Play & Lead (Stage Dive, #2-3) by Kylie Scott

Narrated by Andi Arndt

Synopsis (via Goodreads): Mal Ericson, drummer for the world famous rock band Stage Dive, needs to clean up his image fast—at least for a little while. Having a good girl on his arm should do the job just fine. Mal doesn't plan on this temporary fix becoming permanent, but he didn't count on finding the one right girl.

Anne Rollins never thought she'd ever meet the rock god who plastered her teenage bedroom walls—especially not under these circumstances. Anne has money problems. Big ones. But being paid to play the pretend girlfriend to a wild life-of-the-party drummer couldn't end well. No matter how hot he is. Or could it? 

“We’ve broken my bed,” I said, stating the obvious.

“In battle, sacrifices must be made, pumpkin.” 

This was another book that had thousands of quotes to choose from! Mal is hysterical, and Anne doesn't take any shit from him. “The first male to pee on me, however, would pay with his balls.”

I think I might have enjoyed Play even more than Lick, if that's possible. Mal and Anne have their problems, but they also have their individual demons to deal with. It was lovely watching the two of them learn to depend on each other, and finally connect emotionally. There was no judgment between them, just love and acceptance.

Also, Mal is a riot to read about! I really enjoyed his character in Lick, even though his appearances were brief. It was great to hear his story and learn more about him.

♡

Narrated by Andi Arndt

Synopsis (via Goodreads): 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. 

“Even with the head start, he was gaining fast. Given he liked jogging and I liked pie, this was to be expected.” 

The first two books made me really dislike Jimmy, so I was excited to see how he would be portrayed in Lead.

I don't know if I liked it more than Play, but it was another delicious read! I love how all of their stories are intertwined, so we still see familiar characters from the previous books. There's also no confusion, and Scott sets up their stories beautifully. I already have an idea what the last one will be about!

Lena was an awesome female character, and I love that she admitted to having feelings for Jimmy in the beginning. Both she and Jimmy were aware of her feelings, but they tried to make them go away instead of acting on them. It was sweet and heartbreaking at the same time. It was also an interesting spin for their story, and very different from the previous two books.

You learn a lot about Jimmy's childhood and the many obstacles he's had to overcome. Not all of his problems went away just because he became famous. If anything, they only made some of them worse. He's learning to deal with his addictions, and Lena plays a large role in that.

I am absolutely in love with this series and cannot wait to read the final book!