Title: Freedom in His Arms
Author: Brita Addams
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: Novel (220 pages)
ISBN: 978-1-62798-473-7
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (January 3rd, 2014)
Heat Level: Moderate/Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥2.5~3 Hearts
Reviewer: Thommie
Blurb: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 a 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.
Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4544
Review: This is a contemporary romantic story set mostly on board of a gay cruise where our protagonists first meet. Bryan has been in a bad relationship for a long time now and his sexual life is completely unsatisfying. After breaking up with his partner and before giving total closure to their joined practice, he decides to join a gay cruise in order to relax and recharge, but mostly to explore and discover his sexuality and his kinky hidden side.
Phil on the other side is tired of the fake side of his sexual life. The subs he plays with at the club he joins are all lacking the sensuality of submission he so much craves. As a service Top, he certainly can deliver any amount of pain, but that’s not what makes his blood boil. In search for something, anything, or simply relaxation with a bit of sex on the side he joins the gay cruise as he’s been doing for years.
Our story picks up pace there, when Phil and Bryan meet and their attraction is instant. They both have what the other is searching for and they hit it off right from the start. However, in my eyes something was lacking. The connection felt weird, at the beginning, it was too business-like and as the couple goes through the motions of flirting, dancing, getting to know each other and yes finally having those intimate scenes it all felt shallow. The telling overlapped everything and the intensity that was supposed to be there was lost, the lust that should slap you in the face and take your breath away was noticeably absent.
All in all the entire attachment that this couple experiences didn’t reach me and the characters themselves failed to make an impression. I didn’t even liked Bryan, he felt too much like taking advantage of an over-giving Phil without giving anything back. As for the BDSM side of the story, I kept expecting fireworks in a clear night-sky, but that never happened. Statements such as:
“Beyond this threshold, you’re mine. You simply have to say no if I do something, you don’t like. Otherwise, I’ll interpret your silence as permission. Understood?”
Were followed by disappointment and all the things I expected from a kinky relationship were not met, they were rather bland and flat and lacking connection.
Overall, it was not a bad read, but it was a drag and I had to bring myself to forcefully finish it in the end. The ending itself was weird as hell. Somehow, the closure was unsatisfying, and that money felt bloody to me, the callousness they talked about investment just turned my stomach upside down considering the circumstances.