Lead by Kylie Scott Book Review

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Lead by Kylie Scott Book ReviewLead by Kylie Scott
Series: Stage Dive #3
Published by St. Martin's Press on 2014-7-29
Genres: Coming of Age, Contemporary, Erotica, Fiction, New Adult, Romance
Pages: 288
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
four-half-stars
Also by this author: Lick, Play, Deep, Dirty

Stay up all night with the sexy rockers in Stage Dive, the epic New Adult 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.

I don’t know what it is, but I can’t get enough of this rock star romance series. Right after finishing Lead in fact I went back and re-read the two previous books. (I was at Comic-Con and had lots of downtime waiting in line and conveniently had this series on my kindle) I am definitely a Stage Dive groupie at this point and a huge fan of the mastermind behind the band Kylie Scott.

Each book in the Stage Dive series centers on a different member of the rock band Stage Dive. The first book Lick is about the sweet and soulful guitarist David Ferris, the second book Play is about the drummer and class clown of the group Mal Erickson, and this book Lead is about the intense frontman Jimmy Ferris.

Each book gives us a little background about each rocker so we know that Jimmy struggles with substance abuse problems, he’s David’s older brother, and they came from a troubled home. As we meet Jimmy in Lick he’s about to hit rock bottom and he burns a lot of bridges. Now Jimmy is clean and fresh from rehab. He has a sober companion to make sure he stays that way. Jimmy has been battling with his demons privately and I was excited to learn more about him in Lead.

Jimmy meets his match in Lena, his sober companion. Lena stumbled into this job even though she doesn’t really have the qualifications except for being at the right place at the right time.  Lena has a strong will and does not take any crap from Jimmy, who has gotten rid of all his other assistants. Lena slowly falls for Jimmy as she sees through his façade and that becomes a problem. The two are living together and she worries that she won’t be able to do her job properly with the hotness of Jimmy distracting her. Plus he is, you know, her boss. Jimmy doesn’t want the complication of Lena’s crush and so encourages her to find someone else to date. And that goes just about as well as you can imagine. Though some of these dates are comedy gold!

I like Kylie Scott’s unique approach to writing the couples in this series. In each book, these accidental couples meet through unusual circumstances and the reader gets to see that romantic tension build over the course of the book. The heroines are normal, strong-willed, independent girls who happen to meet these international rock stars at the right time when they are ready to settle down. So even though it takes some time for these couples to get together, there are lots of little tender moments throughout the books to get the reader invested.

I’ve enjoyed all the books in the series so far, but personally I like the way Kylie Scott writes the brooding guys best. So I’d say the Ferris brothers’ books Lick and Lead are tied for favorite. Mal is so funny and I love when he pops up in the books but there is something that grabs me about the more dark and mysterious members of Stage Dive.

Lead also advances some of the other couples’ stories in the book and it’s great to see those cameos. Plus we get to learn more about David and Jimmy’s relationship and more about their upbringing. You learn more about the other characters seeing them through fresh eyes.

Jimmy and Lena are evenly matched and I loved seeing their growth individually and as a couple. They both had a positive change on the other and helped each other overcome stumbling blocks. Jimmy and Lena have strong personalities and are snarky types so there was a lot of witty banter and some quite humorous physical arguments.

Lead also teases Deep’s leading man, Ben the bass player, and his potential love interest. Can’t wait to learn more about him, and the synopsis suggests a return to Vegas! The series is coming full circle.

Lead is on sale now and if you love rock star romance, and contemporary/new adult books you should check out this series. You’ll be a Stage Dive groupie in no time. The next (and final?) Stage Dive book Deep is out January 6th.

Considering the music theme of the Stage Dive novels, book playlists are a perfect match. Here is Kylie Scott’s playlist for Lead:

And you know I’m an audiobook addict so I’m tempted to experiment the books again in audio format. All the books in the series are narrated by Andi Arndt. Here’s an audio sample from LICK, the first book in the Stage Dive series, courtesy of Macmillan Audio:

Ornament

2 thoughts on “Lead by Kylie Scott Book Review

  1. I can totally see myself loving this series…thanks for recommending it, Lucy!

    Tammy @ Books Bones & Buffy recently posted: Waiting on Wednesday (110) BLACK DOG by Caitlin Kittredge
  2. I am pretty sure I have book 1 of this series. You make it sound really good and fun. I don’t read many contemps but I may have to move this one up on the list.

    fishgirl182 @ nite lite recently posted: Review: Saga Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

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