Reviewed by Marcella
TITLE: Backstage Pass
AUTHOR: Avery Arden
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 108 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 2, 2022
BLURB:
Damian Lake is a rock star with everything he could ever want at the tips of his fingers in 1975 Los Angeles–and that’s the problem.
In the wake of a whirlwind world tour, he’s struggling to write new music and slowly becoming a hermit in his Beverly Hills hideaway. In a last-ditch effort to shake himself out of his rut, he decides to visit a professional Dominant. The mysterious Lukas comes highly recommended. He’s experienced and discreet, with a long list of famous clients. He’s just what Damian needs.
But will Damian start to catch feelings for the man whose whip brings him to his knees?
REVIEW:
After the world tour with his band, Damian Lake has to continue writing new songs, yet his inspiration seems gone, with the pressure of the world tour forcing him to deliver something great. He needs to unwind, and what better way to do that than by fully submitting to a dominant: Lukas. The novella shows Damian’s journey into the life of a sub to regain inspiration, while simultaneously trying not to fall in love with the handsome, always neatly dressed dominant who specifically stated he doesn’t date clients.
I must say, I didn’t exactly know what I would be getting myself into when reading this, but I was positively surprised. When reading about BDSM, you should know there are many different preferences. This book, for example, has degrading and frequent use of daddy. Those are two things I’m not particularly fond of myself. However, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad book. On the contrary, the way that it’s done in this book is actually pretty good. I also loved the great aftercare. The focus in the book isn’t just put on the “main event” of BDSM, but also on the aftercare, which, in my opinion, is the most important part of BDSM. For that reason, I’m really happy the book clearly shows the importance as well, instead of just skipping over it. Then there are also clear explanations of everything, from rules to limits and of course safewords, for both parties (and the reader with that). These all show a proper portrayal of BDSM, which makes the book great in that aspect, hitting all the marks, even if it has parts of BDSM I’m not overly fond of myself.
In terms of storyline, however, I would’ve loved to see a bit more about the band, their interactions, or even the writing of their next song. Their presence felt a bit forced in there amongst Damian’s journey of self-discovery with Lukas. Besides that, I loved the addition of the ‘I don’t kiss my clients on the mouth’ trope, it’s a classic all the way back to Pretty Woman for me, and it made me really happy the author put it in there!
All in all, I’d say that it’s a great book, the representation of a BDSM relationship, s/d and s/m in this case, is suitable for anyone who wants to read more BDSM stories, but also people who are new to it as it has a clear explanation, albeit it being a bit extreme at a certain point.
RATING: 
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