H. D. Carlton

The Manipulator

I can manipulate the emotions of anyone who lets me.
I will make you hurt, make you cry, make you laugh and sigh.
But my words don't affect him. Especially not when I plead for him to leave.
He's always there, watching and waiting.
And I can never look away.
Not when I want him to come closer.


The Shadow

I didn't mean to fall in love.
But now that I have, I can't stay away.
I'm mesmerized by her smile, by her eyes, and the way she moves.
The way she undresses...
I'll keep watching and waiting. Until I can make her mine.
And once she is, I'll never let her go.
Not even when she begs me to.

While not required, it is highly suggested to read the novella, Satan's Affair, first.

Author's Note: This book ends on a cliffhanger. For CWs, please check the author's website.

Cat and Mouse Duet Book 1

Haunting Adeline

Emma Jacobsen 

"You're a child rapist" I say aloud, though he's no longer capable of hearing me. "Like I'd let you live" 

Melissa

My hunt isn't over yet. I have to play with my little mouse now.

Morgan Denlinger

“What you’re seeing now is what I see every day. No matter how far I run, how hard I try to escape you—you’re everywhere I go. You’re everything I see. Loving you is like being trapped in a house of mirrors, little mouse. And I’ve never felt so at home while being so lost inside you.”

Taiha Morton

Here's what'd going to happen. I'm going to allow you the opportunity to run and hide. If I find you, then I will deliver your punishment. If I don't, you go unpunished and I will leave. 

Okay... Deadpool mixed with Ghostface. Wtf did I pick up and why do I refuse to put it down?

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

“That’s... oddly nice? But really fucked up. There's something wrong with him. But we knew that from the chopped-off hands."

saidaa<3

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

🌸 Crybaby 🌸

Even if I were forced in front of a priest tomorrow, no fear of God would convince me to confess how fucking sexy that growl was.

“You’ve been a very bad girl, little mouse,” he drawls, his deep tenor vibrating through his throat. “And I do enjoy showing you what happens to bad girls.”

When you make someone fall in love with the darkest parts of you, there’s nothing you can do that will scare them away. They will be yours forever because they already love all the fucked up bits and pieces of you.

“Baby, the wind can do more damage than what you’re doing.”

“I’m going to claim you,” he says, right before his teeth clamp down.

“NO!” I scream, kicking at air as I fight his hold. “Oh yes, baby,” he growls, swinging our bodies towards the wall.

The closet door slides open, and his scent fills the tiny area. Leather. A hint of smoke. And something else. Something that would ordinarily make my eyes roll if it wasn’t so goddamn suffocating. “You can come out now, baby,” he breathes, the sound of his voice gravelly and deep.

“Mm,” he growls in delight. “Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to allow you the opportunity to run and hide. If I find you, then I will deliver your punishment. If I don’t, you go unpunished and I will leave.”

He smells like leather and smoke. It’s intoxicating. He’s intoxicating.

To my horror, he lifts his other hand—the one still gripping a much more wicked-looking knife than mine—and brings the tip of the blade to the underside of my chin.

wicked smile on his face and a blade in his hand.

UNKNOWN: The more you disobey me, the harder your punishment.

As if hearing my thoughts, he cocks his head slightly. Intently, I watch him slowly turn his head to the side. And ever so slightly, he raises his chin, the moonlight revealing his wide mouth and a sharp jaw. I huddle deeper into the wall, feeling his eyes on me. There’s no way he can see me. Yet somehow, I feel his gaze piercing me anyway. Like little, sharp knives grazing my skin before digging inside me. And then he smiles, his mouth stretching into a wicked smirk. 

What he doesn’t know is that the minute I properly introduce myself to Adeline Reilly, she won’t be able to think of anyone else. I will devour her from the inside out, until every intake of breath will only stoke the inferno I've created inside her. Like oxygen feeding a fire, I will consume every inch of her sweet little body until she will think of nothing else but how to get me deeper inside of her. She’ll fear me at first, but that fear will only ignite her. And I will be all too fucking happy to deliver the pain when she gets too close to the flame.

