Book Review: Second Shoot (Beachouse Studios Book 2)

See our review of Beachouse Studios Book 1 here. Yes, that is how “Beachouse” is supposed to be spelled.

I’ve been eagerly awaiting the second book in the Beachouse Studios series. The cliffhanger of book one was incredibly mean in the best way possible, making the last seven months between novels torture. C.W. Rogers crafted an excellent mystery, building the world and characters of this gay thriller novel.

When I finally got Second Shoot booted up on my Kindle, I eagerly jumped right back into it. I liked the first book in the series. However, my feelings for the second one were very different.

I freaking adored the second novel.

It felt like I was being directly pandered to because there is so much in Second Shoot that I personally love in my stories. Character development is plot, which is why the second outing to the world of Beachouse Studios is perfect for me.

This book is very light on actual story. If you love plot-heavy books, this might not be to your taste because that is not what Second Shoot is. Second Shoot is a methodical exploration of the murder in book one and the following fallout. We get two new point-of-view characters, Tim and Emily, who are both eagerly welcomed as they were the breakout fan-favorite characters of book one.

The addition of Emily’s sections and the introduction of the powerhouse character, Angela Harrow, fixed one of my biggest criticisms of book one, which I had said felt very much like a boy’s club. Emily is such a vital character in both books that it’s wonderful to actually spend time with her outside of being a sounding board for all the men in the narrative. She gets to have an arc, which is one of the better parts of the novel, even if it’s not as prominent as the other characters.

In a way, Emily gets overshadowed, especially in the book's first half, where she’s just sort of there while all the men are having big moments. Thankfully, she gets to stick her landing where she absolutely shines on her own outside of Dan’s machinations, Ry's trauma, and having to take on the mental load of everyone's emotions while also trying to do her job. Which, as a woman, I felt that part of her story.

The mental load of Emily Griel is very real, so I'm glad she got some recognition for her work. While it does get shared to an extent by Dan, he definitely leaves her on her own and doesn't try to make things easier. On the one hand, it gives Emily her best moment in the novel. On the other, she gets screwed over a lot by the men around her, and no one really seems to give a damn about her other than Dan. At no point does Ry, Tim, or the models ask her how she feels about all of this while she, as the woman, has to be the emotional core of the story for them. While Dan cares, he also flat-out uses her as his scapegoat, which inflicts very real mental and emotional trauma on her. She's expected to just keep on trucking at work with a smile on her face as if she wasn't also hurt in all of this. So much time and care are given to Ry, Tim, and the men in this story; Emily has to take it all on herself with the only support being Dan, who shoved the pain on her in the first place. It made Emily so relatable to me, whether or not it was intentional on Rogers' part. She also gets bumped out of her own spotlight with the introduction of Angela, but this isn’t a bad thing.

Angela Harrow is a force of nature that storms into the novel in the opening chapters. What Rogers does well is know how and when to deploy this character. Angela is like a fancy truffle grated on top of a dish. Too much of Angela could have negatively tipped the scales of Second Shoot, as she would absolutely overpower every character in the book. However, Rogers gives precisely the right amount of this character, leading to my favorite reveal of the novel.

Adding Tim’s point of view was also rewarding, as Tim became a favorite of mine in book one. In the first Beachouse Studios novel, we only get this character from Ry's point of view. Because of his crush on Tim, Ry sees him very much with rose-colored glasses. It’s why Second Shoot spending time in Tim’s head works well, as we see firsthand how incredibly flawed he is. Tim is not a bad person by any means; he’s young, and his best traits are also his worst. There is a point where characters can care so much to the detriment of themselves and others. This is Tim’s story when he has to pick and choose which relationships to prioritize, and there is a clear loser by the novel's end.

Like Emily, Tim’s point-of-view segments weren’t without their weak points. While I do adore character work, there is a point in the middle of the novel where Tim’s story begins to drag, particularly a scene he shares with Victor. Tim rehashes for a third time the exact same feelings and story beats from prior scenes. It doesn’t last long, though, as Tim finally gets propelled into his arc in the back half of the book.

Speaking of Victor, I forget he exists until he pops up again. I had to look up his name to write that last paragraph because he had no impact on me whatsoever. Cameron almost fell into this trap in Second Shoot, but the introduction of his pink hair, something that is brought up multiple times by different characters, helped. Pink hair is not a character trait; it just made him stand out more as the manic pixie gay boy. Victor is entirely forgettable, though, which is a shame as the only East Asian character in the cast so far. As a background character, he doesn’t need to be as big as the point of view characters. Though as much as he is in the book, he must have some kind of personality.

Second Shoot shines for Dan Sebring. If book one built the mystery around Ry Thompson, then book two is Dan’s novel. He is at the center of every single character’s journey. In return, his layers get peeled back. Some layers tease a darker past, while others flat-out reveal significant parts of his story. His bond with Ry, in particular, is fascinating as the two main characters must rely on each other after the cliffhanger of book one. They build almost a borderline father-son bond (I say "almost" because Ry is the most chaotic character and never fully commits to anything), and their relationship is the book's core.

Seeing how each character impacts him, Dan’s arc is the most rewarding. Where the adult film studio felt more like a job for him in book one, Second Shoot shows a clear progression in Dan where he begins to honestly care about every person under his watch. He wants to protect his workers from the monstrous influence of Gabe Whitner (who still sucks) and the reality of how much their boss John Balsinger couldn’t care less about anyone. This puts Dan in conflict with different characters at times, which challenges him as a person. Watching Dan open up and start to truly love his place in Beachouse Studios, as well as the people around him, is the best part of the novel.

Though, I do adore John. He’s a wonderful antagonist and sometimes ally that I love to hate.

Second Shoot did not disappoint. I loved it far more than the first novel. Where Beachouse Studios had to do so much legwork to introduce the cast, build their relationships, and craft the mystery at the center of the series, Second Shoot can just exist, letting the characters go off on their own thing. While the cliffhanger of book two wasn't as exciting as book one, I still want to know what happens next. I genuinely love these messy people. I need to see where they go from here. I’m hooked on the Beachouse Studios series, and now I will sit and eagerly wait for book three.

You can buy Second Shoot (Beachouse Studios Book 2) now on Kindle eBook and Kindle Unlimited here.