Joey Hayes and his best friend Ricky Branson have been together through the good times, as well as the bad. Attending their first concert as teens set the path for their futures in motion. Shortly after, the pair joined band class where they meet Ethan and Mick and the foursome formed the metal band, Social Sinners.Things were going according to plan until Lucas Shane entered their lives, … lives, disrupting the flow and testing the strength of their friendship.
When Joey spirals down a dark path after catching his cheating boyfriend, this tasked the other three band members with making a difficult decision that could end his career as their lead singer.
Book 1 – Behind the lights (MM)
Book 2 – In the shadows (MM)
Book 3 – A heart divided (MMM)
Book 4 – Beyond the curtain (MM)
Book 5 – After the final curtain (MM/MMM)
more
This one kept me up late! Couldn’t put it down. I loved Joey and Stoli, the main characters. I couldn’t get enough. Hot rockers, interesting twists. A fun read. There were a couple of grab the tissue spots, but not overly angsty. It has everything. I jumped right into the 2nd book when I finished.
New to me author.
This story will give you all the feels…
Anger, Tears, Loss, and Happy…
Ricky and Joey have been best friends since they could remember. Next door neighbors too which made it cool.
Ricky and his mom were always there for Joey after a lot of crap goes down in his own home.
In high school they form a band with two other friends.
In time they learn a bunch of stuff and begin to make it.
Secrets are shared, hearts are broken.
In the end it’s all about Blood Brothers.
And finally seeing what was always in front of you.
I really enjoyed this story and can’t wait for more.
I loved this journey into the very beginnings of a band’s trip to fame. I also loved how supportive some of the families were and others were not. This could have went really bad for Joey without the love and support of his friends and family. A wonderful start to a series. I can’t wait to read or listen to the next one.
This is my first book by this author and it wont be my last. Behind the Lights is the first book in the new series Social Sinners. It had me hooked from the start and I didn’t want to put it down.
The book is written in the POV of Joseph “Joey”, Lead singer of the band Social Sinners. The story is told through events of his childhood, from his mother abandoning him and his father, his friendship with his best friend, Ricky “Stoli”, to their meeting Mick “Mickey” and Ethan “Diamond”, their future bandmates.
Looking forward to more of their journey!
I absolutely love the first book in the Social Sinners series by TL Travis. This one is a must read.
**This book was provided to Nerd Girl Official in exchange for an honest review.**
Social Sinners: Behind The Lights by TL Travis is the First in her Social Sinners Series. This first book tells the story of Joey and Ricky, and how they become Social Sinners.
Joey and Ricky had been together as long as either could remember. In high school they follow their love of music & find kindred spirits in Mickey and Ethan, and form the heavy metal band Social Sinners. Everything is going well until Lucas shows up. Lucas serves as the wrench in the works.
This is a story of love and loss, pain, betrayal and abandonment. I can’t wait to read more of this groups stories. 4 well-earned stars.
**Review has been done in conjunction with Nerd Girl Official. For more information regarding our reviews please visit our fan site: http://www.facebook.com/NerdGirl.NG **
“I’d found my forever when I was five years old and only just realized it.”
Social Sinners is the story of four boys and their shared love of music. Stoli, Mickey, Diamond, and Joey start a garage rock band like a lot of teenagers did in the early 2000’s. This is a tale of their journey, the love of family, the loyalty between brothers, and finding love. I have a few choice words about how Joey’s decision making skills were when it came to finding said love but you’ll have to read it to find out for yourselves.
TL Travis has a unique way of writing, it pulls you in and you just have to find out what’s on the next page. Her character building was superb in this novel and her understanding and description of male emotions was amazing. She captured the way a man kind of shrugs things off if that makes any sense, being a female author I had to give her props on that. It’s the beginning of a new series and I cannot wait for the next installment to come out! I’m recommending Social Sinners to those who have given up hope, to those who believe you can’t have the things you want. This is a beautiful story that made me cry, you should absolutely read it.
I love rock music, so it’s a bonus when I find a book that is also about musicians. This story takes you from the beginning before Social Sinners was even a thought. These childhood friends Joey and Ricky forge a path together to go after their dream and strive at making it come true. There are difficult times, but all good things in life are worth the struggle. Respect, dedication, and family is what makes Social Sinner’s thrive. When I read the last word of this story, I smiled ready to dive into book 2.
