Haunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse, #1) (2024)

➥ 1 Star *:･ﾟ✧ dnf at 50%

"You're so f*cking creamy," he rasps. (what? 😍)

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Well, that was absolutely terrible :) This book was on my radar because many of my goodreads friends (<33) who had read Her Soul to Take and Her Soul for Revenge seemed to love this one too. They were both dark stalker(ish) romances with kinky smut. This book is sh*t though, sorry.

➥ Adeline (h) was so beyond annoying. She's so f*cking dumb, I'm so tired of women being written like this. Like I'm genuinely personally offended that I have to associate with her because never do I meet women who are like this in real life. And by that I mean, these women that act like children, that don't have a single logical, mature cell in their body. It's insulting and we need to start writing female main characters with some respect. This girl was clueless, pathetic and honestly, just overall shallow. I have a similar opinion about Rae, the fmc in Her Soul to Take, but imo, Adeline was even worse.

➥ Zane (H)...ew *pukes*. I feel like I'm missing out on some big prank, people like this guy? He's so pathetic, god. This f*cker thinks he's so tough (he literally like...says self-affirmations about himself in his inner monologue), he strokes his ego by killing sex traffickers and makes that his hobby, his little quirk. He goes on and on about how those men should burn in hell for what they've done yet here he is casually and remorselessly stalking and raping a girl in his free time. Even if we put that aside, and just focus on sh*t like his dirty talk or dick skills (he has none), he's gross and incompetent. As shown by the featured quote above, this is what we are dealing with. Nothing that came out of his mouth was swoony, hot or sexy to me.

I'm going to start out with this because I feel like otherwise it'll get lost in the end of my review and no one will care but can we please stop making sapphic relationships a joke?

"It seems every day, my appreciation for Daya grows. She gave me a sense of safety I didn’t realize I was missing. I’m going to have to propose to her soon or something."

This is the fmc talking about her relationship with her best friend. Um, can we not? 😭 It's so easy to just

I've always defended writing in the contemporary romance genre because it doesn't need to be flowery and classy, in fact, it's annoying when it is. But I've probably never read a book with worse writing than this. Look at this bitch's inner monologue.

I need the Tin Man to oil the hinges on my door just as much as I need the Lion's bravery. I'm shaking like a leaf.

Really?? A wizard of oz reference?? What even is this, it doesn't take a genius to understand that writing like this is not adequate for a book that is meant to have a dark tone to it. It ruins the atmosphere and necessary formality that is vital to the reader taking this book seriously.

I stare at the flower like it's a live tarantula, staring straight back at me and daring me to come closer. If I do, it'll surely eat me alive."

Girl, it is a

I'm scared, but I'm also stupid. So, I'm not leaving.

Her self-awareness doesn't make me like her more. Why is it necessary to have a clueless, idiot as the fmc, eugh.

Gives me the heebie jeebies.

This is a

Maybe I'll eat some Cheerios. They say those are good for the heart right?

To top it off we get modern references too. I don't like when authors insert modern world references into their writing. No one wants to read about Cheerios when they're reading a dark smutty romance.

She's so prim and proper, and I'm so...not. Where she holds herself with regality and grace, I have a terrible habit of slumping and sitting with my legs open.

Omg, she's not like other girls!!! And to think that I thought I couldn't possibly hate this fmc more and she pulls the 'i'm not like other girls' line.

Chunks of concrete fly into my eyes as more bullets ping around me. I grunt, rubbing at my lids to clear my vision

This is from the male perspective. Other than the fact that this whole sentence was unnecessary, if concrete flew into your eyes, you know damn well you'd fall to the ground like a bug. These details are not only inaccurate but also beyond unnecessary. Even fantasy authors do research so they know how long it takes to die out from blood loss but you aren't even aware that CHUNKS OF CONCRETE can't fly into your eyes without you becoming immobilized from pain? Have you never had anything get stuck in your eye? Jesus.

"As much as I hate to say this to you, I am no stranger to a woman's puss* and what it feels like when it weeps for me."

Point and laugh, everyone. If you think this is top-tier dirty talk...oml. Moreover, this is while he is

Maybe this is just me, but I like fictional men because they treat their girls right. Leon is a great example of "I hate everyone but you", but this dude is just hating her and treating her like absolute garbage. Me personally, I don't find that so cute. Maybe it's just me though, idk...

