A review by olnau
Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

3.0

My first dark romance, and I’ll always be grateful for that, but looking back now (many books deep into the genre), this one doesn’t fully hold up. It’s not the triggers that bothered me, I can handle unhinged, I welcome the dark, it’s the lack of depth in Zade’s character. He’s portrayed as this dark savior rescuing trafficking victims, yet his actions toward Adeline are the complete opposite of what he stands for. That contradiction could’ve worked if the character had any emotional logic or inner conflict, but to me, he felt flat, hypocritical, and underdeveloped.
Still, it opened the door for me, and I don’t regret reading it. I just wish Zade had been written with more complexity.