Lead, by Kylie Scott (Stage Dive Series, #3)

Oh Jimmy. You’re such a broody, alcoholic, emotional train wreck of a mess! Of course, that means I loved reading his story! 

Jimmy, the lead singer of Stage Dive is featured in this third installment of the series. If you’ve been reading the series, you know he’s an arrogant, narcissistic, a-hole. You know he’s carrying around some major oversized chips on his shoulders, and some heavy baggage. Now you know what and why. 

Jimmy is fresh out of rehab for his multiple addictions, has burned through several “addiction coaches”/assistants and is in need of another one to help keep him in line, and out of the bottom of a bottle.

Lena is a tough talking, snarky, bad-ass girl. She gives attitude to her boss, the bands manager, who promptly fires her. After seeing what she can dish out to him, Mal and the gang know they’ve found the one that just may keep Jimmy in line.

“I might have been asked to moderate my attitude a time of two. But really, life was too short to take shit”

Can I put that on a t-shirt? Bumper sticker? Magnet?  Anyhoo, back to Lena.

She decides to take that job, and ends up moving in with Jimmy to keep an eye on him. While she’s no doubt attracted to him, she tries to convince herself that she wants no part of him, or a relationship. She’s been burned by men – in her words has dated “a cheater, a thief, a repressed homosexual, a foot fetishist, and various men to just wanted a chance to meet my sister.” She’s not in the mood for another, especially one with Jimmy’s past.

Doesn’t work. As he breaks down over the death of Mal’s mother and seeks comfort in her, she realizes that there is more to Jimmy than just his good looks and sarcasm.

“With him in the room, I apparently had the concentration span of a four-year-old loaded up on sugar.”

He’s moody, barely pays attention to her, and when he does, often barks orders at her and complains. She knows that her attraction is one-sided. When she acknowledges she has feelings for him decides to quit her job to save herself, he is furious! Pushing her to reveal the real reason she is leaving, she confesses that she has feelings for him and he laughs at her! Asshole. 

After a really bad attempt at apologizing, he reads her magazine with the “Guide to getting over him” article, and decides the article has some merit. He enlists himself to help her follow the list of recommendations, including dating other people, finding new hobbies, get fit, and a whole host of other things. He commences to help her the next morning by getting her out of bed at sunrise and making her go jogging with him, setting her up on dates, and even includes some of the girl-pampering suggested by the article.

When dating other people doesn’t solve anything but make them both miserable, Jimmy comes up with a new solution – sleep with each other to get her feelings for him out of her system, and allow him to release some pent up sexual frustration. What ensues is the development of their non-relationship. She knows her feelings are getting deeper and she's about to be crushed. He continues to deny, deny, deny.

What I loved about this book is the same as the others – the characters are flawed, but real. They’re redeemable. They are hilarious. They’re friends, they fight, they argue, they laugh, and they stick together. The main characters don’t just wake up, see each other and BAM fall in love.  

 The characters from the series are involved in each book and you get to continue to read about favorites from the first two books,Lick, and Play in this one. The final book in the series, Deep, comes out in January and frankly, it’s too long of a wait for me! I want this book NOW!

In the meantime, I’m going to pick up her other series and read those to hold me over.

Kylie Scott – I may be in love with you. In a crazed fan-girl, non-real-life-stalker kind of way.  Just sayin’

I can't wait to see more of the gang, including  my favorite, Mal.

He delivers one of my favorite lines as he's talking to his "son":

"If she means something to you, you gotta do the woo, son. You can’t just be trying to stick it in.” 

Love Mal. Just kills me! 

Get the series on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other retailers.