Book Review for Heart Throb by Danielle Bird

I received this book for free. This does not impact my review in any shape or form.

Heart Throb, by Danielle Bird, is a paranormal romance about dealing with the consequences of relapsing regardless of whether it was intentional. It has been a year since Simon and Ethan escaped the hunters. After Ethan gets sent to the hospital for anemia, Simon decides to try to curb his feeding, only to suffer from horrific hunger pain. While hunting, he runs into Seth, a more experienced vampire revered by his progeny, and sure enough, Simon slowly finds himself falling further into Seth’s control, consumed by the fear of his hunger. But what starts as a promising mentor takes a darker turn when Simon realizes Seth isn’t as nice as he seems, and that he is putting himself and Ethan’s lives in the hands of a monster.

Simon doesn’t know his triggers, and he barely has any healthy coping skills to get through his cravings. He reminds me of some clients I adored at a rehab. They have the best of intentions. They’re holding themselves accountable for all the wrongs they’ve done, they’re participating with counselors and group therapy sessions, and they’re structuring their lives to where they aren’t surrounded by triggers. In a perfect world, their plan would work and everything would be fine. 

But unfortunately, it’s not.

Unfortunately, Simon can’t go cold turkey because he needs blood to survive. And unfortunately, he’s treating his vampirism and his need to feed like another addiction. Seth being Seth takes advantage of that, and it isn’t until Helen takes Simon under her wing that he realizes there’s a right and wrong way to go about feeding. It’s a lifestyle that you have to navigate, sometimes by practicing harm reduction techniques, other times by playing it fast and loose, and even still, by seeing where your supports are and how you can compromise with them (in this case Ethan). I’ve said it before; addiction is an isolating disease, and though you might find a solution to it, chances are you’ve yet to address how the addiction even began. Simon even said it; “tequila, and moonshine and heroin. That’s what it’s like.”

Throughout all of this, I can’t help but empathize with Ethan. Helen’s lifestyle isn’t for him, and I’m going to be honest, it’s not for me either. I’m all for Simon treating his servitors as family, maybe even as emotional lovers/best friends at times. But I understand where Ethan’s coming from. He doesn’t want to share Simon with anyone; it’d be fine if he was feeding from Bay and Darrell and just hanging out once in a while, but to share that blissed-out intimacy is something else completely. Ethan becoming addicted to Simon’s venom was also something he didn’t ask for; what happened at the end was definitely something he didn’t ask for. Despite all they’ve been through together, I feel that Ethan is getting the short end of the stick. Then again, Simon lost himself to his vices in the past, and he’s now just discovering himself. Too bad for Ethan, he’s strapped along for the ride. He already knows who he is, but if Simon starts demanding more, he has to wrestle with himself to see if he’s okay with it. And if he isn’t, Ethan has every right to walk away. Simon doesn’t get to dictate that. 

I loved this mentally and emotionally draining book. I will look for the third and final story of this trilogy. For now, I would give this story a 5 out of 5 stars.