Is Hunting Adeline spicy?

Yes. We rate Hunting Adeline 5 out of 5 peppers (unhinged). The door is open: intimate scenes happen on the page.

Does Hunting Adeline have content warnings?

Yes. The published content warnings include: graphic rape (detailed), graphic cutting and self-harm, suicide ideation, violence and gore, torture, sexual assault, kidnapping, psychological, physical and mental abuse, explicit sexual situations, human trafficking, slave trade, grooming, severe PTSD.

Does Hunting Adeline have a happy ending?

Yes. Hunting Adeline ends on a happily ever after.

Can I read Hunting Adeline as a standalone?

No. It is book 2 in Cat and Mouse Duet; read the earlier books first.

Cat and Mouse Duet · 2Hunting AdelineH. D. Carlton

REVIEW · WP-XL // 2026-10-08

Hunting Adeline

by H. D. Carlton · Cat and Mouse Duet #2

unhinged dark romance stalker morally grey mmc dub con

The hunt is over. The rescue is worse.

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Spice check

Heat: unhinged5/5 · our rating
Door: Open
Ending: HEA (happily ever after)
POV: dual first person
Series: Cat and Mouse Duet, book 2 of 2read in order

Content warnings

graphic rape (detailed)
graphic cutting and self-harm
suicide ideation
violence and gore
torture
sexual assault
kidnapping
psychological, physical and mental abuse
explicit sexual situations
human trafficking
slave trade
grooming
severe PTSD

From the published list at hdcarlton.com. Condensed, not exhaustive.

The review

Haunting Adeline ended with Adeline taken. Hunting Adeline is what happens next: Adeline trapped inside the trafficking ring Zade has spent his life trying to destroy, and Zade tearing the world apart to get her back. It is the second half of the most divisive duet on BookTok, and it is darker than the first.

The book splits its time between the two of them. Adeline's chapters are a survival story set in the worst place imaginable, and Carlton does not look away. Zade's chapters are a revenge thriller, with the hacker vigilante finally unleashing everything he has against the people who took her.

The romance changes shape. With the stalker phase over, the book is about whether two people can find their way back after unimaginable trauma, and the reunion is the payoff readers came for. Zade's devotion, which read as menacing in book one, becomes the thing that holds the story together.

The heat: five peppers. The intimate scenes between the leads are explicit and as intense as in the first book. The author's own warnings make clear that the book also contains detailed, graphic sexual violence that is not between the main characters. This is not a romance where the darkness is only aesthetic.

Know before you start: read Haunting Adeline first. Then read the author's trigger warnings below, all of them. They include graphic rape, self-harm, torture, trafficking and grooming, and they are not exaggerated. The duet ends with a happy ending for Adeline and Zade. If you finished book one sure you need to know what happens, this is the answer, but it will cost you.

Read it if you are already committed to Adeline and Zade and you know your limits. Skip it if any of the warnings below are hard nos for you; nothing about the story makes them optional.

Quick answers

Is Hunting Adeline spicy?: Yes. We rate Hunting Adeline 5 out of 5 peppers (unhinged). The door is open: intimate scenes happen on the page.
Does Hunting Adeline have content warnings?: Yes. The published content warnings include: graphic rape (detailed), graphic cutting and self-harm, suicide ideation, violence and gore, torture, sexual assault, kidnapping, psychological, physical and mental abuse, explicit sexual situations, human trafficking, slave trade, grooming, severe PTSD.
Does Hunting Adeline have a happy ending?: Yes. Hunting Adeline ends on a happily ever after.
Can I read Hunting Adeline as a standalone?: No. It is book 2 in Cat and Mouse Duet; read the earlier books first.