Beautiful Addictions
by Season Vining
Release: January 28, 2014
Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Synopsis
Josie Banks is a girl without a past. After being found unconscious with no memory,
she was shuffled in and out of foster homes where she suffered years of abuse.
An experience that left her broken, damaged, and clinging to drugs and
meaningless hook-ups to numb her pain.
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?
The story is
fresh and original. It’s a story of love
and just how broken and beautifully addictive it can be.
Josie loses
her mother at fourteen and her father shortly after. After the tragic loss of her father, Josie suffers
from amnesia and can’t remember anything prior to the tragic event. With no family, Josie is put into the foster
care system and shipped across the country.
Now an adult, Josie is closed off, mistrusting, and damaged after years
spent neglected by the system. To cope,
Josie floats through her days engaging in random meaningless sex, drugs, and
tagging.
Tristan lost
his best friend and true love, Josie, at fourteen. He’s never gotten over her. Tristan ends up making less than stellar life
choices which have him falling into a less than savory career that he is now determined
to leave.
Years later,
Tristan and Josie lives intersect once again and their pasts are more intertwined
than they could ever imagine. Tristan is
determined to hold on to the love he lost years ago, but Josie isn’t the same
person. The person she was is lost somewhere
in her amnesia. She’s convinced that Tristan
could never love the person she has become.
But, neither are the same kids they were at fourteen….
This is one
of those books where the blurb can never convey just how amazingly wonderful
the story is inside. Sometimes I don’t
want a book with super hot sex scenes, I just need a book with a GREAT
story. Beautiful Addictions is THAT
book!! This was absolutely
incredible. I don’t generally pick up NA
books. But, Beautiful Additions is the
exception to my rule. The characters may
be NA but the writing and story sure as hell are not.
It’s hard to
fathom that his is a debut novel. The
level of writing is absolutely positively brilliant and utterly
intelligent. Season Vining has some
wicked mad writing skills. I swear I
feel smart just having read this. The
characters are so intelligent and mature for having just crossed the
20-something line not long ago.
4.5 STARS!!!
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.
Season Vining is the author of Beautiful Addictions, a New Adult Romantic Suspense novel from St. Martin’s Griffin. She received her three-book deal and agent representation as a result of attending the 2013 Jambalaya Writers’ Conference. She first gained attention for the book in Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Award in which the story was a Quarterfinalist. Season is a graphic designer by trade and adores all form of art. She’s a fan of live music, vintage cars, and people who know the difference between their, there, and they’re.
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