I was given an early copy of the audio book on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. NO SPOILERS!

1940s Haunting Adeline prequel? Sign me up!!

HD Carlton is a drop everything and read type of author so that’s what I did. I finished this baby in one day!

Because I know someone’s going to ask, you don’t need to read Haunting Adeline to understand this story. It’s a complete standalone. Like many people who read dark romance, I read and LOVED Haunting/Hunting Adeline, so I was looking forward to reading more stories in this universe and I was not disappointed. Yes it’s different from Haunting Adeline and Renaldo isn’t Zade, but it was so good! I love the gangster, mobster vibes with fedora hat wearing characters.

Genevieve is living with her derelict, no good, POS husband, John, and their daughter Sarah at Parsons Manor. She discovers she is being stalked by a man outside her window, Renaldo, and over time they have an affair. I enjoyed the characters. Their sexual dynamic was different from what I was expecting. Which isn’t a bad thing. Genevieve is tough, confident and knows what she wants. This is a dark romance, but not as dark as Haunting Adeline which was perfect for this story.

I love the duet style audio book. Both narrators did a fantastic job bringing this story to life. Also forgive me if I misspell names. Since I listened to this as an audio book I’m not sure if the names are correct.

Definitely check triggers before diving into this story!

I have no criticisms or ideas to improve this story so FIVE STARS
The spice was spicy. I’d give it four chili peppers