Take the Lead was such a fun romantic riff on Dancing with the Stars. When a burly Alaskan mountain man is paired up with a sassy Latina professional dancer on The Dance Off, sparks fly. Stone Nielson is the strong, silent type. Literally. That's the role he plays in his family's reality TV show about surviving in the Alaskan wilderness. He also doesn't dance. Not yet, anyway. Gina Morales is a four year veteran of the show This is her fifth attempt at making it to the finale, and if her producer is to be believed, it may be her last if she doesn't make it this season.

Gina is determined to turn Stone into a dancer, but there's this pesky little problem--there's an insane chemistry between them that is making it hard to focus on anything but his beautiful eyes and bulging muscles. She's no stranger to handsome men, but she has a hard and fast rule--she doesn't sleep with her dance partners. But can she make an exception for the quiet giant who is working his way into her heart? Meanwhile, Stone is falling hard for Gina, but he's also lying to her--and the entire world--about his life in Alaska. Sure, everyone knows reality tv isn't really real, but his family has taken the lies a little further than Stone is comfortable with. Gina values honesty, and it's killing Stone that he can't tell her the truth.

This one was SO HOT and SO MUCH FUN. I loved every page. I ended up buying a physical copy for my shelf after reading my e-ARC because I wanted to be able to loan it out and spread the love! I've read a couple other books by Alexis Daria, and I can safely say she's an auto-buy author for me now.

A fun book set in a dancing competition where opposites attract between the two dancers. Chemistry was amazing. Story was great. Writing and engaging and quick! overall a fun and enjoyable read!

Holy spicy! Take the Lead is a fun, sexy romance set against a reality dance show… Totally fun!

Stone Nielson is a tall, gorgeous Alaskan wilderness star who is paired with pro dancer Gina in The Dance Off. When the two start dancing together, sparks fly and things soon start heating up on and off the dance floor.

This book was ridiculously fun. Stone and Gina were both likable characters who had tons of chemistry. I enjoyed reading about their flirty dances and all the drama that comes with any reality show.

Don’t be like me and try to listen to this one with your young children around. It’s too spicy!

Four stars!

A copy of this story was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for review.

I always love what Alexis writes!! I enjoyed reading this book alot. Gina could make me so mad at points but I could still understand her pov. Both Gina and Stone had so much put against them, it was hard to read what the producers were putting them through. Ugh and Donna I have no words for that woman. I'm happy the two characters found their way finally.

Alexis Daria does a great job with her characters! I always end up so invested in their story and following along on their happy ever after.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

The story is incredibly steamy, but also really fun and engaging with its reality TV "behind the scenes". Great characters and connection between the leads.

As someone who watches and loves DWTS, put together with my like of the worlds of Alexis Daria, I knew I’d enjoy Take The Lead.

It moved quickly, which I loved because it felt like I was reading faster than I really was.

Stone was so loveable. Quiet and a little unsure but a fierce protector with BIG love.

A fun fluffy romance that I throughly enjoyed!

This book was great. I really enjoyed it. The storyline could have used a bit more and then it would have been a full 5 stars for me!

Stone joins the Dance Off Reality show to help pay for his mother's hip surgery. He is teamed up with his partner Gina, who has been on the show for four seasons. As things start to heat up both on and off the dance show, can they keep their feelings to themselves or will the viewer audience also be in on it? This is a fun story of being on a reality TV show and what can happen behind the scenes. I look forward to reading the next book in the series. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for my honest review.

Not a fan. I think sadly after a few misses I’ll have to be done with this author. This books not for me.

Ms Daria is a new-to-me author, so I didn't know what to expect when I picked this up. I was very pleasantly surprised and found the book to be very enjoyable and entertaining. The story is set against the backdrop of a reality dance show. Gina's heart and soul is dancing, and she's been trying for four seasons to make it big through The Dance Off, but with no luck. She thinks this time her new partner, Stone, will be her ticket to success. Stone is the shy, quiet type, and doesn't like being in the limelight, but he'll do whatever he needs to for his family. Turns out they have been set up to have an onscreen romance. Neither is happy about the deception, but their growing attraction makes it harder to keep their feelings from turning into something real.
This was a light and fun romance with likable and interesting characters and I had a nice time reading it. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing a complimentary copy. This is my voluntary and honest review.

This was Dancing with the Stars in a book. If you love that show or if you love ballroom dance you will love this book!

My only critique is that third act break up. I usually don't mind it, but this one was kind of like come on really, are we really that mad over that?

Otherwise, it was a great book! I thought Stone was such a sweet lumberjack of a book boyfriend. I recommend.

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Alexis Daria for the ARC.

Take the Lead was such a fun read! I have loved Alexis Daria's other books, so I was excited for this one.

