Review: Taking the Lead by Cecilia Tan

Posted April 3, 2016 by Elizabeth in Elizabeth B, Reviews / 0 Comments

Review:  Taking the Lead by Cecilia TanTaking the Lead by Cecilia Tan
Series: Secrets of a Rock Star, #1
Published by Forever Publication Date: January 26th 2016
Pages: 322
Also in this series: Wild Licks, Hard Rhythm
Buy on Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Bookshop.org
Find on: Goodreads
two-half-stars

The first book in a steamy new rockstar series that will appeal to fans of New York Times bestselling authors Sylvia Day and J. Kenner.
Ricki Hamilton and her sister have just inherited a vast estate in the Hollywood hills. Unfortunately, with that legacy comes the most exclusive club in Hollywood history, a secret BDSM establishment where only the rich and the naughty come to play. Ricki wants nothing to do with this business, and is trying to find ways to get out of having to run it . . . until she meets Axel―a sexy enigmatic rock star who makes her want to submit to needs she didn't know she had.

Cocktails and Books received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.

This is a book that I feel like had potential, but there were just too many things going on for me to really get invested and enjoy it.

Ricki and Gwen are sisters with a complicated inheritance, one that requires that they run a secret BDSM club. The club and the secrets that come with it hover in the story, but are really a very small part of it. The core of the story is Ricki and the ways she is handling herself as a 24 year old heiress/MBA graduate trying to make her way in the world.

As we watch Ricki navigate her new world, we see her butt heads with several patriarchal figures including her father, the family lawyer, and her boss. She is also trying to figure out her super-hot and sexy relationship with Axel, the front man for a band.

Ricki was a hard character for me to relate to. On one hand, she needed to be pushy and abrasive, but she also was trying to walk a line of being deferential to people in power. She was incredibly strong, but also very fearful. At times she was adventurous and then timid. I never really got a good grasp for who she was. Axel was equally hard to get a read on – he was sexually aggressive with Ricki, but acted like a lost puppy outside of their sexual encounters.

I don’t know if this is a case of this being the wrong book for me or something else, but I really felt like there were too many story lines going for one book. I think things would have worked much better if the focus had been narrower.

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I am a full time mom who works part time. I squeeze reading in wherever I can between work, volunteer stuff, and kid activities. I read a little bit of everything, but really enjoy indie authors and Happy- Ever-Afters. I've been reviewing for Cocktails and Books since January 2015.