Lead Me Back by CD Reiss

A twist of fate proves wildly explosive in New York Times bestselling author CD Reiss’s smart and sexy Hollywood romance about the cost of running from your past to get to your dreams.

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.

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Mary – ☆☆☆☆
Kayla has left New York from a bad situation and Los Angeles doesn't seem to be starting off any better. She gets a traffic ticket, and a new phone number that turns out to be the old number for a famous singer/movie star. But on a good note, she gets a call from Louise, who is said singer's grandmother, and she thinks Kayla is Justin's assistant and wants roses delivered to her house.

Justin is trying to revive his image after the boy band broke up. He is working on a movie that he hopes will help with that. When he sees the girl standing in his grandmother's kitchen wanting money, he thinks she is a reporter. He likes Kayla from the start. She is feisty, and doesn't take or want anything from him. She just wants her money back from the roses and to leave.

Can Justin convince Kayla to work on the movie set so she will be close to him? Will Kayla accept the job as a way to get her name out for her own career? Will there be a chance for a relationship for Justin and Kayla?

I really liked this story but there were parts I rushed through that seemed to drag on. This is a first for me from this author and I look forward to reading more from her.


Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
I really enjoyed this fun, fast-paced, and romantic novel. It all starts with Kayla destroying her old New York numbered sim card and buying a new one, with an LA number, only for it to turn out to be one which has only recently been disowned and she gets a call from a woman called Louise, asking her to deliver some flowers. We immediately get to see that Kayla is a good woman, as she does as asked, so as not to disappoint. Well, what a surprise she gets when she finds ex-boy band lead Justin Beckett at the address she was given. What follows is a really fast ride into crazy!

Justin has been decried as the bad boy and is now banned by his manager from seeing the rest of his band, even having his phone number changed. This makes him furious, but at the same time he needs to see whether his dream of an acting career can work out, so he agrees to the rules. Fate hands him Kayla... a beautiful woman who turns up at his grandmother's place, all because she has his old number.

As their lives intertwine, we get to meet two really interesting leads and the people around them. I loved reading about Kayla's skills as a designer, and seeing her be a real friend and champion to Evelyn. As we get to understand why, I only admired her more. It is a clever and important twist to the story. Add in the reasons behind Justin's fall from grace, and how much he wants to set the record straight, and it is difficult not to want the best for these guys.

There is some lovely humour, some drama, and without doubt, a blossoming romance under some difficult circumstances. I did enjoy the lack of angst between the two of them, rather that it radiated outwards. I really do recommend this as a lovely piece of escapism.


Mary Jo – ☆☆☆
The story was interesting but the way Justin's character spoke was very off putting to me. Yes, it's a vernacular that younger people use most often, but for me, it didn't do anything for the story. If I had listened to an audio of the book perhaps it wouldn't have taken me out of the story as much, if at all.

The rest of the book was good, the story was sound and the characters of Kayla and Justin were well written. Both Kayla and Justin needed a way to grow up, to mature, and the book did a good job of showing the complexities of each of their lives and how the each had to make decisions that were the best for them, not the other party.

Over the course of the book, we got to know the inner circles of both Justin and Kayla's families and I must say, they are a great group of supporting characters.

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.

Reiss is 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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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Lead Me Back by CD Reiss to read and review.