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by Krista Ritchie & Becca Ritchie
Release Date: 11/30/13
Summary from Goodreads:
He's addicted to booze. She's addicted to sex...staying sober is only half the battle.
No. More. Sex.
Those are the three words Lily Calloway fears the most. But Loren Hale is determined to be with Lily without enabling her dangerous compulsions. With their new living situation—sleeping in the same bed, for real, together—Lily has new battles. Like not jumping Lo’s bones every night. Not being consumed by sex and his body.
Loren plans to stay sober, to right all of his wrongs. So when someone threatens to expose Lily’s secret to her family and the public, he promises that he’ll do anything to protect her. But with old enemies surfacing, Lo has more at stake than his sobriety.
They will torment Lily until Lo breaks.
And his worst fear isn’t relapsing. He hears the end. He sees it. The one thing that could change everything. Just three words.
No. More. Us.
New Adult Romance recommended for readers 18+ for mature content
**My thoughts**
Lo and Lily have been best friends for as long as they can remember. They are also completely codependent addicts who are struggling to rebuild their lives and to prove to the world, and to themselves, that they can work together. Whereas they used to support each other by covering for each other, they can now lift each other up to try to kick their addictions. Neither one knows how to survive without the other one. You can't see how they can possibly be good for each other, yet don't know how they can possibly survive apart.
The strength that Lo finds within himself is a pleasant surprise. After all, he has always been the spoiled rich kid who drinks too much to mask his anger at his parents. He has some serious anger management issues. What I love is how we are inside of his head for some of the chapters, so that we can see and hear him working his way through his issues. By no means is he perfect, nor does he necessarily come to a perfectly happy ending. His struggles feel real and like you can relate, even if you have never struggled with an alcohol addiction.
Lily takes a bit longer. She is definitely the weaker of the two. She hasn't had access to the same amount of support and therapy that Lo has, because she has a disease that is considered much more taboo. The stereotype of the rich and famous kid with problems is to be an alcohol and/or drug addict and to cause trouble. It's significantly worse to have a sex addiction. That just labels her a slut and a whore, which can easily tarnish the reputation of the family-friendly companies.
But Lily does have strength inside of her, that she never knew. I don't know that it would be possible for her to find it without Loren's help. She also has to learn to trust some friends and family members, when she has never trusted anyone before. That takes a lot of guts. And with someone threatening to ruin her reputation by letting spill all of her secrets, it is even more difficult to trust.
Both of these kids could easily be any of the spoiled rich kids you see all over today's tabloids and reality TV shows, both of which I absolutely despise. Yet I love these characters, because they are more. They feel more like real people to me. Sure, they get to spend ungodly amounts of money and fly on private jets to Cancun, but have some of the same problems that face so many young people. How many other teens are struggling with acceptance from peers and from family and have turned to any kind of negative means of coping? It is scary.
Lily and Lo take turns telling their story, each from their own point-of-view. As with the other books, their voices ring true. Each one stands out. The authors have delved so deeply into their characters' minds that you would think they are real people telling their own stories. I was unable to tear myself away from the Kindle, needing and craving more of the story, to find out what was going to happen. The pain became real. I laughed and I cried. I didn't want it to end. I am glad it appears that there will be a few more books to come in the series, to satiate my own addiction to it.
Becca Ritchie is a carnivore of pop culture, television, film and of course YA and NA books. While in college, she worked at The CW television network and put her vampiric knowledge to good use, blogging about hit series and swooning over actors’ abs. When she’s not blogging, she writes novels and has teamed up with her twin sister for their New Adult novel ADDICTED TO YOU. Available July of 2013.
Krista Ritchie is the mind behind popular trading website YA Book Exchange and created Nawanda Files, a book blog that also features books into movies news. When not pouring over entertainment news and the newest releases, she spends her time conducting research in a genetics lab. She’s happy to join forces with her sister, harnessing their twin powers to produce the first in a New Adult series.
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***GIVEAWAY***
1 - $25 Amazon Gift Card, Paperback copies of Addicted to You and Addicted for Now (Open Internationally)
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