4.5 stars. ( )

Lead Me On
4.5 Stars

Due to her troubled past, Jane Morgan has changed her name and created a new life for herself. The only thing missing is a man to share it with, but Jane is weary of the staid men that she has been dating. Enter William Chase, a physically intimidating and tattooed demolitions expert, who rings all of Jane’s bells, but epitomizes everything that she has renounced in her life. Can Jane accept who she truly is in order to be with the love of her life?

Barring one or two small issues, the first two books in the Tumble Creek series are fun and entertaining. Lead Me On, however, takes things to a whole new level.

Jane’s past has caused her to be wary of a certain type of man and some readers my find her snobbish persona off-putting. Nevertheless, for me she is a very sympathetic heroine who becomes even more so once her traumatic history is revealed. Chase is simply scrumptious; a gentle giant who realizes that Jane is "the one" from their first meeting, now if only he can convince her of that fact. Their chemistry sizzles and fans of steamy romance will not be disappointed.

The suspense plot is minor but that doesn’t matter as the secondary characters from Jane’s overprotective stepfather to her irresponsible brother and her eccentric grandmother are responsible for many of the sweet and humorous moments in the book.

All in all, an exceedingly entertaining book and I’m going to read more of Dahl’s contemporary works. ( )

First things first, *head meet table*. I am kicking myself utterly for not reading anything of Victoria Dahl's before. I have her other two novels 'Talk Me Down' and 'Start Me Up' but I just hadn't gotten around to reading them, I am an idiot. Now, this books is HOT, like volcanic hot, nuclear hot, just dang hot. While reading this book I felt like I was curled up on the couch watching my favorite go-to film; I felt like I knew the characters and the place, it was wonderful. Chase is SUPER sexy, I wish he lived here and I could steal him away from Jane. *fans self*. I adored this book from page one and will absolutely buy any and everything else Victoria Dahl writes. This book was awesome! I am just in utter awe of Ms. Dahl's ability to turn a story into something so perfect, and I usually don't even read contemporary romance. Still in shock....*runs to bookshelf for more* ( )

Review Link: http://wp.me/p5aHOQ-DG

I have been a fan of Victoria Dahl’s Tumble Creek series for years, so when I stumbled upon a copy of Lead Me On, in my favorite used book store, I was quick to snap it up. It was the only book in the series I had yet to read and I had a great time.

Jane Morgan is the uptight and in-control office manager at Jennings Architecture. She and Chase meet as he comes to pick up some project materials from his latest excavation project. Jane is instantly attracted to the Chase, but is firm to dismiss as a blue-collar worker and wants nothing to do with him. She is determined not to be like her mother – a woman who spent Jane’s childhood chasing after long-term prisoners as husband material.

I’m not going to lie, Jane was not my favorite character – at first. She begins as the type of main character I cannot stand – preachy, snobby and discriminatory against everything low-class, even her own family. The only person she looks down on more is herself. She’s trying to be someone she’s not, someone “respectable” and spends a lot of time beating herself up about things she can’t change. It’s sad how hypocritical she is, but her saving grace is she shows tremendous growth throughout Lead Me On, thanks one tender-hearted bad boy named Chase.

Once her past is finally revealed, I began to understand why she is so hard on herself and why she’s judgmental. It takes a while, but she slowly learns grows past her fears and pain and develops into a woman who I could adore. And Jane sure is a sexy woman when she stops acting like the woman she thinks she should be and learns to be herself, no matter what. :)

Chase is not fooled by Jane’s prim clothing and haughty demeanor. He thinks she’s intimidating as hell and for some reason it really grinds his gears in all the right ways. He takes her rejection well but can’t help but flirt every time he comes in to the firm. He’s ecstatic when Jane seems to have changed her mind about seeing him and boy do they heat up the sheets together!

I loved everything about Chase. He has that sexy bad boy swagger that pushes all of my buttons, but he’s also a sweetheart and way more sensitive than you’d usually see in a bad boy character. And the best thing about him? He always calls Jane on her shit, even though he sympathizes with why she’s the person she is today. It’s refreshing to see a hero not take any crap because he cares about his woman.

While I initially had some issues with Jane, she wormed her way into my heart and made me change my mind. Lead Me On turned out to be a sexy, surprisingly heartbreaking read and I can’t wait to read more from Victoria Dahl! ( )

I enjoyed this very steamy story. An atypical kind of romance affected by heroines past and I always enjoy a man in pursuit. Office manager Jane wants to put her prison related family behind her and have steady smooth relationship. Until she meets Chase with his tattooed biceps ... and her brother becomes murder suspect.
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