Name: Haunting Adeline
Rating: 3.868197674418605 (860 reviews)

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 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

Haunting Adeline

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

Hazael

You will not catch me reading this book, sorry

Lissy

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

Both characters are annoying af, the plot sucks and the writing style is horrendous 

Honestly laughed more than anything at how bad this was. 

Roxanne Ramirez

Overhyped 

I can’t even with this dumpster fire

Both characters are annoying af, the plot sucks and the writing style is horrendous 

Honestly laughed more than anything at how bad this was. 

I was very curious about this book and was very excited to get into it. I can happily say that I was not disappointed. The author wrote these characters so well, it was so interesting to get inside their heads. Although this is my first dark romance read, I loved it. I would describe it as a trainwreck that you just can't look away from. I loved these characters, and the inner turmoil Addie was going through and how genuine Zade was. I also really enjoyed the side story of Addie figuring out who murdered her great-grandmother. Really loved this book and I can't wait to see what happens in the next one!

Maggie Hotmer

This could have gotten such a higher rating if Zade wasn't a walking contradiction. Like how are you going to save women and girls from the same thing you're doing to Adeline? 😭

Anyways, I only liked the concept of the work he did. How he was helping people but that barely mattered when he was a creep himself. I couldn't read it anymore, I got bored lol.

Tali ⋆.˚🦋༘⋆

This could have gotten such a higher rating if Zade wasn't a walking contradiction. Like how are you going to save women and girls from the same thing you're doing to Adeline? 😭

Anyways, I only liked the concept of the work he did. How he was helping people but that barely mattered when he was a creep himself. I couldn't read it anymore, I got bored lol.

I don’t know if it’s just me or is this book overhyped? The writing felt like the author was trying too hard to make herself believe that she is a good author? 🤷🏻‍♀️  Zade is toxic, he IS not a hero, not a dark hero in any sense. He for fucks same f- her with a gun, that should make you run away. This book was a disappointment especially when she finds her grandmother’s love letters 💀 I can’t for the life of me recommend this shit to anyone. This book is just dark, there’s no romance. No hate to the author or readers who loved it. You can and are free to do so, just don’t ask me or others who disliked this book to do the same!!

↑ this was my review back when I read this book, without finishing it. Zade made me eat my own words. So here is my full review after reading this book again, with a new perspective. 

→ This is the first book in the cat & mouse duet. This is also my first book by hailey. I wanted to read it for such a long time, i couldn’t read it while having all my morals getting in the way, and i was not into dark romance at the time. 

I’m so happy i finished the book everyone kept talking about, hyping it, and i find that it is good. Just that i won’t hype it too much. 

Rating :⭐⭐⭐⭐ (I was going to give it three stars, but one more star for zade and only him) 

Tropes : enemies to lovers, contemporary, dark romance, stalker romance.

Characters : i) <spoiler>zade — let’s talk about him, he’s the best hacker, who dismantles corrupt governments and rescues victims of human trafficking. He’s also a stalker, which bleeds into his obsession with Adeline. The book starts with creepy vibes, Adeline moving into her grandmother’s house, and gets stalked by zade. The story progresses slowly, zade’s obsession, and him rescuing women and making sure they are safe, away from fucking pedophiles, and rich people who only fill their pockets. Zade won my heart, because i didn’t think out of every other profession, he’d be a hacker, and also protects women, and children. (Real men could never). His obsession with Adeline is strawberry on top. (I don’t like cherry on top of a cake) 

Zade does everything in his power to make sure no girl is being abused at the hands of a pedophile, or a rapist. He stalks Adeline, and makes her scared of her life, but in the book, Adeline loves it. And i don’t mind that either.</spoiler>

ii) Adeline reilly — Adeline is fiery, pretends to be strong, but is soft at heart, i liked her, but not too much. 

What I loved : the story, the plot. I was invested, although I took my time finishing this book. 

What I struggled with : nothing. Miss hailey’s writing is smooth, and i wanted to keep reading until the end. 

Strong character development : character development only for zade, Adeline still has to grow on me. 

Favorite quotes/ highlights : “my mother. Her favorite flowers were roses. She always has them flipped so i wouldn’t hurt myself. One year, i told her that i would be sad when she died because all the roses would die with her. So, she gave me a plastic rose and said that as long as I have that rose, she would never be truly gone.”