They may have made that rose powerless by clipping its thorns, but I will gladly show them a rose is still fucking deadly when it’s shoved down their throat.

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.

I grew up in Parsons Manor, running alongside the ghosts in the halls

Started reading for the curiosity, stayed for the creepiness.

Megs

*Heed the trigger warnings VERY closely.

Started reading for the curiosity, stayed for the creepiness.

I didn’t mind the writing but overall didn’t really like the premise of the story

Samantha Hocking

I would give a 0, but i can’t. Who the f*ck romanticises stalking and assault. 

TommyBoi

H.D. Carlton

Chey

This book has me conflicted. 

It was definitely corny. Sometimes in a way I could stomach, other times not so much. 

I will also say the trigger warnings were much needed. I applaud the author for realizing that and not just throwing us into the ring unexpectedly. 

Overall, as much as I hate to admit it… a part of me began to enjoy Zade’s character (what tiny bits we actually got to learn of him). I definitely understand his dub-con sexual relationship style with Addie especially because it really felt so hypocritical throughly the whole book but there are definitely worse characters out there. 

I think the cold case aspect was interesting but it fell in the background so often, bringing it back into the plot felt unnecessary sometimes. It was a nice break from the smut though, because sometimes it felt like Addie’s character did nothing but solve Gigi’s murder, have sex and drink. 

Overall did I have a lot of complaints? Yeah. 

Am I still going to read Hunting Adeline? Yeah.

DNFd at 55%. This is just an absolutely not for me

Jillian Roberts

I honestly am not sure how I feel abt this book. It’s a dark romance, which I knew going in, but so many parts were just heavy. Even the spice (while hot) was sort of difficult to read. If you are even slightly triggered by lack of consent, THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR YOU. 

Alyssa deRaad

I honestly am not sure how I feel abt this book. It’s a dark romance, which I knew going in, but so many parts were just heavy. Even the spice (while hot) was sort of difficult to read. If you are even slightly triggered by lack of consent, THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR YOU. 

Also, the writing itself is not great. 

aleksandra

1/5

If this man was ugly and 5 feet tall, I'm pretty sure everyone would hate him and his actions. Pretty privilege is real.

Danny

Madelyne a⟢

This book had so much potential but none of the themes were explored properly. From the words of Adeline to Zade: “How can you work to save women while stalking another?” basically encapsulates and contradicts the very essence of Zade. He’s purely unhinged, while Adeline is just.. dumb, and willingly succumbs to his egoistic tendencies. I wish the characters were written better or at least had better substance and development as to why they are the way they are for their choices. It’s mostly straight up SA lol it’s not even dark romance, it’s just abuse.

The conclusion to the Cat and Mouse Duet is here...The DiamondDeath walks alongside me, But the reaper is no match for me. I'm trapped in a world full of monsters dressed as men, and those who aren't as they seem. They won't keep me forever. I no longer recognize the person I've become, And I'm fighting to find my way back to the beast who hunts me in the night. They call me a diamond, But they've only created an angel of death. The hunter was born a predator, With ruthlessness ingrained in my bones. When what's mine is stolen from me in the night, Like a diamond hidden within a fortress, I find that I can no longer contain the beast. Blood will paint the ground as I tear apart this world to find her. And bring her back to where she belongs.No one will escape my wrath, Especially not those who have betrayed me. Warning: This is the second and final installment of the Duet. You must read Haunting Adeline first.

Samantha Waterson

The Manipulator I can manipulate the emotions of anyone who lets me. I will make you hurt, make you cry, make you laugh and sigh. But my words don't affect him. Especially not when I plead for him to leave. He's always there, watching and waiting. And I can never look away. Not when I want him to come closer. The Stalker I didn't mean to fall in love. But now that I have, I can't stay away. I'm mesmerized by her smile, by her eyes, and the way she moves. The way she undresses... I'll keep watching and waiting. Until I can make her mine. And once she is, I'll never let her go. Not even when she begs me to.

