Reviewed by Roberta

TITLE: Off Stage: In The Wings

SERIES: Off Stage #2

AUTHOR: Jaime Samms

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 326 Pages

BLURB: Off Stage: Book Two 

Lenny Stevens was the lead guitarist of the up-and-coming grunge band Firefly until he crossed the line with the band’s lead singer. Now he’s faced with the impossible task of rebuilding his life without the music that had kept him together. Struggling with his fear and rage, he creates the same damaging patterns in his relationship with his lover, Vance Ashcroft.

Vance knows that Lenny is the submissive meant for him. He is convinced he can save Lenny from his demons and puts faith in his ability. But when Len’s temper leads to him physically hurting Vance and destroying property, both men realize Len’s issues are too big for them to work through alone.

Seeking the help of the people who know Len best, Vance invites his former bandmates to the ranch for Len’s belated birthday party. Together, they try to create a safe haven for Len to come apart and, hopefully, rearrange himself into a man who can live with his past and create a future worth having.

REVIEW:

This book was such a dark, gritty book.  I was taken with this book from the moment that I opened my Kindle.  This book is taking place at the same time as the first Off Stage: Right.

This story is regarding Len and Vance’s journey.  These two men who both have what the other needs and yet, there is so much more that needs to be dealt with than just D/s.

Len was the lead guitarist for Firefly and when things went horribly wrong with Damien, steps had to be taken to protect them both.  Len is..wow.  I don’t even know what to say.  Len broke my heart several times during this book.  The hurt that he has lived through and still lives through..jeez.  I had to stop reading and take some breaths before reading again.  I hurt for Len.

Len was this mixture of hurt and anger and yet, there was that side of him that was so sweet and caring. I loved how he accepted responsibility for his actions.  That’s such a huge part in order to change patterns and behaviors. Len knew what he was doing was wrong and that it/he need to stop. He was in therapy and working on the ranch in order to change his patterns.  I loved watching him grow and become better.  Len’s life was hard.  From the time that he was 8 years old until the present, his life was so very hard and it sucked, but I love the fact that he wanted to change and stop the behaviors that he was in.  That he knew that it would require hard work and that he was willing to do the hard work.

Vance is this really great character as well.  He has this need to help people and animals that have been abused and get them in a place that they can feel love and be cared for without reacting in a defensive manner.  Vance knows about bad behaviors, he was that way not too long ago.  He has prior history with drinking, drugs and sex.  He cleaned up his act and now he’s trying to do the same.  To give back.  Vance has this innate ability to figure out how to help and has the patience to work slowly in order to gain the trust needed in order for to help.  Vance is loving, kind and so determined to be what he needs to be in order to help Len.  He’s also human and subject to feelings of uncertainty and failure.

The secondary characters in this book were honest and brutal in telling the truth that was needed for our MC’s to thrive.  They needed to be as our boys were quite stubborn.  Clive was one of my faves in the first book and even though he didn’t get much screen time here, when he was on it was honest.  Clive is that guy who’ll always give the hard truth and be brutal about it.  He makes no bones about who he is and what he thinks.  It was really refreshing.  Kilmer was another great character.  He works on the ranch for Vance as his Manager and he knows the lifestyle that Len and Vance were in.  As a sub, he was able to help Len get a better understanding of what he needed to know and how he should be acting.  He also was Vance’s friend and gave him insights as to what Len needed and how he wasn’t giving him what he needed.  It was nice to see that not only with these two characters, but all of them, that they cared about these guys and only wanted to keep them safe.

There were bits of violence in this book.  Len was reacting badly to things and lashed out.  Just as he had done to Damien/Trevor in the first book that led to him taking the time off from the band. He was abusive to Vance a lot in this book and the author didn’t shy away from it.  That Len had some serious issues that needed to be worked and that Vance wasn’t able to help him fully.  He could only do so much.  That is was something that they both needed to be aware of and really talk about it.

This was a good book.  It was dark and quite a tearjerker as well. There was so much going on that you were pulled along on this journey and that you felt every emotion that the characters felt. The story flowed so smoothly and you were never jarred out of the story.  The author gave such a quality story with wonderful characters.  It was a wonderful and powerful read and I’m really glad that I got the opportunity to read this book. Take the chance and fall into this wonderful story.  You’ll be very glad that you did.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon

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