Haunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse Duet #1): Review

 

I finished Haunting Adeline last night and here's my summary alongside my Goodreads review :)

Summary of Haunting Adeline by H.D Carlton

Adeline Reilly is an author who moved into Parson's Manor, her childhood home; but also where her great-grandmother's murder took place. At her book-signing event, she is noticed by none other than Zade Meadows, who becomes immediately obsessed with her. 

Zade has built a vigilante organization called Z, which targets sex-trafficking rings and has the purpose to dismantle-- no, destroy the government. During his free time, he enjoys stalking Addie and terrorizing her, but is also surprised to learn the dynamic excites her. As Addie investigates her great-grandmother's unsolved murder case, she finds herself before the coincidence that they both fell in love with their stalkers.

My Goodreads Review:

Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

All I want to do is break her. Shatter her into pieces. And then arrange those pieces to fit against my own. I don't care if they don't fit--I'll fucking make them.

Regardless of the controversy around the book, I'm glad it actually met my expectations. It's important to highlight that dark romance is not for everyone and one should always read the trigger warnings at the beginning of every book. I expected it to be more darker as the dramatic people on TikTok made it out to be, but since it's said the second installment is even darker: I'm ready.
The story always had me on edge, although at some point I was so invested in Zade's work that I stopped caring about the toe-curling smut and Adeline's internal battle with her morals, to be honest.

I want to slap him. But the asshole would probably like it, and then turn around and slap me back. And my dumbass self would probably like it, too.

Also, I really didn't care about the murder case she was trying to solve, it felt slightly irrelevant.
I still loved this book, though.

View all my reviews

The second installment of this Cat and Mouse Duet series is "Hunting Adeline" (The similar titles can be confusing, I know lol), and if you're considering to read this duet while not being used to what the dark romance genre consists of, I suggest you read the trigger warnings on the author's website or wherever you're buying these books from.

Have you read any dark romance books? 

- Alondra ♥︎