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. (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)
While I’ve read books before that focused on characters who were dealing with addictions, this is the first time I’ve read a book that focused on two characters who are both working through their own personal addictions, while trying to be a support for one another. What ended up happening is that there is a bit of codependency and enabling involved–where, Lily looks the other way when Lo drinks, or Lo allows Lily to bring random strangers home in order to satisfy her needs. It added another layer to this anything but conventional relationship.
There is a moment when Lily admits to Lo that while she’s entertained the idea of the two of them taking their relationship further, that she felt it would never happen because she feels she can never be good enough for him, that her past indiscretions have made her damaged goods. It’s the catalyst for so much within Addicted to You. Ultimately, because of their addictions, both Lily and Lo feel they aren’t good for each other, but yet neither of them want the other to find someone else. Lily doesn’t think she can be in a monogamous relationship, and Lo doesn’t believe anyone else can handle his addiction. It’s heavy and deep.
While there are a lot of steamy moments that couldn’t help but be appreciated, it was nice to see that there was more to the story than that. Both characters are working towards finding a way–to be better for one another, to potentially overcome their addictions, even if that means the addiction they have to one another, and to learn to better embrace who they are as people, despite the addictions. It was a unique and interesting story!
Thanks to Berkley for the book in exchange for an honest review.
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