Author: Jaime Maddox
Publication: Bold Stroke Books
Jaime did an excellent job of portraying the struggles of addiction, not the entire focus of the story, but informative just the same. The fact the main character, Jess, works a professional job and suffers with this issue is a change of pace. So often when addiction is addressed in fiction, the character is either homeless, jobless, a criminal or all of the above, begins to feel repetitive. Throw in PTSD, romance and a psychopath to complicate matters further would probably have anyone running for their medicine cabinet.
I can relate on a personal level to both, addiction and PTSD therefore, felt an immediate connection to Jess and was cheering her on in her plight.
All the characters are deep, bringing them to life with their complexities, an intricately woven story line adds credibility, life leaps from the pages.
If I was to point out any fault, I felt too much time was spent on Derek, yes an important character but not enough to be given the time spent on him. I would've preferred the time be allotted to Jess and Mac. Regardless, it didn't hurt the story in my opinion.
That being said, I was not aware this is a second book in a series, Deadly Medicine, being the first. If I had known, naturally reading Deadly Medicine would've been my first choice, my OCD preventing me from doing otherwise. However, Hooked, works well as a stand alone novel, once again, my opinion. I can honestly say I was not confused or had any problems following the story.
Other work by Jaime Maddox:
Deadly Medicine
The Common Thread
Bouncing
Agnes
***Netgalley and Bold Stroke Books provided an ARC for my honest review.***
Publication: Bold Stroke Books
Jaime did an excellent job of portraying the struggles of addiction, not the entire focus of the story, but informative just the same. The fact the main character, Jess, works a professional job and suffers with this issue is a change of pace. So often when addiction is addressed in fiction, the character is either homeless, jobless, a criminal or all of the above, begins to feel repetitive. Throw in PTSD, romance and a psychopath to complicate matters further would probably have anyone running for their medicine cabinet.
I can relate on a personal level to both, addiction and PTSD therefore, felt an immediate connection to Jess and was cheering her on in her plight.
All the characters are deep, bringing them to life with their complexities, an intricately woven story line adds credibility, life leaps from the pages.
If I was to point out any fault, I felt too much time was spent on Derek, yes an important character but not enough to be given the time spent on him. I would've preferred the time be allotted to Jess and Mac. Regardless, it didn't hurt the story in my opinion.
That being said, I was not aware this is a second book in a series, Deadly Medicine, being the first. If I had known, naturally reading Deadly Medicine would've been my first choice, my OCD preventing me from doing otherwise. However, Hooked, works well as a stand alone novel, once again, my opinion. I can honestly say I was not confused or had any problems following the story.
Other work by Jaime Maddox:
Deadly Medicine
The Common Thread
Bouncing
Agnes
***Netgalley and Bold Stroke Books provided an ARC for my honest review.***