Addicted to You

Oh.My.God. This was a freaking rollercoaster.

She's addicted to sex and he's addicted to alcohol. I know, I know, you're thinking "that sounds like lots of spice and grafic scenes whitout plot" but you're wrong. In fact, there's no grafic scenes and almost all the spice is fade to black.

I'm not going to lie, I struggled a lot with this book. It wasn't easy to read about Lo(mmc) and Lily( fmc).

The first half half or so was straight away uncomfortable and with lots of red flaggs. The way Lily objectifies people, the way she thinks sometimes, how Lo abusses alcohol, like, passed out on your vomit levels. The way they lied for each other, turning blind eyes on their problems and even supporting their addictions to each other, that was a show more toxic relationship with capital letters.

But then, Connor and Ryke entered the picture and all changed.

I liked how the authors didn't sugarcoat anything, they gave us all the ugly, uncomfortable details to understand what a big of a problem that is. They didn't lie to the readers with the typical "love solves all the problems", that's not true. Lily and Lo's struggles at the end were real, raw, described in such a way that it was heartbreaking. I'm adding a star to to the rating just for that.

I feel like this book is just the introduction to Lily and Lo's lives and I can't wait for more. show less

Review - https://booksteacupreviews.com/2024/05/10/addicted-to-you-addicted-1-by-krista-r...

I decided to download Addicted to You after receiving the latest installment in the series from the publisher. Thankfully, I had access to Kindle Unlimited to start from the beginning, as it became apparent that the series revolves around the journeys of addicted couples.

I initially hesitated before diving in, and it turns out my reservations were justified. Addicted to You wasn’t an easy one to digest, filled with characters consumed by their own selfishness and addiction, seemingly oblivious to anyone else’s needs. Yet, the more I delved into their story, the more I started to like it.

The authors’ writing held my interest through the show more first half of the book. While the plot itself is straightforward, centering around the characters’ addiction, it’s the complexity of the characters themselves that adds depth to the narrative.

Addicted to You is a character-driven story, narrated from Lily’s perspective. Lily, the daughter of a Fizzle tycoon, and Loren, the son of the biggest baby product company, have known each other since their childhood even their biggest secret that they kept from their family, their addiction.

Lily is sex addict and Loren is alcoholic and they are attached to their addiction to the point they cannot live without it. To shield their secrets from their families, they’ve fabricated a fake relationship, successfully evading familial scrutiny for three years. However, when Lily’s family orchestrates a surprise trip, their charade is threatened to be exposed, compelling them to try real relationship.

Forced into a genuine relationship, they find themselves teetering on the edge of co-dependency, their fates irrevocably intertwined. Success now hinges on their ability to prioritize their love for each other over their respective addictions.

Their journey is complicated and filled with challenges. They know they must take risk to gain the one thing they truly desire: each other. Witnessing their struggle to break free from the grips of addiction and nurture a genuine connection is a compelling journey indeed.

I enjoyed introduction of both Lily and Loren’s family in first half. Lily have 3 sisters but it’s Rose (second sister) who plays important role in this story. They didn’t have friends until second half and I enjoyed meeting Ryke and Connor. while Lily’s family were precursor to change in Lily and Loren’s destructive system, Ryke and Connor were technically the catalyst who pushed Loren and Lily to better path.

I get why they would want hide their addiction from their families. It’s natural after see how Loren’s father was, how clingy and opinionated Lily’s family was but with each other they at least should be plain without all these complicated layers, but they find themselves entangled in a web of lies and dependencies, making their mutual understanding and system they created all the more challenging.

Lily’s sex addiction is hard to understand and yes, I could see not everyone can get that and why she would have preferred to keep it hidden. The emptiness she feels, and her attempt to fill it with sexual encounters, hints at deeper emotional wounds and unmet needs.

But when Rose finally got to know about her addiction near the end, we discover there was no experiences of neglect or emotional trauma. It made me more uncertain about her addiction as one don’t get addicted just like that so I hope that will be explored more in next books.

I didn’t like her reactions and actions before they started relationship. I hated how she reacted to Lo bringing girl home who stayed for weekend which made her spiral into mind numbing sex and then feeling better when Lo tells her he ditched that girl. I mean what right did she have!

I also didn’t get why she made that rule of not sleeping with Lo after that one time when they’re 15. When Loren finally tried to make things better, I didn’t like how whiny and immature she was acting.

