Book Review: Addicted for Now by Krista & Rebecca Ritchie

This was originally a series I decided not to tackle on this blog as it's definitely for adults, and nowhere near my usual young adult genre. So I recently posted my review of Addicted to You, the first book in the series, on another blog I contribute to (The Writer Diaries). You can check it out here. But then I realized that most of my followers are over the age of 18, so I decided it would be okay to review the third book on here with the understanding that THIS BOOK IS FOR MATURE ADULTS ONLY. And if you haven't yet read the first book in this series, you're going to want to wait to read the review of this book until after you've finished it, because there are MILD SPOILERS AHEAD. Okay, now that I've cleared that up, (*takes giant breath*) here we go.


Addicted to You (book #1) is the story of childhood friends Lo and Lily who fake a relationship together in an attempt to hide two very big secrets from their families—he's an alcoholic, and she's a sex addict (aaaaand cue mature part). At the end of that book they decide they're in love, and promise to give their addictions up for each other. I'm not going to lie, their journey is a big ugly mess that at times is extremely painful to witness (except of course when they're having hot, wild sex). There's a book #1.5 (Ricochet) in which Lo goes to rehab while Lily struggles to stay celibate, but I'm here to review the next book in the series in which Lo finally returns home.

First of all, whoa. Immediately after setting down Addicted for Now, I decided I needed a drink. Then I realized that would just be disrespectful to Lo. The first book was pretty intense as we watched the two main characters spiral downward with their addictions, but this one was just CRAZY. Hanging out with these two as they try to fight off their cravings was beyond intense. At times I felt like my stomach was being crammed down my throat.

I continued to feel for Lily as I have from the beginning. Yes, she's spoiled, and selfish, and a total introvert, but she hasn't exactly been treated fairly by her family (a fact that comes to light by the end of the story). And her love for Lo is so sweet, I've continued to cheer for their relationship through all the ugly messes they've endured. I even wanted Lo (also a spoiled brat who can be a total prick to people who are trying to help him) to come out of this with his head held high, and his addition beat. You can't help but love him when at times his sole purpose in staying sober is to make Lily happy.

It's bad enough that they're fighting their personal demons, but suddenly there's an anonymous outsider who contacts them, threatening to spill Lily's secret to her family and the press (both Lily and Lo's parents own multi-million dollar companies). So logically, they take a spring break trip to Mexico with their siblings that turns out to be the ultimate test for two people trying to fight off their dark addictions. And when Lily's fifteen-year-old sister (who kind of has a thing for Lo's way older brother) shows up, all hell begins to break loose. There are so many "oh crap" moments for Lily and Lo that I kept waiting for them to break. Or even break up.

When it was all said and done, I honestly felt like I could sympathize with Lily and Lo's support group—Rose (Lily's neurotic but strong older sister), Connor (Rose's genius level on-again-off-again boyfriend), and Ryke (the sometimes jerky brother Lo didn't know he had until the end of book #1). Not only did they all stay faithfully by Lily and Lo's sides, but they had their own crap to deal with.

There were so many sub-plots to this story, my head almost literally spun. Towards the end it got a bit long, and I could've done without the added story of Rose and her friend Sebastian, as I didn't feel like it added anything of value to Lily and Lo's journey. But otherwise, I loved the complexity of everyone's lives, and the twisted web Lily and Lo kept falling into. At times I seriously forgot I was actually reading a story, and not witnessing first hand as these two tried to hold it together.

While it seems a bit odd to give this kind of story a rating of zombies, I'm doing it anyway. Because it's my blog and I can do whatever I want. And I kind of feel exhausted after reading about Lily and Lo's journey. I give Addicted for Now five wandering zombies, because the story is hot, and gut-wrenching, and tragic, and beautiful, and one hell of a ride that I'm glad I went on.

A big thank you to (twin sisters) Krista Ritchie and Rebecca Ritchie for giving me this ARC—I'm so glad I got the chance to review such an amazing book! Keep an eye out on my blog for a special guest post by them, coming soon as part of their release party!

Krista & Becca Ritchie write New Adult books that make you cringe, gasp, and go ooh-la-la. (If you do that sort of thing.) They are currently working on the spin-offs and final books in the Addicted series. Connect with them on their website, and find the first two books of this series on Amazon. Don't forget to share the love—review their books on Goodreads!