{"id":25785,"date":"2020-07-08T07:32:46","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T11:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=25785"},"modified":"2022-10-11T16:58:54","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T16:58:54","slug":"review-lead-me-back-by-c-d-reiss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2020\/07\/08\/review-lead-me-back-by-c-d-reiss\/","title":{"rendered":"Review \u2764\ufe0f Lead Me Back by C.D. Reiss"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-25785\" data-postid=\"25785\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-25785 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    \t\t\t<!-- module_row -->\n\t<div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_bbbcac8 tb_first tf_w tf_clearfix\">\n\t    \t\t\t<div class=\"row_inner gutter-narrow col_align_top tb_col_count_2 tf_box tf_rel\">\n\t\t            <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-1 tb_49667e8 first\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module image -->\n<div  class=\"module module-image tb_7036296 rounded drop-shadow customBorderRad_top image-center auto_fullwidth tf_mw\" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"image-wrap tf_rel tf_mw\">\n\t\t    <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/lead-me-back-cd-reiss.jpg?w=640\" title=\"Review \u2764\ufe0f Lead Me Back by C.D. Reiss\" alt=\"Review \u2764\ufe0f Lead Me Back by C.D. Reiss\">\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/image-wrap -->\n    \n    \t<\/div>\n<!-- \/module image --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_a1982ef customBorderRad_bottom repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Cutting all ties, Kayla Montgomery drives cross-country to Los Angeles. New start. New life. And an unexpected new job: assistant to Justin Beckett.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\"><em>The\u00a0<\/em>Justin Beckett.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">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.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Now at the peak of Mount Adulthood, he has to build a clean-cut, movie star image. It\u2019s in his contract. No partying. No attitude. No groupies.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">To tie it together, he needs a normal girl.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Suddenly, Kayla\u2019s swept up in Justin\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">About that\u2026<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Those ties she thought she\u2019d cut? They\u2019ve followed her across the country with her secrets in tow, and they\u2019re about to test Kayla\u2019s courage, Justin\u2019s loyalty, and a love that wasn\u2019t part of the deal.<\/span><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-2 tb_23787e9 last\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_2d1ea91  repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16467 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/3_5-hearts.jpg?resize=146%2C44\" alt=\"\" width=\"146\" height=\"44\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> Jul 7, 2020<br \/><strong>Heat Level:<\/strong> Hot\/Scorching<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong> Amazon<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong> Montlake<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong>\u00a0$3.99<\/p><hr \/><p>\u00a0<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Lead Me Back<\/strong> is the latest release from <em><strong>C.D. Reiss<\/strong><\/em> about a young woman running from a bad situation that needs a break and a guy who\u2019s had it all handed to him but sees it all tumbling down like a house of cards. Our heroine <strong>Kayla<\/strong> returns to LA after spending most of her life living on the east coast. She needs to salvage what\u2019s left of her career while laying low from the publicity she left in NY. <strong>Justin<\/strong> is a former boy band member that has decided to branch out into movies and a solo career, but some previous actions have him on thin ice with almost everyone in Hollywood.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Kayla gets a new phone to really start fresh in LA and is unlucky enough to be assigned Justin\u2019s old number. When we\u2019re first introduced to Justin I, like the savvy heroine, was prepared to not like him. First of all his name is Justin Beckett (too close to Bieber for my taste) and he\u2019s described as wearing douchecore style clothes. But the amazing thing is C.D. manages to take that questionable exterior and flip our expectations by giving us a genuinely sweet and interesting man.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Kayla is the kind of no nonsense chick I want in my contemporary books. She\u2019s had some hard knocks and is doggedly picking herself back up and trying again. She accepts a job working on Justin\u2019s current movie project. Even as barbs are exchanged we can see the chemistry that will pull these two together. The relationship could have been very skewed due to their different circumstances, but we\u2019re given a truly equal pairing which I found refreshing to a Hollywood story.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I loved that both Justin and Kayla worked to sort their own issues out, with the support of the other. Neither had to have someone \u201cfix\u201d their problems for them and I loved the characters all the more for their ability to support each other. Both Kayla and Justin had to fix some of the relationships in their lives before they can have their happy ever after, and C.D. manages to give us that resolution in a very satisfying way.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Overall, I really enjoyed this book (my first from this author) and only had minor issues with the way Justin talked. I couldn\u2019t stand how much he said \u201cnah\u201d, but it\u2019s such a minor quibble in a truly entertaining book. If you think you don\u2019t like a Hollywood story, I\u2019d challenge you to give this one a try. I\u2019ve never read such a grounded portrayal of the costs of fame in a romance before. I\u2019ll definitely be seeking out more from this author in the future.