In 2021, over 100,000 people died from an opioid overdose. The crisis continues.

To help combat this growing epidemic, author Sam Perez's parents made a decision that changed her family's life forever. In 2017, they opened DV8 Kitchen in Lexington, Kentucky. The restaurant and bakery cooks up life-changing food for more than one reason: not only does it serve mouth-watering cinnamon rolls, it hires people in recovery from substance use disorder.

Sam watched as her parents' passion for both the restaurant industry and for serving others merged. She saw the positive impact, met people with different perspectives, and learned from them. From that, Deviate From Denial: Erasing the Stigma of Addiction and Recovery Through Inspirational Stories was created.

This book explores addiction to help readers:

• Understand how the opioid epidemic began.
• Experience the stories of those with addiction.
• Reframe perceptions to better understand the complexities of substance use disorder.

In Deviate From Denial, Sam Perez channels her love for storytelling into sharing messages of hope and redemption to tackle the opioid epidemic, save lives, and erase the stigma.