Inspect Off Stage: In The Wings (Off Stage #2) Penned By Jaime Samms Released As Ebook

and I love this genre, Too confusing amp depressing to finish, Stopped atbecause I couldn't take it anymore This book is raw and powerful, Intense and insightful. Lenny's story is much more intense than DamienTrevor, It had me from the beginning and I couldn't put it down, I recommend it for those interested in BDSM, A sitelinkJoyfully Jay review,

.stars

My favorite part of the book is the confrontation between Trevor and Len, after so much time apart and having seen each other last when Len had hurt him so badly.
The relationship between these two is the most interesting and exciting part of this series, They have a fierce, primal attraction to each other, yet they know they arent good for each other and need their Doms and lovers to keep them grounded.
Regardless, the chemistry they have with one another is intense, and I love reading the scenes when they interact.
Even though, especially in this book, its fraught with pain and hurt feelings, its sexy, You can feel the attraction between the two that is fueled by the energy of the band,

Read Amy's review in its entirety sitelinkhere,
Off Stage: In The Wings is the second book in a series about the rock band Firefly.
I didn't read the first book, Off Stage: Right, For the first few pages of this book, I thought that might put me at a disadvantage, but that turned out not to be the case.
I would have preferred to read them in order and would recommend that you do it that way, but enough background was given so I didn't feel like I was coming in at the middle of the story.
It just seemed like the back story was really good and I wish I had read it,
Lenny Stevens used to be the lead guitarist for the grunge band Firefly, He was involved in a torturous violent relationship with a lover which he thought was a D/s relationship.
It was in fact, just plain violent, The anger that relationship ignited in Lenny spilled over into the band and ruined his relationship with the lead singer, his lifelong best friend.

Lenny is now involved with Vance Ashcroft, a very successful country singer, Vance is also a Dom, Lenny thinks he is ready for a D/s relationship with Vance, but he has too much rage and violence to be considered safe, sane and consensual, which are the watchwords of any D/s relationship, for lovers or just players.
Vance knows Lenny has a long way to go to be ready for the relationship that they both want.
He loves Lenny enough to be patient with him,
At least he thinks he does, until Lenny destroys a guitar that meant everything to him and lashes out and physically hurts Vance one too many times.
Vance tries everything he can think of to help Lenny get past his rage, He realizes that he can't do it alone and engages the help of Lenny's band mates and friends as well as Lenny's and his own manager, a fellow Dom.

Things go downhill fast when they come together to celebrate Lenny's birthday, It is the first time the band has all been together in a long time and the one person Lenny wants to see the most, the lead singer whom he hurt, doesn't feel ready to see him so he doesn't come.
That's when the train runs off the rails,
Jaime Samms does a great job of taking the reader inside the mind of the abused and damaged Lenny and making us feel his pain.
Not to the point where it is painful for us, but so we understand what is driving his behavior.
He truly has no control over himself, The rage just takes over and he's left standing there, dazed, looking at the pieces surrounding him afterward,
Ms. Samms also superbly shows how hard it is for Vance to stay by Lenny's side during all this, The question of whether love really is enough is brought to mind, And is it domestic violence if the guy doing the hitting is really terribly damaged and doesn't intend to hurt his lover I say yes, definitely.
There is never an excuse for hitting a lover or partner, male or female, But the internal struggle Vance takes us on is insightful, If he gives up on Lenny, he'll be reinforcing all the negative feelings Lenny has about himself and he'll be one more in a series of losses in Lenny's life.
This could be the loss that pushes him over the edge,
As a backdrop to all this you have two musicians from very different genres who have put their respective careers on hold.
Those of you who are creative types know that your creativity is a part of who you are, If it is left to die, part of you goes away with it, Vance and Lenny both have to decide how much of a role their music will play in their lives going forward.
This is, of course, complicated by intermingling relationships of friends, shared mangers and exlovers, . .
Off Stage: In The Wings was a good book, It left enough open ended that a third in the series is a possibility, I might even say a probability, If there is a third, I will be right there ordering it,
Lenny Stevens was the lead guitarist of the upandcoming grunge band Firefly until he crossed the line with the bands lead singer.
Now hes 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 Lens temper leads to him physically hurting Vance and destroying property, both men realize Lens 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 Lens 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.
I have been giving less and lessStar ratings for books recently, I read and review so many books at the moment that it has to be something pretty special to get the top rating.
I read some great books every week for Prism and I am always looking for the one that has something a bit different or a bit special, a book that touches me and leaves me wanting more immediately.


This was one of those books, Not because it was about hot, raunchy rock, Not because it contains BDSM, Not because it was a sequel to a book I had previously loved, Not because, as usual, Jaime Samms writing was fantastic, All of these things helped to make the story what it was and they are also elements that I really enjoy in a story.
. who doesnt like Rockers and BDSM No, the thing that sold this story to me was simple, It was the Relationship Dynamic, Nothing more and nothing less,

Let me explain,
I love a good BDSM book, I love a good D/s relationship, I am becoming more and more wary though of it being a quick fix to a broken sub with an abusive past.
It is something that personally doesnt sit well with me, There isnt a quick fix or easy answer to someone who has suffered years of abuse and I feel sometimes that we undermine a persons hurt and anguish by implying there is.


If you have read Bookwhich you should! you will remember just how damaged and volatile Lenny is.
His previous relationship with Ace left him nearly dead and the consequences of that, among other things, led to the damage and abuse that he inflicted on his best friend and fellow band member Damian.
At the end of BookVance steps in and removes Lenny from his band, his friends and his destructive lifestyle, and takes him to live at his ranch.

Bookis the start of his healing,

Vance has got his head screwed on, He has a successful career and is pretty comfortable with who he is, It wasnt always like that though, A recovering alcoholic he still has to fight his own demons and remind himself that the answers are not in the bottle.
He is a Dom and when he first met Lenny he was convinced the broken and struggling man was the perfect Sub for him.
The thing that really strikes you with Vance is his lack of arrogance and self importance, He is only too aware that he doesnt have all the answers and isnt too proud to ask for help when he feels he is losing control.


Lenny has been losing himself to inner turmoil since he was a small child, He is volatile and angry and in a really bad place when he first arrives at the Ranch, He struggles to talk to his therapist and Vance about his past abuse, It is a vicious circle of pain and anger until he finally breaks when the band visits for his birthday.
At this point a lot of the ugly comes out and for the first time there seems to be a chance that he can move forward.


What I loved most about this pair is they were both out of their depth at times and that was ok.
As I said before there was no quick fix and the issues were very real and not swept under the carpet.
It was a battle that was sometimes nasty and neither one of the men had the answers but nor could they just walk away.
As much as Lance needed to be dominant in the relationship and Lenny craved to submit it was never pushed and felt natural to their relationship.
The main emphasis was trust and this was something that Lenny struggled with throughout the story, His nightmares and flashbacks were very real and very violent,

At the end of the story Lenny is strong enough to slowly start facing his past and begin making amends in his relationships but he is nowhere near as strong as he could be.
I would love for there to be another chapter of this story where we see both Lenny and Damian or moving on with their lives and perhaps getting to a point where they could once again be friends and leave the damage and anger behind.
.