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 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.

 

 

The idea was good, but the book wasn't written very well - too long (not that I mind long stories, if they're filled with something interesting, but this just felt stretched out) and repetitive, and some parts just didn't make sense to me. Still, a nice insight into the history of Hollywood.

I wanted to like this book much more than I actually did end up liking it.  I think the culprit was mostly just pacing.  It felt plodding though dull parts, and then it didn't slow down for the interesting parts.  Falling in love with the love of his life takes place over a couple of pages, about the same amount of space given to a meal at a boarding house.  The showdown over the Hays laws got as much attention as a Q and A session before a premier. I feel like all the pieces of a good story were there, but the author's editor let her down.  Dreamspinner I see.

I love this period of time!





I’m very fond of historical m/m stories. Since I read [b:Bonds of Earth|13265990|Bonds of Earth|G.N. Chevalier|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1324358785s/13265990.jpg|18469263] I look for them in recommendations, lists and the like. It could be because the forbidden is very attractive, isn’t it? Or maybe I like two knights in shining armour. Or it’s just, I love reading about not-tedious history!

Anyway, when I discovered this one with the cover in black and white my inner self screamed YES! I spent a lot of time reading this book because I was in exams period. I was reading so slow it ended frustrating me instead of relaxing, and that’s not a good combination with stress. But finally I finished it!

I expected a different sort of thing.

The result is ok, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that I had formed a different idea in my head.

The plot begins in 1915 and finishes in 1955. Yeah, it’s a long way. We are with Jack Abadie since the first moment, but Wyatt appears later. Jack is a young actor wannabe, so he leaves home to achieve his dreams in L.A. But things are not easy there, several years go on till he has his chance thanks to Eric, who has a position in one of the movie studios. Jack has talent, so shortly changes from being an extra to get one of the leading roles. His popularity grows running parallel to the number of movies he acts in.

Life is empty, though. And he is on and off during the whole process. When Jack is in one of his down moments, he meets Wyatt and falls in love. But I wasn’t convinced, it was too fast, and too hard, and I want evidences, not only words! Their love is huge, ok, but don’t tell me, demonstrate it to me with actions. I believed it more with the following years together but they say “I love you” a way too often. I like the MC to say that, but repeating it again and again twists it to something not that earth-shattering and emotive. And also, they’re too perfect, like the black-and-white-happy-and-perfect characters he plays.



They’re happy, rarely upset, and if there are conflicts, they are all solved easily and with no further consecuences. I missed reality and angst.



Furthermore, there are some parts that are a little stiff. For example, Eric. Eric helps Jack to succeed and they are friends for years. Although Jack wants more, Eric rejects him. We know Eric feels more than friendship for Jack, but he doesn’t want to lower his guard. Then Jack meets Wyatt and that could-be-but-not ends. Later in time, Eric crashes and Jack promises he will find someone for Eric to be with. In the next page he finds that person. In the next page Eric commits suicide and leaves a letter saying he’s been in love with Jack for years. I understand Eric's motives, but I don’t like the author’s way of describing it all. It’s too fast, too forced. It felt like it was a way TOO pre-arranged.

I learnt a lot of things of the movies world. For instance, I had not idea about the moral clauses! And it didn’t even occur to me that studios threatened actors and actresses to get married or else! I know Charles Chaplin, who survived the sound era, and Buster Keaton, and, later, the Marx brothers, but that’s my whole knowledge about it all. So it was different and I like that.



To sum up, it was a good reading, if sometimes I was looking forward to ending it. There are several points I would have wanted to be different, but all in all I enjoyed it.

A Hearts On Fire Review

TWO HEARTS--"Freedom in His Arms" is a novel about a doctor, Bryan Newcastle, who is trying to free himself from his selfish boyfriend and business partner in Boston. He finally distanced himself and broke up with the cloying man. Bryan decides to treat himself with a vacation on a gay cruise, try to find himself and be a man with conviction instead of letting people walking all over him, namely his ex-boyfriend. He meets Phil, a Service Top and answer of Bryan's hidden desires to be spanked on this cruise. Phil does not do relationships. He's owns a newspaper in Des Moines and doesn't have time for more than a quick hookup here and there. But the two meet and inevitable romance ensues.

