Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton is one part mystery, one part action thriller, and two parts something I don’t even have words for.
Adeline is a romance author who recently attracted the attention of Zade, a vigilante who is basically Batman, without cape and cowl. While this stalker romance is blossoming, Addie finds out that her great-grandmother was possibly murdered by her own stalker. Meanwhile, Zade is hunting down a secret society attempting to call upon some Lovecraftian-type entities. Just like I’m calling upon you to tap the like button.
While it may seem like there’s a lot going on, it was still easy to follow and kept me engaged. And for the most part, I like Carlton’s writing style. However, I will say that I liked Does it Hurt a little more than this one because I wish Haunting Adeline had more suspense or higher stakes. While Zade puts himself in dangerous situations, he pretty much just breezes through. It’s not until the very end that the excitement ramps up and we’re left on a cliffhanger.
The characters of Zade and Adeline are well-written, but sometimes the “romantic” dialogue between them gets pretty cringy. With lines like, “Will you be my last meal, baby?”
Or, “Are you saying you’re my daddy?”
“That’s right, baby. And you’re my good little girl.”
I couldn’t help but snicker and roll my eyes. But I’m a vibe reader, so that doesn’t really bother me.
Overall, I really enjoyed Haunting Adeline and will be continuing with the series. I will say it wasn’t as spicy as I expected it to be. Maybe I over hyped it in my mind, but for me it’s like a 3 out of 5 peppers. As for my recommendation, if you like dark romance and you haven’t read this one yet, then I’d say give it a shot. And until next time, my name is James and you’ve been watching Rotten Reads.