Release Date: July 29, 2014
Lead
by Kylie Scott
Book 3 of the Stage Dive Series
4.5 stars
LEAD is about two seemingly mismatched people who actually and surprisingly click. Add in a huge amount of sizzling attraction (of course they both deny it at the beginning. DUH.), two good hearts that see past cold, indifferent facades and general stereotypes, and you've got the makings of a feel-good romantic story. This is my first time to read something of Kylie Scott's, so I was really excited to finally have a taste of what so many book bloggers and readers have been talking about for a long time.
Jimmy comes across as your typical rockstar at the beginning. He is emotionally troubled, has lots of leftover childhood issues that continues to the present, has family problems (his mother is a monster), and had for a long time indulged in drugs, alcohol and sex. We learn immediately that for his own sake, his band Stage Dive--including his brother, Dave--gave him an ultimatum in one of the earlier books in the series: Get clean or get out.
This was why Lena was pulled into the picture. Just as she was being fired by her employer, Stage Dive immediately snapped her up and basically forced Jimmy to hire her as a sobriety companion/secretary/PA/housemate/housekeeper. Actually her job description consisted of only the first three, but the last two was inevitable. It was also inevitable that Lena became Jimmy's--some would say only--best friend.
And so, as with what usually happens when two adults attracted to each other decide to live under the same roof, feelings developed and fire started burning, if you catch my drift.
Unfortunately, Jimmy has closed himself off emotionally and even physically for so long, the thought of being in a relationship, heck, being in love, is impossible in his mind. The conflict arises when Lena begins to have less-than-professional feelings for her boss.
What's the sensible solution when you have unrequited love for a person you're working for? You resign and then leave. What happens next, I'll leave for you to find out!
This book was a ball of laughs! I totally didn't expect it because looking at the cover, I thought LEAD was going to be about a rock star and this girl, having this serious live story, with serious outlooks on life… one of them probably has a sad past, yada yada yada… Basically something very intense and possibly heartwrenching. Well it turns out that this isn't the tugs-at-your-heartstrings type of story, but it is definitely very endearing! Not to say that it's all good and dandy from first to last page. For me, there's just the right amount of conflict in the story and the way it was delivered blended really well with the general atmosphere of the entire book.
The story is told in Lena's POV, and she's absolutely HILARIOUS! I went highlighter-crazy at those lines, and I wish I could share them all here just to show you what I'm talking about. Kylie Scott delivered Lena's lustful thoughts about Jimmy very humorously, and I loved it because it stopped things from getting cheesy. Even during the sex scenes, as steamy as they are, the writing still made me laugh a lot!
There are just a few things I didn't really like though. One, I would have loved to read parts of the story in Jimmy's POV! He felt a little less fleshed out than Lena, in my opinion. An alternate POV could have easily remedied that. Two, well actually could be a non-issue, but how I wish we find out what happened to his and Dave's monster mom. I wanted reassurance that she's gone for good, LOL. Three, the ending felt rushed and abrupt for me. I would have liked it better if Jimmy had to grovel more. Countless times he has hurt Lena, and she easily forgives him each time. That last offense of his deserved more “I'm sorry effort”, for me at least.
To sum it all up, the author's got comedy covered, there's an entertaining story, very likable characters, just a perfect dose of angst, and steaminess that's through the roof! I'd recommend this if you want a quick, funny read that doesn't lack in steam.
Synopsis:
Stay up all night with the sexy rockers in Stage Dive, the epic rock star romance series from New York Times bestselling author Kylie Scott, author of Lick and Play.
As the lead singer of Stage Dive, Jimmy is used to getting whatever he wants, whenever he wants it, whether it's booze, drugs, or women. However, when a PR disaster serves as a wake-up call about his life and lands him in rehab, he finds himself with Lena, a new assistant to keep him out of trouble.
Lena's not willing to take any crap from the sexy rocker and is determined to keep their relationship completely professional, despite their sizzling chemistry. But when Jimmy pushes her too far and Lena leaves, he realizes that he may just have lost the best thing that ever happened to him.
"Lena, you seen my old black Led Zep shirt?"
"Nope."
"You sure?" His brows became one dark cranky line. The scratches on his face were healing well, thank goodness. Though it didn't reduce my desire to throttle his mother on a daily basis.
"Yes. I haven't seen it."
