Backbeat

by Thomas Carver

Up and coming indie band Mulholland Underground's first major tour isn't going that well. Kieran, Logan, and Sean have been friends for years, but now that friendship is tested, stretched to its breaking point like an overtuned guitar string. After a night of roughhousing with Logan turns steamy, Kieran has to find a way to hide their new relationship from the homophobic bassist Sean. At least Sean is distracted, obsessed with signing the band to a label, against all of Kieran's objections. Playing shows at night, and by day, seeking a private spot to steal a furtive moment of pleasure, Kieran is tied up, both literally and emotionally, in Logan's bonds. After all, Kieran loves rock and roll, and nothing's more rock and roll than a shirtless drummer in leather pants pounding out a backbeat, especially if that backbeat's on his own vulnerable skin. But every song has to end, and Kieran's not sure whether this tour is going to be the morendo, the slow death, not just of Mulholland Underground, but of his friendship with Logan and Sean as well, or whether this is just the beginning of a new verse. It all depends on Kieran's next move. If only he could think of one.

This 41,000 word gay friends-to-lovers romance contains scenes of enthusiastically consensual bondage and eagerly enjoyed corporal punishment.

116 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 30, 2019

About the author

Thomas Carver lives the dream, with one foot in the midwest and one on the west coast. He's been seen at the opera and at the biker bar, a cocktail party and the alley behind the dumpsters. He's worked in the hot sun and the air-conditioned office, and knows all the gradations of pleasure between caviar on his tongue and sand between his teeth.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story with music running through its veins is one of my favorite things to find. It’s like finding a rare, dusty gem in a yard sale record bin. The pages have rhythm, the words thump and thud, and sometimes if I’m lucky…the characters have pure, down & dirty, rock and roll under their fingernails.

Logan, Sean, and Kieran are Backbeat’s band. They’re criss-crossing the country in a beat up van, crashing on couches, and scrambling for gigs. Carver captures the grit and grime of the road in cheap scurvy inducing foods, sleepless nights, and the way the flickering highway lights play across your skin. I can feel that van sway for fuck’s sake! But he also catches the music. It’s always there for musicians. In the room with them. They beat the air with their sticks, write songs wherever inspiration hits, and play anywhere and everywhere just to feel the high from the audience. And if you have a garage, they’ll be your friend forever. Just to play the music. It’s all very rock and roll! And it's all right here.

Between all the driving, playing, and crashing though, is another beat.

“He could do anything to me. Because everything he did to me was something he did for me.”

Logan and Kieran have been through a lot together, but they find a new groove in their friendship on this tour. They find need and desire and a longing for pain. A late night fight that turned a little too physical makes Kieran realize he likes the release pain and humiliation gives him. He likes the way Logan teaches him a lesson. It’s hot and dirty! Logan and Kieran have a real trust and power between them that makes this whole thing work for me. And I felt it in surprising little gut punches. Like the jolt I got every time Logan called Kieran “Keke”. Or the sudden exhale of breath when Carver cuts the control and helplessness with a big grin or laugh. Carver knows when to climb higher and when to come hard. He got the pace and pressure just right for Logan and Kieran.

For me, Backbeat was a filthy, hot and sweaty ride with the music turned all the way up!

[brian g. fraser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet

More relationship and love in this story with big dose of humiliation erotica plus we were introduced to these characters in his more raunchy book Depravity nice to see the evolution of this couple.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a steamy & gritty friends-to-lovers story about music, bondage and kink. There's a decent plot, relationship development and best of all, it's not as *dark/sadistic/raunchy* as some of the author's other books, which is why I gave it a try.  Also, did I mention it's well-written? I found myself totally invested and couldn't put my Kindle down.

[Appetiteuh · Rating 5 out of 5]

too short

This is one of my favorites from Thomas. I love how the main characters interacted, they truly showed love to each other. And if you’ve read ‘straight cruel and sweet’, it would be nice to see Jeff, Dave and Keith again. The only thing is that I wish the story would be more detailed about Logan’s past. And I really hope this could turn out a ‘band’ series.