The Sapphire Club - By Brita Addams
With the release of the second book in my Sapphire Club series, Musa Publishing is sponsoring a sale, so readers can get to know the characters and enjoy a discount. Click the ad to receive your discount.
USA Today Recommended Read
Fulfill your wicked fantasies at the Sapphire Club
Serenity Damrill has returned to her husband, Lucien, after a ten-year absence. She carries with her a secret that could destroy her life and possibly all that Lucien has built. She needs Lucien's protection, and she is determined to repair her marriage.
Quite happy running the Sapphire Club, where his clients live out their wildest fantasies, Lucien has no need for the frigid wife who deserted him the day after they were married. Though he still desires her, he doubts she'll consent to the type of intimate relationship he craves.
But in the Sapphire Club, where rules don't exist, anything is possible...
Contains elements of bondage, anal play, voyeurism, spanking, and lots of romance.
Guard your heart. Passion comes with a price.
Lost in grief, Prentice Hyde, the much sought after Marquess of Wycroft, salves his broken heart at the Sapphire Club. He wants love, but finding it presents problems of disloyalty to his dead wife.
Widow Desiree Huntington appears at the Sapphire Club, sees Prentice in action, and presents him with a request so seductive, he finds it difficult to refuse.
As their arrangement progresses, Prentice takes Desiree to the heights of sexual endurance and enjoyment, mires her in passion, and sees a way out of the loneliness that is his life.
But Desiree wants all Prentice has to offer—but his heart.
On a whim, Boston doctor Bryan Newcastle books a Caribbean cruise for gay men, hoping for two weeks of sexual exploration with someone who’ll bring out the daring soul inside him.
With a simple slide of a keycard across a table, newspaperman Phil Sanderson plunges Bryan into world of sexual freedom where longing for more comes as naturally as breathing. As Phil takes Bryan to new heights, the cruise ends with so much unexplored.
During a visit with Phil in Des Moines, Bryan receives a call that changes everything. Together, they travel back to Boston, but Phil’s protective nature gets in the way of Bryan’s need to handle tragedy in his own way. While Bryan struggles to come to terms with all he thought real about his past, Phil must trust that Bryan is strong enough, or he might lose the best thing that's ever happened to him.
Portions of this novel originally published as separate stories: Free Me published by Amber Allure, June 2011; In His Arms published by Amber Allure, August 2011.
Available at Dreamspinner Press on pre-order. Release date: January 3, 2014
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Sequel to Tarnished Gold
Tarnished: Book Two
Hollywood’s Golden Age is not all glitz and glamor. Mob boss Frankie Monetti controls the unions and the studios, which makes him and the syndicate very rich. But after five years, Frankie runs afoul of the law and those who put him in power.
Primo hit man, and Frankie's lifelong friend, Arvin “Gent” Vitali, goes west with orders to clean up the mess and then bring Frankie back to New York to answer for his double cross. But as the noose closes tighter around Frankie's neck, Gent questions where his loyalty truly lies. Is business just business or is freedom worth the risk?
Available at Dreamspinner Press
In 1915, starstruck Jack Abadie strikes out for the gilded streets of the most sinful town in the country—Hollywood. With him, he takes a secret that his country hometown would never understand.
After years of hard work and a chance invitation to a gay gentlemen's club, Jack is discovered. Soon, his talent, matinee idol good looks, and affable personality propel him to the height of stardom. But fame breeds distrust.
Meeting Wyatt Maitland turns Jack’s life upside down. He wants to be worthy of his good fortune, but old demons haunt him. Only through Wyatt's strength can Jack face that which keeps him from being the man he wants to be. Love without trust is empty.
As the 1920s roar, scandals rock the movie industry. Public tolerance of Hollywood's decadence has reached its limit. Under pressure to clean up its act, Jack’s studio issues an ultimatum. Either forsake the man he loves and remain a box office darling, or follow his heart and let his shining star fade to tarnished gold.
Purchase Tarnished Gold, book one in the Tarnished series, at Dreamspinner Press.
