Revision 10/07/12 because I laughed my ass off that this new book already made it to number 1 on Listopia's Books that seriously piss you off 
 ...and Shark Contemporary week rolls on... 
 I made it a goal before finishing Taking Chances to remain zen for the writing of this review, knowing full well that the last part of the book might set me on edge. Well guess what? I'm perfectly okay. 
 Look at me, I'm not raging! It's an early Christmas miracle! 
 See, the thing is, the part of the book that was supposed to make me angry didn't. It just reminded me of a bad personal memory, so I did a real life frowny face and moved past it. If anything, it wasn't so much that I had a problem with "the incident," it was more that I had a problem with how the incident happened. The incident would have felt more at place within the story without the extra helping of guilt. 
 Btw...writing this review is darn-near impossible. I can't talk about my feelings if I'm not allowed to express why I'm having these feelings. I can't talk about how the various different game changers were hit and miss if I can't list out what they are. 
 Most people who have read this book are pretty much in agreement that the first 2/3 of the book was a great read. I felt the same way. The comparisons to Beautiful Disaster and Thoughtless are semi-warranted but any similarities would be on a much more toned-down scale. If you had a character like Travis who was in control of his feelings and a character like Kellan who was able to keep his eye on the prize, then perhaps we can squint and find a few things in common. But please refer back to the 'toned-down' comment from earlier. One of my biggest complaints about Kiera from Thoughtless was that she let things drag on for far too long. I didn't feel the same way about this book. Eventually, decisions were made before we were stuck on a merry-go-round of bad behavior. I respected that. 
 Honestly, even with "the incident," I still probably would have given this book a high score if three things would have been different. 
 1. The incident was a product of coincidence and not related to character behavior. 
 2. Harper's decisions had been spread out over a longer period of time. I did not appreciate that she went from one decision to the next and then to the next with no real breathing room in-between. There is this nifty little thing called a chapter heading...we should have been treated to a heading which said One Year Later (after the incident). 
 3. The last 30% of the book was absolutely unnecessary. There's a reason why most books end at the HEA. It's because most of the time people become boring as hell when you see them in their domestic lives. I didn't care to see the majority of what happened after the decision that happened after the incident. I'm all for books about the subject of what happened to Harper (I'll let you off the hook, she did not die in a fire...I know that's what you were guessing), but if that's going to be what happens, then make that the actual book subject...don't advertise it as a book about a love triangle. 
 Random question for those who have read the book : Was there even a reason to have Carter as a character? Love quad? Not really, right? 
 So for my inability to write a review that is anything other than vague, I am awarding Taking Chances first place in the "spoiler difficulty" competition. 
 2 stars is mainly because the book simply dragged on for far too long. I would definitely give something else by this author a shot. I was thoroughly enjoying myself for the first 2/3 of the book. Molly McAdams can sure write extremely likable bad boys. I already touched on this a little bit earlier, but let me go back and clarify : Brandon's ability to hold himself back from turning into a controlling prick did impress me quite a bit. We don't see enough of this in YA, Mature YA, College, and New-Adult fiction. Bravo to that. 
 Between Chase and Brandon, who would I have picked? When I was Harper's age, I would have picked Chase, no question. At the age I'm at now, I'd pick Brandon. Just don't tell Brandon that I was probably swooning harder over Chase.