Brennan Clayton lived a life of privilege and comfort, until experimenting with drugs in college led to him quitting school to live the life of an addict. His days are spent doing odd jobs for cash to pay for his habit. One night, he overdoses and nearly dies.
Doctor Lucas Martel works nightshift in the emergency room at Eureka Hospital. He’s reclusive and brilliant at his job, and he’s all too … too aware that not everything in Eureka is as it seems. He’s also a vampire, one who chooses to blend in with humans rather than feed on them.
Something strange is happening to the homeless and addicts on the streets of Eureka; many have gone missing or ended up dead, and others have overdosed on drugs so strong, no human cure can counteract them. Not normally concerned with human tragedies, the vampires can’t stand back and let this play out, or they risk exposing their world to the humans.
Brennan must face his demons, and Lucas will discover many things about himself, and what he believes to be true: a seedy underground of rogue vampires and drugs that must be stopped, at any cost.
*Warning: contains references to drug use and abuse.
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Writer BL Maxwell’s epic ability to mix the scary with the lovable, the super hot with the absolutely adorable has had me going around in circles for the past four months. ‘Burning Addiction’ is an exceptional example of the author’s adeptness in this unique blending of literary elements with the pacing that keeps the narrative rolling right along. In the story, we encounter Dr. Lucas Martel who races to help Brennan Clayton, a patient who has overdosed on heroin. But the Narcan, a drug used to counteract the heroin, had to be used at double the dose causing the patient convulsive seizures. But this isn’t the first patient that’s had this experience and many have died recently when the double dose of Narcan forms a lethal cocktail in the bloodstream of addicts. Brennan was one of the lucky ones to survive so he leaves the hospital only to find himself getting high yet again.
Brennan is fortunate enough to still have a friend in the world who cares whether he has a safe place to sleep and food to eat. In spite of his heroin addiction, Brennan works a job on a fishing boat to pay for his drugs. He also gives some money to his friend towards the rent and respects his friend enough to take his drug use off to a dark park at night. Unfortunately, Brennan finds himself in the hospital again with another overdose and a very concerned Dr. Martel who felt drawn toward Brennan the first time he came into the hospital. Intuiting tampering with the drugs by others who, like him, are vampires, Dr. Martel endeavors to look after Brennan though Brennan seems indifferent to life.
Good friend Ben shows up at Lucas’s home and tells him about a mission he’s on for The Twelve of the Consortium of Blood, the agency that governs the behavior of vampires, especially any that will call attention to vampires in the world. It seems that there’s widespread consumption of blood from humans drugged with an altered form of heroin going on among vampires. It contributing to fatal overdoses and the disappearances of many homeless addicts in other major cities, as well. Lucas becomes concerned for Brennan’s safety and makes several attempts to interact with him personally. When Brennan is physically attacked, Lucas interrupts the assailant then takes Brennan home where the intimacy between them develops.
Lucas and Ben find Brennan drained of blood and nearly dead when the assailant finally manages to abduct him. Lucas turns him into a vampire to avoid losing him altogether. With the change, Brennan is finally free of his addiction to heroin and though life is different for him, he is grateful and ready to submit to the mating bite, which will link the two permanently.
The perpetrator of the blood drugging scheme turned out to be someone from Lucas’s long ago who faces the full censure of the Consortium and is subsequently destroyed. Lucas and Brennan decide to leave the area to begin their lives together someplace new. This book tied me neatly in knots. I sew and design for three incredible drag queens that sat quietly for this audiobook, loving every second of it as I did! BL Maxwell’s take on addiction is a true one! Brennan does legitimate work to earn the money for his heroin. Believe it or not, such addicts do exist! I took an addiction counseling program to supplement my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, even went so far as taking the graduate courses required for licensure.
There ARE addicts that exist who wouldn’t dream of hurting another living soul. They don’t lie, steal, cheat, or kill! They are simply caught up in the personal escape drugs offer. And more often than not, they do more harm to themselves than they’d ever do to anyone else. There are those addicts kind and gentle enough that they manage to have a few friends and can attract one or more persons who are invested in them beating their addiction. The writer communicates this effectively in her story!
I love that the author wrote a story of addiction that did not get too overly dark and depressing, those aspects of the story are truly scary. Vampires running at speeds the human eye can’t track. Drugs designed to get a human high enough that their blood is a drug for vampires? My goodness! She brilliantly takes the reader right to the edge of death and total despair before the story resolves beautifully in a happily ever after for addict Brennan Clayton. Combining this wonderful story with the unique reading talents of narrator Allan Jeffries, this audiobook is a special treat for those who love their horror with an infusion of the definitely lovely.
Hot doctor and a drug user!
Wow, I was not expecting this book to be so encapsulating. Not having read the blurb, I went straight in and listened. The narrator was excellent. Very clear and easy to listen to.
We meet Brennan, a drug user, just before he ends up in hospital with an overdose of street drugs.
Lucas was his doctor and felt drawn towards Brennan as soon as he saw him lying on the hospital bed.
This story takes us through a journey from hunting drug dealers to helping an addict. Vampires and the seedy underworld loved this book, well written and thoroughly enjoyable.
Excellent narration from Allen Jeffries. Very clear and easy to listen to. Although, like usual, I sped up the audio, and I listened at 1.40 speed on audible, but I do prefer all my audios to be a little quicker.
Burning Addiction
By: BL Maxwell
Narrated by: Allen Jeffries
Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins
Overall
Narration
Story
Read at 1.40 speed on Audible
BL Maxwell has done it again! Another awesome book you won’t want to miss! Grab it now!
Brennan should have been, for all accounts, just one of fleeting, never to be seen again, many addicts that passed through the ER of the hospital where Lucas worked. But he stopped being just a part of the crowd when the vampire doctor saw him. That’s what I enjoyed most about this book, the way BL Maxwell made Brennan special through Lucas’s eyes. He became someone worth attention and affection, someone valuable. Not only that, he started to see himself beyond the addiction, to acknowledge his self worth again.
I liked how the development of the relationship between Lucas and Brennan was weaven with the mystery of who’s been pushing a strange drug on the streets. It became even more imperative to find the culprit, once it was obvious that Brennan’s life was at stake. It turned the plot into an suspenseful hunt, with an unexpected outcome.
Burning Addiction offers an interesting new vampire populated world, one I hope I’ll see more of. I think Ben needs his story, too(hint to the author, lol).
Always together
Whenever I read a paranormal romance by BL Maxwell, I know it’s going to surprise and intrigue me. Burning Addiction didn’t disappoint. Its unexpected yet delightful and complex characters kept me reading late into the night. Brennan hasn’t had an easy life and his struggles hurt my heart. Lucas, who is extremely understanding and patient, is exactly what he needs in life, in more than one way. He’s the ultimate protector. I enjoyed watching these two fall for each other and the mystery along with its reveal caught me by surprise. I hope we see these characters again as someone needs their story told. A vampire love story that will leave you burning for more.
I loved this vampire story by BL Maxwell.
Burning Addictions starts out as a story of, well, addiction. Brennan has sort of given up on life as he has progressively abandoned every meaningful thing (school, family and friends) due to his drug addiction.
When he od’s and ends up in the hospital he meets Lucas, a vampire working as a night-shift ER doctor.
The two of them are inexplicably drawn to each other and together they try to understand what is happening with the city’s increasingly large and out of control drug population.
Action, fated mates and a protective vampire, what could you want more?