I could understand her hesitation to pursue anything further with Loren. Despite his obvious love and care for her, it was clear that his first love had always been alcohol. I wouldn’t trust him to prioritize anyone over his addiction, and her doubts about their uncertain future were justified.

I could understand her hesitation to pursue anything further with Loren. Despite his obvious love and care for her, it was clear that his first love had always been alcohol. I wouldn’t trust him to prioritize anyone over his addiction, and her doubts about their uncertain future were justified. However, I also couldn’t see her excelling at anything other than sex, which added to the complexity of their situation.

Loren’s challenges are somewhat clearer due to his difficult relationship with his father. I didn’t like his overbearing father from the beginning. The expectation he set and the pressure he put in his life made him feel unworthy and failure. This toxic environment drove Loren towards alcohol as a coping mechanism from a young age.

What was revealed about his father in the climax makes me sad for Loren. No one deserves to be treated like this, to live life like this. It was great to see Ryke coming in Loren’s life, offering support and guidance to help him overcome his addiction and rise above the destructive patterns ingrained by his upbringing.

I somewhat figured why Ryke was suddenly interested in Loren’s life and the hint just before climax was enough to cement my theory but it still surprised me to know about his real identity as it revealed so much about Loren’s father and all the lies he feed Loren.

I admire Loren for his decision in the end. I agree with Rose, he did the most heroic thing in his life and it wasn’t about saving someone else but saving himself.

I admire how the authors approached the narrative with a focus on the internal struggles and emotional complexities rather than relying on explicit scenes. Even though Addicted to You is centered around sex addiction, the story delves deep into the characters’ struggles, portraying a relationship that is far from a traditional happy romance. Their dynamic is marked by a high level of codependency, fraught with angst and behavior driven by addiction. Yet, amidst the turmoil, there’s something profoundly stirring about their journey.

It was all so realistic, raw and intense that drew me in, and despite their flaws, I found myself rooting for both characters. I’m eager to read the rest of the books in the series, hoping to witness their growth beyond their selfishness and addiction. I want to see them not only succeed in their relationship with each other but also find healing and reconciliation with their family and friends.

Overall, Addicted to You is an emotional, raw and realistic new adult contemporary romance that have authentic portrayal of struggle with addiction. show less

*eARC received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Addicted to you is the beginning of Lo and Lily's story. Both are from affluent families and while they use their families money, they would rather not be part of their families. This isn't a story of two spoiled rich kids who party all the time and then go home and pretend that nothing happened.

Lo and Lily are both in college and while they do "party" it's not what you would think. Lo has a drinking problem that he has had since he was a teen and Lily is addicted to sex. I know, you're thinking "addicted to sex? How can a girl be addicted to sex?" It was my first thought too, but trust me, it is possible and it happens more than you think.
lo and Lily have been pretending show more to be in a relationship to help cover their addictions from their parents. Lo is an only child who was raised by an alcoholic father that was at times abusive, or so I gathered. lily is one of 4 girls, who were all named for flowers and while Lily isn't the youngest, she is treated almost with kid gloves by her family. Both Lily and Lo dodge their families as much as possible during the book and while they claim to have friends they really don't.
Lily has a hard time throughout most of the book trying to figure out if Lo actually has feelings for her or if he is just really good at pretending. We don't get to see things from Lo's pov so we don't really know until everything comes to a head between the two and Lo confesses that it annoys him that even though Lily needs to have sex and he's right there she won't ask him.
Lily and Lo decide to give having a monogamous relationship a try and while things seem to be going good at first things quickly change. Lo seems to be drinking more and while Lily doesn't cheat, it seems that she has more fantasies of other men and that she ends up freaking out and pushing herself until she gets "withdraw" symptoms.
We are introduced to two new people in Lo and Lily's life Connor and Ryke, I'm not sure what Connor's role in the story is, besides getting close to the couple and introducing Ryke in a way. But Ryke's involvement is a major one and while I would love to share I think this is one you will want to figure out for yourself. The ending had me in tears and i can't wait to get my hands on the next books!

He opens his mouth, and I think he's going to let me off the hook. He's going to tell me that i can cheat on him and get a free pass. instead, tears flow and he says, "Wait for me." The words come out choked and pained. "I need you to wait for me." show less

I have seen this series on Reading Is My Breathing blog a lot and I Lucia’s reviews and she loves this series way too much. I finally got the free kindle book of this book and…wow…

“We’re in a three year long fake relationship. We live together. He’s heard me orgasm from one room over. I’ve seen him sleep in his own puke. And even though our parents believe we’re one small step from engagement, we’ll never have sex again.”

