Reviewed by Roberta
TITLE: Freedom in His Arms
AUTHOR: Brita Addams
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 223 Pages
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.
REVIEW: Based on the premise of the blurb, I really wanted to read this book. I had such high expectations that this book was going to be AMAZING. However, that wasn’t really what I got.
Bryan has reached the end of his relationship as his needs aren’t being met. Bryan ends his relationship with his partner, Del and decides to move out and end their working relationship as well. Del is fighting this with his usual off-handed remarks and aloofness. That just pushes Bryan further away.
Phil runs the newspaper that he inherited from his Grandfather and hasn’t had a great stable relationship in forever. He’s been having a casual relationship with this guy and he realizes that what they have isn’t working for him. He wants something that is permanent and loving.
Bryan and Phil meet the first day of a gay cruise. The attraction is there between them. They begin to start a sexual relationship and in doing so, Phil helps Bryan discover the sexual freedom that he’s been denied for so long.
This is where it starts to get irritating. Bryan starts having feelings for Phil and he knows that Phil is starting to fall for him as well. Which leads him to acting kinda girly. I get that while taking this trip was to explore himself and finds what he likes and doesn’t like is important to him. I even understand the not wanting to truly get involved with someone after only a short time of being single again, is scary, I just don’t get the whininess.
There was this question as to why Del, Bryan’s ex was holding on so tight and didn’t want him to leave. But it wasn’t really so much a question as you knew what was going down. Bryan was just obtuse as to what was going on.
I have such a hard time believing these two guys are in love and staying together. I just didn’t feel the chemistry between them. Even the sex between them just felt off. I never connected to either character and that fact left me very apathetic as to what happens to them.
I will give mad props for using Aleksandr Voinov as a character in this book. You got to hear about some of his works and then….”meet him”. It was pretty amazing. I really liked that part.
RATING: 
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