Review: Kristen's Addiction - I became addicted :-)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 28, 2012
I was in the mood for a vampire story and this novella fit the bill perfectly. On her way home from dropping her car at the garage after her hospital shift, Kristen is attacked by a rogue vampire. Her life changes overnight.<< It started with a little extra horniness. Everything male on two legs looked good to me. Even Gus, my seventy-year old neighbour, seemed to be more charming and attractive. >>She starts feeling ill and in desperation, seeks medical attention.<< "Who bit me? Who did this to me?""Don't you know?" She gave me another pitying glance as she signed my release order. "You've been bitten by a vampire. There is no antidote - no cure. In order to survive now, you need another bite." >>She hasn't been turned into a vampire, but she needs one as her blood is now addicted. Through an anonymous hotline, she hooks up with random vampires across her city as a `donor'. They drink her blood, she gets her fix of venom and can cope for a few days more in her normal life. Then the night comes when she needs a fix - and the only available donor is the hot garage owner, Joe. She had no idea he was a vampire. He had no idea she was a donor.<< There was sympathy in his dark eyes but danger too. Like a starving carnivore suddenly faced with prey it knows it must not touch. "I'm sorry you're in a bad way but I can't do this with you. I know you." >>Unwilling for any kind of commitment, Joe makes a practice of only taking blood from strangers and is horrified at the prospect of becoming intimate with Kristen. He's been slowly falling in love with her for months - withouther having any idea - and now he feels guilty for what's happened to her.<< "I knew there was a rogue loose in the area," he admitted at last, his deep voice rumbling with some private pain. "Knew I ought to see you safely on that bus, but you seemed so damn sure of yourself. I thought you'd be okay." He looked at me. "I'm sorry." >>Kristen has had few boyfriends and feels that her generous curves make her unattractive. Joe seems to think differently.<< Joe carried me as if I weighed no more than a feather pillow, which was both surprising and gratifying. Once your dress size gets into the double digits those Gone with the Wind-moments tend to get fewer and farther between, at least in my personal experience. But he wasn't even breaking a sweat. >>She's confused. He treats her so well.<< "You all right?" His deep voice was reluctantly gentle, as if I were a stray kitten he'd found out in the rain and was taking care of even though he really didn't want a cat. >>It's a confusing relationship. She needs his venom, he needs her blood. But there seems to be more to it, including the best sex she's ever had. And then suddenly, she has the chance of a cure. If they can find the rogue that bit her, there's a slim chance - a one-off - that she can go back to her old life and live normally again. Only if she does, Joe won't ever see her again. He'll go back to using strangers for blood and sex.<< What we had shared was something so intimate I would never have even considered doing it with a man I didn't care deeply for. To find out that he didn't feel the same way hurt in a way I couldn't even describe. >>Kristen slowly learns that what you want is sometimes not so obvious.<< If this was a twelve-step program I would be all the way to step twelve by now - whatever that was. Hell, I could be in a venom anonymous group standing up right now saying, "Hello, my name is Kristen and I'm a venom addict but I'm four months clean." Four months miserable was more like it. >>There were so many bittersweet moments and so many more quotes I wanted to use, but instead, I would just encourage anyone to read this. It's a different slant on vampires, but a delicious one. 5 out of 5.