Can't find it anywhere…"
"And this is a surprise, how?" I slipped my hands into my back jean's pockets. "Jimmy, you own more clothing than Cher, Brittney, and Elvis, put together. Things are bound to go missing."
"Sure you haven't seen it?"
"For goodness sake, what do you think, Jimmy? That I stole it to sleep in or something?" I laughed bitterly. Sure as hell, the truth deserved a good mocking. I'd sunk so despicably low.
I hadn't even meant to steal the stupid thing, but the shirt had been mixed up with my laundry a few days ago. It'd been the first top I laid my hand on after stepping out of the shower, ready to go to bed. Without thought, I'd put it on and it'd been so soft, the scent of him lingering beneath the laundry detergent. Every night since, I'd found myself in it come bedtime. My shame knew no limits. And no, I still hadn't quit. The words still hadn't come even close to leaving my mouth.
He frowned. "No."
"That I have some deep secret longing to feel close to you resulting in my stealing your shirt like some creepy perv?"
"Course I don't fucking think that," he replied crankily, reaching up to grip the top of the doorframe. All of his bulging muscles stretched the arms of his white T-shirt in the nicest way. It was all I could do not to start drooling, my heart beat taking up residence somewhere down between my thighs. And who could blame it? Not me. Maybe if I got laid, this would go away and things would return to normal. It'd seemed safer to avoid rubbing up against any men just in case I got carried away and started dating again. This new situation, however, changed everything.
"Well, of course not! That would be crazy." And wasn't that the god's honest truth? Cray-zeee. Lock me up and throw away the key because it wasn't like I didn't know better.
"Just can't figure out where the hell it could be."
Angels couldn't have smiled as innocently. They might have tried, but they would have failed, the dirty-mouthed, winged, little liars. "Jimmy, I don't know where it is. But I'll look around for it later, okay?"
"Yeah," he said, and then added as an afterthought, "and stop looking at me weird."
"I'm not!"
"Nope."
"You sure?" His brows became one dark cranky line. The scratches on his face were healing well, thank goodness. Though it didn't reduce my desire to throttle his mother on a daily basis.
"Yes. I haven't seen it."
Can't find it anywhere…"
"And this is a surprise, how?" I slipped my hands into my back jean's pockets. "Jimmy, you own more clothing than Cher, Brittney, and Elvis, put together. Things are bound to go missing."
"Sure you haven't seen it?"
"For goodness sake, what do you think, Jimmy? That I stole it to sleep in or something?" I laughed bitterly. Sure as hell, the truth deserved a good mocking. I'd sunk so despicably low.
I hadn't even meant to steal the stupid thing, but the shirt had been mixed up with my laundry a few days ago. It'd been the first top I laid my hand on after stepping out of the shower, ready to go to bed. Without thought, I'd put it on and it'd been so soft, the scent of him lingering beneath the laundry detergent. Every night since, I'd found myself in it come bedtime. My shame knew no limits. And no, I still hadn't quit. The words still hadn't come even close to leaving my mouth.
He frowned. "No."
"That I have some deep secret longing to feel close to you resulting in my stealing your shirt like some creepy perv?"
"Course I don't fucking think that," he replied crankily, reaching up to grip the top of the doorframe. All of his bulging muscles stretched the arms of his white T-shirt in the nicest way. It was all I could do not to start drooling, my heart beat taking up residence somewhere down between my thighs. And who could blame it? Not me. Maybe if I got laid, this would go away and things would return to normal. It'd seemed safer to avoid rubbing up against any men just in case I got carried away and started dating again. This new situation, however, changed everything.
"Well, of course not! That would be crazy." And wasn't that the god's honest truth? Cray-zeee. Lock me up and throw away the key because it wasn't like I didn't know better.
"Just can't figure out where the hell it could be."
Angels couldn't have smiled as innocently. They might have tried, but they would have failed, the dirty-mouthed, winged, little liars. "Jimmy, I don't know where it is. But I'll look around for it later, okay?"
"Yeah," he said, and then added as an afterthought, "and stop looking at me weird."
"I'm not!"
Here are the rest of the books in the Stage Dive Series:
Book 1: Lick
Book 2: Play
Kylie Scott is a long time fan of romance, rock music, and B-grade horror films. Based in Queensland, Australia with her two children and one delightful husband, she reads, writes and never dithers around on the internet.
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