REVIEW: Burning Addiction - Consortium Trilogy Book 1 - BL Maxwell

Title: Burning Addiction
Series: Consortium Trilogy Book 1
Author: BL Maxwell
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Gay Romance
Publisher: Independent
Release Date: Apr 4, 2020
Format: Kindle
Pages: 270
Source: Amazon

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 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.

Reviewed by Linda Tonis

Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team

Dr. Lucas Martel is a vampire working the night shift when a young man is brought in. The patient has OD’d, and Lucas pulls out all stops to save his life. As soon as the man is aware he insists on leaving which Lucas will not allow. Lucas feels drawn to the man something he hasn’t felt in decades.

Brennan Clayton came from a wealthy family until drugs began to rule his life. The only thought he has is getting his next fix but like Lucas he feels drawn to the doctor caring for him but as an addict knows better than to become involved with anyone other than his dealer and his next shot.

Ben a longtime friend of Lucas is on assignment from the Consortium of Blood the ancients that oversee vampires and his mission is to find out about the drugs being circulated by rogue vampires. When an addict uses the drugs the vampires supply, they very often don’t survive because vampires will drink their blood once they are near death so that they can get high.

Ben believes that Brennan could be the addict that could lead to the vampires Ben is searching for and he is right. Brennan finds his dealer coming to his apartment offering him drugs and following him always with a bag of heroin with him. Lucas believes that Brennan is his mate and will do anything to protect him which thankfully saved his life not just when he OD’d but when the dealer followed him which scared Brennan.

Lucas kept wondering why he was so attached to Brennan and how he could be his mate when he was mated to his creator before his death. Although he was mated, he never felt the bond he feels with Brennan. The search for the dealer proves more difficult than Ben could have expected, he is a tracker and never fails to find who he is looking for, but this dealer just disappears. Ben knows he is not human but what is he.

While the search is going on for the vampires’ drugging addicts and Lucas is trying to come to terms with his attachment to Brennan it becomes clear that Brennan is in danger. The dealer wants him, and Lucas is his safety net. It was heartbreaking watching Brennan when he craved a fix which unfortunately was all the time. The author did an amazing job of making me feel the pain, loneliness and no concern for anything but the peace Brennan felt when he finally stuck the needle in.

Vampire stories are my thing, love them, and this one totally fit the bill. I couldn’t put the book down and thankfully there are two more in the series already in my hands. Surprises, secrets, and an addict’s mind-blowing addition.