Wonderfully touching beginning
“I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure he knows how much I love him.”
I just closed social sinners and am a bit teary eyed- I truly couldn’t put it down.
A heartfelt , funny and wonderfully emotional read
This is told from Joey’s POV.
It is the first in series and from my understanding the only true “standalone”.
Travis does a magical job of setting the stage and tone for this series.
We journey with Joey from the present day back to childhood and then forward again to the present day giving us an emotional attachment to each of the characters. Be prepared it is a very emotional journey, I laughed, I wanted to do some head knocking and I cried.
I definitely recommend and if you are new to the MM genre this is a fabulous place to start your journey
AMAZING‼
What an outstanding book about four lifelong friends, three of them gay, who form the metal band Social Sinners while in high school and how they navigate their way to making it big. This coming-of-age story encompasses the boys’ passion for the music, loyalty to their brotherhood, and respect for their family all the while fumbling through the good, the bad, and the ugly of growing up.
Each one of the characters is equally as important as the next, creating so much depth to this storyline, but Joey and Stoli rocked my world. These two are EVERYTHING. There’s no possible way to love one more than the other.
This is intelligent, well-thought-out, and heartfelt writing. I’m going right into the next one in this series, Social Sinners: In the Shadows ~ five-rockin-stars for me ~ I can’t recommend this one enough.
4 Stars
Hot and intense
It’s a great story and introduction to what should be a great set of stories for the band, Social Sinners. Travis pens a great and intense MM erotica romance, and also brings to life the characters in the band. There is something special about each one, and all of a sudden, someone else comes into their lives and turns it upside down. It looks like there will be several more (5 all together) to come, and I look forward to reading what comes next.
I found this a great story, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Still, I have some trouble writing this review. I think it has everything to do with my expectations. I was expecting a romance story of two men, and although, in a sense, it was just that, it was very light on the romance. It is more a story about life. A story about friendship and love, about loss and betrayal, about growing up.
The story follows the lives of Joey and Stoli (Ricky). Best friends from the age of five, they never knew a life without the other in it. They went to school together, made music together, and dreamed together of being rock stars. Together with their friends, Diamond and Mickey, they make their dreams come true, and they start a band, called Social Sinners.
The boys are captured really well. We see them growing up, each in their own way. The story is told from Joey’s POV, so we see the world around him through his eyes and feel the emotions he is going through. And they are heavy at times. Dealing with loss and betrayal of a loved one is hard and painful. But he is a fighter, and with the help of his friends, he grows stronger than ever.
So even as I said there is not much romance in the story, there certainly is love. Love between parents and children, love between friends, and yes, also love between best friends who become so much more. Strong, supportive, and forgiving love that last through the years.
This is the first book in the series, and I am looking forward to the next one.
I loved Joey and Ricky/Stoli, and this story was so good! I loved seeing them grow up together, and I was glad for the amount of pages given to their history. The family dynamics and startup of the band were really interesting. I’m so glad this is the start to a series, because I need to see more of these two, as well as their bandmates. I am excited for more!
This will blow you away. There is so much I love about this. The characters are complex and realistic. Made it seem like you could of known them in high school. From the minute I dove in I was hooked. I especially loved the timeline of events and how much it told about the boys and the men they would become. They had me laughing, crying, and a few times, made me want to shake some sense into one of them. Another guy I wanted to seriously smack hard. Yes I even yelled at him. At the end I was swimming in happy tears. Oh and the songs written in here are were perfect. . You could feel the emotions in every line.
TL Travis is a favorite of mine and this book is a perfect example of why. Consistently I get a story that pulls my emotions with characters I get attached to. I look forward to getting to know all these guys as we get more books in this series. Truly an amazing start to what looks like one heck of a series. For now I’ll be rocking, reading, and waiting. With some serious author stalking thrown in. See you there.
Loved everything about this book, it’s sort of a “laying out the cards” for the next ones, I suppose. We are introduced to the band members, their dynamics and the focus is especially on Joey, the lead singer, and Stoli, his best friend since birth.
Now, Joey can really be totally blind to what’s right in front of him and I may have grunted in frustration at him a time or twelve while listening to the book; but he is all heart, as is Stoli, and in the end they sort things out in a HFN that got me one-clicking to the next audiobook in the series faster than a race car!