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 Xanthe

Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team

I was intrigued by the plot of this book with a vampire who is also a doctor, coming across someone who is possibly his mate but is also a drug addict who doesn’t want help. It sounds quite dark, and in places it is, but Lucas is determined to help Brennan any way he can, especially with the mystery of missing people and deaths going on.

I’ll admit that I found it hard to connect to the relationship between the two MC’s. For me, I didn’t really get this sense of connection or chemistry between them which, considering they are mates, I would have thought that would be one of the main factors. It’s hard for Brennan with how he flits between being high and not, his timeline is a little skewed, but he gets the general essence of protectiveness that Lucas has over him.

Some may find certain parts of this book hard to read as there is on page drug use and some withdrawal symptoms whilst Brennan is in hospital. It’s tough as it really gets across how much he has come to rely on getting that next hit, how it’s overtaken everything else in his life including college, family and friends. Lucas isn’t the first to try and help Brennan but his focus and constant need to protect him, plus that little thing of vampirism/fated mates gives him an extra advantage.

I like the plot of the book and the mystery surrounding what is happening with the missing people and the higher number of deaths in the local homeless population. Lucas’s friend, Ben, who works for The Consortium, the ruling body of the vampire world (I think), turns up to find out what is going on and helps Lucas with keeping Brennan safe. It becomes a lot more than just a random group of vampires trying to get high but that brings more danger to them.

Overall, this book has an engaging story, but it lost me a bit when it came to the relationship. I will be reading the next in the series as I am hoping that Ben finds his mate as it was clear that is something he has been yearning for but his clandestine work with The Consortium has kept him more than busy and in the shadows.