Tarnished Gold place 5th in the 2013 Rainbow Awards Historical category.
Tarnished Gold has also been nominated in the 2013 Goodreads M/M Romance Group is two categories.
After Preston Meacham’s lover dies trying to lend him aid at Salamanca, hopelessness becomes his only way of life. Despite his best efforts at starting again, he has no pride left, which leads him to sell himself for a pittance at a molly house. The mindless sex affords him his only respite from the horrors he witnessed.
The Napoleonic War left Benedict Wilmot haunted by the acts he was forced to commit and the torture he endured at the hands of a superior, a man who used the threat of a gruesome death to force Ben to do his bidding. Even sleep gives Ben no reprieve, for he can’t escape the destruction he caused.
When their paths cross, Ben feels an overwhelming need to protect Preston from his dangerous profession. As he explains, “The streets are dangerous for men like us.”
Purchase at Dreamspinner Press
For Men Like Us place sixth in the 2013 Rainbow Awards Cover Contest
Tarnished Souls: Frankie and Gent available for preorder
Tarnished Souls is now available for preorder on Dreamspinner Press. Do you like 1930s gangsters?
Hollywood’s Golden Age is not all glitz and glamor. Mob boss Frankie Monetti controls the unions and the studios, which makes him and the syndicate very rich. But after five years, Frankie runs afoul of the law andthose who put him in power.
Primo hit man, and Frankie's lifelong friend, Arvin “Gent” Vitali, goes west with orders to clean up the mess and then bring Frankie back to New York to answer for his double cross. But as the noose closes tighter around Frankie's neck, Gent questions where his loyalty truly lies. Is business just business or is freedom worth the risk?
Release date - November 19. Order your copy now.
Tarnished Gold is Rainbow Award Finalist
Received notice today that Tarnished Gold is a finalist in the 2013 Rainbow Awards and I am very excited about it. The winners in the 22 categories will be announced on December 8.
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Brita Addams joined BookLikes
With all the controversy at Goodreads, I have joined BookLikes and will gravitate away from GR. My main niggle is that they won't allow me to take down books that are out of print.
I maintain that having old versions of books is confusing to readers, and the powers that be at GR refused to allow me to take the down.
I hope to see lots of my friends take the same course.
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Tidbits, with many repetitions. Information more captions than substantive commentary. Poorly formatted for ebook. Reading starts at 35% on Kindle. Not worth purchasing. Contains no information that can't be found online with an easy Google search.
2.5 starsI liked Sam a lot, but didn't see Chris as vividly. This likely comes from the one sided POV, an awkward construction from my point of view.
The premise of the story was solid, but the dialogue was very unrealistic. Guys don't speak to each other that way, all the time.
The insta-sex/insta-love bothered me as well. They didn't have to earn it, especially the first time. We didn't have any build up, just Sam's want of a relationship. The development of the relationship seems forced to fit into a small word count. We are told that weeks passed, rather than shown, so we get the idea that it has happened overnight.
I wish there wasn't so much passive voice and filters (he felt the sweat drip down his brow. Of course he did, no need to say it. The sweat poured down his brow, brings the reader in so they can feel it.) The lack of passives and filters would have aided the telling of the story tremendously, engaged me in the action rather than making me a voyeur. The lack of passive and filters doesn't destroy an author's voice, it enhances it, sharpens it, and engages the reader more thoroughly.
The rating is based on the telling vs. showing, which gave us the insta-love and the fact that the writing kept me at a distance. These are craft issues that can be easily remedied. The story was charming.
I hate it when people say shorts should be longer, because good stories can be told in short stories. However, this story could have benefited from more story and character development. It seems hurried.
Why did I buy this? So much wrong with this one, I don't know where to start. The cardboard characters and unreal storyline left me questioning my judgment. Overall, I'd rather spend my limited reading time on a better developed story.
This story is not in a genre I usually read, but because Damon Suede wrote it, I read it. And I loved it. This is a taste of his upcoming novel, a view inside the story so to speak. No, it's not Hot Head, but something as unique and wonderfully written. Look past your preconceptions, and step through the Gate.
