Beneath the Stain – Part 3 by Amy Lane

BeneaththeStain3LGTitle: Beneath the Stain part 3

Series: Beneath the Stain

Author: Amy Lane

Genre: Contemporary

Length: Novella (125 pages)

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (September 12th, 2014)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts

Reviewer: Tams

Blurb: Mackey Sanders doesn’t do anything easy, rehab is no exception. Never one to follow orders for the sake of being orderly, Mackey needs a reason, something real, to make him agree to Trav’s terms of getting clean. Trav knows he can’t be Mackey’s only reason to rehabilitate, but before he can convince Mackey of that, he needs to get to the heart of what’s been eating Mackey alive from the moment the band left Tyson.

Can Mackey’s family, can Mackey’s band, survive the fallout of the Mackey telling the truth? More importantly, can Mackey?

Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5491

Review: At a promotional event for the band, Mackey is violated by a supposed fan that spiked his beer. Thankfully, Trav and Jefferson get to him first and are able to conceal what happened, for now. But Mackey’s already fragile body reacts violently to the drugs slipped to him and he winds up in the hospital for several days. Trav never leaves his side, and in the end, convinces Mackey to give rehab another try.

It’s a special kind of hell for the guy who has been living a life of secrets and lies for over six years. Mackey truly wants to kick his addiction, but he wants to do it without rehab. He doesn’t want to have to face just how fucked up he is, and that is what the good doctor wants him to do. Talk about his feelings, about the things he wants to keep hidden, about being gay and addicted and about Grant.

Trav is in a sort of purgatory as well, slowly falling in love with the troubled young man who is just barely no longer a kid, one miserable day at a time. Mackey has a way of bringing out the best and the worst in people with his bleach streaked hair, haunted eyes and need to be accepted. The two have settled into an unspoken relationship of sorts, with Trav being the only person Mackey will confide in, the only person he really feels safe with. When Trav hurts himself and has his own stint at the ER, Mackey is right by his side, finally opening up to him about Grant. But if Mackey is going to beat his disease of addiction, he is going to have to deal with the demons of his past once and for all, and that includes telling his family.

While this installment starts out in a dark place, from there the content takes on a different feel. While Mackey is in rehab, trying to hide from himself, he and Trav open up to each other via text messages. By the end neither of them has out right admitted how they feel, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious they are falling in love. Trav tries so hard not to feel anything above friendship for Mackey, but that is a lost cause, you can almost see his heart being led on a string that Mackey holds fast to. And Trav becomes a lifeline for Mackey while he’s in rehab. Young Mackey has spent the last year drowning the voice in his head that tells him right from wrong, and he’d just as soon rather die than hash out the tangled up mess inside him.

With each installment of this serial, the story delves deeper into the soul of Mackey and his demons. As dark as the content is, I’m thoroughly enthralled in this story. I find myself anticipating the next installment, anxious to see where it takes Mackey and his band of misfits and his hopefully, fingers crossed, soon to be lover Trav. But I know, I know Amy Lane and I know she’s going to bring Grant back into the forefront sooner or later. Probably right about the time Mackey and Trav get comfortable with each other Grant will have some earth shattering epiphany about his sexuality. Me, I’m rooting for Mackey and Trav!

Grab your copies of this story and sit back and wait for each week’s next part, much like your favorite TV shows. It is a graphic, violent, and dark depiction of the price of fame, the ghost of addiction and how it affects not just the addict, but also the people that surround them. And I’m loving every minute of it!