BEAUTIFUL ADDICTIONS by Season Vining

BEAUTIFUL ADDICTIONS

by Season Vining

ARC Review

Published: January 28th, 2014, St. Martin's Press

My rating: 5 of 5 ⭐️

Josie is alone in the world. She struggled through a traumatic time in the foster system, after losing her parents. But she can't remember them.....she has amnesia. All she remembers is the abuse that came after. She spends her time drawing and painting, mostly under the guise of darkness, and dulls her pain with drugs and meaningless sex.

When a young Tristan lost his girlfriend years ago, part of him died as well and in the years that followed, he made some choices that haunt him still. Now working as a bartender, keeping mostly to himself, he is hoping to be able to move past that. Until he gets a close look at the girl that has been lurking in the shadows of the bar for weeks now and realizes that his past has just caught up with him.

Josie doesn't know what draws her to the man who works behind the bar, but something compells her to return night after night. When Tristan approaches her and claims to recognize her from before, she is shocked but not afraid. He makes her feel strangely safe. Tristan gently fills her in on some of the pieces of her life that her amnesia has taken from her and they soon come to the conclusion that their lives may never have been completely disconnected. 

The discovery they may have a dangerous enemy in common spurs Tristan into action, needing to do whatever he can to protect the one girl who ever completely owned his heart. But neither of them know that the enemy is already close by.....

*****

DAMN!!! That was SO good!!! There are only a few authors who can give me this kind of feeling after reading a book....but I think I found another one. A debut novel??? Holy cow........impressive.

Two other authors I adore come to mind immediately.....Debra Anastasia with her Poughkeepsie series and Karina Halle with The Artists Trilogy. The dark, violent and angsty setting of the story, riddled with sad tales.....in the midst of which something beautiful and pure happens. Something so bright, it lifts the entire story. 

So different from most of the formfitted novels out there, BEAUTIFUL ADDICTIONS brought something unique, a book for those who want something REAL to put their teeth into and be moved by...

You cannot be judgemental, you have to read with an open mind and an open hart, because what you see is rarely ever what you get. 

Season Vining's writing style is confident, rhythmic and completely sucks you in, setting a scene and portraying an atmosphere so clearly, you can taste it. The way she introduces her characters and weaves the context and background into the story is wonderful. It has an almost magical flavour to it. 

A sex and drug addicted ethereal beauty, a soft-hearted ex-thug alpha gone straight and a mutual connection to organized crime..... A fabulous debut novel of an author I will be sure to keep a close eye on!!!

✨A powerful, edgy and mesmerizing tale of karma.✨

**ARC provided by NetGalley and St. Martin's Press in return for an honest review.**