Lead Me On by Victoria Dahl - A Review(-ish)

Jane Morgan had a tough childhood. Her mother was something of a prison groupie. Marrying Jane's dad, who was in prison, and then, when they divorced, marrying another man, Big Mac, who had also been in prison. Jane's stepdad, Mac is more of a father than her biological father ever was. Jane spent most of her young teens behaving very, VERY badly. Acting trampy and attracting the attention of completely inappropriate boys. As an adult, Jane is horrified by her youthful actions and has swung the extreme opposite direction. She's an accomplished professional, and has modeled herself as conservative and quiet. She only dates the "right" men, and wants a quiet, unassuming life.

All of that changes when William Chase walks inter her office. Chase runs Extreme Excavation, and, well, he blows things up for a living. He's got tattoos, and drives a pick-up truck, and is everything she does NOT want in a man. He takes one look at Jane and is intrigued. She's all buttoned down and uptight, and he's just sure there's more to the story. He asks her out, and she politely declines. He shrugs it off, but gives her his number anyway.

A few nights later, Jane decides (after a few adult beverages) that she's going to have one night of trashy sex to celebrate her birthday. She decides that Chase is the guy. She calls him, he accepts and they end up having decidedly steamy sex at his place. But when he gets up to get in the shower, she bails. Unfortunately, Chase is thinking this is the beginning of a possible relationship, and Jane is thinking that perhaps they can use each other for sex. Will they ever be able to work it out?

I was thrilled to read this book and truly enjoy it. The first two this series just didn't work for me, when they seemed to work for every other romance reader in the world.

OK, I'll be willing to admit it, Chase just totally worked for me on every level. No really. EVERY level. He was hot, self-aware, protective, apparently excellent in the sack, and had tattoos. He's everything I love in a romance hero. And I loved how he worked to thaw out Jane and help her through her issues. I actually enjoyed Jane, and usually, I end up having a high level of annoyance with heroines who push perfect heroes away. But I understood Jane's reluctance, and I thought that Dahl gave her a terrific back story that was completely credible and justified her actions throughout the book. This book was entertaining, quick and wonderfully engaging. I'm thrilled to be able to say I'm on the Victoria Dahl bandwagon.

Final grade: A