While I’ve had the cover for my upcoming release, Thornhill’s Dilemma, for a few weeks, I wanted to save the cover reveal for my favorite site and second home online, The Novel Approach. So, without further ado, I unveil the beautiful cover. Thank you to Kelly Shorten at Musa Publishing for working with me to make this beautiful cover happen! Kelly is aces.
Book three of my Sapphire Club series, Thornhill’s Dilemma, tells the story of Phillip Allard and Alexander Chilton, with a guest appearance by Lady Hope Linden.
In the book’s original incarnation, Chocolate, Tea, and the Duchess, the story was a menage. When I received the rights to the story back from the defunct publisher, I did with it what my gut told me to do five years ago when I wrote the story. While there are a couple of menage scenes, not graphic, this is a story about Phillip and Alex.
There was so much more story for these characters than what I wrote in C,T, & D. Then I hadn’t explored their lives completely and considered things that will become evident in the reading. When I sat down to do a pre-edit, as I did with the other two books, Phillip spoke to me, quite adamantly. From that, comes what I think is a beautiful story that takes place in a time when homosexual relationships were against the law.
When my children were young, I used to tell them that they weren’t islands unto themselves. Their actions affected the entire family and as such, they learned to consider how their decisions impacted not only themselves but those around them.
I called this lesson to mind when I wrote this book. It is all about mistakes, decisions gone awry, and how these characters must deal with what they have set in motion. Sometimes dealing with mistakes brings out that part of us that we try so vehemently to keep hidden.
Phillip appears as the Duke of Thornhill in Lucien and Serenity, and the same in Prentice and Desiree. Not only in Thornhill’s Dilemma do we learn his name is Phillip Allard, but that he is one of the most perverse members of the Sapphire Club, inclined toward the roughest of pleasures.
Originally, Phillip was a toss in character who had one humorous exchange with Serenity. The third book was supposed to be about Haynes, a young man who was originally a worker at the Sapphire Club. I did give him a full story that played out in Lucien and Serenity’s story, and he’s mentioned in updates in the other two books.
No, Thornhill commanded a story a story of his own. We meet Phillip after he’s fallen in love with Alexander Chilton. They’ve chugged along in their discreet relationship, until a fateful meeting that changes their lives forever. The meeting with Lady Hope Linden not only puts a monkey wrench in Phillip’s best laid plans, but her actions leave a lasting mark on everyone she comes in contact with.
I love emotion in romances as much as the next person, but the expression of emotion proved difficult with Phillip. He isn’t an outwardly emotional man. The training for the title he underwent from birth highly discouraged outward displays, so while everything simmers below the surface, Phillip is generally stymied as to how to display what he feels.
When he tells Alex he loves him, that comes at a great cost. When tragedy comes to call, Phillip finds that the comfort of his usual, very familiar posture causes considerable trouble and he pays dearly for his inability to make known what he so profoundly feels.
I’ve lived with Phillip for years, he is my favorite character. I know him well and for that reason, I have a great difficulty in letting go. Combine him with Alex, and they are a dynamic duo.
Alex is no nonsense, but loving. He is determined and accommodating, without being a pushover. He doesn’t care about Phillip’s money, he has his own money, or Phillip’s title. He truly loves Phillip, the man, and he knows Phillip better than Phillip knows himself.
Add Hope to the mix, and Thornhill’s Dilemma isn’t for the weak of heart. You will laugh, cry, and in the end, I hope you’ll see why I love this book so much.
(This book contains one m/f scene and several m/m scenes. Spanking, voyeurism, and tons of romance.)
Thornhill’s Dilemma is now available for presale at Musa Publishing.
Release date is November 7th. Order now and get 30% off, through October 31st, as part of Musa Publishing’s third anniversary celebration. This also applies to the other two books in the series, Lucien and Serenity and Prentice and Desiree.
Buy all three, and you’re getting one free.
Fulfill your wicked fantasies at the Sapphire Club
USA Today Recommended Read
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.
Contains elements of bondage, anal play, voyeurism, spanking, and lots of romance.
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 have appeared on category bestseller lists at various online retailers.
Musa Publishing has contracted many of Brita’s historical romances, including the rewritten and expanded, best-selling Sapphire Club series.
Tarnished Gold, the first in her gay romance Tarnished series for Dreamspinner Press, was a winner in the 2013 Rainbow Awards, Historical Romance category. The book also received nominations for Best Historical and Best Book of 2013 from the readers of the Goodreads M/M Romance Group.
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 more information about Brita Addams at any of the following places:
Monthly column at The Novel Approach
Hey, Brita, really gorgeous cover. Love reading your posts. Another winner. Hugs and <3 Paul.
Thank you Paul. I do so love this cover, well all the covers in the series. So happy you come by to visit. Hugs.