Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Ex-Bandmates
SERIES: Local Beats
AUTHOR: Zoe Lee
PUBLISHER: Foolish Endeavors, LLC
LENGTH: 244 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 6. 2020
BLURB:
Despite all of the reasons to stay away, every song pulls us closer to each other. What will we do when we’re not bandmates anymore?
Asher
From the second Lucas Carlson shows up in my garage for band practice, I’m drawn in by his eyes, his awkward rambling, and his incredible musical talents. But we share a best friend, and he’s only our temporary drummer while he’s in Chicago for a summer internship. It should be easy to ignore the way he brings something out in me that no one has before.
Lucas
Asher Bernthal is a grumpy stockbroker whose band, Signal Fire, is vital to my best friend’s happiness. I don’t want to mess it up for her, so all I have to do is drum and keep my head down while I’m the temporary drummer. It should be easy not to crush on a man so out of my grasp, who writes lyrics that pierce straight through me.
This is an angsty, age gap, second chance MM romance featuring musicians with day jobs. It is the first book in the Local Beats series, which can all be read as standalones, and has a guaranteed HEA.
REVIEW:
Asher Bernthal is a stockbroker with a band. When his drummer gets mono, the best friend of his vocalist, Leslie fills in. Lucas Carlson has been Leslie’s best friend for her whole life and he’s an amazing musician. Can play anything by ear, plays multiple instruments, and MAN can he sing. But he’s got a lot of issues with his “gift” because of his family and their history of pushing him for all the wrong reasons. So he is getting his Masters in IT and will have a good stable job and not have to worry about paying the bills. Asher isn’t exactly thrilled that he’s there – he’s a bit of a moody scowling asshole – but too bad. It’s this or cancel gigs.
But boy, when Lucas plays, Asher realizes that he is the real deal. But they play this push/pull game for a while. But their attraction is just under the surface and when they give in, man is it hot. And since Lucas is crashing with Leslie and she and her BF are having issues, he spends more and more time with Asher. And Asher cannot get over his talent. Despite Lucas telling him he doesn’t want a music career, Asher decides to “help him” anyway And that backfires SPECTACULARLY!
So Lucas goes back to Madison after the summer. And he learns some hard lessons about his time with Asher. Asher for his part is a mess. And the band is mad at him. And things to off track. I don’t want to share more of the plot, but there is a lot of time spent apart – reassessing. And then Lucas is back in Chicago, so you know it’s only a matter of time.
Whew! This was angsty. Asher and Lucas’s chemistry is obvious from their first meeting. But they both fight it. Until they don’t. There is a LOT of miscommunication and misunderstanding in this story. And Lucas is really carrying a TON of baggage from his growing up years. I think he’s supposed to be about 23/24 in this story, so I cut him some slack since he really is still trying to grow up and figure himself out. I was a total WRECK at that age 🙂 Asher wants to help Lucas “see himself” and when that backfires tremendously, neither of them does anything about it really. They go their separate ways and when they come back together, it’s a bit surprising. I loved Asher’s family, but I have to say I didn’t like Leslie much. With best friends like that, I’m not sure you’d need enemies Maybe I’m asking too much because she was young too. Regardless, I was happy that Lucas and Asher finally managed to get their heads out of the sand and act like grownups 🙂 If you love angsty musician romances, then this is definitely one for you! Recommended for fans of angst, second chances and hot musicians.
RATING: 
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