Beloved Unmasked by Brita Addams Guest Post, Excerpt & Review!

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Hi guys, today we have Brita Addams stopping by with her new release Beloved Unmasked, this book is part of the Tarnished universe but is also the start of a new series Cherished One, Brita chats about Beloved Unmasked, she brings along a great excerpt and we have Cat’s review, so enjoy the post! <3 ~Pixie~ 

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Beloved Unmasked

(Cherished One 01 / A Tarnished Novel 03)
by

Brita Addams

A Tarnished Novel

Cherished One: Book One:

Born to a spiteful prostitute in Storyville, the red-light district in New Orleans, David comes into the world as Picayune, meaning “of little value,” or, as his mother reminds him, “nothing.” In the early 20th century brothels and clubs, his love of music sustains young Pic until a life-changing meeting places him on the road to respectability, and Pic reinvents himself as David Reid.

As David realizes happiness for the first time, conscription forces his friend and first love, Spencer Webb, into the Great War. While he pursues a law degree, letters from Spence connect David to his hopes for the future. After staggering news at war’s end, David must find a way to move forward. Under the tutelage of his benefactor, David’s career prospers, but specters from Storyville threaten all he’s worked so hard to achieve.

The past holds both pain and love. Will facing it head-on destroy David or give him everything he’s ever dared dream?

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Freedom in His Arms by Brita Addams

FreedomInHisArmsLGTitle: 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.

Tarnished Souls – Frankie and Gent by Brita Addams

TarnishedSoulsLGTitle: Tarnished Souls – Frankie & Gent

Author: Brita Addams 

Genre: Historical

Length: Novella (92 pages)

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (November 19th, 2013)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts

Reviewer: Cat

Blurb: Hollywood’s Golden Age is not all glitz and glamour. 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?

Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4296

Review: Gent has come to pay Frankie a visit after five years, though this isn’t a social visit. He is sent by the boss to bring Frankie in. Frankie and Gent take some time to catch up and get re-acquainted, in more ways than one. Gent’s plans to bring Frankie in keep getting more and more messed up.

This is a very good gangster story. I liked the period feel. It was like watching an old gangster movie. The characters were interesting and each had his own cross to bear. I liked Frankie. He seemed pretty good for a mob boss. He was liked and respected by everyone around him except for Macgregor the cop that was after him to make a name for himself. Gent I loved. He is the ultimate bad boy and had his personal reasons to get hold of Frankie. Yet his feelings for Frankie was a two-edged sword.  I never got a feel for Macgregor or what his vendetta was though, but I have a feeling that is coming in the next story.

The story was intriguing with lots of twists and turns. I liked that it was hard to figure out and the end really caught me off guard. I also liked that what sex there was, was rough and tumble, not sweet and gentle. I felt it fit the context of the story and added a sexy vibe to help soften the violence.

If you like mobs, gangsters, twists and turns, assassins, forbidden love, and a shocking end, this is for you.

 

Tarnished Gold by Brita Addams

TarnishedGoldLGTitle: Tarnished Gold

Author: Brita Addams

Genre: Historical (early 1900’s), BDSM kink

Length: Novel (350 pages)

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (March 25th, 2013)

Heart Rating:  ♥♥♥♥4Hearts

Heat Level: Explicit

Blurb: n 1915, star-struck 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.

Product Link:  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3667

Reviewer:   Pammie

Review:  This story revolves around the lives of Jack and the man he loves, Wyatt.

It’s hard to believe that this story starts almost a century ago. It’s bright and vibrant, and I was happy to lose myself in the 1920s. In this era, the stars were the “property” of the studios, and no one would be seen unless fully made-up, not a hair out of place, and immaculately dressed.

Jack is no different on the outside, but behind closed doors he lives a very different life. Then he meets Wyatt. Their relationship starts off well, but Jack initially tries to abide by his mentor Eric’s advice of ‘not being touched’. He soon realizes he can’t live that way, and soon he and Wyatt are as married a couple as you can envision.

When his studio finally insists that he has to marry, and tuck Wyatt away where no one can see him, Jack takes a stance. He refuses to deny his life or the man he loves.

There is a D/s aspect to Jack and Wyatt’s relationship, but that isn’t the main part of it. Instead it’s about two people with a deep love for one another.

I loved reading the mix of historical events with fictional romance, although it is loosely based on an actual real-life romance of the time. I also liked the way the author concluded the story with a 25 year anniversary. It’s a shame that some actors, even today, don’t feel able to be publically ‘out’.

I recommend this to anyone who likes history, romance, adversity overcome, a dash or two of hot sex (some lightly kinky) and a HEA.

Reviewer: Cat (♥♥♥3Hearts)

Review: leans with dreams to make it big and to go to California with his lover from home and be a star.  His first disappointment happened on the way to the ferry to leave, when he finds that Emory, his lover isn’t going. He goes alone and finds a room and makes some friends. Then, the story moves a bit quickly from then to five years later when he is working, still as a server in a restaurant and meets Eric.  He falls quickly for the man who tells him to leave the restaurant and trust him. Eric promises to make him a star.

The story really begins here.

Jack would do absolutely anything for Eric, but Eric makes it know right away that he will never, ever be anything more than a friend to Jack.  There are lots of twists and turns as we go through Jacks life in his career and personal life.

I took to this story right away, loving it. Once we got to the part with Eric, I was OMG it’s awesome. It had angst, love, and hate.  I couldn’t put the book down. I had one problem; however, the dialogue was so hard to follow at time. I couldn’t always tell who was talking, even with just two people talking.  It was really rough when there were more, but I was hooked so I went on.   I read for hours and I am sure I ran through an entire box of tissue when I thought the story was almost over.  I was shocked to see I was at only 60 percent in. I just knew there was a big bad twist coming and practically chewed my nails. I was a bit disappointed, however, when the twist didn’t really materialize.  At least, not how I expected and then it was rather soft and the rest of the story got a bit repetitive and slow. However, I still really liked the story and the relationship of Jack and Wyatt. I am a sucker for a love that can endure all these hardships. The story line was good, the characters every last one AMAZING, and the sexy pretty hot.

Recommendation:   If you like men searching for a dream, heartbreak, broken hearts, finding a dream, Actors, Directors, historical fiction set in the early 1900’s, Scandal, difficult choices, spanking and a HEA this one is for you.