Steady Stroke (Crabbypatty’s Review)

Title: Steady Stroke (Off Beat #2)
Author: A.M. Arthur
Publisher: SMP Swerve
Release Date: September 6, 2016
Genre(s): Contemporary Romance
Page Count: 276
Reviewed by: Crabbypatty
Heat Level: 3.5 flames out of 5
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Blurb:

After a tragic accident, Lincoln West’s dreams of making it big as a guitarist fell apart. Unable to play music, he’s battling a hopeless downward spiral, and takes his friend’s offer to stay at their beach house for the summer. While at an open mike night at local bar Off Beat, he locks eyes with a busboy who doesn’t make Linc feel so broken anymore.

Emmett Westmore lives for the anonymity of busing tables in his aunt’s quirky bar where no one pities him for the fire that killed everyone he loved. He blames himself for the fire, and he doesn’t want anyone to see him—except for Linc. Emmett’s walls drop when he’s around the gorgeous blue-eyed guitarist, but he has a secret that could destroy his budding relationship with Linc.

Both Linc and Emmett are looking for a way to live again…will they let their fears control them or take a chance on something real?

Please note that “Steady Strokes” should not be read as a stand-alone in that “Steady Stroke” contains spoilers for “Body Rocks.”

I really enjoyed Body Rocks, the first book in A.M. Arthur’s “Off Beat” series, and liked catching up with the characters from that first book in “Steady Strokes.” Trey and Dominic are touring the country, Faded Daze is doing the same, and Linc is still recovering from the car accident that derailed his musical dreams. (He’s unable to play the bass due to dizziness and stage lights give him migraines.) Linc meets Emmett at Off Beat and is pretty much instantly attracted to the shy nephew of the club owner.

Both Linc and Emmett have issues, but as the book progresses it’s mind-boggling just how much everyone in this book has ISSUES, big messy ISSUES – no one remains unscathed. For example,

Spoiler: Emmett is a Muslim of Syrian blood who is dealing with the arson death of his parents and sisters by a classmate who hated Muslims (and also bullied Emmett at school), Emmett blames himself for their deaths because he was at his boyfriend’s house having sex when the fire occurred, he has scars from the fire, he dyes his hair and wears colored contacts to appear “less foreign,” has panic attacks, and by the way, caused the car accident that injured Linc and his band AND it turns out Emmett is a great singer and overcomes almost crippling stage fright by singing with Linc onstage at a concert. Add in unprotected sex / date rape, violence against a transgender individual, Linc reluctantly attending his sister’s wedding and dealing with his awful parents, etc.

… and it just began to feel like my empathy / heartbreak receptors were getting burned out.

Linc and Emmett fall in insta-love and do have some serious sexual sizzle, but Emmett keeps a secret from Linc for roughly half the book, and at times the pacing of the book felt very slow and unfocused as the secret brews and festers with Emmett worrying, followed up by hot sex after which Emmett decides not to tell the secret, more panic about the secret, followed by sex, followed by Emmett holding his counsel … rinse, lather, repeat.

The last 10-15% of the book is very busy as the secret is told (with little to no consequences), the band reunites, Linc and Emmett get their HFN, and the stage is set for the next book in the series. I would recommend this book, but with caution. Personally, I look forward to a book in this series with about 50% less angst and 75% less amazing coincidence. But if you are a regular reader of A.M. Arthur and don’t have as low an angst / coincidence threshold, give this book a read!