Review: Lead Me Back by C.D. Reiss

☆☆➹⁀☆ 4 stars ☆➹⁀☆☆

 

About the Book:

Cutting all ties, Kayla Montgomery drives cross-country to Los Angeles. New start. New life. And an unexpected new job: assistant to Justin Beckett.

The Justin Beckett.

The boy band rebel with the cocky attitude and dreamy bed head who casts a spell over his fans and tests the patience of his handlers.

Now at the peak of Mount Adulthood, he has to build a clean-cut, movie star image. It’s in his contract. No partying. No attitude. No groupies.

To tie it together, he needs a normal girl.

Suddenly, Kayla’s swept up in Justin’s glamorous world, and his arms. But the most dizzying thing is Justin himself. Sweet, generous, reliable, and as eager to shed his past as Kayla is hers.

About that…

Those ties she thought she’d cut? They’ve followed her across the country with her secrets in tow, and they’re about to test Kayla’s courage, Justin’s loyalty, and a love that wasn’t part of the deal.

 

My Thoughts:

Lead Me Back is a standalone contemporary romance. Long-time fans of author C.D. Reiss will appreciate the casual nods to characters from prior standalone novels set in Hollywood, and new readers will have no trouble jumping right into Kayla and Justin’s story. Lead Me Back is filled with second chances, friendship, and smart banter.

The opening scene absolutely hooked me. Having lived in both New York and California, Ms. Reiss nails the descriptions of both towns. Kayla travels across the continent to run away from her troubles in New York, and when she foolishly takes a call from an unknown number, her life is turned upside down again—but this time by a sweet old lady named Louise. I loved Louise! She is one of those scene-stealing secondary characters. Louise’s grandson is none other than the boy band heartthrob, Justin Beckett. Just like Kayla, Justin is haunted by his past. Another standout secondary character is Kayla’s estranged father.

The slow-burn romance is perfectly paced. I didn’t always feel the chemistry between Kayla and Justin, but I really enjoyed their banter. As the story progressed, the inevitability of their relationship developed organically, so that by the end, their partnership was a balance of support, respect and passion.

 

 

Available at:  Amazon  |  Amazon Worldwide

Bookbub | Goodreads

 

About the Author: CD Reiss is a New York Times bestseller. She still has to chop wood and carry water, which was buried in the fine print. Her lawyer is working it out with God but in the meantime, if you call and she doesn’t pick up she’s at the well hauling buckets.

Born in New York City, she moved to Hollywood, California to get her master’s degree in screenwriting from USC. In case you want to know, that went nowhere but it did give her a big enough ego to write novels.

She’s frequently referred to as the Shakespeare of Smut which is flattering but hasn’t ever gotten her out of chopping that cord of wood.

If you meet her in person, you should call her Christine.

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