Lily and Lo have kept their secrets hidden from everybody, especially their wealthy family in order to keep their trust funds. They pretended they were a couple in public, but in the privacy of their house, the secrets would come to light. How long will it be until their secrets are no longer secrets show more and everyone knows about their addiction?

She’s addicted to sex.

I had no idea what to expect of this book…none. I have heard that sex is an addiction but it never occurred to me how bad it can get and this book delves into the story of a sex addict and the consequences it can have. I was surprised by all of it. The story was definitely interesting…very interesting and in a good way. Lily Calloway is definitely something else from the girl main characters I am used to. She needed sex, she needed to masturbate, she craved all of it. Diving deep into Lily’s head was at times a bit much for me. I liked Lily’s character but at the same time, I didn’t really like her. I was in between and I couldn’t decide. I couldn’t figure out why I didn’t like her but I did. View Spoiler »

He’s addicted to booze.

Loren Hale is the son of a very wealthy man who basically inhales alcohol. Lo followed his father’s footsteps since he was a teen and alcohol became his coping mechanism from being called a failure by his father. I love Lo’s character a lot. Even though he would make poor choices, he was entertaining to read about. I fell in love with his character and wanted more of him (which I got in Addicted For Now). He is very troubled, which made me love him even more.

The only way out is rock bottom.

They have been hiding their secrets for long that they have no one to turn to other than themselves. When things start getting out of hand, they need to deal with it without help and it’s taking a toll on both Lily and Lo.

I was so frustrated with the story because I wasn’t expecting this story to be so realistic and it really messed with my head at times because of the intensity but it was really good. I got this first book for free and halfway through it, I 1-clicked Ricochet and Addicted For Now. This book is very messed up but because it is messed up, I love it. Gen, how can you love such a messed up story? Well, because this it is realistic, like I mentioned above. It is so real and so raw. Lily and Lo’s story can be found today in our world, more than one would think. This book showed me a side of sex addiction that I didn’t even know existed. The characters have so many flaws and that’s what make them unique characters because they feel real. I recommend this series to everyone that is looking for a mature New Adult Romance story that is real and will help you understand more about two addictions that are very common in society. show less

Full Review on NetGalley

I really enjoyed this.
This is a deeply flawed couple who’s behaviour I really should find abhorrent but this is clever writing and I found myself sympathising strongly with them, even wanting them to succeed in their deception.
I was hooked by their story.

The story ends, not on a cliffhanger, but with so much left to tell and thankfully the next books are out already so I won’t have long to wait.

This isn’t a romance book, this isn’t erotica, this book is about addiction. In short: an interesting and twisted story about Lily and Loren who are in a fake relationship with one another to help cover the tracks of their addictions. Lily’s addiction is sex and Lo’s addiction is alcohol but for their parents they are just a happy couple, together for 3 years. Both are however heading down a destructive path. They are literally owned by their addiction and it becomes painfully obvious that they love each other but they love their addiction even more. They try but it’s hard because in the end they enable each other’s addiction. And how can you ask someone to stop their addiction without withdrawing completely yourself. An show more intriguing and emotional story about their addictions that kept me willing to read on. show less

My Rating 4.46 out of 5 Stars
Wow! That's my first initial reaction after reading this book. At first I thought it was just a typical romance/erotica book, and don't get me wrong, I enjoy those just fine. However, this book is so much more than that. It shows you what its like in the life of a sex addict, and I for one knew it was an addiction, but until this book it never really occurred to me how serious and destructive such an addiction can be. I think this book will open the eyes of many who read it. It will also show the same with alcohol which is also a serious addiction but more well known.
While addictions are bad Lily's and Lo's are made worse by each other. Both covering for and enabling the others addiction. It was obvious to show more me right from the start. As a previous smoker, this was the only addiction I have ever had to deal with and so my only point of reference. I found I needed it just to fully understand why they couldn't see it. While this book is marked as romance I think the main focus of this book really was the addictions. This book was an emotional ride. It had me in tears for at least the last three chapters. I will be continuing this series.
My rating system:
initial feeling= 4.75
writing= 4
story= 4
originality= 4
unpredictability= 4.5
ending= 5
interest= 5 show less