Addicted by Charlotte Featherstone

  My Review:

     I could climb on my “100+ Proofs That Substance Abuse Screws Up Not Only You But Your Loved Ones” soapbox to review this book, but I think there are more than enough of us who can attest to that fact, first hand, so I won’t waste your time addressing all the different phases Lindsay and Anais had to go through to reach the happily ever after ending that they so deserved. What I will say is that in Addicted, Charlotte Featherstone has given us a beautiful love story, that’s true, but more than that, she gave us a beautiful love story worth reading.

     What I really appreciated about this book was how honestly it dealt with substance abuse and its effects on the people around us. This wasn’t a “message book” preaching the horrors of addiction, rather it was a touching story about two people who had known and loved each other since childhood and were now, as adults, affected by a powerful addiction. The question that had to be answered was this: Was Anais’ hold over Lindsay’s heart and soul powerful enough to not only survive, but break the physical hold his “mistress,” Opium, had over his body?

     I had a tough time getting into this at first. It seemed to move a little slow for me, but that eventually changed and became a "can't put it down", emotional read. Speaking of emotional, I was brought to tears during a scene where both Lindsay and Anais watched on as the terrible price of Lindsay’s addiction played out before them. And I have to say, I wouldn’t have wanted it to work out any other way because sometimes the best happily ever afters have to go through hell before they truly can be happily forever afters.

     While the cover claims this to be an erotic novel, it didn’t strike me as such. The story was great and the sex hot and plentiful, but to me, and Merriam-Webster, erotic(a) is something intended to arouse a sexual response. The reason I’m making this distinction is because we’ve all read books that are labeled “erotic” and found that often times the stories themselves aren’t worth paper it took to print them on. I don’t want to see anyone pass up this book because they’re concerned that page after page of sex will diminish the real treasure found in Addicted - the story of unconditional love.