A very fun read about dancing, with a slow burn romance, hate to love with Gina and Stone.
There was lots of fun drama that kept making me want to read.

4 stars

This was a fun and flirty romcom with a reality TV backdrop. The plot focuses on a “Dancing with the Stars” -esque competition show, and because a close friend and I had a phase in undergrad where we watched it consistently, the book made me reminisce about those times. It was a lighthearted story with a bit of angst and drama. All in all, I quite enjoyed reading it. Also, the cover art is beautiful.

Take the Lead by Alexis Daria. Pub Date: February 14, 2023. Rating: 3 stars. Set in the world of reality television, this story is of an unlikely pairing in a celebrity dancing competition. Sparks fly, dances are heated and emotions are put to the test in this drama filled romantic comedy. Two unexpected people are joined together in hopes of winning the competition, but can they win each other's hearts too? I liked this novel, but did not love it and found it to be a bit slow in development. I loved the premise though! Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review. #takethelead #netgalley

This was such a fun, entertaining, and lovely book. I felt like I was living this experience with the two main characters. And it was such a beautiful love story. I definitely recommend this book.

I really enjoyed this read! The dynamic between the characters was great and I loved getting a bit of an inside peek behind the curtain of reality dance shows!

Take the Lead was another anticipated release from Alexis Daria for me. I had a hard time believing the relationship between the characters and this might just be because I don't like reality tv storylines in books. I usually think that it would be better to watch than read, and that is how this felt for me. I kept skimming over all of the drama and was just interested in them together.

3.5/5 Stars

Another great book from Alexis Daria. I always have such a great time reading her books and this is no exception. I would say overall this was a four-star read, I did take half a star off but that was more for personal enjoyment as I'm not the biggest fan of reality Tv in books. Even with that being featured I ate this book up. I loved reading about Gina and Stone. This couple was on fire, I loved the chemistry between them, It turned me into a big puddle of goo. Also, I want to take a second to appreciate the amazing and strong Gina, She was freaking awesome. I absolutely recommend giving this a read! It's a great romance book and perfect for a romance reader.

I love Alexis Daria's books so much and really enjoyed her last two books. But, this book was different than the others that I have read. I felt like the connection between the two main characters didn't spark for me and it didn't really build, The connection just wasn't strong enough for me to completely buy into it and root for them in the end. That being said, I will always pick up and read any book by Alexia Daria.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this book.

Yes. I can’t even formulate a review because I loved every aspect of this book so much.

A great romance for DWTS fans, I would definitely recommend trying this book!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

This book was a mix of great things and not-so-great things, so I ultimately landed on a 3-star rating. Here are more details.
1. I liked Gina. She was a spicy and wonderful character, showing real growth in her understanding of herself, what she wants, her career, everything.
2. Stone. Hm. Not sure why the huge large man thing is popular in rom-com books right now, but here we are with yet another uber-man. The Alaska angle was an interesting one, and having lived there I can say it wasn't incorrect info like some authors have done. I would have liked more about it, actually.
3. Back to Stone. The issue I have with him is not just his size or the "strong silent solid" man he is. I found him annoying overall.
4. Open door love scenes (plural). Too much of that and too repetitive, so much so that I skipped the last two because they were just like the previous several others. Too much for this reader.
5. "F...ing Donna" seemed over the top to me. And awful. I would not ever want to be on reality tv.
6. The Dance Off show information seemed consistent with what we have seen for years on "Dancing With the Stars," and consistent with information gleaned from Candace Cameron Bure's book "Dancing Through Life" that she wrote about her own experience on the show. Yes, dancing is harder than it looks. I have daughters who are dancers, and I struggled with the mom dance classes.

Overall, if you like romcoms with spicy scenes, this would be a good choice to consider.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an eARC to read for a review. All opinions are mine.

Unfortunately I was not able to finish this one. The writing left a great deal to be desired and I couldn't see the plot offering much more

Thanks to St. Martins Press for the free copy.
What I loved about this book was the dancing reality show aspect. I think books with this kind of backdrop are always so fun to read about. The behind the scenes portrayal was what kept me engaged.
The romance wasn’t my favorite. I am picky about insta-love tropes and this didn’t work for me. I wanted more emotional chemistry from the characters. I’m also not a fan of this much steam in a book - but if you love steam - read this!
I think I wanted a bit more from Stone when it came to his family and being honest too.
But it read quickly and I was invested in the dancing aspect. Wishing the best for this author and this series along with her other books.

I found Take the Lead an easy read, as it followed most rom-dram paths. The tv dance contest aspect combined with a survival reality seemed a bit less common, plot wise, which I liked. Though there were the usual miscommunications that led to misunderstandings and we learn more about each character’s past and present motivations, it felt like there were gaps. The characters needed a little more depth to provide the reader with a little more substance. All that stated, I did like the book and easily recommend for a lighter read.

I received a copy of the book from NetGalley and have written an objective review.

Super steamy and romantic, I loved both of these characters. You can feel the tension rising off the page as these two make their way to each other with the reality shenanigans in the back drop. It's such a compelling read, and a page-turner from start to finish! So much fun, I can't wait to see more from this author!

I loved this book, truly. I loved Stone and Gina’s romance because of how palpable the sexual tension and the pull between the two of them was. I loved Dancing With the Stars when I was a kid, so I loved the dance competition aspect of this book. I also really loved the own voices rep in this book. I am surrounded by Latinas at my job, so immersing myself in that culture was a great joy for me in this book.

In my opinion, one thing Alexis Daria does best is her romance between the characters, so I think that’s what I loved best about this book. Now I want to watch Dancing with the Stars.

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!

Take the Lead was cute and funny but for a book about dancing there wasn’t a lot of that going on. The book is about a dancing tv show where Gina and Stone get paired together. The characters build on themselves as you learn they are not who you think they are. A misunderstanding towards the end of the book seems to create unneeded conflict.

Tropes
Spicy romance
Stories about dancing
Stories about TV shows
Enemies to lovers trope

#NetGalley #ARC #readersofinstagram #booknerd #bookbloggers #bookrecommendation #booksbooksbooks #booksofinstagram #whattoread #bookrecommendations #bookreviewer #bookreview #booklover #bibliophile #reviews #bookreviews #bookish #bookstagram #bookblog #blogger #read #reader

Really fun to read one of Daria's backlist titles, absolutely love the packaging for this book. I really enjoyed the story and look forward to more books from this author.

Gina is a dancer on a celebrity dance competition show and she is looking to finally win and the opportunities that come with that. When she is a paired with a survivalist reality star, she decides to really dig in and make it work. While is a steadfast against breaking her romance-for- TV that her producer is pushing toward her, but when sparks start to fly, keeping that promise to herself and her career harder by the day.

This ended up being surprisingly good. I was a little annoyed about the whole premise at the beginning, but then I got totally hooked and had to know what was going on! I ended up really liking the the dance partners premise, the writing, and the spice! I think the author did a good job highlighting challenges that Latinx women face in media. It would have been nice to get a little deeper with Stone and his backstory. I think the dance competition drama was a great backdrop for a developing relationship and would definitely recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the gifted e-copy!

This was a wonderful read, I'm always a fan of books that give you behind the scenes things we don't usually see in real life e.g. life if a music group, reality shows, tv competition shows. All of the characters were so fun to read about and I loved the relationship between Stone and Gina. I loved getting to learn more about the characters as other characters were learning these new things at the same time. The romance was well done, I like how it played out and the outcome of the relationship in the end. The whole book was well written and well thought out.