Addicted for Now (Addicted #2) by Krista and Becca Ritchie

Addicted for Now (Addicted #2) by Krista and Becca Ritchie

Released November 2013

Spoiler Free Review by Krystal

"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."

If you have not read Ricochet, you should stop reading this review and go read that book first. Even though it is a companion novel, it needs to be read before this book.

With Lo back from Rehab, the struggles are still there, both he and Lily need to find their footing in their new sober relationship.. Even though Lo has been off of the booze for three months, he knows returning to the real world will be challenging. At the same time he knows he has to be strong for Lily as she struggles with her sex addiction.  For so long, they’ve isolated themselves in their own world, and lied to keep their addictions hidden. Slowly they’re both learning how to lean on their friends and family and not to slip back into their old habits. Lily spent three months with no sex, but with Lo back, sleeping next to her in bed, right in front of her all the time, its even harder to resist the need that drives her. It’s an uphill battle for both of them to stay healthy and when an outside force threatens them, it makes staying sober nearly impossible.

Throughout the book we see Lily begin to heal. She realizes she loves Lo more than she loves sex and she has learned to restrain herself. She can touch and be touched by Lo without having the unbearable urge to have sex. They can hug and support each other. Lo can no longer numb his pain with alcohol, he has no trust fund, a new brother, to help Lily with her addictions and a tumultuous relationship with his Dad.

In the midst of coming home, there is immediate threat thru text messaging from an unknown source threatening to expose Lily's secret to the tabloids. And with it out, there are consequences... Lo and Lily are forced into an engagement, and a public apology. Finally Lo's father finds the person who has been threatening Lo and Lily and the one who has leaked all of the information to the media. I won't give a name, but you will be shocked!!

Addicted series is not the easiest read. Some parts are angsty and sad, others truly dangerous and nasty. Addiction, in whatever form, is never pretty. And in this series it shows its very ugly side. It was so heartbreaking to see to what lengths would some people go to support their addictions. And I’m not sure if it is masochist in me talking, but this intense angst was exactly what made these books so special for me and what distinguish them from all others NA novels out there.

But don’t worry, this series is not only full of despair. It is also about power of true love, about strength of family ties and friendships. It is story about learning to accept help and about learning to love yourself even with all your flaws.

I fucking love Loren Hale. His commitment to Lily was unwavering and I loved how he shouldered not only his addiction but hers as well. At first he kind of presented himself as this cocky asshole, rich boy but there’s so much more to him than that. He’s filled with so much self-doubt and feels like all he does is ruins peoples lives. It broke my heart to see how he saw himself. I loved how protective he was over Lily and how he would do literally anything for her. I could feel how much he still struggled with his alcoholism but how much he wanted to be better for her. Even though he had his moments of weakness, he really remained a rock for Lily and made sure their relationship survived everything they were going through. And I could just feel how deeply he loved her and wanted to be there for her.

I fell in love not only with Lily and Lo, but also with all side characters who made me laugh a lot and helped to balance this tale so it wouldn’t turn into completely depressive read.

“Sometimes the person we think we’ll become is the person we already are, and the person we truly become is the person we least expect.”

I have completely fallen in love with this series because of how unconventional it is. One of the things I love most about these books is how real they feel. Nothing about Lily and Lo’s addictions has been easy and we’ve seen every painful moment they’ve been through. The story really centers around Lily and Lo and their daily struggles and this is more than enough to drive the story forward.

Heartbreaking and soul-crashing but simultaneously beautiful and entertaining modern family drama. Lily & Lo’s story touched my heart. They may be flawed but oh so very real and dear to me. These messed up (but unique) characters became special to me and this series will stay with me forever. I highly recommend Addicted series to those who are looking for intense and memorable NA novels.

Purchase: Amazon ($2.99)