Huge Dare: Beyond Huge Series, Book 1 by Stephanie Brother

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Spending seven minutes in a closet with a stranger has to be the stupidest dare I’ve ever agreed to until it becomes seven minutes in heaven.

‘Back to Highschool’ frat parties aren’t my scene. But when the games start, and I’m dared to join in, I can’t resist.

You see, dares have always provided an excuse to be a crazy and exciting version of me. The kind of girl who steps into a closet wearing a little black dress and a blindfold, with no idea what to expect.

As the door closes, not one, not two, but three bodies press against me. Six hands roam over places that haven’t seen action for months. Seven minutes pass in a flash, and when time is up, I stagger out of the closet a disheveled, satisfied, and intrigued mess.

Because with just a glimpse of one tattooed hand, I know who achieved the unachievable. My stepbrothers knew how to blow my mind when no one had ever managed it before.

I’m mad as hell and freaked out at what we’ve done. I tell myself it’s all kinds of wrong, but my body won’t stop reminding me of just how right it felt.

I shouldn’t want more, but I do.

But without another dare, there’s no way I’ll be brave enough to find out if they can send me to heaven again.

Or will I?

HUGE DARE is a stepbrother reverse harem romance with a happy ever after ending. It’s book 1 in the Beyond Huge Series, standalone romances with characters who continue to make appearances!

Family Dynamics, Hidden Desires, and the Psychology of a Dare

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙💜💚🩷
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪🧪🧪
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏
Character development: 😋😀😍🤯
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration Type: Dual Narration

🎧 Audiobook Review: Huge Dare (Playing Their Games, #1)

Author: Stephanie Brother
Genre: Stepbrother Romance / Reverse Harem Romance
Narrators: Sebastian York and Stella Hunter

🦸🏼‍♀️ The Heroine: Ellie

Ellie is a hyper‑focused college student who treats her GPA like a full‑time job. Her best friend since Kindergarten, Dornan, is her one escape from the pressure — a lovable chaos gremlin who throws themed birthday parties like it’s his personal calling. This year’s frat‑house extravaganza is a “back to high school” party, which he embraces with nostalgic enthusiasm. Ellie, on the other hand, would rather forget high school ever happened.

Between her mom’s relentless academic expectations and her stepbrothers constantly being praised as the “golden boys,” Ellie has learned to keep her head down, study hard, and avoid unnecessary drama. Dornan insists she’s too young to be a hermit, but Ellie’s not convinced.

🦸🏻‍♂️ The Heroes: Colby, Sebastian, and Micky

Ellie’s stepbrothers — identical triplets — have been in her life for seven years. They share a face but not a personality, and each brings something different (and complicated) to her world.

Colby

The responsible one. The fixer. The guy who thrives on being given a mission. He keeps Ellie at arm’s length with a cold, irritated exterior, but it’s all camouflage for feelings he refuses to acknowledge.

Sebastian

The joker. When tension rises, so does his sarcasm. Humor is his shield, especially when it comes to Ellie — the girl he’s been quietly in love with for years.

Micky

The empath. He’s the first to apologize, the first to comfort, and the least willing to pretend he doesn’t watch Ellie when she isn’t looking.

After losing their mother as teens, their father married Ellie’s mom, creating a blended family that functioned… but never quite fused. The boys bonded with Ellie’s mom easily, but Ellie always felt like the outsider.

📚 The Plot

Ellie shows up to Dornan’s party only to find him already drunk and thriving. She sometimes wishes she could fall for him — life would be simpler — but he’s firmly in “brother I chose” territory. Her actual stepbrothers? Those relationships are far more complicated… and far more hostile.

When a game of seven minutes in heaven starts, Ellie becomes the first unlucky target. She hates dares but never turns them down — a habit rooted in something deeper than simple peer pressure. Blindfolded and determined to give whoever’s in the closet the cold shoulder, she steps inside.

But before she can deliver her icy speech, gentle touches and soft kisses unravel her resolve. The moment turns heated, electric… and unmistakably involves more than one man. Instead of stopping it, Ellie lets herself feel — maybe for the first time.

The twist? The triplets had no idea it was Ellie until afterward. And the shock of her response forces all four of them to confront feelings they’ve spent years burying.

🌟 Strengths

• The triplets’ genuine surprise at discovering Ellie in the closet adds emotional complexity — they never admitted they viewed her romantically until that moment.
• Ellie’s history with dares is more than a quirk; it’s tied to deeper emotional wounds that shape her choices.
• The brothers’ strained relationship with their father adds another layer of tension and vulnerability.

💔 Limitations

• Ellie’s “that’s not how dares work” rule pops up inconsistently, and the logic behind her dare‑related boundaries shifts from scene to scene.

🎙️ Narration

Told in dual POV with dual narrators, the audiobook format elevates the story. Sebastian York and Stella Hunter deliver expressive, emotionally rich performances. Stella brings nuance and vulnerability to Ellie, while Sebastian’s deep, gravelly tone gives the brothers’ chapters a grounded, lived‑in feel. Their voices skew older than typical college‑age characters, but the acting quality more than compensates.

💬 Final Assessment

This audiobook succeeds most when it leans into the psychological dynamics of its characters — Ellie’s complicated relationship with dares, the triplets’ long‑suppressed emotional baggage, and the family history that shaped all four of them. The central closet scene functions as a catalyst rather than a shock tactic, forcing each character to confront internal conflicts that had been simmering for years. While the narrative occasionally stumbles with inconsistent logic around Ellie’s “rules” for dares, the emotional architecture of the story remains solid. The dual narration enhances the material, adding texture and nuance even when the voices skew older than the characters. Overall, the book offers a compelling blend of interpersonal tension, character‑driven conflict, and layered backstory that will appeal to listeners who enjoy relationship‑heavy plots with a strong psychological throughline.

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