Lead by Kylie Scott Narrator: Andi Arndt
Published by MacMillan on July 29, 2014
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Length: 9 hours, 42 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
Goodreads
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As the lead singer of Stage Dive, Jimmy is used to getting whatever he wants, whenever he wants it, whether it's booze, drugs, or women. However, when a PR disaster serves as a wake-up call about his life and lands him in rehab, he finds himself with Lena, a new assistant to keep him out of trouble.
Lena's not willing to take any crap from the sexy rocker and is determined to keep their relationship completely professional, despite their sizzling chemistry. But when Jimmy pushes her too far and Lena leaves, he realizes that he may just have lost the best thing that ever happened to him
Read It, Rate It and Record
A short review to update challenges
So I am continuing with the series, Stage Dive, and I wasn’t really certain about Jimmy and Lena for awhile. I mean their bickering banter was fun but I didn’t get the sense they would make a couple. But that is stupid on my part because this is Jimmy’s story being told from Lena’s point of view. So duh.
Jimmy is majorly messed up. He was so mistreated by his mother and she continues to pop up to put him down. He has protected his younger brother and continues to protect him. He just doesn’t believe anyone will love him and so he hides his loneliness and fears with drugs and alcohol. Now that he’s going sober, he takes out his frustrations with exercise and lifting weights, and fighting with his new assistant, Lena.
Lena has fallen for Jimmy but she is determined both to keep things professional and not get her heart broken…. again. She has issues with her sister, her sister’s upcoming wedding and because of that, her parents. She loves Jimmy and is willing to do most anything to keep him on the right track. They spend a lot of time together and become friends, still teasing each other without mercy at times.
I am really so proud of how honest Lena was with herself and with Jimmy. She had some work on her self-confidence but she didn’t take shit from anyone. Jimmy had a long ways to go to have actual relationships of any kind, even with his brother. It was heart breaking and inspiring at times as they struggled with their issues.
Narration:
Andi Arndt breathes life and emotions into these larger than life characters. It’s such a pleasure to listen to her. She’s a reason I chose to listen to the series rather than read them. It is so fluent I can just absorb the story without worrying about the voices because they feel authentic. I listened comfortably at 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Andi Arndt
Andi’s relatively neutral US English accent is a product of a Minnesota childhood, New Jersey high school years, and Maryland/DC/Virginia adulthood. Firm grounding in both theatre and broadcasting led to full-time work in voice over.
About Kylie Scott
Kylie is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author. She was voted Australian Romance Writer of the year, 2013, 2014 & 2018, by the Australian Romance Writer’s Association and her books have been translated into eleven different languages. She is a long time fan of romance, rock music, and B-grade horror films. Based in Queensland, Australia with her two children and husband, she reads, writes and never dithers around on the internet.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2019 Audiobooks
- 2019 Library-Love
- BTB 2019
Nice when a series keeps on giving and good narration is always a plus too!
A favorite narrator and having them at the library makes listening an easy choice.
Kylie Scott is another author I’d like to try. The characters sound nicely developed.
Yes while some of the rich people things are unreal, the people seem very real.