Devon’s Review of Kristen’s Addiction by Evangeline Anderson
Contemporary Paranormal Erotic Romance eBook short story released by Ellora’s Cave 12 Sep 08
This one has a definite “bamp-chicka-wow-wow” factor. I freely admit that I wanted to read Kristen’s Addiction because of my prurient interest in the whole “girl doctor meets blue-collar mechanic vampire” thing. It sounds like a porno plot, no? But this was a fun story , and one in which the romance worked, despite some groan-worthy moments. And at only 96 pages (in PDF), it was a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.
Our narrator and heroine, Kristen, is a hardworking pediatrician, who is attacked by a vampire after dropping off her car at the mechanic. When a vampire drinks from a human, he apparently leaves behind venom. The victim becomes addicted to the venom, and can’t go without it very long. Good girl Kristen finds herself getting sucked on by any willing vampire in order to keep herself under control. One night she arrives for an assignation, and the vampire who answers the door is her sexy and mysterious mechanic, Joe. He agrees to help her with her addiction, but can there be more than a fluid exchange between them?
The story is told from Kristen’s POV, and at first I found it very awkward. It was talky and too “I, I, I” (like one of my reviews, perhaps). However, as the story went on this became less noticeable. Joe is a well-developed character in his own right, and quite likeable. I did think that his blue collar guy way of talking was a bit overdone: lots of “baby”, “damn”, “shouldn’ta”, “oughta”, and dropped “g”s (i.e. tellin’, thinkin’). A nice little romance developed between them.
While some of the sex scenes were hot, there was some erotic romance silliness. Joe’s member is described as being as thick as Kristen’s wrist, which had me glancing at my own wrist for quite a while afterwards. I have pretty small wrists, and still…yikes. When they are searching for the rogue who bit Kristen, the duo goes undercover as Master and Servant at a D/s club. Of course. I guess vampires don’t hang out at Starbucks. Naturally, this leads to public sex and spanking. This also leads to a squicky moment wherein the reader discovers that the well-hung Joe can ejaculate like no one’s business, because Kristen is just chock full o’ sperm. Go take a shower, Kristen. Plus the cure for the vampire venom addiction requires anal sex. M/M no less. Of course. Again.
The sexual shenanigans had me smirking at times, but I enjoyed this story overall. Kristen thinks that Joe only wants her for blood and sex, while Joe fears that Kristen’s only with him for a venom fix. Plus, they acutely feel the disparity in their lifestyles. There was good chemistry between them and I wanted them to get their HEA.
If you are in the mood for a fix of campy, vampy erotic romance, this is a good one to try.
Grade: B-
The Summary:
Dr. Kristen Johansen is a respected pediatrician. With her sexy plus-sized figure and long blonde hair you’d think she’d have a man. But her demanding career has put her love life on hold, until she’s attacked late one night and becomes an addict — of vampire venom.
Now she has no choice but to go out after sundown, offering herself to anyone with fangs who wants a late-night snack. Which is how she runs into Joe, the last person she would have suspected of being a vampire. Blue-collar and hard-core, Joe works as a mechanic and hides his intellect behind his skill with a socket wrench. But what he really longs for is an extra-curvy woman with appetites to match his own.
After an explosive sexual encounter, Joe offers Kristen the chance at a cure. But as they work together to find the rogue vampire who attacked her, Kristen begins to wonder if her addiction is turning into love. And whether regaining her old life is worth losing the only man she has ever cared for.
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