The Addicted Series by Krista & Becca Ritchie-reviews

ADDICTED TO YOU
(Addicted #1)
by Krista & Becca Ritchie
Genre: New Adult, contemporary, romance

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 22, 2013

She’s addicted to sex. He’s addicted to booze…the only way out is rock bottom.

No one would suspect shy Lily Calloway’s biggest secret. While everyone is dancing at college bars, Lily stays in the bathroom. To get laid. Her compulsion leads her to one-night stands, steamy hookups and events she shamefully regrets. The only person who knows her secret happens to have one of his own.

Loren Hale’s best friend is his bottle of bourbon. Lily comes at a close second. For three years, they’ve pretended to be in a real relationship, hiding their addictions from their families. They’ve mastered the art of concealing flasks and random guys that filter in and out of their apartment.

But as they sink beneath the weight of their addictions, they cling harder to their destructive relationship and wonder if a life together, for real, is better than a lie. Strangers and family begin to infiltrate their guarded lives, and with new challenges, they realize they may not just be addicted to alcohol and sex.

Their real vice may be each other.

REVIEW: ADDICTED TO YOU is the first storyline in Krista Ritchie’s contemporary, new adult series focusing on two twenty year old Ivy League college students who enable one another’s addictions. Lily Calloway is addicted to sex and Loren (Lo) Hale is addicted to alcohol. ADDICTED TO YOU is the beginning of their story; one that follows Lily and Lo as they give in to the demands of their bodies and one another.

The premise follows Lily as she continuously places herself in danger for the next sexual fix. Nothing and no one is off limits including internet porn, gigolos and the nameless, faceless strangers she seduces every night. As Lo tries to help Lily with her addiction he is pulled deeper into the bottle until both of their situations affect not only their own lives but those of friends and family.

The family backgrounds play a significant role in the storyline. All of the major characters are from wealthy, uber rich and ultimately controlling families. There is no question that money breeds strange bedfellows and in this there appears to have been quite a bit of bed hopping from one generation to the next. As the heirs apparent to their family businesses, our class of wonder children makes you cringe at the possibility about the who and what running the Fortune 500 companies and controlling world powers.

Sex addiction is primarily a disorder that affects men but there are cases of women who cannot control their compulsions and impulses-yes sexual addiction is considered an OCD. In many ways, there is a double standard, as it addresses sexual addiction-men are alpha and horny; women are sluts and whores. And like most addictions, there is always a secondary psychological problem in play that pushes the addict into risky situations. Krista Ritchie has apparently done some homework with the issues of sex and alcoholism, for our couple is endowed with most of the side effects (public and private) including enabling one another with their demons.

This is not an easy story to read; you can’t help but sit in judgment against a young woman who thinks only of herself and her next orgasm. There are very few redeeming qualities in our couple but when the truth is finally revealed, help will come from the most unexpected revelations.

Krista & Becca Ritchie has written an introductory storyline that is gritty, raw and abrasive. There is no overt sexual situations-most are implied or recalled. But in the end, ADDICTED TO YOU will make you question the reality of the world in which you live-because you really do not know anything about the people next door or of those you meet.

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RICOCHET
(Addicted 1.5 novella)
by Krista & Becca Ritchie
Genre: New Adult, contemporary, romance

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 2013

As a sex addict, Lily Calloway must do the impossible. Stay celibate for 90 days.

Cravings and fantasies become her new routine, but while Loren Hale recovers from his alcohol addiction, Lily wonders if he’ll realize what a monster she really is. After all, her sexual compulsions begin to rule her life the longer she stays faithful to him.

Progress. That’s what Lily’s striving for. But by trying to become closer to her family—people who aren’t aware of her addiction—she creates larger obstacles. When she spends time with her youngest sister, she learns more about her than she ever imagined and senses an unsettling connection between Daisy and Ryke Meadows.

With Lily and Lo’s dysfunctional relationship teetering and unbalanced, they will need to find a way to reconnect from miles apart. But the inability to “touch” proves to be one of the hardest tests on their road to recovery. Some love brushes the surface. Some love is deeper than skin.

Lily and Lo have three months to discover just how deep their love really goes.

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Companion to the Sequel: A full-length New Adult Romance that continues where Addicted to You left off. As a companion novel, it bridges the gap between the first and second book. It is highly recommended to be read before Addicted for Now.

REVIEW: RICOCHET is the second instalment (novella) in Krista Ritchie’s contemporary, new adult Addicted series. The storylines takes place immediately follow the end of Addicted to You (Book 1) and ends just prior to the start of Addicted for Now (Book 2).

Krista & Becca Ritchie takes the reader into the mind of a sex addicted young woman as she endeavors to overcome some of her greatest fears and obsession with sex and getting off. This is a story about how one woman strives to keep the obsession from ruining her life only to discover that the compulsion is too strong. Lily struggles to keep a promise to herself and to the man that she loves. Recovery from addiction is hard but even harder when the drug that you crave is so close at hand.

RICOCHET is a novella that fills in some of the blanks of Lily and Lo’s prior history. We discover that the attraction to one another begins at an early age and so too, perhaps, the obsession and addictive tendencies that control their daily lives. We watch as Lily re-connects with her sisters and grows closer to the people who will be there through the times ahead.

Again, this will be a difficult storyline for many readers. There is no graphic sex only implied, but the actions of Lily Calloway will make you think about the reality of life for people who suffer with a similar addiction.

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ADDICTED FOR NOW
(Addicted Series #2)
by Krista & Becca Ritchie
Genre: New Adult, contemporary, romance

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 30, 2013

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

REVIEW: ADDICTED FOR NOW is the third instalment in Krista Ritchie’s new adult, contemporary Addicted series focusing on two young twenty something adults with some dark and dangerous addictions. In this particular storyline Loren (Lo) is a recovering alcoholic and Lily is in treatment for sex addiction. The Addicted Series pulls the reader into the ugly world of addiction and the resulting damage and destruction that comes with the inability to stop or just say no.

The storyline focuses on Lily and Loren’s recovery. Lo has just returned from a three month stint in rehab where he has had no access to Lily-his best friend and partner. Lily’s ongoing treatment for sex addiction will play a major role in Loren’s recovery especially when he realizes the how and why of Lily’s deep seated need for sex. This is a couple who have enabled each other for years and their recovery and subsequent survival will depend on the support of family, friends and each other. But like all dark stories, someone wants Lily and Lo to fail. As Loren and their group of friends begin to search for the person or people responsible, Lily begins to slide into her old habits when the threats come from an unlikely source.

ADDICTED FOR NOW and the Addicted Series are a gritty, no nonsense storyline about addiction and recovery. In this particular series Krista Ritchie address sex addiction and holds nothing back when a young woman places herself in danger at every opportunity with her need and addiction to sex. The storyline is told from alternating first person POVs –Lily and Lo- and makes no apologies for the dark side of addiction and pain.

Reviews by Sandy