The wrong man just might be her perfect fit…
Primal attraction 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, steel-toed boots and unadulterated sex appeal? 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, and her lawyer ex-boyfriend won’t help, Jane turns to Chase. And she discovers a man who’s been around the block knows a thing or two about uncovering all kinds of truths.
Lead Me On is the third in the Tumble Creek Series. At first, I was a little skeptical because there really wasn’t much mention of Jane in the previous novels but I think she fits in quite nicely. She’s fiesty yet vulnerable just like the rest of Victoria Dahl’s heroines. Jane Morgan has spent the last ten years trying to forget her past but when William Chase walks into her office she can’t run anymore, not that she really wants to run from the ruggedly handsome tattooed bad boy, who really isn’t all that bad. What she really wants is to run staight into his bed and he’s not objecting.
I normally don’t have a thing for tattoos but Chase definitely made me want to reconsider my attraction. Ms. Dahl deals with the prejudices and judgements society dishes out has quite well. I have to admit that I had my own initial prejudices about Chase because of his tattoos but I quickly learned that he’s just a normal guy who likes pizza and Coke, who just happens to also like permanent body art. Chase has overcome his own childhood sufferings and trying to “raise” his alcoholic father while he was just a child himself. Despite the lack of an ideal childhood, he became a very successful business owner. The further along I got into the book the more I like Chase. He’s a great guy. He’s considerate of his loved ones. One of the ways that impressed me was he stopped enabling his alcoholic father. Something else that made Chase more likeable was he might have been madly in love with Jane but he still got aggravated at the things she did. He didn’t instantly forgive her for being overly critical and let her get away with murder and I really liked that.
Just as Chase isn’t the typical tattooed badass, Jane isn’t the typical secretary. Behind Jane’s prim exterior there’s a wanton scratching to get out. I completely identified with Jane’s desire and need to expel her past from her memory. We’ve all got those skeletons in the closet that we never want anyone to know about because we’re afraid of being judged, even if we’re no longer that person. Jane’s appearance as the typical “goody-two-shoes” was the classic front for a girl trying to forget her premiscuous past but she definitely isn’t boring. Throughout the book Jane grows, not instantaneously, which is a relief, and learns to accept the person she was in the past and realizes that she wouldn’t have become the person she did without those unpleasant experiences. What a great lesson for all of us to learn. Jane’s family was far from perfect but they were real people, people that you and I know. Jane’s Grandma Olive was a riot. She reminded me of my mom, just telling it like it was and giving way too much information at the most embarrassing time possible. I do wonder if Jane’s brother, Jesse, might become a Victoria Dahl Hero one day. Jane’s ex, Greg, that she dumps in the first chapter, was an ass. Plain and simple. No way to sugar-coat it. I was really glad when he got his just desserts. No pun inteneded.
The passion between Jane and Chase was fantastic. Sexy and sweet at the same time. It wasn’t just mindless sex between two people just wanting an orgasm. The pace was fast and the dialogue witty and clever with plenty of laugh out loud moments. All of the characters were well rounded and well thought out. As I sit here typing this I am trying to think about something, anything, that I didn’t like about the book and there isn’t a single thing I can say I didn’t like. There were moments were I cringed, not out of dislike, but out of discomfort for Jane and being embarrassed for her.
All in all, Lead Me On is a novel that I would recommend to anyone wanting a fun, sexy and intelligent read.
I Would Rather Be Reading... 
I loved this book. I haven’t loved a couple like Jane & Chase in a long time. There were some other blog discussions on how Chase’s character had to be super-good to compensate for Jane’s less than ideal qualities. I felt they were just overthinking it. Folks, sometimes a guy is just a GOOD GUY. Plain & simple. Chase had to grow up fast, lost his mother at a young age and then had to be father to HIS own father. That, my friend, makes a man with integrity grow up to be understanding, empathetic, and mature.
It was all there in the writing so I was a bit stumped as to why some felt it was a mis-cast of motivations. Anyways, loved the book and now hunting down the hardcover version so I can keep on my keeper shelf. I can’t wait for VD’s next book!