⭐️ 5/5
🌶️ 5/5
Wow, I don’t have that many words. That is how amazing Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton is. I was quite nervous to read it because of what people said about it on the internet, but in the end all the praise it received won out and I’m so thankful that it did.
I just have to mention that none of the reviews are wrong in saying that it is a very dark book. It is a stalker romance with a VERY unhinged MMC. Please read the CW if you have any triggers before diving into this book. 🖤🖤
Plot Summary
Adeline, formidable writer, master manipulator with her words, but she can’t manipulate him. The one always watching her, always waiting for the right moment to pounce.
But despite her pleas for him to leave and never look back, a certain part of her doesn’t want him to.
Zade, on the other hand, fell in love with Addie the moment that he first saw her. Everything she does mesmerises him, everything.
He knows there is no going back to how things were before he found her. He is going to make her his and no matter how much she pleads him to let her go, he’ll never be able to.
My Thoughts
I was seriously sceptical about this book. There so many reviews on the Internet and everyone kind of judges it so much.
Though most people love the book. When I read a review about The Annihilator by RuNyx that said it is similar to Haunting Adeline and I decided to try it out. (Though I’m not sure that I’ll really compare the two. Yes, the Shadow Man in The Annihilator does also fight human trafficking, but the way in which he works with his woman is totally different from how Zade treads Addie.)
And I’m so happy that I did.
It is seriously one of the best books that I have read in a very long time.
Haunting Adeline has a very intricate plot line with so many factors woven into it making everything so complicated and super interesting. And for this reason alone this book is already amazing.
Adeline, the FMC to Fall in Love With
I like that Addie is so feisty. She has these little rebellions like when she calls him kitty cat.
But she also knows that there’s no way that she can actually fight Zayde and get away with it. So she took what she had to. She was also (kinda) not stupid enough to keep denying what she wants.
Usually in these kind of situations the FMCs tend to fight the MMC. But let’s be honest, there’s no way that they’re actually going to win.
So, it’s always this frustrating thing that technically you want them to fight. We don’t want them to be pushovers and just take any everything that the man gives them. But it gets really irritating because you know that they won’t be winning, like ever.
So yes, as I mentioned, she does have these little rebellions. And doesn’t just blindly take everything that’s handed to her. She does fight it. But she does it with logic not just for being spiteful.
Basically, even though she did submit, she never let go of her spark.
The Enigma Called Zade Meadows
Zade Meadows is and enigma if I’ve ever heard of one.
He’s the “good guy”, okay no, he is not a good guy, he is a really bad guy. But he fights a good fight, trying to save the innocent woman and children from human traffickers.
But on the other hand he’s seriously the bad guy in Adeline story. But also not because he really gives her what she needs and what she wants.
He can really be a “gentleman”, I guess in the dark romance sense of the word, at times. He opens the car door for Addie and he leaves her a rose every time he was there. Okay, maybe the roses was part of him being a scary stalker, but whatever. He also cuts off the thorns of the roses that he leaves her.
Another thing that I really like about Zade is that he is always honest with Addie, brutally so. He might leave out some details but he always gives the truth.
Zade Meadows is literally the perfect book boyfriend that we want in dark romance but which is the biggest red flag in real life.
Do I want him as my boyfriend in real life?
No way.
Do I want to read about him in fiction?
Yes way.
Where to Read?
You can get Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton on Amazon. If you buy it using my link, I’ll get a small commission at no extra cost to you.
You can read it for free with a Kindle Unlimited trail.
There is an audiobook of Haunting Adeline, you can listen to it for free with an Audible Premium Plus trail. Oh yeah, and Teddy Hamilton is the male voice actor. So, totally worth the audiobook.
Series or Standalone?
This is not a standalone. It is the first in the Cat and Mouse Duet and does end on a cliffhanger. The next book is Hunting Adeline.
There is a novella called Satan’s Affair that you should technically read before reading Haunting Adeline. H.D. Carlton actually highly recommends it.
I didn’t though.
I don’t like reverse harem and just felt that it wasn’t worth it. Many reviewers said that they only read it much later, is they read it, and that it was fine. I agree.
There are some tiny things in one part of the story where I guess it would have been nice to have had some background. But I was never really confused and understood everything perfectly.
Tropes
And now for the list of tropes in Haunting Adeline:
- Stalker to lover
- Obsessive and posessive MMC
- Vigilante
- Touch her and you ☠️
Pet Names
If you’ve been on Bookstagram or BookTok for any amount of time, you probably know this. Zade calls Addie little mouse.
Quotes
“Are you here to kill me?” I ask lowly, trying my best to mask the tremors wracking through my body.
I’m failing.
Slowly, he shakes his head. “Why would I do that?” I’m not sure how to answer that. He continues, “I wouldn’t kill you, little mouse. I want to keep you.”
“What if I don’t want you to?”
He smiles. “You will.”
– Adeline and Zade
Her brightened eyes shine with hope, and doing this shit, involving myself in the worst of humanity—it’s all worth it when I have a survivor look at me like that. Not like I’m a hero, but like they can actually envision a future.
– Zade Meadows
What she doesn’t realize is I did lose my f***ing mind the second I laid eyes on her, and I haven’t gotten it back yet.
– Zade Meadows
“I believe that you’ll protect me from Mark, but who’s going to protect me from you?”
His gaze sweeps the entirety of my body, and his eyes blaze with possessiveness. “Whoever tries is going to end up dead.”
– Adeline and Zade
“When I learned about human trafficking and the depths of its depravity, I was sickened. And I have the skill to do something about it, so I am.”
– Zade Meadows
“I wouldn’t do anything without your say-so. But yes, I would.”
She swallows. “Why do you need my permission?”
“You think I stalked you just because I wanted a quick thrill? No, baby. It’s you and me forever.”
– Zade and Adeline
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