Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this arc.

I was very excited to read this book after reading the description. I am a big dancing with the stars fan and was instantly excited to read a book with similarities. I instantly liked both Gina and Stone. I think the author did a good job talking about other characters without sharing too much that made it just fluff writing, which I feel happens often and I really don’t like. I enjoyed the dance competition part, but most of all liked reading the relationship ship from between Stone and Gina. One of my favorite romances I’ve read recently.

Set on a reality dance show, Take The Lead by @alexisdaria was such a fun book to read!

I've never really watched Dancing with the Stars but I love books about reality show competitions. Gina is a professional dancer and in her 4 seasons on The Dance Off she's never made it to the finals, but when Alaska survivalist tv star Stone is set as her partner she's excited for the possibilities until the producers want to see a showmance between the two. They refuse but when sparks start to fly between the two will they be able to keep their romance a secret?

This book was fun and exactly what I needed to read. I love the reality show behind the scenes, the Alaska vs NYC/LA and the chemistry!!

While this is Daria's debut novel from 2017, it is appearing in print for the first time with a new cover. I read and enjoyed You Had Me at Hola and A Lot Like Adiós so I was looking forward to reading this! Definitely recommend picking this one up!

Thanks to @smpromance for my @netgalley copy of Take The Lead! It comes out February 14th!

First off, I've never watched DWTS or any dance reality show which caused me to have mixed feelings about the book. I was conflicted by the main characters constant what would my nieces think comments but she still goes after her dance partner. UH then stop saying that please.

I enjoyed the second half of the book more the first half, especially once they spiced up the pages. Know denying the chemistry was off the charts between the love interests. It was a fun read but just meh for me overall.

Thank you St. Martins Press for the complimentary copy.

Take the Lead by Alexis Daria
Rating: 4.5 stars
Steam: 3 chilis
Pub Date: 2/14


Gina Morales is on her fifth season of The Dance Off (think Dancing With the Stars), and this year she is determined to win. When her producers load the city girl onto a plane to meet her new celebrity dance partner, she is not expecting Stone, a shirtless giant cutting wood in the Alaskan wilderness. Stone is famous for being on his own reality show, Living Wild, which is about living off the grid with his family in Alaska. He agrees to do The Dance Off to help pay some bills and increase exposure for his own show. Can these two opposites find a rhythm and pull out a win?

This book is a lot of fun, and I honestly wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did. I loved these characters, especially Stone! He’s quiet and stoic when he first arrives, but he slowly comes out of his shell as the show progresses. Gina is feisty and fun, and I loved her big personality and how she and Stone complimented each other perfectly. She is consistently fighting a quiet battle behind to scenes not to allow their storyline to become a “showmance” to boost ratings. Still, the tension and attraction between Stone and Gina are undeniable. This is a slow burn, but the buildup is totally worth it when they finally give in to their feelings. And things get VERY steamy! Wooooo! I was not expecting that but what a pleasant surprise. These toned, in-shape, bendy people get into creative situations if you know what I mean.

Take the Lead is a fun, sexy, fast-paced story that I could not put down! I love dance competition shows, so this book was perfect for me! It had all the excitement and petty, behind-the-scenes drama that I would expect from a bunch of competing celebs. But it was also sweet and heartwarming at times, and I was rooting for Gina and Stone the whole time!

Read if you like: guy falls first, opposites attract, diverse romance, mutual pining, short chapters, and dual POV. This was my first book by Alexis Daria, but it certainly won’t be my last! Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for my advanced copy! Take the Lead is out in time for Valentine’s Day, so pre-order your copy today!

Talk about clash of the reality TV shows!

I really like the reality TV setting of this book. I loved getting a behind the scenes look at how the show works on the back end (the practices, the friendships, the working with producers).

Stone was a giant cinnamon roll of a man and Gina was ambitious, but still kind. I really liked their dynamic. I did have some gripes with their character arcs, but overall I had a good time with this story!

