Lead Me on

Lead Me On by Victoria Dahl This is a book about misconceptions, about making judgments of people before you really get to know them. It's about trying to out run your past and that past coming back to kick you when you least expect it. It's about secrets and what they can do to you if they ever get out. And it's also about learning who to trust even if that person is yourself. And this has to be one of the hottest books I have read in a long time. WOW! Ms Dahl should receive lots and lots of kudos writing about a woman who is in charge of her own sexuality and makes no apologies for it. This is not the typical romance where the heroine is waiting for her "White Knight". Meet Jane Morgan, She seems every inch a prim, proper, suit wearing, bespeckled, uptight, hard nosed, no nonsense woman. Then meet Billy Chase. Handsome and tattooed, large and muscular, a jeans and t-shirt clad construction worker. But are they really what they seem to be on the surface? Jane is trying to lead a normal respectable life and is trying to over-come a rather horrible upbringing and then a bout of acting out when she hit puberty . She is trying to date the "right" type of men, but secretly what she lusts after is a "bad boy". Jane gives herself an early Birthday present and that present is Chase. And he of course, whole-heartedly gets with the program. *grin* But when Jane's brother is caught stealing and then accused of murder, Jane learns that she needs to learn to lean on people and Chase is happy to oblige. I've loved Victoria Dahl's books from the first and I was thrilled to see this finally come out and it was well worth it. This was well written, the characters are interesting and sympathetic, even when you want to be annoyed with Jane's reluctance to her attraction to Chase, you can understand why. Chase is just a tad too good to be true, but it really works for the story line. Lead Me On has great secondary characters, and if you've read the first two books in this series (Start Me Up and Talk Me Down) you will recognize some of them. Don't get me wrong; although part of a series, each book is written as a perfect "stand-alone" book. But I guarantee that if you read one, you will be reading the others!! I certainly will be buying the other books that Ms Dahl has written that aren't part of this series.

I love Victoria Dahl writing and was so excited to get Lead Me On the final book in the Tumble Creek Series. This is the story Jane Morgan who is straight laced secretary who finds herself attracted to Chase who has tattoo, blows things up and drives an old truck. Jane - vanilla life starts to be mixed with her crazy past and through out the book Chase and Jane process how to make it all work. Fantastic book - lots of steam and finished it in one - (my family had take-out always a good sign for great book)- Enjoy! If you are looking for some more great reads fromt this author I would also suggest;To Tempt A Scotsman (Zebra Debut), A Rake's Guide To Pleasure (Zebra Historical Romance), One Week As Lovers,Start Me Up (# 1 in Tumble Creek Series) , Talk Me Down (# 2 in Tumble Creek Series). Looking forward to Crazy for Love, due out August 2010 & A Little Bit Wild due out August 2010.

Summary: Raw, animal magnetism... ...is a big red flag to prim and proper office manager Jane Morgan. After a rough childhood with a mother who liked her men in prison-jumpsuit orange, Jane changed her name, her look and her taste for bad boys. So why is she lusting for William Chase with his tattoo-covered biceps and steel-toed boots? The man blows things up for a living! She gives herself one explosive, fantasy-filled night with Chase. The next day it's back to plain Jane and safe men. But when her beloved brother becomes a murder suspect, it's Chase who comes to her rescue. And Jane discovers that a man who's been around the block knows a thing or two about uncovering the truth.... 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* Received from: Received one copy from Netgalley and the other I purchased For more information or for purchasing visit Victoria Dahl's webpage.

