Reviewed by Becca & Jen

TITLE: Paint it Black 

SERIES: Beneath the Stain #2

AUTHOR: Amy Lane 

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 496 pages

RELEASE DATE: August 13, 2019

BLURB:

Everybody thinks Mackey Sanders and Outbreak Monkey is the last coming of Rock’n’Roll Jesus, but Cheever Sanders can’t wait to get out of his home town and make a name for himself where nobody expects him to fill his famous brothers’ shoes. He’s tired of living in their shadow.

Blake Manning knows the feeling. He’s been Outbreak Monkey’s second lead guitarist for ten years. He’s come to terms with the fact that he’ll never be Grant Adams, the guy he replaced, and that Kell Sanders will never love him like Mackey loved Grant. He got this gig on luck and love, not talent. So watching Cheever blow through Outbreak Monkey’s hard-earned money in an epic stretch of partying pisses him off.

Blake shows up at Cheever’s nonstop orgy to enforce some rules, but instead of a jaded punk, he finds a lost boy as talented at painting as Mackey is at song-making, and terrified to let anybody see the real him. It’s something he and Blake have in common.

Both men have to make peace with being second banana in the public eye. Can they find the magic of coming absolute first with each other?

Becca’s REVIEW:

Geez. I don’t know if I can see to write this, I’m still bawling like a baby. I remember in Beneath the Stain, the hell Blake and Mackey went through and how Cheever was the light of their life as their little brother. But when he changed, he broke everyone’s hearts. I remember thinking, oh my gah, what a dick. And now I’m almost ashamed. After ready his story and what he went through, shew, it’s been hell on Earth. For all of them, really.

If you haven’t read Beneath the Stain first, you need to. Also be aware, this is a dark story. It’s about rape, gang rape, abuse, blackmail, abuse, drugs, alcoholism, recovery, and all that. It’s not a happy, happy joy, joy story, even though it’s an HEA. Life is not all happy all the time and as we all know, Amy doesn’t pull punches. She lets you have it with both guns and shew. 

Cheever has been hiding a secret for a while. Several actually. But like a pressure it could only take so much before the shit hits the fan. And it hit hard. Cheever never really did drugs but he loaded up on coke, almost overdosed while gang raped. And that’s how Blake found him. Almost dead and gone, trying to slit his wrist to make it over. Blake quickly got him to the hospital and they eventually transferred to a treatment facility where he and Mackey were at. But Cheever isn’t ready to let those secrets go yet. He doesn’t want anyone to see the ugly part of him. But as he and Blake get closer, Cheever is realizing a lot of things. Especially about Blake. Like how he’s ripping open his wounds in order to help Cheever. And Cheever can’t stand him being hurt. But Cheever finally had a moment of…brilliance..so to speak and it all came spewing out. All of it. When Blake and everyone hears, there’s an uproar. Mostly because Cheever didn’t come to them, but Cheever felt alone with them gone so it was a catch 22. But Blake has still accepted him and refuses to hear anything bad about himself, and Cheever is working on Blake in the same way. But Blake is in this relationship with one foot out the door, thinking Cheever is going to wake up and leave him. So Cheever has to now prove he intends to stay. For good.

Dear heaven, the shit these boys have been through. If it’s not one of them, it’s the other. But the one thing I love is when Cheever finally broke down and let everyone in, he was finally home. They enfolded him in where he should have been all along. Cheever knew the family had grown and expanded with all the partners and children, but the bond they all had was something unbreakable. With Trav at the helm, still leading them all, he protected them and let them be the family they are supposed to be. It wasn’t easy. Blake’s past, including his douche mother, tried to make things worse. There were doubts, moments where people wanted to relapse, hugs and tears. Private scars and tender moments, but they were family. No matter what.

I was so happy to see everyone again. I love these characters. They’re imperfect, flawed, scarred and downright pains in the asses, but love fiercely, loyally, and to the end. They make you laugh, cry and scream in agony over stupidity or heartbreaking moments, but in the end, every page is worth it. And I’m so happy I got to see this journey.

RATING: 

JEN’S REVIEW:

I listed to the audio of Beneath the Stain, which was amazing and I highly recommend. I found myself hearing the voices in my head while reading this, which made it even better. I was so engrossed in the lives of the Outbreak Monkey crew that I could not wait for the audio in this follow-up story. As with the first, this one sucked me right in. I actually wasn’t super excited about the direction I thought this one was going to go because I was not a huge fan of Cheever to date. However, I just knew there was more to his story, and Blake certainly needed someone of his own.

I wasn’t quite expecting all of the horrible things Cheever endured, but it sure explained a lot of his behavior. Thankfully, Blake saw something in Cheever a while back, and while he didn’t follow through then, he most assuredly makes up for it now. He comes to Cheever’s rescue, pulls him out of the deep dark pit he was in and stays by his side through his initial recovery. It was extremely heartbreaking and emotional, but none of these guys had a very easy start in life. Just as Mackey and Blake had their struggles with addiction to overcome, Cheever had some of his own.

Unfortunately, Blake has his own issues (besides being a recovering addict) that plague him. He has felt unworthy and second best for all of his life. The guys taking him into the band was a turning point for him and gave him a purpose. They became the family he never had, brothers who cared and looked out for him, and a mother who gave more when she had nothing than his own did when he ran away from home at an early age. The things he did to survive still haunt him, but he is the only one who seems unable to look past that.

Cheever, on the other hand, makes it his mission to convince Black otherwise and that he is exactly who Cheever wants. I really liked how Blake enabled Cheever to be more comfortable with himself and strong enough to take charge of his life and, in turn, strong enough to fight for Blake. It was a bumpy road, but it was easy to see how perfect they were for each other.

And then there is the rest of the gang. So great to see how everyone is doing some eight years after we left them. There have been marriages, children, etc., but underneath, they are still the same Sanders boys, and all of the girls involved are spunky and fit right in keeping them in line. Even Grant’s ex makes a positive turn around. Trav is still keeping the whole clan in line, and Momma Sanders is right there offering her support of them all. So, for me, this was another story I couldn’t or didn’t want to put down – a wonderful follow-up to the first saga, which again, I cannot recommend highly enough.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

amazon

dreamspinnerpress