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Content warning for descriptions of abuse towards women.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Lindsey<\/em><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_eb0616c customBorderRad repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3gAVALI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n            \t    <\/div>\n\t    <!-- \/row_inner -->\n\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/module_row -->\n\t<\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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\u00a0Justin Beckett. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,125,48],"tags":[148,217,313],"class_list":["post-25785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lindsey","category-montlake","category-reviews","tag-3-5-stars","tag-contemporary-romance","tag-hollywood"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review \u2764\ufe0f Lead Me Back by C.D. 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Reiss\" alt=\"Review \u2764\ufe0f Lead Me Back by C.D. Reiss\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Cutting all ties, Kayla Montgomery drives cross-country to Los Angeles. New start. New life. And an unexpected new job: assistant to Justin Beckett.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>The\u00a0<\/em>Justin Beckett.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">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.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Now at the peak of Mount Adulthood, he has to build a clean-cut, movie star image. It\u2019s in his contract. No partying. No attitude. No groupies.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">To tie it together, he needs a normal girl.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Suddenly, Kayla\u2019s swept up in Justin\u2019s 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.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">About that\u2026<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Those ties she thought she\u2019d cut? They\u2019ve followed her across the country with her secrets in tow, and they\u2019re about to test Kayla\u2019s courage, Justin\u2019s loyalty, and a love that wasn\u2019t part of the deal.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/3_5-hearts.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"146\" height=\"44\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> Jul 7, 2020<br \/><strong>Heat Level:<\/strong> Hot\/Scorching<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong> Amazon<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong> Montlake<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong>\u00a0$3.99<\/p><hr \/><p>\u00a0<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Lead Me Back<\/strong> is the latest release from <em><strong>C.D. Reiss<\/strong><\/em> about a young woman running from a bad situation that needs a break and a guy who\u2019s had it all handed to him but sees it all tumbling down like a house of cards. Our heroine <strong>Kayla<\/strong> returns to LA after spending most of her life living on the east coast. She needs to salvage what\u2019s left of her career while laying low from the publicity she left in NY. <strong>Justin<\/strong> is a former boy band member that has decided to branch out into movies and a solo career, but some previous actions have him on thin ice with almost everyone in Hollywood.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Kayla gets a new phone to really start fresh in LA and is unlucky enough to be assigned Justin\u2019s old number. When we\u2019re first introduced to Justin I, like the savvy heroine, was prepared to not like him. First of all his name is Justin Beckett (too close to Bieber for my taste) and he\u2019s described as wearing douchecore style clothes. But the amazing thing is C.D. manages to take that questionable exterior and flip our expectations by giving us a genuinely sweet and interesting man.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Kayla is the kind of no nonsense chick I want in my contemporary books. She\u2019s had some hard knocks and is doggedly picking herself back up and trying again. She accepts a job working on Justin\u2019s current movie project. Even as barbs are exchanged we can see the chemistry that will pull these two together. The relationship could have been very skewed due to their different circumstances, but we\u2019re given a truly equal pairing which I found refreshing to a Hollywood story.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I loved that both Justin and Kayla worked to sort their own issues out, with the support of the other. Neither had to have someone \u201cfix\u201d their problems for them and I loved the characters all the more for their ability to support each other. Both Kayla and Justin had to fix some of the relationships in their lives before they can have their happy ever after, and C.D. manages to give us that resolution in a very satisfying way.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Overall, I really enjoyed this book (my first from this author) and only had minor issues with the way Justin talked. I couldn\u2019t stand how much he said \u201cnah\u201d, but it\u2019s such a minor quibble in a truly entertaining book. If you think you don\u2019t like a Hollywood story, I\u2019d challenge you to give this one a try. I\u2019ve never read such a grounded portrayal of the costs of fame in a romance before. I\u2019ll definitely be seeking out more from this author in the future.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Content warning for descriptions of abuse towards women.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Lindsey<\/em><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3gAVALI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}