So, this guy basically rapes her a sh*t ton of times, which is ironic bc this guy is always swimming in his saviour complex. He supposedly rescues women and children from sex trafficking rings. Which like...nice ig? I just feel like that was just a plot device for him to be likeable. Because he shows no kindness, no tenderness and no charmingness, in any way shape or form, I suppose the reader has to rely on a fact that establishes his supposed morality to find him the least bit likable.

This is also used as an excuse to write more and more internal monologue about how he can't imagineeee what it's like to go through whatever blah blah and he's always trying to be cool and slick while confronting the sex traffickers as if this is just some adrenaline rush to him.

He's just so hypocritical talking about how any guy that forces himself onto women/children deserves to go to hell and be tortured (Which is his hobby. He like...likes to torture people...idk that's lame to me. It's like when guys flex about punching sh*t when they're mad). Meanwhile, here he is, going into this girl's house, forcing himself onto her, justifying it because of the girl being turned on, and then leaving her there lying on the floor curled into herself and crying. Feeling

He even says I'm going to make her fall in love with every single f*cked up part of me.

And...I think what I find so unappealing about this male character is that you don't see him trying to win over the fmc. He just has an ego where he decides she will do what he wants because he's powerful enough to get it and so it shall be. And that's...boring to me. Again, I'm no wimp when it comes to dark romance, but this is just so boring. Not only is this book horribly, unnecessarily long, but it's also boring because, who wants to watch a man rape a woman in her house 3 different ways for 800 pages straight? I mean, personally, not me.

Anyway, let's talk about how bad the smut was because I think that's what made it the saddest for me lmao. So let's refresh, the writing was bad, the characters were bad, the plot was bad...but there was still potential in the sex section. Yet, I was disappointed once again. I've already established that it was rapey (it's in the TWs but it doesn't really make it any better imo). Not so cute. But even the ideas themselves were lame. The first time Zane f*cks Adeline, it's with a gun. Now, this is meant to be all quirky and kinky but it was written terribly imo. The dirty talk revolving the idea wasn't good and the actual description ignited nothing within me.

If you do want to read a good gun sex scene, you should look into Her Soul for Revenge. Not only is it incredibly hot, well drawn out, with great dialogue and variety, but it also has a fantastic character dynamic. The fmc in that book is so much more badass, so the playing field is even and so much more fun. Both characters take part in the teasing and dirty talk and ugh, let me tell you, it was years better than the sex scene in this one.

There was another sex scene that involved Zane "catching" or "chasing" Adeline, which seemed fun, I was totally down. But again, imo it was badly executed and was much better done by Harley Laroux's soul series. Unfortunately, I don't quite remember which book, I think (think) it was Her Soul for Revenge if I'm not mistaken. They also had a sort of 'i catch and chase you and f*ck you' scene but it was outside in the woods, much longer and much hotter. Another aspect that I think made it better in Harley Laroux's was that there was explicit consent given beforehand, and a safe-word if necessary. So, it was more playful and fun and even more personal, which made the chemistry much more believable. The aftercare was also beautifully, tenderly done, which is what we want!! The men taking care of and admiring their women, while also feeding into his and her fantasies :)

So, on top of complaining about the quality of the smut, I'm also here to complain about the quantity. So again, this book has no romantic aspect, thin plot and bad characters, so people read it for the smut. Yet, I had to wait until around 40% to read the first sex scene!!! BOOOOOO 🍅🍅🍅. And when we finally get to the smut, this is what we get:

"You're so f*cking creamy," he rasps.

Is this supposed to have me screamin and creamin or? Anyway...

The mystery aspect was so f*cking dull. I do not understand how people cared about the little diary entries and her dead grandma at all. I read spoiler reviews of who the killer was and I'm really not that surprised but I also just did not care.

Lastly, I did dnf this book, and I guess it is possible for it to get better (i think i heard the second book is better) but I'm really not interested in giving this book another chance. And that's ignoring the fact that this book is so unnecessarily long.

Once again, no one does it like Harley Laroux. I can't wait for her to release the third book of the trilogy aaa!!

