Two great books in a row – how refreshing!
Lead Me On by Victoria Dahl
(2010, Contemporary)
Grade: 4.5
Jane has put her childhood behind her, and now she’s determined to find a proper and respectable man. But why does she find Chase so appealing, with his dusty jeans and his tattooed biceps? At first, Chase is happy to have a no-strings affair with Jane, but when her old life starts crashing into her new one, he finds he wants more. He wants love.
It was so refreshing to read a book that felt so contemporary. As much as I love historicals, sometimes a contemporary just hits the spot, but so many of them don’t feel like they take place in the real world. This one felt fresh and modern. I had a hard time with Jane during parts of this book. In the first couple of chapters, it felt like the author was beating the reader over the head with Jane’s obsession with her image. She really did some unlikeable things in the first part of the book. But as we got to know who Jane was, it made more sense, and she became a more well rounded character. She faltered again in the middle of the book, when it seemed like her character stopped developing again and just kept repeating the same thing over and over. A heroine doesn’t have to be perfect for me to enjoy reading about her, but I get tired of a heroine who makes the same mistakes over and over. Thankfully the author redeemed herself in the last few chapters, where Jane finally stopped going around in circles and started opening up (to herself and to the readers). I loved that she was such an interesting, emotionally complex character – so rare in contemporaries! I wasn’t sure how to grade this book because I almost gave up in the middle of it, but the last hundred pages were so good, I had to give the book a little boost. The book also had great humor and great writing, so in the end, it was a very enjoyable read.
I wavered about how to grade this one. I think the factor that pushed it into the almost-keeper range was because it was a contemporary. It may have had a few flaws, but a good contemporary is so hard to find! Finding a good one puts me in such a good mood, I’m willing to forgive a few flaws.
Karen Wheless
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