BLOG TOUR STOP: REVIEW, TEASERS, BOOK TRAILER, AND GIVEAWAY: Backstage by A.M. Madden

Title: Backstage

Series: Back-Up #4

Author: A.M. Madden

Release Date: October 27, 2014

Genre: New Adult/Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

Trey Taylor was loving life. Bass player to the world famous rock band Devil’s Lair, chicks falling to their knees at every turn, no one to be held accountable to for his actions…life rocked.

He had all he needed, food to sustain his body, sex to sustain his libido, rock to sustain his soul. For years he walked to the beat of his own drum, and made no excuses to anyone. Running and hiding can temporarily distract your fate, but it won’t derail it. Fate was coming for him, whether he liked it or not.

His past was gaining ground and threatening all the secrets he desperately tried to hide. His present was slowing him down, making him feel emotions he buried years ago. The two are about to collide. Will Trey survive the impact?

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Review

Backstage is the perfect title for Devil’s Lair’s elusive bass player, Trey Taylor, because almost all of his past is concealed. Even those closest to him have no idea about the hell that Trey went through as a young adult – the years before he fled his hometown and the nightmares that consumed his life. The moment he stepped foot away from his painful past, he became someone else – someone who masks his emotions, uses sex for release only, and acts robotic in most situations. Trey is a master at showing nothing and allowing no one close; at least he was until Tara Rodston, a certain female journalist entered his life and knocked him on his ass, rattling loose his carefully crafted facade and forcing him to face demons from his past that were coming for him whether he was ready or not.

Because readers did not learn much about Trey in the previous Back-Up series’ books, AM Madden begins his story with his background – where he came from and what led him to choose this alternate life. Here, we get an insider’s look at the hell that he lived on a constant basis and what it did to force him to become the self proclaimed loner that he is when we meet him as a member of Devil’s Lair. This section of the book is heartbreaking to read, and my blood boiled at everything he had to endure. Moving forward, readers are privy to how he became a member of Devil’s Lair and what it meant to him to succeed at something he was passionate about. There were definite road blocks along the way to success, but he learned from those experiences and fought to maintain his cool demeanor through it all. When the book fast forwards to Trey’s present, now readers have a clear understanding as to what Trey battles against and why he took the steps that he did to become someone else. There are many dark periods that AM Madden allows readers to witness through Trey’s eyes, and it seems like Trey will never be able to find true happiness due to the demons that still haunt him, but as he spends more time with Tara, his transformation begins, and even though it’s gradual, and he seems to fight it almost every step of the way, it’s inevitable that Trey’s experiences with her and the hell that they fight through may ultimately be his saving grace, making it possible for his two parts to mesh into one and heal the broken boy inside.

I didn’t expect Backstage to be as dark as it was, but AM Madden’s storytelling proved why it was necessary to go that route with Trey’s character in order to offer a clear viewpoint as to what forced him to become Trey Taylor. Madden definitely did Trey justice and the changes that took place were timed perfectly, and while I would have liked to get a bit more insight into his growing relationship with Tara and its progression from more than just sex, I’m fine with the fact that the focus his more on the myth behind the man than anything else because like the title suggests, there’s so much to reveal about who Trey Taylor really is.

A complimentary copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

4 poison apples

Book Trailer

About the Author

Amazon Best Selling Author ~ A.M. Madden’s debut series is The Back-Up Series Back-Up, Front & Center, Encore, and Backstage are all available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords.

A.M. Madden is a wife, a mother, an avid reader of romance novels and now an author. In The Back-Up Series she aspired to create a fun, sexy, realistic romantic story. She wanted to create characters that the reader could relate to and feel as if they knew personally. A self-proclaimed hopeless romantic, she loves getting lost in a good book. She also uses every free moment of her time writing, while raising teenage boys.

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Giveaway

$50 Amazon Gift Card, (2) Signed Paperback by A.M. Madden – Winner’s Choice, (2) Swag Pack from A.M. Madden, and (5) ebook from A.M. Madden – Winner’s Choice

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