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This book was f*cking corny. It was awful, but also a f*cking cornfest. When reading a “dark” romance, you expect a little more depth and triggering themes to accompany the story. Maybe a little drugs, death, etc. This book combines a goofy ass hacker vigilante stalker, and an insufferable heroine, and claims itself to be a dark romance. It’s a joke. The main character Adeline is supposedly the “manipulator” and Z or the stalker is the “shadow?” I don’t rlly f*cking remember the names because it was so stupid and unnecessary. Anyways, the story proceeds with Addie staying at this creepy f*cking house for no f*cking reason where countless people have died, introduces a whole ass f*ckinf ghost, and then promptly forgets that part of the plot. Like okay cool beans ig. Then Z sees her jn some book signing and stalks her like insanely. Okay Z is the corniest mf I’ve ever read in my life. He’s this dub-con, psycho (he literally sends her a pair of cut off hands when she lets some creep finger bang her) stalker who is actually a self taught mastermind hacker who saves kids and women from sex trafficking. Yep. I’m serious. It’s an absolute cringe fest. Her bff is also a “vigilante.” The word choice the author uses is so juvenile it made me scream. I mean do we live in a Neil Breene movie? The “darkness” this book promises is completely gone at this point. The funniest and most ironic part however, is that Mr. Savior, aka mr. I-cant-bear-to-see-innocent-kids-raped-at-the-hands-of-powerful-men-and-I-have-to-save-them-with-my-chiseled-jaw-and-ugly-scar, RAPES THE MAIN CHARACTER WITH A GUN. I mean are you kidding me? I don’t mind dub con, but Atleast take a look at the damn plot author. YOU CANT HAVE HIM SAVE RAPE SURVIVORS AND THEN RAPE TNE MAIN CHARACTER?! The later sex scenes are a little better because she’s more “attracted” to him and apparently gets off on the fear like okay whatever woman. He even tells her to get off his dick and start running because she loves the chase. Like she’s on his dick and then gets off its so f*cking funny like a damn Jack in the box. Anyways, back to the child trafficking sacrifices drinking blood scenes. These scenes are so corny, I mean there’s these senators who are doing it and Z and his group are trying to hack into their society which hey? Wanna know the name of theyre creepy dangerous group? THE SOCIETY?! Like hello?! Is this wattpad novel? It’s so funny. Anyways these scenes were the only thing keeping me reading this book. One reason was because it was so corny it was funny, and the other was because it was actually interesting seeing how f*ckimg lame someone can make sex trafficking. I mean come on. Also apparently Addies great grandma also had a stalker and was supposedly killed by her husband? And Addie was targeted by the society to be sold because she’s pretty? It’s all so much and so poorly executed.
Okay this book has several major flaws. But the biggest one is trying to have too many storylines at once. You have the romance and sex, the stalker and fear, the sex trafficking, and the grandmas murder. It’s wayyy to much. Pair that with a drawn out plot, juvenile writing, corny ass scenes, and insufferable characters. That my friend, creates a bad book. To be fair, at some parts it was so bad it was good so it proves to be a really good comedy if you’re interested!

DNF al 35%

no se porque les gusta leer violaciones y romantizarlas, les aconsejo que vayan a terapia, "pero es ficción" me chupa un huevo y la mitad del otro, esta "ficcion" ejemplifica perfectamente las creencias/pensamientos de la autora... osea que es una MIERDA, "pero es un kink!!" si tu kink es violacion te quiero presa hija de puta, "pero es romance oscuro" pero chupame bien la poronga desde cuando el romance oscuro tiene que ser solo sobre abusos y violaciones??? estoy harta que romanticen todas estas mierdas, porque yo AMO el romance oscuro, pero libros de mierda como estos cagan todo el genero

tuve que sentarme y leer DOS veces (hasta donde lei yo, estoy segura de que hay dos o tres mas) como el protagonista violaba a la protagonista mientras ella estaba tan cagada de miedo hasta el punto de hacerse pis encima, sin hablar que la mina es la protagonista principal mas ESTUPIDA que lei en m vida, y eso que he leído libros con minas pelotudas... pero esta... se lleva el premio a la mas idiota de todas

odio como la autora quiso hacer ver al protagonista masculino como si fuera una re buena persona, porque salva niños y "ayuda a la comunidad", el chabon después de violarla incluso ADMITE que lo que hizo esa mal pero esta en plan "pero bueno, era lo yo que quería, era imposible no hacerlo" TE QUIERO PRESO HIJO DE PUTA. PRESO.