The book's set up is very much like Dancing With the Stars, but add in a romance between the female pro dance and male star. This book is super steamy with lots of sexy time.

The author did a great job bringing Stone and Gina's romance to life. Both characters, despite their humanizing flaws, are likeable, and readers will root for their relationship. Their journey was at times bumpy, but the ups and downs made it feel real and believable.

This is a rerelease with some changes including a new cover, which I adore by the way. I never read the original so I'm not too sure on the changes that were made but I really enjoyed this. There were a few times I was a little annoyed by the pettiness that sometimes came off immature but overall, it was great. I fell in love with Alexis Daria's Primas of Power series and had to read Take the Lead. This was the perfect book for my romance & reality competition loving heart. Stone was the tall muscular lead that's as soft as a button that I love, and Gina is a BAB and I love when the woman lead is in charge and taking care of business.

- IR Romance (Puerto Rican woman + white man)
- a little spicy
- dance competition / reality tv
- opposites attract
- forced proximity
- dual pov
- great side characters

3.5 stars!

I did enjoy this book, and I loved the ending (and Stone, let's be honest), but I feel like it's definitely more for people who enjoy reality tv/dance competition shows. The plot was very heavily focused on that aspect of it, and I really wanted more character interactions and growth. So while I'm glad I read it so I could recommend it to specific people that I think it will work for, it wasn't anything super outstanding for me. But I would absolutely read more by Alexis Daria, though!

When it comes to reality television-based romances, Take the Lead is a fun one. I like that it strays from the typical Bachelor inspired plot and instead uses a Dancing with the Stars type show as its set up. I personally love when the professionals and stars fall for each other on the show, so this felt perfect for me. Our main characters are Stone, a reality star known for his show about a family living in the Alaskan wilderness and GIna, a dancer with big dreams. Both are so likable, but I feel I understood Gina and her motivations a little more. Their chemistry is intense and immediate, and dance is a great way to build their tension. There's a couple swoon worthy moments on the dancefloor, for sure. Despite this, I wish we saw them connect more as people. They wanted super different things in life, and were just so different. Sure they were great dance partners and the steamy scenes were undeniably good, but how do they connect outside of that? I wanted more of them connecting as people and less of them dancing together.

That being said, that competition aspect was fun. It kept me hooked and allowed for the introduction of a great cast of supporting characters. There's a ton of companion book potential here. I think the problem was that I was more into the competition than I was the romance. I wish it was balanced more, but ultimately the book was super fun and I'm glad I finally read something by this author. It is definitely an adult romance, so be aware of that.

A Dancing With the Stars-esque romance between a professional dancer and a reality show star. There is high heat in this steamy romance and I found myself rooting for the characters throughout the book.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

There were some cute moments but overall this book wasn't for me. This book had a fun Dancing with the Stars-like plot but the story as a whole fell flat. I disliked some of the choices the FMC made, especially near the end, and thought the subplot with Stone and his family was boring and overplayed.

Gina has worked her butt off to get where she is on Dance it Off without falling to the stereotype of the sexy Latina and she will not allow anyone to get in her way of her career. Rules are rules to protect herself.

Stone has been in the spotlight unwillingly on his family’s reality show, Living Wild but when the show is threatened with cancellation he goes on the dance competition show to win the prize money for his mom’s hip replacement she just had.

Between them the chemistry is INSTANT but with so much in their way and cameras watching their every move, do they have any hope?

This was…..fine. I didn’t like the immaturity of the main characters nor the fact that it was just a bunch of lies spin around a dance competition. Just a meh book overall.

⭐⭐⭐.5

𝘼 𝙛𝙪𝙣, 𝙨𝙚𝙭𝙮 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬.

📍 Read if you like:
• Diverse Romances
• Opposites Attract
• Dual POV
• Forced Proximity
• Reality TV
• Dancing With The Stars

Take The Lead is my second book from this author and I just love how diverse the characters are, especially Gina in this one. I loved the whole trope of this reality show called “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘖𝘧𝘧” - think Dancing With The Stars.

I actually enjoyed the characters in this one, some side characters also added so much to the story - they made it more interesting.

I liked the chemistry between Gina and Stone. They were definitely so different from each other, but they made a great match. Stone was probably my favorite character in the book, I think he was written perfectly. I was also a huge fan of the short chapters with dual pov.

The only issue I really had with the book was that at times it did get a bit repetitive. I also feel like there were some moments where the miscommunication occurred. I believe there’s a second book in the series, but I really hope we can get a story for each of the dance partners. Overall, I enjoyed this book, for the most part, the diversity was top-notch in this romance. I would highly recommend checking out this author if you haven’t yet.

Thank you St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for the gifted book in exchange for my honest review, all thoughts are my own!