5+++ Star Review - Lead (Stage Dive, Book 3) by Kylie Scott I LOVE THIS SERIES!!

“I Fell For A Narcissistic Ass-hat!”

“Why are you two always kicking each other?” Ben asked, interrupting the heated looks. “Just out of interest?” Jimmy shrugged. “Everyone has their hobbies, Ben.”

Lead is the book three in Kylie Scott’s Stage Dive series. I am having a serious love affair with this series! Each book that is released only reinforces my inner fangirl. This series is turning out to be one of the best Rock Star series I have ever read! I love the premise and the dialogue. We still get pleenty of Mal (my favorite!!) and the rest of the gang! We also get a lot of humor, angst and believe it or not, a deeply meaningful story about redemption. Lena is the perfect person for Jimmy. He is so flawed and she is so forgiving. She teaches him how to value himself, repair the relationships with his brother and band and open himself to the possibility of love. This is a winner folks!!

“The man was such a show pony, one that I just so happened to be hormonally susceptible to. Blame it all on my girl bits, sure why not?”

As the front man for the famous band, Stage Dive, James Dylan Ferris (a.k.a. Jimmy) has lived the rock star lifestyle hard, taking in his fill of copious amounts of alcohol, drugs and women. After a stint in rehab and after a huge PR fiasco, Jimmy is “persuaded” by the rest of the band and the record company to take on an assistant to steer him far away from further trouble. Jimmy may be a man with addiction issues but the last thing he needs is a glorified babysitter, particularly one that looks like Lena.

Lena Morrissey knows her share of heart-break given her penchant for falling for an array of bad-boy charmers. She has learned her lesson though and, with a new lease on life, Lena is starting fresh and has been hired on as an assistant to the Lead singer of Stage Dive. She is unwilling to take shit from anyone, particuarly from the narcissistic jerk she now works for. Despite Lena’s dislike for the arrogant and self-absorbed rocker, she can’t deny the sizzling chemistry and electrical sparks that ignite each time her and Jimmy are together. The last thing Lena needs is another asshole to add to her list of men in her past. She is determined to keep things professional between her and Jimmy, but damn if the ass-hat rocker doesn’t get under her skin. This book was absolutely fantastic from start to finish. I absolutely loved the fact that Jimmy and Lena did not necessarily get along at first. These two squabbled over EVERYTHING. It was hilarious. Here you have this egotistical rock star who is used to getting whatever he wants. You throw in an assistant who not only does not put up with his crap but she throws some right back at him and you have a wonderful recipe for hilarity and crazy antics. Admittedly this book was a lot more toned down that Mal’s book (Play); however, the band’s drummer wins the demented and unbalanced award hands down every time so a tamer book was to be expected. But that does not negate the fact that Lena and Jimmy had their own brand of funny. Let me give you some examples:

I stared at his cock, mesmerized. Even incased in rubber it remained a thing of true beauty. Had I any talent with a pen, I’d have written it poems. A haiku perhaps. “Lena?” I was hypnotized, helpless. Cock-struck. ***** An arm shot out, wrapping around my neck, pulling me in against him. His whole body trembled. “You okay?” I asked. A nod. “Feeling a little emotional, huh?” I petted his hair. “That’s okay. It was an emotional blow job.”

See....funny shit!

“Every part of me wanted him, I yearned for him on the cellular level. There could be no escaping emotions of this magnitude. His good and bad, dark and light, his nice parts and his nasty. Everything he was, I loved, and it left me feeling utterly helpless.”

Kylie Scott not only provides her signature humor in this book, but she also gives us a book that is endearingly sweet. Jimmy and Lena become friends first ignoring the underlying sexual tension between the two of them. Lena was quicker to admit her feelings often brooding about her unrequited love but Jimmy definitely struggled more with all his inner turmoil over the sassy brunette. Jimmy never saw Lena coming. He was so completely unaware about what was actually occurring between the two of them. It made him all the more endearing. Lena pushes Jimmy so far past his comfort zone and Jimmy tries to push her away and, yet, still keep her close. You can’t help but fall in love with the big ole jerk. He has definitely had it rough growing up so it is not hard to see where his aloofness and cool demeanour come from; however, Lena is just the right girl who wiggles her way in past his highly erected walls. She, much like Jimmy’s inner circle, sees past his façade and sees him for the vulnerable and caring man he is underneath it all.

“Don’t hate me, Lena,” he whispered. “You want to be mad at me when I do dumb things, that’s fine. But don’t ever hate me. I couldn’t take that, not from you.”

How could you not fall in love with Jimmy? All in all, Kylie Scott has penned another fantastic addition to this series. Lead is a book that I became completely immersed in. I could not read fast enough wanting to see how it would all pan out for Jimmy and Lena. Next up is a book about Ben. It sure can’t come soon enough for me.

#5stars #rockstar #review