Are you craving a dark and depraved read? How about steamy and erotic? The Haunting Adeline series might just be perfect for you. Previously banned on Amazon reads, this book is now an Amazon top 5 bestseller!
Self-published by H. D. Carlton in 2021, readers can't seem to get enough of this eerie sensation. If you want to jump on the spooky bandwagon, don't worry, we've got you covered. Here's everything you need to know about the gripping Haunting Adeline duology.
What is Haunting Adeline About?
Haunting Adeline, the first book in the Cat and Mouse Duet, is horror romance at its darkest. Not for the faint of heart, this book shines a line on horrors both supernatural and human.
Adeline “Addie” Riley is a bestselling author whose recently deceased grandmother bequeath's her a house. Moving into the haunted Parsons Manor, Addie finds her great-grandmother's journal. Her great-grandmother was brutally murdered in the very house Addie is now living in, and her writings reveal unsettling parallels to Addie's own life. It's a dark discovery that leads her into the depths of an old and twisted murder mystery.
This isn't Adeline's only problem, of course. Adeline also has some present and living danger of her own: a stalker. Zade is a hulking man clad in black who watches Adeline sleep—and doesn't hesitate to take what he wants.
Zade also happens to be a vigilante hellbent on killing and torturing sex traffickers and pedophiles, a moralistic stance that feels a bit ironic given his actions in this book. Unfortunately, his passionate obsession with Adeline puts her life in jeopardy, as he is a man who has made a lot of powerful enemies.
As this is a dark romance, the conflicts, and red flags that would make most women run the other way don't particularly phase our heroine. Teaming up with her stalker-turned-lover, Adeline helps Zade take down a nefarious sex trafficking ring.
Haunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse Duet Book 1)
Why was Haunting Adeline banned?
Following its self-publication in 2021, Haunting Adeline was banned by Amazon. The reason seems a bit backwards: While trigger warnings are typically regarded as a considerate inclusion for readers, the list of warning author H. D. Carlton put in the beginning of her book was the very reason it was taken down. While the content of the story itself hasn't since change, it was apparently just the straightforward list of warnings that was objectionable.
Since you won't find the trigger warnings on Amazon anymore, here's what readers have in store for them in the series: graphic violence, dubious and non-consent, stalking, explicit sexual depictions, kinks including degradation, gun play, and somnophilia, as well as child trafficking, child death, and human sacrifice.
The Infamous Gun Scene in Haunting Adeline
If you're on the right (or wrong?) side of booktok, then you know the question on everyone's lips: What chapter is the gun scene in Haunting Adeline? It's chapter 16. You're welcome.
For those of you who are a little less depraved—or at least a little more out of the loop—the gun scene is a pivotal moment for most readers. Incredibly sexy to some and despicably vile to others, this chapter is the most common make-or-break factor for if a reader calls it quits or rushes on forward through the story.
The symbolism of guns isn't a new discussion, so how this chapter unfolds may not be the most difficult thing for you to figure out. To say more, it brings in major elements of nonconsensual physicality and object kink. To say less, it puts the “dark” in the dark romance.
The Haunting Adeline Series
More casually referred to as the Haunting Adeline series, the set is officially titled the Cat and Mouse Duet. The second book in the duology is Hunting Adeline. Considering the first dark and steamy tale ends on a cliffhanger, readers who were hooked on the first rushed to pick up the next book.
The second installment leans more heavily into revenge and taking down the trafficking ring. While Hunting Adeline promises even more spicy content, be prepared for content that is loads darker and infinitely more graphic and triggering.
Hunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse Duet Book 2)
Before you dive into the Cat and Mouse Duet, it's actually suggested—though not required—that you start with the series prequel, Satan's Affair. The book follows a woman named Sibel, whose story will effect others for years to come.
Sibel and her fair (the titular Satan's Affair) travel the country at Halloween time, offering haunted houses and frightful rides. But Sibel's true purpose is to use her gift—her gift of sensing evil. After casting her judgement, she and her henchmen carry out executions to make the world a better place.
In addition to giving some context to the dark world of Haunting Adeline, it also showcases just how lethal Zade is.
Satan's Affair
H.D. Carlton's Cat and Mouse Duet is a divisive read. You're not going to see a lot of three-star reviews, with most opinions landing on the extreme sides of the spectrum.
If you like extreme horror and extreme smut, I wouldn't hesitate to add this book to your shopping cart. But if there's pretty much and taboo topic that makes you clutch your pearls, maybe skip it.
