ADDICTED

Author: Charlotte Featherstone ISBN: 9780373605286 2/2009 HISTORICAL Publisher: SPICE
Time Period: Victorian, 1850

Friends since childhood, Anais Darnby and Lindsay Markham have long harbored a secret passion for one another. When they finally confess their love, their future together seems assured, sealed with their searing embrace. But when a debauched Lindsay is seduced by a scheming socialite, a devastated Anais seeks refuge in another man's bed while Lindsay retreats to the exotic East. There, he is seduced again—this time by the alluring red smoke and sinister beauty of opium. Back home, Lindsay's addiction is fed by the vogue for all things Oriental—especially its sensual pleasures—in fashionable London society. In his lucid moments, Lindsay still lusts after Anais, who can neither allow him near nor forget his smoldering touch. Tortured by two obsessions—opium and Anais—Lindsay must ultimately decide which is the one he truly cannot live without.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Charlotte Featherstone sets her erotic, historical romance ADDICTED in 1850s England, where Lindsay Markham has but three obsessions—Lady Anais Darnby, Arabian horses, and opium. He and Anais have been friends since childhood, where they witnessed his father’s perpetual state of drunkenness and her mother’s constant infidelities. When Lindsay went off to college, he refused to partake in drinking in order not to turn out like the pater. But his obsession with Anais was too deep; in order to alleviate his sexual needs, he reached out for his mistress—opium.

Like many who are addicted to one thing or another, Lindsay believes himself capable of walking away from it whenever he wants. When he was not under the influence, he took over running his family’s estate, making up for his father’s losses. With his life set, Lindsay prepares to propose to Anais by first, having a literal roll-in-the-hay with her in the stables. Unfortunately, on the night he intends to propose, her sneaky, gold-digger friend Rebecca, drugs Lindsay, to make it appear to Anais that he is not only high on the poppy, but also having an affair with her. Anais is appalled and runs to the arms of Lindsay’s best friend, Garrett, Lord Broughton. Anais’s pride gets the best of her, and day after day she refuses to see Lindsay. When she discovers she’s pregnant, she pretends to run off to France, but is, instead, hiding in a cottage on Broughton’s property. Lindsay hauls off to the continent to find her, and with that task’s end impossible, allows his friend, Lord Wallingford, to convince him to hie off to Morocco in search of opium and slave girls instead. Will Lindsay be able to kick the habit in time to catch Anais before Broughton marries her himself? Will Anais be able to confess her secret to Lindsay before it is too late?

Featherstone delves deeply into the life of addiction as she exposes Lindsay, his fears, his obsessions and his good qualities, as well. She shows the propensity for vice to run in families, and the attempts to beat one addiction with another are just some of the lies addicts live with. Anais is not without sin either. Her lies, deception, and obsession with Lindsay are nearly their undoing. Even as she tries to help him out of his morass, she only digs herself in deeper. Their love for each other truly is deep, but their sins and grief are almost too much to bear, and I found myself weeping copious tears throughout their healing process. It is so difficult, even as a mere reader, to sit by helplessly and watch someone destroy their life. Even worse, to watch two people let their inner-guilt keep them apart, when being together and supporting each other would be a saner course of action.

ADDICTED is a poignant look at a centuries-old problem. I was deeply affected by the pain experienced by Anais and Lindsay, and I must believe other readers will too. Putting it in a historical setting removes some of the starkness of today, but the hideous effects remain the same. It is redeemed only by the love and erotic passion Lindsay and Anais feel for each other; a love that ultimately carries the day and will addict readers to the further writings of Featherstone.

Susan Barton