Any other details : this was my first stalker romance, and i wanted to read that sik luv by jescie hall, but i picked this book and got captivated, and wanted to finish it. Zade leaving roses for adeline touched my heart. I’m still so wrapped up in zade that i don’t think I can list down all the things that could have been potentially disturbing for other readers. I loved their love story, and although gigi’s love story is solved, as the book says, my heart says there could be more to their story than i know. Zade will always and forever be my kitty cat. He likes his name better, but I like kitty cat more. Zade won my heart, I am not taking into account what morals have to say, just that I love this man, and he’s 🫶🏼.

Ruhaanika  𖹭

I don’t know if it’s just me or is this book overhyped? The writing felt like the author was trying too hard to make herself believe that she is a good author? 🤷🏻‍♀️  Zade is toxic, he IS not a hero, not a dark hero in any sense. He for fucks same f- her with a gun, that should make you run away. This book was a disappointment especially when she finds her grandmother’s love letters 💀 I can’t for the life of me recommend this shit to anyone. This book is just dark, there’s no romance. No hate to the author or readers who loved it. You can and are free to do so, just don’t ask me or others who disliked this book to do the same!!

↑ this was my review back when I read this book, without finishing it. Zade made me eat my own words. So here is my full review after reading this book again, with a new perspective. 

→ This is the first book in the cat & mouse duet. This is also my first book by hailey. I wanted to read it for such a long time, i couldn’t read it while having all my morals getting in the way, and i was not into dark romance at the time. 

I’m so happy i finished the book everyone kept talking about, hyping it, and i find that it is good. Just that i won’t hype it too much. 

Spoiler alert. 

[This book ends on a cliffhanger]

Plot : ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Story :⭐⭐⭐⭐

Burn :🌶️🌶️🌶️

Rating :⭐⭐⭐⭐ (I was going to give it three stars, but one more star for zade and only him) 

Tropes : enemies to lovers, contemporary, dark romance, stalker romance.

Pacing : medium. 

Characters : i) <spoiler>zade — let’s talk about him, he’s the best hacker, who dismantles corrupt governments and rescues victims of human trafficking. He’s also a stalker, which bleeds into his obsession with Adeline. The book starts with creepy vibes, Adeline moving into her grandmother’s house, and gets stalked by zade. The story progresses slowly, zade’s obsession, and him rescuing women and making sure they are safe, away from fucking pedophiles, and rich people who only fill their pockets. Zade won my heart, because i didn’t think out of every other profession, he’d be a hacker, and also protects women, and children. (Real men could never). His obsession with Adeline is strawberry on top. (I don’t like cherry on top of a cake) 

Zade does everything in his power to make sure no girl is being abused at the hands of a pedophile, or a rapist. He stalks Adeline, and makes her scared of her life, but in the book, Adeline loves it. And i don’t mind that either.</spoiler>

ii) Adeline reilly — Adeline is fiery, pretends to be strong, but is soft at heart, i liked her, but not too much. 

What I loved : the story, the plot. I was invested, although I took my time finishing this book. 

What I struggled with : nothing. Miss hailey’s writing is smooth, and i wanted to keep reading until the end. 

Loveable characters or not : yes. 

Strong character development : character development only for zade, Adeline still has to grow on me. 

Plot driven / character driven : a mix. 

Favorite quotes/ highlights : “my mother. Her favorite flowers were roses. She always has them flipped so i wouldn’t hurt myself. One year, i told her that i would be sad when she died because all the roses would die with her. So, she gave me a plastic rose and said that as long as I have that rose, she would never be truly gone.”

Any other details : this was my first stalker romance, and i wanted to read that sik luv by jescie hall, but i picked this book and got captivated, and wanted to finish it. Zade leaving roses for adeline touched my heart. I’m still so wrapped up in zade that i don’t think I can list down all the things that could have been potentially disturbing for other readers. I loved their love story, and although gigi’s love story is solved, as the book says, my heart says there could be more to their story than i know. Zade will always and forever be my kitty cat. He likes his name better, but I like kitty cat more. Zade won my heart, I am not taking into account what morals have to say, just that I love this man, and he’s 🫶🏼.

