what’s mine.”

But to have the life he wants, he needs money, and the only way to get it is to do what he does best – race cars. A bit of a legend on the street racing scene, he is all geared up to race one night when ridiculously naïve and innocent Rachel rocks up looking for a race of her own.

Also 17 years old, Rachel leads a very sheltered life. She is rich and privileged, but has a severely effed up family life that has left her shy and frightened with significant anxiety issues. She lives her life to please others, but secretly cars are her passion, and she craves the excitement of racing in order to have something for herself. When she gets in way over her head, good guy Isaiah comes to her rescue, and the two of them find themselves in a situation where their very lives are in danger and they have to work together in order to save themselves.

What follows is a beautifully unfolding love story of two teenagers from completely different backgrounds who are fighting not only to be together, but also to live their lives on their own terms.

Oh Isaiah! How I love you! Instantly drawn to Rachel, he is beautifully protective of her, and incredibly respectful, recognizing that she is not from his world. She’s adorably innocent – good, pure, and trusting, and everything that Isaiah has never had, or thinks that he deserves.

“I’m still not good enough for a girl like her, but she’s back in my life and she needs someone to protect her. I’ll fill the role and absorb as much of her light as I can before she leaves me behind in the darkness.”

I have found that when you have a romantic storyline where one person doesn’t feel worthy of the other, it’s a very fine line between heartache and absolute irritation, but Katie McGarry does it brilliantly. Isaiah’s battle to recover from his heartbreak, realize and accept his feelings for Rachel and then find the strength and the confidence to act on them is absolutely beautiful. He is understandably wary, but isn’t afraid to let his feelings be known, and the way he opens up to Rachel and gives her his heart is absolutely beautiful.

“I don’t want to be without you. I like who I am with you, and I don’t want to go back to who I was before.”
“I love you, Rachel. So this will work. No matter what or who stands in our way.”

“I can’t give you the world, Rachel, but I’ll give you all I got.”

Rachel is an interesting heroine. Her home life is awful, and she has all sorts of issues stemming from that. But she finds that she is different around Isaiah, feeling a connection with him that puts her at ease and gives her the confidence to be the kind of person she’s always wanted to be, and I loved seeing her come out of her shell.

“This isn’t me. None of it. I’m not the girl who hangs in a bar. I’m not the girl who is comfortable talking to guys. And I’m sure not the girl who leans over the table to be close to anyone.
Yet I’m doing all those things and I’m loving every freaking second.”

She does have major confidence issues, and that leads to a few moments of regression that made me want to smack her, but I love that once they start to open up to each other, Isaiah is the kind of guy who is going to let her be stupid, and he manages to set her straight.

And while the overprotectiveness of her four older brothers is stifling (including the hero of the next book in the series, West – another bad boy), it’s clear that they love and care for her deeply, and I really liked her moments with them.

“You don’t kiss boys,” says West. “Boys shouldn’t be anywhere near you. Guys only want one thing, Rach, and it ain’t conversation. I should know.” He waves off the subject in frustration, then shakes his head as he speaks again. “Why are we even talking about this? You aren’t seeing anyone.”
“Ah, hell,” mumbles Jack. “We’re having the sex talk with my baby sister.”
“Is she dating?” Gavin demands of West and Ethan. “She can’t be dating. Now we have to beat the snot out of some horny teenager. You should have told me this was going on.”
“Make them stop,” I whisper to Ethan. Along with the dread of speeches and vomiting, I’m also dying of embarrassment.
“She’s not dating!” West shudders as if spiders cover him. “That’s just sick, Rach. Don’t talk like that. Ever. Again.”

With chapters in alternating POVs, Isaiah and Rachel’s individual stories are really well developed and a little bit heartbreaking. I loved the inclusion of Noah, Echo, Beth, Logan, and even Mrs Collins in the story, and new character Abby is definitely one I hope we’ll see again.

But as usual it’s all about the romance, and this is absolutely gorgeous. Rachel is new to boys, and so she just blindly throws herself out there, which is really refreshing. And Isaiah is so incredibly sweet with her – the little grins whenever he sees her, the linking of their fingers, the sweet way he brushes his fingers over her cheeks and steamy kisses in the backseat of the car. It’s a YA swoon-fest, and I absolutely loved it!

With all of this intertwined with the complex world of street racing, there’s a lot going on. And although I did find this book really long and a little bit slow going at times, there were definitely a few surprises in there and the overall story is a really beautiful one – and I loved getting to see Isaiah finally get his HEA.

“The way she curls in my arms makes me feel like I’m the hero. I like being her hero. I like the way her eyes shine at me, the way her body melts when I touch her, her soft lips on mine. I love her warmth and every curve.
I love her.”

Oh swoon!

Loved it – 4 stars.