This book was so fun! It took me right into the world of dancing and I adored learning more about something I watched on TV. I know behind the scenes is always different from what we are shown, and how the personalities are exploited, but I felt like this was such a real portrayal of what happens.
Gina is a city girl who loves to dance, this is her 5th season on Dance Off and she wants to win. Stone is a guy who lives off the grid in Alaska. His family has a reality show, Living WIld, where they show the family living in the middle of no where surviving off of themselves and the land. He is going to be on Dance Off so that he can make some extra money for his mother's medical bills, but he also has a huge famiy secret that he has to keep.
When Stone and Gina meet, the tension is off the charts and you know it will only be a matter of time and close space until they are together. Gina doesn't want to jeopardize her career and won't date a partner, but she can't help but be drawn to Stone and as they get closer, they both open up way more than they expected.
With producers breathing down their backs, other contestants out for blood and Gina and Stone's futures up in the air, you can't help but wonder how these two will ever make it.
I loved their story.and how even with their differences, you can see how they came together and made everything work with communication and openness.
Thank you do Netgalley, St. Martin's and Alexis Daria for an early copy.

This book reminded me of Step Up. It’s a cute romance with a dancing theme. I enjoyed it overall but not my type of romance book

I had no idea this was a re-release of Alexis Daria’s debut novel - I’m so glad I got a chance to read it now! It was such a fun book to read and more layered than I expected. While I love a light hearted and fun read, I appreciated the depth his book had and enjoyed it beginning to end.

Adorable and steamy! This was such a fun book to read. As a massive fan of Dancing With The Stars, this was such an intriguing inside look into the world of reality tv. I really enjoyed Stone and Gina as characters and loved their romantic story arc. It was natural, gradual, and incredibly enticing. Loved it!!

First, thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Alexis Daria for my eGalley copy in exchange of my honest review. Take the Lead was Alexis Daria debut novel. Originally released as an ebook in 2017, it’s been given new life in paperback with a beautiful illustrated cover, updated text, and bonus material. Is my first time reading Alexis Daria amazing job, and as a Puerto Rican I felt connected with the Latino characters. I give this book 4 stars, it was so good and I have a great time reading. The most that I enjoyed reading was the MC’s choreographies and their chemistry was amazing. Amé reading phrases in Spanish throughout the story, and phrases that I felt connected too. The spicy scenes were so well written. Gina was so passionate about her career and I loved that about her. Stone, sir you are everything. He was so cute, so supportive, and tried very hard through the whole competition for them to win. They have some miscommunication but everything get settled really quick and obviously a HEA. Love it, and of course I will read more from her in the near future. Thanks again for my copy.

3 Stars Take the Lead by Alexis Daria is a great reality show and opposites attract romance. Gina Morales is a professional dancer on the show The Dance Off, and though she’s been on for five years, she’s never made it to the finals, let alone won the entire competition. For the current season, Gina is paired with Stone Nielson, a survivalist who stars on the reality show Living Wild, which features him, his parents, and siblings living off the grid in the Alaskan wilderness. The Dance Off’s producer Donna is pushing for Gina and Stone to have a “showmance” to boost ratings, which Gina is vehemently against, wanting to win on her own merits. But even Gina cannot deny the sizzling chemistry and attraction growing between her and Stone. How long can she keep their relationship a secret as they advance through the dance rounds and grow closer when the cameras aren’t watching (and even when they are)?

Take the Lead was pretty on par with other reality show competition romances I’ve read. It’s not my favorite trope, but this one did a good job with it. I loved that Gina stuck to her integrity, even though she wanted fame and success. I’m glad that Stone was finally able to live the life he wanted to live, free of his family’s lies and the ever-present cameras. Recommend this one!

2.5 stars

This was just okay to me, and I think overall I was expecting more. I know this is a re-release of an authors debut, so that could be why it didn't really work for me.

For something that relies on the base of reality tv for the plot, I personally was expecting A LOT more drama. There was the one issue with the producer wanting to create a "showmance" and the brief look at the competitiveness between the stars, but other than that there really wasn't anything. And for how long this book was, I was either expecting it to be packed full of drama, or have a really believable, well-thought out romance.

This didn't have either. So while it was an easy ready and I didn't hate it, I didn't like it either.