If you've read the previous book "Start Me Up" you'll recognize Jane as Quinn's ultra professional secretary. She's just as organized and cool as she seemed in the last book, but now we get a little insight into what makes her tick. Chase is working with Quinn on a residential project and meets Jane when he goes to the office. He hits on her as a whim but Jane turns him down. He ends up giving her his business card in the hope she might change her mind and give him a call. When Jane gets a little tipsy out with a friend she ends up giving herself an early birthday present and gives him a call. Jane was an interesting character. Her snobbery and prejudices made her a little hard to like, but the way that she owns up to her views and admits they're not valid made it easy for me to sympathize with her. She had a really hard time growing up and started acting out as soon as she hit puberty. At the time she didn't care what she was doing or what people thought, but after she changed her life she hid who she used to be and didn't want to be involved with anyone or anything that might associate her with the kind of girl she used to be. The author definitely didn't spare Jane from her mistakes growing up. Her actions were described but they were never excused. It was up to the reader to decide their own opinion of it. I cannot think of a single other heroine I've read with a past quite like this. I loved that the author a chance and didn't sugarcoat Jane. I really liked her character and appreciated what she was able to build after having sunk so low. Chase was a less in depth (though no less endearing) character. Even though he had a past of his own and issues with his dad he was a much more stable adult. He moved past the problems that he had in life and became comfortable in his own skin. I was pretty surprised about Chase and Jane's past association. How hard to be around someone who hasn't just heard about your worst but has seen it in person. I was glad they were able to move past it. Chase and Jane were pretty perfect together. They really seemed like they fit together. I liked that Chase finally drew the line and wouldn't let himself be used anymore. I liked that he was able to indulge her wild behavior but also able to help her finally move past her low opinion of herself. This book really did a good job illustrating that you can't judge a person by how they look on the outside. I loved every time Chase popped up with another fact about himself that made Jane feel foolish for her assumptions. I do have to mention one thing that bothered me though. What was the deal with everyone thinking that someone with a tattoo had to be low class? I totally understand Jane's view on it, and she admits that she has issues that make her classify people like that, but what about everyone else? When Jane starts having issues Quinn immediately jumps to some pretty harsh conclusions about Chase that seem to be based on how he looks.

Disclosure: I'd like to mention that I won a paperback copy of this book, but have pre-ordered a copy for Kindle as well, in order to get it in my preferred format. Jane is the very model of a cool, calm professional. Even a bit of an ice queen. She meets Chase, a large tattooed man, and he asks her out, even though they seem an unlikely match. The truth is that Jane comes from a dysfunctional background, and she spent her teen years acting out based on this - being the life of the party. After having turned her life around and distancing herself from the person she used to be, Chase appears to be the last sort of man she would want to date, or at least the last person she would want people to know she's dating. At first glance, he might be what she wants, but he's not what she needs. However, romance novels are about what happens after the first glance. The secondary plot is about her brother getting into trouble with the law and her efforts to help him. I'm on record as being a fan of the author and the other books in the Tumble Creek series. Jane also appears in Start Me Up. Lead Me On, in my opinion, is by far the best one in the series for readers who don't find sexually experienced heroines a deal breaker. Ms. Dahl, and I admire this greatly, seems to make it a priority to allow all of her heroines to have healthy libidos and varying degrees of interest in sex in things likes having fun in public places or the occasional spanking, restraints, etc. These things are not usually the main point of her books, and I don't want to give that impression, but I want to say I find it refreshing whenever a heroine is allowed to be something other than virginal, repressed, or shy to the point of it being a disability. While Jane projects a more sedate persona, underneath and in the right circumstances her libido is healthy and she knows what arouses her. Jane has a "past." The reasons for Jane's actions in her youth were not usually healthy ones, even her thoughts at the beginning of her relationship with Chase show that she still has some of the negative thoughts about herself on display. However, and this is what I love, the author allows her to remain lusty, even a bit wild while in a relationship that's actually good for her. Perhaps because of her teen rebellion, she knows what she wants and isn't afraid to ask for it, and she finds a genuinely good man who doesn't judge her for the bad choices she made in the past. To paraphrase Bo in Bus Stop: if you love someone as they are today, what do you care how they got that way? The scene where she makes Chase her birthday present is legitimately sexy, as is a scene in the parking lot of a local bar. Also, not for nothing, but I like a hero who is successful, but also down to earth, and - yes - I like tattoos. And I like that Jane found a way to embrace what was good about her past, while still celebrating the person she is today. When I look at the three Tumble Creek books, I notice that he