antes que me hinchen las pelotas con el "es non-con" bla bla bla, MIREN si en el libro ANTES de tener relaciones sexuales hablan y especifican que en ese momento quieren que no haya consentimiento??? TODO BIEN, PROSIGAN MUCHACHOS!!!! pero en todo lo que leí en ningún momento esta esa charla, el chabon agarra y la VIOLA, porque eso es lo que hace y ustedes están tipo "bueno pero ella en realidad lo quería"... saben como suenan no??? APARTE NON-CON LITERALMENTE SIGNFICA VIOLACION, GOOGLEENLO PEDAZOS DE IMBECILES SIN NEURONAS

Y yo no soy una persona que se triggea mucho con los tópicos en los libros, las tw no me interesan, puedo leer todo, pero saben que no puedo leer? cuando romantizan una violacion/abuso/SA, que haya una violacion en el libro no es un factor que me afecte a la hora de leerlo, que haya una violacion HECHA por el protagonista hacia la protagonista y que lo pasen como "hot"???? tu libro es una puta mierda

En fin: cualquier persona que le dio mas de 1 estrella a este libro esta en mi lista negra. f*cking disgusting.

now before i get into it i gotta say that even though this book is marketed at 18+, i personally consider it 21+ it can be very triggering for some so tread lightly. if you wanna get into dark romance, don’t let this book be your gateway into the genre. it’s very graphic and i absolutely do not condone any of the actions set in this book.

anywayyys, I literally smacked my forehead and dragged my hand down my face so many times while reading this book. i thought i was desensitized to smut at this point but i was shocked, to say the least, at the words my eyes were reading. Adeline is better than me because i know if a man that looked like Zade approached me, i’d fold instantly.

this was honestly such a fun, jaw dropping, shirt ripping, bedsheet gripping, panties dropping, and knee trembling book. i was up all night sweaty and reading until the crack ass of dawn. reading this book wasn’t enough, i need to eat it, and inject it into my veins.

every minute i was reading about Zade and Adeline doing exactly what they did in this book, i felt like i passed away. like i’m so dead serious right now when i say there’s something about them that scratches an itch in the deep crevices of my brain.

and hear me out. sometimes we just turn left, then ignore all the red flags, then rinse and repeat. 😅😅😅did i question my sanity while reading this book? abso-f*cking-lutely !!!

now into the actual context and structure of this whole book. it needs a lot of work/editing. the writing was atrocious and kinda cringe. like tf do you mean by “a pregnant pause” ?!?! are you having a baby or some sh*t? golly. like the writing was like how gen Z talk and communicate. and i say that being a gen Zer myself. nonetheless, it didn’t take away from my actual enjoyment of the story. and the whole murder mystery wasn’t interesting in the slightest. i’m no literary analyst but as a reader i can say at least the vibes were there.

“Let me know which stars you prefer. The ones above you, or the ones I make you see.”

Well, Zade can have all the stars he wants. ✨
oh and i choose the latter please! thanks.

I definitely feel like I'm not supposed to love it THIS much, but I do! 🖤
And what the hell was that ending??

Before you read this book,

My god, I devoured this book.
From the beginning this book is filled with torture, murder and sex and it doesn’t really stop.
It’s a pretty lengthy book for a dark romance in my opinion, but it doesn’t get boring at all.
The angst is top tier.

I actually like the plot of this! I don’t want to talk to much about it, because I’m incapable of telling stories without spoiling things, but I can tell you it was interesting and I was invested!
And let’s face it, we don’t necessarily always pick up dark romance books because of the great storylines, so I think that’s an achievement!🤍

But on to the point we all really want to know, let’s talk smut.
There’s a lot of it! And it definitely hot af.🔥 The things that come out of Zade’s mouth.
I mean- it would bring a lot of people to their knees 👀

“You have a lot of faith in your abilities,” I croak.
He chuckles, as deep and dark as the ocean. “You need faith to be a believer.” He cups me between my legs. “And this puss* deserves to be worshipped.”

Although him just standing out your window staring at you would also do the trick.
This book reallyyy makes me question my values.

Also Adeline having the level of confidence I'm striving for 😩:
“I haven’t sent a nude since I was twenty. I take nudes because I like my body and want to stare at it all day.”