Clivia

soph 

This book was a page turner for sure. It had me hooked the moment I picked it up and and I couldn’t put it down. I finished it in about a week and throughly enjoyed every moment of it. As someone with some past trauma that relates to this book it didn’t trigger me at all. I don’t have a weak stomach by any means and am pretty desensitized to mostly everything. This book really wasn’t as bad as I had prepared myself for. I found the characters to be very intriguing. Adeline made me upset at times because of the way she was denying her love that was developing for Zade. Zade is a strong man who has a dangerous look too him and lives a dangerous lifestyle for the greater good. He’s a bad man but for good reasons. I really liked his character. At times I could see that the book may be cringey to people because of the nicknames and the lovey dovey stuff. I personally wasn’t bothered by it. It honestly wasn’t as smutty as I had anticipated. I’m not saying it wasn’t smutty but i’ve read books that were smut like every chapter. Definitely on the freaky side but there wasn’t a whole lot of sex scenes in my opinion. The author was not lying when she said that there was a cliffhanger. Not only was there a cliff hanger but there was two. One for each characters last chapter. Ending off on these cliffhangers really made me yearn to read the next book! I would definitely recommend this. It’s a popular book for a reason.

Vera Parker

!Slight spoilers!

This book was a page turner for sure. It had me hooked the moment I picked it up and and I couldn’t put it down. I finished it in about a week and throughly enjoyed every moment of it. As someone with some past trauma that relates to this book it didn’t trigger me at all. I don’t have a weak stomach by any means and am pretty desensitized to mostly everything. This book really wasn’t as bad as I had prepared myself for. I found the characters to be very intriguing. Adeline made me upset at times because of the way she was denying her love that was developing for Zade. Zade is a strong man who has a dangerous look too him and lives a dangerous lifestyle for the greater good. He’s a bad man but for good reasons. I really liked his character. At times I could see that the book may be cringey to people because of the nicknames and the lovey dovey stuff. I personally wasn’t bothered by it. It honestly wasn’t as smutty as I had anticipated. I’m not saying it wasn’t smutty but i’ve read books that were smut like every chapter. Definitely on the freaky side but there wasn’t a whole lot of sex scenes in my opinion. The author was not lying when she said that there was a cliffhanger. Not only was there a cliff hanger but there was two. One for each characters last chapter. Ending off on these cliffhangers really made me yearn to read the next book! I would definitely recommend this. It’s a popular book for a reason.



Lili 

I guess I know which book I'm reading next! 

@morallyblack Aww that's awesome! I'd love to discuss them with you! Just make sure to keep a very open mind for this one. Trust me, you'll want to stop and will question yourself once Zade starts worming his way into your heart. I truly hope you enjoy it!

Leonie

I think it's fair to say at this point, I could just replace my (smut) TBR with your "read"-shelf. Don't mind me picking this up soon now after hesitating for ages. I'm so curious! 

What an adrenaline high! I thought I was messed up after reading and liking Den of Vipers... Let me tell you, Haunting Adeline has me itching to call a mental institution after loving this book.

UNKNOWN: You haunt me. It's only fair I return the sentiment."

This book is D-A-R-K. I honestly wasn't sure where this book was going for the first quarter of the story. I wasn't even sure if I was going to like it, but man, Zade came in and stole my breath.

I stalk her because I'm fucking addicted." [...] "I'll have her because she's the first thing that made me feel something good in so long, and I've become obsessed with keeping it."

Despite Adeline fighting tooth and nail to get rid of Zade, the chemistry is there, especially when they finally meet face to face. The addiction that Zade has for Addie will certainly consume you. To have someone be as dedicated and devoted... Get me a Zade, please!

Another thing I loved about Zade is his full-on dedication to his organization in stopping innocent lives experience the nightmares of their lives. I felt his anguish, frustration, and anger towards what he fights for; it grips your heart just as much as it grips his. At first, seeing this man fight for innocents while also being a stalker himself is quite ironic, but like he explains. He chooses his morals to live by, and I find I'm quite okay with that.

"We're all fucking animals, baby. The only difference is I don't suppress mine."

I have to make a quick note on the ultra kinky sex! Hot damn! This book can catch fire all on its own. The teasing, the foreplay, and then the mirrors!!! What a fucking unique take on everything, and I am here for it!

"I'm going to remind you how good it feels to be mine."

When I said this book was dark, I mean it. This isn't your typical dark romance; it's definitely darker, more devastating, and more ghastly than you can imagine. It's truly not for the faint of heart. If you decide to read it, you won't regret it. Make sure to keep an open mind because this book goes far deeper on an emotional level that you can't even begin to comprehend.

I consider myself now addicted to these characters and to H.D. Carlton's writing; consumed is more like it. It's truly impossible to forget this book. I know it will live in my brain!

"I will fill every inch of you, Adeline. And in time, my redemption will become your salvation."

Haunting Adeline Cat and Mouse Duet #1

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