Take the Lead was originally published October 3, 2017 and will be re-released on February 14, 2023. Thank you to St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin, NetGalley and the author for the advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I adored this book so much! I had no idea when I started that it is actually a re-release of Alexis Daria's debut novel with updates and a new cover. If you are a fan of Dancing with the Stars or reality tv you will love this book! I loved Gina and Stone! The forced proximity as they trained for the competition was so fun and their chemistry was amazing! I also kept thinking this book would make the perfect movie?!?

Thank you to St. Martins Press for the advanced copy! I loved it!

I loved the couple but didn’t like the main characters and I found not so addicted or fast paced as I tought ,but I want to read more books by the author

I thought this was a really fun read. I really liked the reality tv show setting. That's something I like in books in general, but having the dancing competition in particular in this one was really fun. It was fun seeing these characters work towards something. I also really liked how learning to dance for this show, wasn't all Stone learned through the show. I really liked seeing his character developement through this book. I also quite liked Gina's personal journey throughout this book, even if it got a bit frustrating at times because she could be so stuborn. The romance and me didn't connect though. I did think they had really cute moments together and there is a good basis there. I just think the romance focused a bit too much on the sex for me to fully get invested in it. It also seemed a bit insta-lovey, which also kept me from fully connecting with it. The writng and me also didn't really match that well. I can't put my finger on why I didn't like this writing that much but it just didn't work too well with me. So yeah, I have some complex thoughts about this book. I am quite intrigued to read more from this author though.

Thank you everyone for this early gifted copy of Take The Lead by Alexis Daria.

If I’m honest, I thought this book had a lot of potential from the storyline premise, but it just didn’t do it for me. There were parts that I loved and wanted more of, but there were a lot of parts where I was kind of confused and didn’t understand why they were in there. Some of the steamy parts were written rather oddly and made them uncomfortable. Some of the dialogue felt awkward.

Overall, I just think it could have used some refining.

Despite having several other published novels, this was my first Alexis Daria, and I can see why she and her publisher decided to republish her debut novel, Take the Lead. This book was quite adorable. As much as I have loved dance movies and TV shows like Step Up and Dance Academy in the past, I never gravitated toward novels surrounding dance because I thought the chemistry of dance would be so hard to replicate with words. However, I think Daria was able to illustrate that chemistry so effortlessly while building romantic chemistry as well. Though not a dancer myself, I could see the routines, the steps, and (most importantly in a romance novel) the passion between the two main characters, Gina and Stone, with ease.

     Stone and Gina’s chemistry, apart from dancing, was another strong aspect of this novel (which, probably in turn, helped the dancing chemistry). From the very start, Daria builds them up as a believable opposites attract with plausible and very realistic differences that they had to try and overcome throughout the novel. And not only were Gina and Stone great together, but they stood on their own too. From their families to their dreams and feelings, Daria fleshed out her two main characters so well. I fell in love with Stone over the course of the novel, and Gina felt like someone I know our would know in real life.

     Unfortunately this treatment didn’t translate to the side characters as well, which was one of the downsides to this novel. Due to the reality TV competition setting there were just so many characters that there was no time to spend with any of them to develop them fully and effectively. There were also way to many to truly keep track of either; so for me many just blended together or even felt irrelevant and redundant.       

     Along with dragging the side characters down, the competition setting/structure lead to the plot itself to stall out at about 75% of the way through. Though it brought tension and excitement at the beginning, it felt like the plot was in a holding pattern as we were waiting to reach the climax of both the competition, but also the romantic plot.

     Despite the not so strong ending, I overall really enjoyed Take the Lead. Daria’s ability to write chemistry and characters helped this story truly shine. I’ll definitely will be checking out more of her stories in the future, but Take the Lead is great for anyone who already loves her work or as an introduction to a great romance author.

Since I read You Had Me at Hola in 2020, I’ve been working my way through Alexis Daria’s novels and short stories. I was excited to see that her first novel, Take the Lead, was getting a refresh. I hadn’t read the original publication, but this new version—with a cute new cover and updated text—fully caught my interest.