If I had to describe Brita Addams' "Freedom in His Arms" in a few words, cheese and crackers. Cheese due to the cheesy dialogue and weak cheese filled ending. Crackers because overall the tone was dry and slightly dull, even with a lot of sex scenes thrown in.

I'll break down why this book did not work for me:

The main characters - From the beginning, more was told rather than shown. I could get a sense of the characters which made it difficult to care about either man. The POV was switched between the two MC but it was mostly Bryan's POV. He was told to be weak willed, his vacation was supposed to be his "coming out" so to speak, but he continued to be weak during most of his decisions invloving Phil, his ex boyfriend...mostly everyone. He stated he wanted to be dominated at one point and then goes back on his decision.

Bryan wants to have a scene but he doesn't want Phil to act a certain way (which was how Bryan enjoyed him to be from the beginning). Bryan would play cold or storm off. At times, he's comparing himself to his mother, worried about hypothetical issues and crying over them. (Grr...MANTEARS!) I don't know if it was supposed to make a reader feel sympathetic towards him...I just found him pathetic. And one line made me cross:

"As much as he cared for Raquel, dealing with emotional women was well above his pay grade."

He blubbered and cried a sizable chunk of this book, so I couldn't believe he even went there. I went from barely tolerating him to just disliking him.

Phil, he was the more stable of the two but that is not saying much. He started off as seeming like a man who was decisive. He went after what he wants, liked to play and serve his partner in the bedroom. He was against being tied down, slept with someone after meeting Bryan to prove this (I guess, he was also pretty horny) so his declarations of a connection, falling in love so quickly etc. with no build up shown (just told) was eye roll worthy.

At 89%, Bryan finally did something medical. He's a doctor but he did more whining, tantrum throwing and wishy-washy decision making than act like an adult who was a medical practitioner. He name dropped Aleksandr Voinov a lot because it's his favorite author, name dropped two of his books and meets the author. I am unsure if it was supposed to give him cool points or make him interesting. Unfortunately, he was not because he started off weak and continued being weak and childish for the majority of the book.

These are not my kind of leading men.

The descriptions - I knew more about food - menus of cuisine on the cruise, great take out in Boston and Des Moines (Chinese reigned supreme), designer clothing names, cologne names, Bryan bought a Jaguar to show off...but I would have rather learn about the characters. The story failed on that end. At one point, Bryan even said he knew nothing about Phil and at the end I still know nothing about Phil. The story telling dragged at parts that did not need descriptions and over explaining and glossed over parts that could have shown off why this pairing was believable.

The disappointing major plot twist - No build up. It made no sense for it to happen if there was no follow through from the the first and only warning that something was going to happen if Bryan continued with his plan of action. And then weak Bryan covered up everything in the end after he complained throughout most of the book of trying to be an adult and stand up for himself. He disliked the person so much...why lie? It was disappointing all around.

The ending - It is a HEA but from how the characters were presented it went into schmoop forever land too quick, in my opinion. Between an indecisive, weak willed man and a man who did not want to be tied down (and even had a quick hook up in the beginning of the book to prove this), the couple got serious fairly quick. I guess I should have known since the two claimed feeling a connection that I didn't see (the reader is told but not shown) before we get to 10% of the book. And this book ended around 89%, the rest just dragged.

:

Do I recommend this book? No.

But I am sure there might be group of readers who might enjoy this. If you are not into heavy BDSM, kink and humiliation, this book might be a choice. It's light BDSM 101 between a Service Top and Sensory seeking bottom. I did not enjoy the scenes as much not only due to having no connection with either main character but the over explanation of each scene and reiteration of the rules they discussed already, put me off.

The scenes were tame - mild spanking (nothing over the knee), use of cock rings, spanking bench and sling.

I might try this author again in the future. The premise was okay. The story was longer than it needed to be yet still left more to be desired. Meh.