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If your idea of romance involves gothic mansions, shadowy stalkers, and moral lines blurred beyond recognition, then Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton might be your next reading obsession—or your next freak-out. As the first book in the Cat and Mouse Duet, this dark romance ignites polarizing debates by delivering psychological tension, disturbing kinks, and a love that assaults as much as it entices.
Plot Summary: Welcome to Parsons Manor... if You Dare
Adeline Reilly, a bestselling author, inherits Parsons Manor—a grand, eerie mansion steeped in family secrets and ominous whispers. As she settles in, she discovers her great-grandmother Gigi’s diaries, which reveal a history of obsession and tragedy that eerily mirrors her own unfolding story TV TropesSelected Reads.
And then there’s Zade Meadows: part vigilante hacker hunting human traffickers, part obsessive stalker fixated on Adeline. He appears in her life like a ghost—haunting, protective, and terrifying. What starts as surveillance escalates into psychological manipulation, physical danger, and a twisted romance that tests every boundary Knowledge CompendiumbooksalchemyAudible.com.
Characters: Shadows and Flames
Adeline Reilly
Bold, emotionally complex, and ultimately naive, Adeline is drawn into a deadly dance of fear and fascination. She channels the traits of her lineage—curiosity, resilience, and a warped streak of bravery—even when she should literally run away Selected Readsbuchzusammenfassungen.com.
Zade Meadows
A morally ambiguous savior with a brutal edge. Zade watches, protects, and possesses. His protective instinct—triggered when Adeline is threatened—morphs into something disturbingly seductive. He saves victims from monsters, and yet, his love walks the knife’s edge between devotion and violence Audible.comNew Book RecommendationTrilogyofromance.
Tropes (With Bite)
This novel holds a dark romance trope bingo card:
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Stalker Romance – Love born from surveillance and obsession.
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Possessive Antihero (Touch-Her-&-Die) – Zade’s protective vow isn’t always comforting.
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Fierce FMC – Adeline is no helpless damsel, even when she's trapped.
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Dubious Consent – Consent is murky, manipulated, and traumatizing.
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Gothic Setting – Parsons Manor is more than backdrop—it’s a breathing, haunted participant.
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Cliffhanger Ending – Book 1 leaves you dangling—terrified and craving more TrilogyofromanceTV TropesLevel Answers.
Trigger Warnings: Proceed with Caution
This isn't a book for casual consumption. If you’re sensitive to the following, tread carefully or skip:
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Stalking & Obsession
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Dubious/Non-Consent
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Graphic Sexual Content (including degradation, bondage, and somnophilia)
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Human Trafficking and Child-related Violence
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Explicit Violence, Torture & Murder
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Psychological Manipulation, PTSD, Emotional Abuse Audible.comKCS Book CornerBookish Momma.
Writing Style & Smut Level
H.D. Carlton writes with sharp psychological precision. She uses dual POV (Adeline and Zade), so you’re inside both hunter’s mind and prey’s dread Medium. The prose oscillates between gothic lushness and chilling bluntness—as poetic as a moonlit corridor, as raw as a threat whispered behind a locked door.
Smut? It’s undeniably explicit. More than heat, the intimacy veers into power plays and possession, often leaving readers feeling both hot and… uneasy. There are scenes that linger long in the mind—and in nightmares primetimer.comNew Book Recommendation.
Quotes That Capture the Darkness
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Seductive Terror: “When you make someone fall in love with the darkest parts of you, there’s nothing you can do that will scare them away.” Goodreads
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Predator’s Promise: “Control isn’t love, but sometimes, it’s the only thing I know how to give.” Level Answers
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Obsession Poured in Roses: “Let me know which stars you prefer… the ones above you, or the ones I make you see.” Goodreads
These lines encapsulate the tension—every sentence hits with danger and desire.
Reception: Love, Loathe, or LOLOL
Haunting Adeline has turned into the dark romance that broke BookTok. Some readers praise its raw emotional edge and addictive intensity; others condemn it as romanticizing abuse and stalking. One scathing Reddit review captures this divide:
“He saves women from predators but does the same things to Adeline?… It’s just romanticizing sexual abuse.” Reddit
Others, however, are lost to the thrill, continuing the story into Book 2: Hunting Adeline Katie's Book Blog.
Even Amazon briefly banned the book—for being too honest with its trigger warnings Dirty Girl Romance.
Final Verdict: Dark Fire You May Not Want—But Won't Forget
Pros:
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Unflinchingly dark, atmospheric, and immersive.
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Gothic brilliance in setting and psychological tension.
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Provokes intense emotional responses and conversations.
Cons:
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Extremely triggering for many readers.
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Consent is dangerously ambiguous—feelings of guilt or discomfort are part of the experience.
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Not a romantic fantasy—it’s a psychological thriller with erotic elements.
If you're searching for a romance that scars, challenges your boundaries, and dares you to question what love means in the shadows—Haunting Adeline demands to be read... but not without preparation.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Blood-Soaked Roses
Not for the faint of heart—or ethics—but undeniably unforgettable.
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