Thank you Sid, for having me back! Today, I’d love to introduce your readers to the main characters of Tarnished Souls: Frankie and Gent.

For anyone who has read anything about Tarnished Gold, they know that I have an entire series planned. Tarnished Gold has done well, has garnered good reviews, and it has readers who look forward to the coming stories.

I started to write the second book, titled Tarnished Soul, and got about twenty-six thousand words in and something happened. I wrote a scene in a club, where one of the main characters, Detective Owen, “Mac” McGregor, sat on a bar stool and observed a low ranking mobster by the name of Frankie Monetti. Frankie had his arms around two “broads,” and smirked at Mac, daring him to arrest him.

My writing day ended and I went on with the evening, then to bed.

When I woke up the next morning, Monetti had taken over my head. He shook all thoughts of Mac and Gray out of my head, and told me that Tarnished Soul was about him.

The title fit for sure, but I hadn’t planned on Monetti at all, save for a one paragraph mention to facilitate Mac in the bar. That scenario was one in which if Mac could get Monetti on some small charge, Monetti would lead him to the big boss, yet unnamed.

Even as I tried to give Monetti a bigger role, without abandoning what I’d already written, the gangster’s voice grew louder. He demanded a face, a voice, a personality. He wanted his own story.

With each character of importance comes a backstory, a purpose for their existence. Frankie had none of that. He had a smirk, a “coupla broads” on his arms, and a demanding way about him. He reminded me of some of the hoods in the gangster movies I’ve always loved. He had a slickness about him, no uncouth habits, save for his wont to run the show.

Okay, so he quickly developed a personality, one I couldn’t deny. I gave in, made Mac Frankie’s nemesis in a big way, and set up Mac’s and Gray’s relationship, as seen through Frankie Monetti’s eyes.

Frankie is a compilation character, that is, he’s takes on bits and pieces of real life gangsters, the most prominent, Bugsy Siegel. Siegel was uneducated, but he aspired to impress the Hollywood crowd. He often spent hours repeating lines, to affect just the right tone. He read, and in many aspects, turned his back on his New York upbringing in favor of the glitz and glamor of Hollywood.

Frankie refers to himself and those like him, as goombas, but when he wanted to appear better than those who’d sent him, he spoke without the heavy accent he’d brought with him. He gives orders that end people’s lives, while living by the code that his mentor taught him, never harm innocents.

Gent carries no such airs and with good reason. He’s a hitman, unhappy with his life, but he knows nothing else. He’s brutal, believes in an eye for an eye, and sometimes, two eyes for one. Gent is protective, yet in many ways, that rarely extends beyond himself.

Tarnished Souls: Frankie and Gent is not a love story. There is a sex scene in the book, but it is more a figurative guns to the head scene, and hasn’t an ounce of romance in it. These two men haven’t earned romance and in this book, they don’t get it. They do, however, discover more about themselves—who they are and why.

Sometimes, that lesson is more important, and sustains us when nothing else can.

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Here’s the blurb for Tarnished Souls: Frankie and Gent:

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 Tarnished Souls: Frankie and Gent

 

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Schedule for Tarnished Souls: Frankie and Gent Blog Tour

November 14 – The Rainbow Studio

November 18 –Brita Addams

November 19 – Sid Love

November 20 – Joyfully Jay

November 21 – You Gotta Read

November 25 – Jacob Flores

November 26 – The Novel Approach

December 5 – Michael Ruptured

 

About Brita Addams:

Born in a small town in Upstate New York, Brita Addams has made her home in the sultry south for many years. In the Frog Capital of the World, Brita shares her home with her real-life hero—her husband, and a fat cat named Stormee. All their children are grown.

 Given her love of history, Brita writes both het and gay historical romance. Many of her historicals, as well as few contemporaries, have appeared on category bestseller lists at various online retailers.

Tarnished Gold, the first in her Tarnished series for Dreamspinner, received honorable mention, and is a finalist in the 2013 Rainbow Awards, historical romance category.

Brita and her husband love to travel. They’ve taken no less than twenty-five cruises and countless long car trips, as well as completed a Civil War battlefield tour, and visits to many sites involved in the American Revolutionary War. Their 2013 anniversary tour of England, Scotland, and Wales gave Brita fodder for many new tales.

On a trip to Hollywood, California, Brita stood in the footprints of some of her favorite actors—Clark Gable, Henry Fonda, Tyrone Power, and many others, at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, and has even kissed Mickey Rooney.

A bit of trivia—Brita pronounces her name, Bree-ta, and not Brit-a, like the famous water filter. Brita Addams is a mash-up of her real middle name and her husband’s middle name, with an additional d and s.

Readers can find Brita Addams at any of the following places:

Website   ::  Blog  ::  Twitter: @britaaddams  ::  Facebook  ::  Fan page   ::  Goodreads

Pinterest  ::  Booklikes

Monthly column at The Novel Approach

GIVEAWAY

One random commenter will win an ebook copy of Tarnished Gold or For Men Like Us. Another commenter will win a swag pack, with signed bookmarks, and a couple other goodies. Winners will be chosen on November 27!