Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

Everyone has secrets; some even have secrets they keep from themselves.

Los Angeles, 1985. Jackson ‘Jax’ Reed is the lead guitarist of Acts of Insanity, a hard rock band forging its place on the Sunset Strip.

After firing his lead singer, and with a showcase gig for record executives just a few weeks away, Jax is forced to find a new frontman – fast.

When Harley Moore walks in to audition for the gig, the secret that Jax is desperately trying to keep hidden, even from himself, begins to unravel and threaten everything that he and the band have worked for.

Can Jax keep his secret hidden? Can he keep his growing love for Harley a secret? Or will his need for love and acceptance threaten everything he’s worked so hard to create?

It’s a Long Way to the Top is the first book in the Acts of Insanity series.

To call this book an erotic romance it quite a misnomer. What it is is a story of an up and coming rock band in the 80’s and the lead guitarist is a severe drug addict. Perhaps the book is an erotic romance- but the romance is between Jax and heroin.

Being the 80’s, Jax is in the closet. Because being gay was still far from accepted, especially from a hard rock guitarist. But he is falling hard for the new lead singer.

While we watch Jax and the band navigate the rock scene in LA in the mid- 80’s, we also watch not only Jax descend into deep heroin addiction, but he also then drags his lead singer with him.

Jax is a narcissist to the nth degree. You want to believe he cares about his music, about hitting it big, about his band, about Harley, but really he cares only about heroin and when he will get his next fix.

Honestly, if you read this book not as a work of erotic fiction but one of a story of drug addiction in the 80’s rock scene, I would have given it a higher rating. As it was I could barely get through it because it was a melting pot of drugs, booze and co-dependency. What it is not is a gay romance. At all.

The cover art really depicts the characters and the theme of rock in the 80’s. Get me my Aqua Net!

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 246 pages
Published October 22nd 2015 by Paperback Pleasures
ASINB016GYA0HG
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesActs of Insanity #1