Okay well I’m off!
Im gonna stare out my window, hoping someone stares back!👋🏼

2.75 stars 🌹

I’m not even going to pretend I cared about the plot at all. The plot is essentially the Zade (H) saving sex trafficked girls and women while hunting down and killing pedos. Addie (h) spends the whole book attempting to solve her great-grandmothers unsolved murder.

The vigilante stuff was pretty fun, though it would have been better if the hero’s reason for risking his life wasn’t just ‘cause I like to kill bad people’. Also, do I give a sh*t about the heroine’s murdered grannie? Not at all, yet trying to figure out who the killer is, is a large part of this book.

What I want to focus on is…don’t even try to act surprised with this…the ✨smut✨

This was basically the only reason I started this book which is pretty sad, but yanno I love me a psychotic hero. Basically the hero stalks the heroine throughout half the book after he saw her for 2 seconds at her book signing. Man literally fell in lust on the spot

He begins watching her from outside her house and taunting her over text message 😌 His mind games were absolutely the best part about this. He would break into her house and leave roses for her and eventually began leaving notes like

I'll be seeing you soon, little mouse.

I never thought the endearment ‘little mouse’ was hot, but with the context that he’s the cat and she’s the prey just makes this 🥰

There’s a point where the heroine goes to a club and meets this guy, Archie. While she’s at the club, Zade messages her

UNKNOWN: Sneaking off with random men, little mouse? If I catch his hands anywhere near you, they’ll end up in your mailbox by morning.

Of course the heroine doesn’t believe him so he takes Archie home with her. This is where it gets juicy now. She decides to take him into the sunroom, so Zade could see her get fingered by Archie. Which by the way…was pretty hot ngl

“Do you sing pretty when you come, Addie…let me hear it.”

OKAY OKAY IM GETTING DISTRACTED BECAUSE THIS SCENE WHTH THE OM WAS GOOD FOR NO REASON. Zade interrupts the moment by banging on the door and luring Archie outside…where he kidnaps and proceeds to torture and murder him💞

What does my baby Zade do after? Well he’s a man of his word so naturally, he follows up on it–

Before I can think about what I’m doing, I tip the lid off with my foot.
Hands.
Severed hands are in the box, just like I feared

Naturally, he now has to punish her further for letting another man touch her. How does he do that? Oh by f*cking her with his gun–

“Good girl,” he breathes. “Open wider, baby.” The hand still holding my thong to the side nudges against my thigh. Without thought, my thighs instinctively fall further apart.
…
“I can feel how tight your puss* is. The way it grips onto my gun when I slide it out—so f*cking pretty.”

—Not only is there praise kink but he’s f*cking her with his gun🤪🤪😌

The chase scenes were also UGH incredible. He would tell her to run or hide from him just so he could catch her. If she got caught, she’d get “punished”. I’m out here questioning these ‘punishments’ because they sound f*cking great to me. Then we have the mirror maze scene which was just another breed of hot-

He turns his head and our eyes clash in one of the mirrors. My heart drops as I tear my eyes away to look around and see his eyes pinned on me from several directions, it’s the most intense feeling I’ve ever experienced.
…
My eyes lock back onto his, and a slow smile takes over his face. He leans in close, his lips skating across mine as he watches me slowly come apart at the seams, all the while grinning at me.

The way Zade is described gave me goosebumps. This man is literally so f*cking fine 🛐—

I face him, eyeing him closely. He’s relaxed into his seat, his long legs spread, one hand draped over the wheel and the other resting on the armrest between us.

Anyway, I have no words regarding the heroine because

there’s so many one liners that are just too hilarious for me to ignore so here are some of my favorites

•He’s manipulating her, and that’s a big no-no. No one manipulates my girl but me.

•“Don’t cry, little mouse,” he coos. “It’s going to get so much worse.”

•”These are soaked,” he rasps out, his lips still wet from his saliva.
“That’s called discharge.”

•“Oh, God—” she sucks in a sharp breath.
“That’s right, I am your God.”

•“You don’t want this, baby? You don’t want to be full of my co*ck and discover a new religion each time I make you come?”

Thank you to Neela for not only rec'ing this book, but for all the funny ass texts about this book that hopefully never get out. For the sake of both our reputations 🖤🐀

cat and mouse duet
↠#1: haunting adeline —2.75 stars
↠#2: hunting adeline — 4 stars