Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

Intro

Adeline Reilly is an author and all she wants is to be focused on her writing career. When she is at a book signing, she notices a strange man watching her. Again and again, she sees the man outside her house and leaves her roses as a way of communicating with her. When they finally meet, the things he forces her to endure are sickening and horrible. As the story goes on, and the man’s job and intentions are introduced Adeline begins to look at him in a new light, but still feels incredibly unsafe with him. There is no way she can ever be attracted to her stalker…can she?

How I came across the book

Everyone was talking about this book and Zade Meadows on BookTok, so I decided to read it when I saw it at a Barnes and Noble. 

Other books by the author/In the series

The books in the Cat and Mouse Duet by H.D. Carlton are Haunting Adeline and Hunting Adeline. 

The Good

• The prologue is automatically so intriguing and I need to know more about the strange man watching the girl outside her window

• IS THE MYSTERIOUS MAN AT THE BOOK SIGNING ZADE MEADOWS SHE CANT LOOK AWAY FROM HIM AND HIS LOOKS ARE SO SHARP

• When Zade sees Adeline at the bookstore he says it feels like A HURRICANE IS AT HIS BACK PUSHING HIM TOWARDS HER AND LEAVING NO ROOM FOR RESISTANCE

• He says that he doesn’t know if god exists but he just found the meaning of life sitting behind a table with an awkward smile on her face OH MY GOD

• It’s so interesting how Adeline’s story is similar to her great grandmothers and how the great grandmother also has a stalker

• ZADE KIDNAPS ARCH OUT OF JEALOUSY FOR TOUCHING ADELINE AND HE CALLS ADELINE HIS GIRL

• When Adeline finally meets Zade in her bedroom she is automatically attracted to him even though she shouldn’t and says she shouldnt’ be attracted to a stalker

• when Zade says cat got your tongue little mouse she closes her eyes and LETS HIS VOICE WASH OVER HIM

• It was sweet when Adeline was reassuring Zade after he lost the girl and she told him to lay down with him because that’s not their usual dynamic

• It is so interesting how they finally find out Frank is the murderer of Gigi and in this book there is a whole alternate plot

The Bad

• Greyson is so rude and doesn’t respect Adeline at all

• He wants to break her and rearrange all her pieces until they fit against his

• He says he would cross every single line if it meant FORCING her to be his

• ZADE SAYS HE HAD JUST FOUND HIMSELF A LITTLE MOUSE AND HE WONT STOP UNTIL HES TRAPPED HER

• Adeline’s great grandmother was murdered in her bedroom by her stalker who she fell in love with will Adeline have the same fate with Zade

• Arch disappears in front of Adeline’s house and she finds his blood on a rose and Zade kidnapped him

• The note in the roses says ILL BE SEEING YOU SOON LITTLE MOUSE

• The police don’t listen to her at all when she says she has a stalker that’s their job they should be actually caring about her safety

• HE’S HIDING IN HER CLOSET THAT’S SO BEYOND CREEPY

• WHY DOES HE KNOW HER MIDDLE NAME

• I HATE THAT HES IN HER HOUSE ALL THE TIME AND HE’S FORCING HER TO BE SCARED OF HIM WHEN ALL SHE WANTS IS FOR HIM TO GO AWAY AND HES SO THREATENING AND POSESSIVE

• HE TIED HER TO THE BED

• The movie theater part at mark’s house was so disturbing I hated reading it and it made me so uncomfortable

• Chapter 34 with the tree and the car and the fact that he is basically forcing her to fall in love with him is just so disgusting

• In chapter 37 when Daniel calls Zade and tells him to meet for dinner for the “appetizer” is so beyond horrible

Who Else Would Like This

WARNING: THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR EVERYONE! ONLY PEOPLE WHO CAN READ DARK DARK ROMANCE AND PAST THE TRIGGER WARNINGS AND HANDLE IT BUT IN MY OPINION NO ONE SHOULD BE READING THIS BOOK AT ALL IT’S SO DEEPLY DISTURBING

Rating

2/10 this was the most uncomfortable and deeply disturbing book I have ever read. I would not recommend this book to anyone and only the people who actually feel like they can handle the trigger warnings should read it. I felt sick after reading most parts. The part with the gun, and every time Zade forced Adeline to do something, along with what Zade witnesses for his job, was just so sickening to me and I hated reading every part of this book. The only part I liked was when Addie is comforting Zade about the girl since it was a sweet moment, but how they meet and the red roses leading Addie to Zade until they finally meet and every interaction after that was just so disgusting and I couldn’t handle it. This was my first dark romance so I didn’t really know what to expect but I knew everyone was talking about this book, and I am very disappointed. I can’t imagine how people could read something like this and actually enjoy the content that is a part of this. It makes me feel sick inside. This was by far the worst book I have ever read and I am not reading the second one.