Off Stage

The Off Stage book set is the story of two rock stars learning how to heal, how to love, and what not to do. The first book is Off Stage: Right, the story of Damian. The second story is Off Stage: In the Wings, the story of Lenny. I’ll break down the reviews for each book below, but would like to address the style of the writing first. The author draws you into the headspace of each character in turn, allowing you to feel the self-recrimination, the desolation, and the tiny trickle of hope hiding in the furthermost corner of each mind. She skillfully tackles the symptoms associated to the PTSD that both men suffer from without dragging you so deeply that you feel you cannot continue to read. Instead, you find yourself cheering on every stride forward that each man makes. Now, on to the reviews!

Book One:
Damian’s story is a mass of complications, misunderstandings, and the heading off of self-destruction. Lead singer of a wickedly talented rock band, Damian is the stage persona donned by regular guy Trevor, and in which he is confident to the point of cocky. Drugs, random sex, and taking chances are all part of Damian’s persona. The problem is, Trevor is a walking disaster. He hates himself with an intensity that is visceral, and his life is a miasma of bad decisions. When he and Lenny have a vicious falling out, Damian finds himself with Stanley, his new agent and the man who wants to put Trevor back together.

The plot is strong, but a touch convoluted. Stan initially is with another character, and that character then takes on the issues of Lenny, yet their story isn’t told here. Damian is initially involved with Lenny, but ends up under Stan’s domination. The character development is very strong, and the relationship is the focus of the novel, with the physical scenes as something of a filler. There is no doubt of the chemistry between Stan and Trevor, though, so not to worry. The peripheral characters are many and create a needed break in the intensity of the main story. This is a brutal battle from start to finish, but by the end you can see things getting lighter in their world. The end is the one part that I wasn’t particularly happy about. It doesn’t really resolve so much as just hint at what is to come, yet it also doesn’t feel like an HFN. It just kind of ends, which disappointed me.

The second story takes place concurrently to the first. This would have been quite nice to know before I started book one because I was baffled at the lack of any storylines for Lenny, thinking instead that both stories ran concurrently through the two books. Let this be your head’s up.

Book Two:
Lenny is the lead guitarist for the band, but he is reeling from the extreme PTSD he suffers as a result of off-page extreme abuse that was the only form of D/s relationship he knew. Still thoroughly submissive but incredibly wary, he has violent outbursts that result in pretty severe damage to whomever crosses his path. Vance is also managed by Stan, and until he saw Lenny he was engaged in a friends with benefits situation with his fellow dominant. Lenny sees in Vance his salvation, his chance to serve as his nature calls him to do. Unfortunately, he’s so broken that their relationship suffers drastically and leaves him floundering.

The plot to this book is better than the first, and I was quite impressed with that one. The character development is again very strong, and while there is only one main peripheral character that stands out, he made me buy into the whole thing. I can only hope that he has (or will have) his own story – he was that important to the whole. Again, the intimacy is more cerebral than physical, but the story is that much stronger for it. Again, like the first book, the ending is what disappointed me. It also trails off into uncertainty for the characters involved.

I voluntarily read an ARC copy of this book for Divine Magazine. worded review will appear on Goodreads, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.

Reviewed by Erin for Diverse Reader

Anyone who knows me is well aware of the fact that I absolutely adore Jaime Samms. To me, her books have the perfect balance of emotion, angst, and romance with characters who are unforgettable and story lines that never fail to suck me in and not let go. I know when I pick up one of her books, I'm going to cry and swoon and more than likely, be angry more than a few times. All of this and more is true for her new box set of the Off Stage series. I read these books back in 2014 and I can tell you, I enjoyed them more the second time around. Really, I forgot just how incredible the story of Damian, Stan, Lenny, and Vance was and omg, I'm so thrilled I got the opportunity to enjoy them again and fall in love with them all even more.

The books center around Trevor "Damian" Learner and Lenny Stevens and their rock band, Firefly. They're an up and coming band led by the troubled and charismatic Damian. When uber music producer Stanley Kane takes an interest in them, Firefly's rise to fame begins ... and the path to destruction begins. Damian is Trevor's on stage persona and as such is spiraling out of control. Drugs, unprotected sex, emotional outbursts, and nights of hard partying have led Damian on a collision course of self-destruction. No matter how much Lenny begs, no matter how many times his bandmates complain, nothing is getting through to Damian. Until Stan steps in. The relationship between Damian and his band is crumbling and and they're on the brink of collapsing before they can even enjoy the fame and fortune. After and incident between Damian and Lenny turns violent, Stan and mega country music star Vance Ashcroft step in and take the drastic step of separating Damian and Lenny from one another. A friendship that has been solid for most of the lives is now toxic and the only way to salvage anything is for Lenny and Damian to spend some time apart.

Off Stage: Right and In the Wings follow each man, Trevor and Lenny, as they work on repairing the damage done to themselves and each other. It's often painful and difficult. There are harsh words and heartbreak and sometimes one step forward means there's ten steps backward, especially in the case of Lenny, who I think is MUCH more damaged than Trevor. The pain that Lenny and Trevor inflict on themselves and each other is gut wrenching. When things finally come to a head and Stan and Vance step in, the healing is definitely on it's way to beginning. The way Samms has set these two books up, you can't read one without the other. And for me personally, it was SO much more engrossing to go from one book right into the next because, really, I was so into the story, I didn't want to stop. When the BDSM element is brought up, it added an even more intense element to an already enthralling plot.

If you're looking for sex that includes whips and handcuffs and lots of kneeling ... you won't find that here. There is some VERY intense play, but it's focused way more on the emotional aspect than the physical. That's one of the areas Jaime Samms excels at. Her take on BDSM shows how trust is the most important part of the relationship, not how long until you have an orgasm or how many times you get flogged. In both Trevor's and Lenny's case, this journey to the level of trust necessary to have a successful partnership with Stan and Vance is anything but easy. Trevor, as Damian, is the quintessential rocker bad boy. Pierced, tattooed, with his mohawk and makeup, he's all attitude. He's snarly and combative and his walls are reinforced steel. The toxic friendship with Lenny has really crumbled his self-confidence and to be honest, he's a freaking mess. Stan's firm and relentless hand centers him like nothing else and Trevor to finally begin to heal. Lenny, on the other hand, is even MORE of a mess. He's recently come out of a very abusive relationship and his past proves difficult to overcome. Of the two, Lenny's road to happiness is much rougher than Trevor's, though both will make you want to hug them and keep them in your pocket.

I can't begin to tell you guys just how emotional and engrossing these two interwoven stories are. I highly recommend them. This is Jaime Samms at her absolute best. Don't miss the Off Stage series, you'll regret it if you do.