Review – Haunting Adeline Duet

Synopsis

**There is no way to give you a full synopsis without completely spoiling the story so I will give a very cliffnotes overview because this story either needs to be read in its entirety or just leave it on the shelf & move away because it is a wild ride that requires a commitment to get through.

Adeline Reilly is an author who has just moved into her grandmothers home after her nana passed away. The house is a gothic dream with a dark interior, gargoyles on the exterior & even a few ghosts. The nightmare of this house is that it seems to attract stalkers. Shortly after moving in she finds a journal hidden in the house from her great grandmother who was murdered in this very home. In this journal is the haunting story of her Gigi falling in love with her stalker only to be found out & murdered. However, since the case of her murder was unsolved Addie takes it upon herself to figure out which man in Gigi’s life killed her. Only Addie realizes she’s no only looking into a stalker but she’s attracted one of her own.
Zade Meadows is a bad man. He’s a vigilante with a beautiful mission & a very dark way of accomplishing it. However, once he has set his sights on the beautiful Adeline he also finds a new life mission – making Adeline fall in love with him, dark parts & all. By becoming entwined in her life he brings with him all the danger of his world & soon Addie’s life is also wrapped up in the dark underworld Zade works to destroy.
The two must work on their own & together to fight against the horrors they face in this world. Addie must work to see light in the dark & overcome all the trauma this life has brought her & Zade must learn to be patient & how to help Addie rise to the occasion.

** This series deals with stalking, sex tracking, non consensual sexual acts, murder, mental illness & a lot of trauma – please be aware this is a very dark story – the content & characters are very dark. **

Break It Down

Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 – 4 Stars
Let me start by saying by the end of book two I really loved Zade & Addie. However, this story was a lot to read. The people Zade is fighting against are straight out of a Q Anon nightmare story. It’s unhinged & terrifying. A lot of terrible things happen to Addie & it was a lot for me to get through. I skimmed a lot of the violence bc it was simply too much for me. But the way the author made sure to have Zade & Addie come together & mold together their dark parts was beautiful. Him helping her with her trauma (in a very Zade Meadows way) was also beautiful. I also found that even though obviously Zade goes about getting Addie in a nontraditional way (ie stalking) that he is actually very romantic & the things he says are beautiful. I loved him by the end & even though he’s a dark character he really is so so good.

Content: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – 4 Stars
Obviously an enemies to lovers. The trigger warnings alone will keep a lot of people from this book but I’m glad I read it. I felt the entire duet really captured how it would really drain a person to go through what Addie goes through. Zade was also very well written. We really got to be in his head & I enjoyed his point of view so much. It felt like the author really kept the storyline moving forward by showing us how Zade uses his good heart in a dark way to fight against the evils of the world.

Spice: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 – 5 Flames
There is very little truly consensual sex in these books until the end. The scenes with Zade at the beginning are crazy & 🥵🥵 but it’s definitely a forced scenario. However, as any dark romance reader knows – it only gets better from there. When they get to experience true intimacy at the end of the series 🔥🔥 woah. so so so good.

Overall: ✨✨✨✨ – 4.5 Stars
I was so stoked to read this. I had seen it all over bookstagram & was hyped when it came time on my TBR. However, about 1/4th of the way into this book I was like what the fu*k did I get into here. It was INTENSE. The story is so harsh & the characters are all a little crazy. It was a wild ride. Then book one ended on a cliff hanger that about killed me. I immediately picked up book two & was like oh my god it’s even more intense – this is insane. But by the end they come together & fight against all the bad to become these amazing versions of themselves. It was SO GOOD. I am really glad I read it all. Definitely recommend if you’re into dark romance & don’t mind a lot of violence.