Cat and Mouse Duet #1

It starts off a little boring, like ooo a stalker. But then it lost me completely - sort of. I was completely turned off of Zade and the book as a whole when he literally rapes her with a GUN. Legit sexual assault. 

I honestly didn't even want to continue after that. Because I am sitting here wondering why people are in love with a rapist and why this is considered "dark romance". But I persisted. I wanted to actually complete this book. The main thing keeping me going was the murder of poor Gigi. I wanted to know who the fuck did it. It was a lovely little murder mystery and I was hooked. 

I speed read through Zade's POV mostly. Yes he hunting really bad guys but he himself is a bad guys and no matter how HD Carlton tries to paint him, he will always be a rapist. Now the part that saddens me the most. This COULD have been GREAT!! I am a literal whore for cnc, bdsm, dom/sub, and just rough sexual scenes. Their dynamic was so fucking delicious - SA aside. This could have easily been my favorite duet if it hadn't been for the fact that Zade is a literal predator and romanticized for it.
 The ending threw me. It was such a huge cliffhanger that would have had me IMMEDIATELY picking up the second book... if I hadn't already decided it wouldn't get my time of day. 40% of the way through is when the gun scene happens, and I was immediately turned off after that point. I refuse to read the second book and have the author try to make me fall in love with a rapist and to watch this "relationship" between them blossom. And it's quite concerning the love Zade receives from readers because he literally admits in his POV that he sexually assaulted Adeline. Literally admits it. S So instead of reading the second book, I immediately looked up spoilers because I wanted to know who the hell the person is that set Zade up - and who kidnapped Adeline. Like I stated, this could have been great. The plot was amazing, the smut absolutely incredible. A smut book heavy with mystery that almost read as a psychological thriller. HD Carlton, you could have had something amazing here. But you ruined it by romanticizing a rapist and trying to pass it off as dark romance.

graelihn

not this being the book to break my month long reading slump 🫣

Katelyn B

The way I devoured every page of the deliciously spicy book, I've never read 500 some pages so fast in my life. I could have read it in one sitting if my boyfriend didn't insist I go to bed at 3 am. With all the trigger warnings and reviews with people saying it was too disturbing to finish I was worried I wouldn't like it but I absolutely could not put it down. Starting book 2 immediately

Elspeth calcraft

** spoiler alert **
           I cannot understand why someone who has dedicated his life to stopping human trafficking and the r@pe of women/children would then stalk and r@pe someone, it makes no sense and I couldn't move past it. I ended up listening to it in audiobook just to get through it. Would NOT recommend

Madison Keiran

avenlaming

Check your trigger warnings. This has a lot. Some of the spicy scenes are honestly a bit much for me. But the plot that formed towards the middle to end was great. And the cliffhanger. I need the rest of the story. 

Danielle McNamara

Kinda hard to get into i had to force myself to push through the book. But the ending has me hooked

Vicki Johnson 

literally such a crazy but good book. so smutty and wild. actually loved it. 

Honestly this is a great book, sexy wise at least. The plot doesn’t actually happen until like 300 pages in but once it does it’s great!

Lexi 

Rosie Vulaj

** spoiler alert **
           dnf @ 40%. i can’t get past the whole “i hate rapists!” and then rapes her because he thinks she’d love it? sorry but im good on that

danna

The_Darker_The_Better

This so far is my favorite book I have read this year! The story is so intense and captivating. The story was so well written and the slow burn had me on fire, no scene was the same. Each interaction they had was different every time which reeled me in more. All in all I am fixing to read the second book I’m so excited to see where the story goes. 😍

Haunting Adeline Cat and Mouse Duet Book 1

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