Beautiful Addictions
by Season Vining
Release: January 28, 2014
When Josie disappeared years ago, she took a piece of Tristan with her. She’s the girl he thought he lost forever—the one he’s never been able to forget. Now a twist of fate has brought them back together, and he never wants to let her out of his inked arms again. But Tristan is haunted by a dark past of his own. On the run from ruthless criminals that shattered Josie’s world years ago, reentering her life puts them both in danger.
As Josie and Tristan’s lives become tangled once again, they find themselves unwilling and unable to escape the relentless pull that draws them together. But will the past leave their love in ruins—or bind them together for a lifetime?
As Josie and Tristan’s lives become tangled once again, they find themselves unwilling and unable to escape the relentless pull that draws them together. But will the past leave their love in ruins—or bind them together for a lifetime?
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.**
Josie craved his touch and she couldn’t understand why they hadn’t had sex yet, or any form of it. She wanted it; her fingers ached to touch him in places she’d only yet imagined. It was obvious that Tristan felt the same way, so she failed to make sense of his need to take things slow. She longed to feel his sweat slicked skin against hers and inhale the scent of their bodies combined. Not ready to admit any kind of emotional connection, she desperately needed a physical one. It was the only thing she was comfortable with.
She found it curious that her dependency seemed to be shifting. No longer did she need meaningless sex or drugs to numb her. Josie only wanted to submerge herself in Tristan, to soak up everything he offered. He was her new addiction.
Tristan was in a constant state of arousal in Josie’s company. Never able to completely relax, his muscles remained tense and rigid with yearning. If it had been any other girl, he would have taken her already, hard and fast, several times. But he knew that Josie used sex to avoid attachment. He didn’t want to be just another mark on her therapeutically notched bedpost. To him, Josie was something new, yet familiar, something he wanted to cherish. He felt like two ancient souls, separated for a lifetime, had suddenly been reunited.
Unable to contain the sexual tension clawing at her skin, Josie slid her notebook from her lap and straddled Tristan. He gave her his lopsided grin as his long fingers wrapped around her waist. Josie smiled triumphantly, thinking that she’d already won.
“What are you up to?” he asked, dipping his head so that his lips pressed ever so softly to her shoulder.
“I need to feel you Tristan. Just touch me.” The sound of Josie’s words echoed around the quiet room. “I want you.”
Those three little words left him breathless. Such a brazen statement from Josie sent his willpower into a faltering tailspin. He hummed in agreement, sliding his kisses down to her neck.
Josie ran her nails along Tristan’s scalp, making his eyes close in contentment. The feel of her hot body pressing down on him caused momentary insanity, totally emptying his brain of rational thought. He wanted her more than anything he’d ever wanted before. Not here, not now. There was so much more to say.
“Can I take you out?” Tristan asked, suddenly moving his hands back down to her waist and resuming a neutral position.
“Out of the apartment?”
“Out on a date,” he clarified.
“A date?” Josie asked, her frightened voice making the words sound foreign.
"You know, an appointment for a particular time, especially with a person to whom one is sexually or romantically attached."
"Are we attached?" she asked, not really knowing what she wanted the answer to be.
"More than you know," he answered.
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Read the book and totally agree w. your review. This is so fresh and amazing! People def need to go out get their hands on it!
ReplyDeleteYAY! So glad with your feedback, I hope the book gets the credit it deserves!!!
DeleteBeautiful review and post! Thank you so much for participating in the release blitz! <3
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!!
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