☁️🖤𝓘𝓷 𝓥𝓮𝓲𝓷 𝓢𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓼 #𝟏🖤☁️

𝓞𝓹𝓲𝓾𝓶 𝓢𝓴𝓲𝓮𝓼

𝑩𝒚: C.M. Radcliff

𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆: Contemporary, New Adult, Angsty Romance

𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆: October. 29, 2020

𝑩𝒍𝒖𝒓𝒃

Life is full of variables.
We crave control, but in reality, we have very little.
I left home with a plan: get the full college experience and pass my classes.
But that all changed when I met him.
Ander was the last thing I needed.
He was never part of my plan.
He was the one variable in my life that I could never control.
And we were destined for destruction.

🖤𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝑶𝒇 𝑨 𝑩𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘🖤

“𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ 𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: Opium Skies, book one in the In Vein Series by C.M. Radcliff is nothing like I expected and better than I ever could have imagined. This contemporary dark romance is heartbreakingly beautiful. I connected and felt so much for both of these characters. I personally have been on BOTH sides of this story. I have been an addict, and I have been in love with an addict. Opium Skies is NOT a sweet romance, this one is a really hard, really freaking tough read that centers around love, and addiction.

“𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍. 𝙻𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍, 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎, 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚍. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚔, 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍-𝚞𝚙 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗-—𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚙𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚜—𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝.
𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎, 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎.
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚖𝚎.”

I have to hand it to C.M. Radcliff… this is most definitely NOT a topic that I have seen many authors cover. Especially not in such graphic detail. Even though it was a tough read for me, because of my history with drugs, I feel like it was a necessary one. This is an issue that a LOT of people and families are dealing with, or have dealt with, these days even if they don’t talk about it, many people are being impacted in some way or another by this epidemic. So to read a romance novel so real, raw, and uncut as Opium Skies… was mind-blowing in the best way possible.

This is one of those books that reviews could easily ruin. So I’m not going to give a rundown of the story nor the characters. What I will say is that both of these tortured characters have demons and although they both WANT to help each other, they have to learn to help themselves first, and unfortunately… one of them wasn’t quite ready for that.

“𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸, 𝚠𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚔𝚢.
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚔𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎.”

This is a read that you need to go into blind, and with a completely open mind since it’s not the normal boy meets girl romance story.  But I think in the end, it’s a story that really needed to be written and I’m excited to see what Radcliff does with book two. I have a feeling we haven’t seen the worst of this story yet and that there will be a whole lot more turmoil and heartbreak before these two finally get their happily ever after.

If you are a fan of unconventional, angsty new adult romances, then I highly, highly recommend you get your hands on a copy of Opium Skies ASAP!

💙 (𝑯) 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒐: Ander Capelli, “𝙷𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜. 𝙰𝚗 𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚐𝚊𝚗𝚝, 𝚌𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚢, 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚍. 𝙼𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚎. 𝙸’𝚖 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍.”

❤️ (𝒉) 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒆: Hadley Winters, “𝙷𝚊𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸’𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚍𝚎, 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜, 𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚗 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍.”

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 𝑹𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 & 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎: There was definitely sexual tension and chemistry between Ander and Hadley. But I must admit that I did deduct a star from my rating because of how little build-up of the connection was between them before they were so madly in love. It just didn’t ring true or believable to me and felt more like insta-lust, rather than insta-love or love. I just need to SEE that connection grow organically and it just wasn’t there. Also, the steamy scenes were more of the “fade to black” type of scenes and weren’t as steamy as I would have thought they would be. But bonus points for that dirty mouth of Ander’s! It surely made up for some of what was lacking in the details for me.

“𝚆𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎, 𝙷𝚊𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚢, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜—𝚞𝚜—𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚊 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚝.”

🌪🌪🌪🌪🌪 𝑪𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: YES! This story is FAR from over and as I stated above, I have a feeling that we haven’t seen anywhere near the worst of it yet. Keeping an eye out for book two, Black Clouds of Cotton.

⚠️ 𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: There are difficult subjects that could be considered triggers. E.g. GRAPHIC DRUG USE! When I first saw this book was about drug addiction… I was nervous to read it because I was scared that it would be a trigger for me but there’s nothing that Radcliff has published that I haven’t read so I didn’t want to miss out on this one.

“𝙰 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎, 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚒𝚝. 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜. 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗.
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚛, 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎, 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢.”

I must admit… there were a few scenes that I had to skim over. Normally it wouldn’t be a big deal for me, I have over five years clean and sober. But they were just a little too graphic. So, I will say that if graphic drug use is a trigger for you, please, please proceed with caution.

If you’d like to discuss these triggers more, feel free to DM me!

“𝙷𝚊𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗’𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎, 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘.”
“𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏.”
“𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎, 𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠.”

𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 – $𝟐.𝟗𝟗 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞!

US: https://amzn.to/36sAY6s

UK: https://amzn.to/3l91Exf

CA: https://amzn.to/2SnffEV

AU: https://amzn.to/3isKQzs

𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐎𝐎𝐍 – $𝟐.𝟗𝟗 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞!

𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐧 (𝐈𝐧 𝐕𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 #𝟐) – 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟏𝟒

US: https://amzn.to/2HtahEl

UK: https://amzn.to/34qlTAT

CA: https://amzn.to/3jvYDWu

AU: https://amzn.to/2HrypaW

𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐎𝐩𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐞𝐬

My eyes fly open and I glance at the door, meeting his stormy blue eyes.
“What the fuck are you doing, Hadley?” Ander barks as his entire body consumes the doorway. Everyone in the room freezes, glancing between the two of us.
Narrowing my eyes, I hold his gaze, challenging him as I slide the rolled-up bill across the surface of the dresser, deeply inhaling the bright white powder. My eyes never leave Ander’s as I drop the bill onto the dresser and stand upright, sniffing harder. Ander steps into the room, his entire presence consumes every inch of the space. The two guys in the room instinctively step back, knowing better than to get in his way right now.
Ander’s eyes are honed in on mine and they burn with the deepest shades of blue. A complete contradiction to the storm that brews within his expression. He stops in front of me, reaching out and grabs my chin. Tilting my head to look back at him, he leans in, his lips just barely touching mine.
“You wanna play like that, little girl?” He breathes against my lips as a sinister smile pulls on the corners of his lips. “Game on.”
Quickly releasing me, Ander nudges me to the side and plucks the rolled-up bill from the wood surface. Crossing my arms over my chest, I watch him, slightly amused as he leans over the dresser. Within a matter of seconds, he inhales the remaining lines left and stands back to look at me.
His pupils are already constricted, but I watch as they transform into just small dots, with his blue irises consuming them. Ander looks down at me with a sly grin playing on his lips, waiting for me to make the next move.
Abruptly grabbing me by the throat, he pulls me flush against him. My breath catches in my throat. His touch burns against my skin and the blazing fire settles throughout my body, mixing with the euphoria from the Oxy and everything else in my system.
Heat spreads from my stomach and a warmth creeps between my legs as he leans closer, his warm breath skating across my face. Just as his lips are about to capture mine, he ducks his head to the side, pressing his lips against my ear.
“Ball’s in your court, babe,” he breathes, his words only meant for me to hear and lightly squeezes my throat. “Your move.”

𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓

C.M. Radcliff

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