I won't rehash the story, as others do that for me. :)I can't tell you how much I loved this book. So well written, with characters that jump off the page. The secondary characters are as well developed as are Matt and Gabriel.
Jacob puts you into the action, into the emotion, and keeps you there. You feel what Matt and Gabriel feel, which is due to the gift Jacob has for writing and storytelling.
I am in thrall with this book and will remain one of my most memorable reads. Thank you,Jacob!! Can't wait for your Provincetown series.
I've never read Ms. Derr before, but I will look for a longer piece. This story was quite simple, not fleshed out and had some jarring moments. Even fairy tales, which this seems to be, should be factual, if items and situations that truly exist, are mentioned.Though no specific place is mentioned, we do have a time period, set by the mention of beheadings as a form of death. I'm not sure what tar and feather murders are, as tarring and feathering was used as a form of punishment and I found no mention of it used as a death sentence, but then I did cursory research.
Though there were mentions of cigarettes, matches, pocket watches, cravats (1610,) these were all things that existed in times when beheadings were practiced.
I was jarred when the king referred to the prince as Your Highness,as I don't believe the king would give such deference. After all, he is the king, THE Royal Highness, if you will. There was a reference to the prince as My Lord, which is incorrect. He would be Your Royal Highness.
The idiom, champing at the bit, was first found in Rev. Charles Lucas's religious poem, Joseph, in 1810.
Casual violence was minorly disturbing and there were times when I couldn't imagine the hero accomplishing the deeds he did, particularly since he was injured throughout. The build up to the prince finding out that Diggory was his affianced was delicious, but then fell flat, almost an afterthought.
I don't rate on length of pieces, as that is the length the author chose to write. However, within the bounds of the presented word count, this could have been a truly wonderful story with more depth to the characters, the period, and the spell put on Diggory. I wish the ball scene had been longer and more seductive, but again, I don't rate on what I wish it was. The arrest of Benoit was anticlimactic and non-confrontational. We never got to see Diggory as a prince, in full command.
I love the premise of the two princes being betrothed, without any explanation or eye batting. We should live in such a world where two men can marry without hand wringing. That premise kept me reading.
I got this free from ARe and I won't buy the rest. The implausibility of a young billionaire, lady and man killer, world traveler, etc., taking an interest in an intern in his company struck me as far-fetched from the start. There is no explanation as to why Dom is attracted to Gabriel, because we only have one POV (bothersome if the reader is to get to know both characters.)
This is all about the meh sex and absolutely no story whatsoever.
The writing wasn't terrible, but the passive voice abounds, something a good editor would edit out immediately. Also the "I'm not gay, why am I attracted to him?" went on and on, giving the impression that guys really can't control themselves. The constant author intrusion by way of exposition annoyed. There is very little show and much too much tell.
However, getting back to the implausibility of the interest between the two characters. Presumably, Dom could have anyone, and yet he chooses a lowly intern, because, we are told, Gabriel's parents died in a car crash. There is no other explanation and therein lies the rub. We need to know what draws them together, so we can feel the attraction. I can imagine Gabriel's attraction (the money) more than Dom's, but we have nothing here that makes us root for the two guys.
I'm sad to say that this was another foray into self-published work that didn't work on many levels. Self publishing only works when the author doesn't try to go the cheap route. Instead they hire a real editor, who will rein in the bad writing habits. Without editing, writing is nothing more than words on a page. Without editors, authors continue the bad habits, because they don't know enough to correct them.
When I added up the word count, which looks like about 74k and the cost, five additional installments at $1.99 a piece, the cost is much more than any ebook of the same word count, and higher than most. Individually, the pricing is reasonable, but when you add up the installments, no way. My 106k sells for $6.99.
Sorry to be so tough, but when an author puts work out there for sale, they need to make the best effort possible to make sure the reader has the best story they can give. This fell short, as, woefully, many self published works do.