Book Review: Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

Haunting Adeline

H.D. Carlton

Cat and Mouse, #1

Publisher: Independent

Published Date: August 12, 2021

Genres: Dark Romance, Thriller

583 Pages / 16 Hours 45 Minutes

Date Read: February 17-18, 2025

Format: 📱

Source: Kindle Unlimited

Keep in mind this is a continuation of a series and by discussing this, you may encounter spoilers if you have not read the previous book. As always, if you prefer a spoiler free review please read my quick review instead of the in depth review below.

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About the Book

Adeline Reilly has moved into her late grandmother's mansion with hopes to find out the secrets of her family's past and what happened to her great-grandmother long ago. Soon after, Adeline realizes she is being watched. Zade Meadows, a dangerous hacker, is obsessed with Adeline. He soon finds himself caught in a dark and tense game of cat and mouse. Adeline finds herself pulled deeper into a darker world that she ever expected.

Quick Review (Spoiler Free)

Okay…so I shamelessly binged this book. Long story short… like the synopsis says… he stalks her and they fall in love… Definite touch her and die vibes + punish/praise kinks on top of the graphic/unhinged concepts.

The confidence this man has is like no other. Also, Adeline has zero common sense for making reasonable choices or sense of self preservation. I’m convinced she might be the one of the first to die in a horror movie.

While Zade definitely had swoon-worthy dialogue moments, the activities were a big NO for me. I thought the overall story was okay since I read the whole series straight through. I did find myself skimming through a bit of it.

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Now, let's get into the details!!

First, if you want to avoid the r*pe and weapon play themes in here, then definitely skip this book.

This was one of my first "dark" romance stories to read and I found myself skimming over some of these things. They are a hard pass for me. I am the type of reader who can look past this knowing that it's just a story, but it was still hard for me to stay connected to the story because of it.

I get why the girlies love Zade. He is definitely a smooth talker and while his words are very beautiful, his actions are not.

And finally, I could not get past the fact that Adeline is the typical dumb girl in every horror story. She is the one to blindly walk into the dark room, to play devil's advocate for the bad guy, and the one who is always shocked that she is about to die. That's what I imagine for her. She would not survive long in an apocalypse or serial killer scenario.

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Ratings