Take the Lead is set on a reality show called The Dance Off—much like the long-running show, Dancing with the Stars, which I used to love watching with my mom and sister. That may be the first thing that captured my imagination here. I loved imagining the different ballroom dances Gina and her celebrity partner Stone would work on each week. From rehearsals to the live, on-air performances, from the choreography to the music selection to the costumes, it was fun to envision such a beautiful expression of art and athleticism. Putting Gina and Stone into the reality television world, in which everything is filmed and crew are always watching, adds a unique constraint to their tentative relationship. (I may need to read more romances set on reality shows! There are plenty to choose from!)

Gina Morales is the expert dancer on the show, and she’s super professional. She has big career goals, and one step forward is ensuring she makes it to the finals on The Dance Off; in her four seasons, she’s yet to make it that far. Gina is very against having romantic or sexual entanglements with her dance partners, and she’s more than a little frustrated that her show producers are set on portraying her and Stone as a “showmance” this season. Even so, she has a hard time ignoring her attraction to Stone.

For his part, Stone is a soft-spoken and notably tall man; he’s 6’7″! He’s known as one of the seven adult children on his family’s reality show, in which they’re all survivalists living in rural Alaska, aka “the bush.” Stone has some secrets regarding his family, and he’s a truly terrible liar. But he’s committed to doing well on The Dance Off, because he needs to pay off his mom’s hip surgery and his own student loan debt… and because he wants to see Gina reach her goals.

Both characters are very likable and feel like people I’d want to be friends with. And despite their differences in lifestyle and career ambitions, they work so well together. Their mutual attraction is palpable from their first meeting, and despite Stone’s early hesitation, their time working on weekly dances together allows that chemistry to shine.

For a while, Take the Lead is about Gina and Stone fighting their attraction, eventually succumbing to it, and knowing that a long-term relationship could never work. Gina has her own reservations to overcome, but on top of that, they don’t live in the same area. How could they possibly have a future together?

Take the Lead is very steamy, but it’s also so sweet and wholesome. Gina is an ambitious, talented, and career-oriented woman; Stone is a gentle giant and total family man who likes the peaceful Alaska life. Together, they show how two people can overcome the odds to make a relationship work, in spite of cameras in your face 24/7. And the dancing? The best; they get a 100 from me.

Take the Lead is a perfect romance; I just loved everything about it. I hope Alexis Daria’s second Dance Off novel, Dance With Me, will also get a rerelease soon! There’s also a novella in the series, and word on the street is that one or two more books were planned, if not written. My hope is that we’ll be able to spend more time with this series, because Take the Lead is delightful. I’m also very much looking forward to the third Primas of Power book, Along Came Amor!

5/5 stars
3/5 spice

A fun and sexy love story in the midst a dance competition... loved it.

Tropes:
Opposites attract
Grumpy/sunshine
Working together/dance partners
Secret relationship
Latina FMC
Dual POV

Gina is vibrant, ambitious, hard working, and talented. I loved how she handled the spotlight and was clear about her boundaries. Stone is the quiet and grumpy wildlife survivalist who tries his hardest to stick to his end goal for the benefit of his family. I loved how committed he was to his family but I'm glad he found his own voice at the end so he could go for what he wanted.

These two together had chemistry from the beginning. I couldn't wait to read about their rehearsals and performances. And when they finally gave in to their attraction... OMG steamy.

I could totally imagine this book adapted for film. It has all the elements of a great rom com with the perfect HEA.

Overall great fast paced read. If you love dance competitions and great chemistry then this is the book for you.

I actually love Alexis Daria’s other books - You Had Me at Hola and A lot Like Adios , which is why I was excited to read this republished version of her first book! And while I fully believe that it IS a good book, it’s written well and the story seems like it’s going to end to up in the right direction. It was TOO pushy and yes that’s what celebrity/fake dating/ reality tv is I GET IT. But I wasn’t feeling it.

I’m rating a 3 because I have a lot of faith in Alexis Daria, and don’t want to turn people off because I didn’t finish it! It was total personal preference.

DNF.

Thanks to Netgalley & SMP for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!