Recovery: Drug Addiction in Romance Novels
Well, isn't this a depressing topic? I don't know why it is more disheartening than Alcoholism in Romance Novels which was my last post but it is.
Both are awful but both issues when explored in romance novels allow fiction to do what it does best inquire, confront, heal.
I found out some interesting things about Romanceland during my oh so sad research into drug addiction and the Romance Novel with a side trip into drug based films. We don't really like recovering drug addicts (or active drug addicts) as heroes and heroines in our Contemporary Romances much. They are thin on the ground. Alcoholics are much more abundant.
In my wandering, I found this amazing web publication, The Fix: addiction and recovery, straight up. In a wonderful article, they explode the distance between drug and alcohol addiction and think about how this construct works in the general culture and in recovery culture as well. Alcoholism vs Addiction. Check it out.
I also discovered, we love it when our heroes or heroines get forcibly addicted.
In addition, we are much more welcoming of the recovering historical hero or heroine. Opium, poppy seed, laudanum, ether... Seems romantic? Sweaty and bugged eyed to me.
However, addiction as tool to cope with trauma, numb, feel good, and/or as a physical disability in a cultural that encourages casual consumption or risk taking creates great (real) characters for me and it is why some times I leave the frothier side of Romance for these darker depths.
Here is my list of good Romance Novels that deal with drug addiction in its varying states-actively using, dry, withdrawing, drying out, sober, and recovery.
We have the Rock Stars and the Famous:
What the Librarian Did by Karina Bliss
Hard Rock Remix by Ava Lore
After Midnight by Sarah Grimm
Heartthrob by Suzanne Brockmann
The Young
Yellowstone Redemption by Peggy L Henderson
Takedown by Julie Miller
Dens of Opium
Reclaiming Lord Rockleigh by Nancy Butler
The Sins of Lord Easterbrook by Madeline Hunter
Scoundrel's Kiss by Carrie Lofty
Lady Beware and To Rescue A Rogue by Jo Beverly
Even in Paranormal Worlds (maybe especially), you need to numb..
Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward
Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane
Eternal Seduction by Jennifer Turner
Regular Folk
Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes
Do you have a character that I missed? Let me know! (Left off the Tied Man because it is way too deep pit dark for me and I have not read it. I will confess, I don't really like Unholy Ghosts much but just because I don't like doesn't mean I don't recognize that it is good.)
To vote for the best of the best go to the Goodreads list: Recovery: Drug Addiction in Romance Novels.
To get move recommendation and to see images from films dealing with drug addiction, visit my unhappy-go-very unlucky Pinterest Board: Recovery: Drug Addiction in Romance Novels.
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