The title of this book certainly speaks for itself. He wants revenge, but he wants her more… James has always had one agenda: destroy his enemy, Peter Michaels. When Peter’s twenty-year-old daughter Wendy shows up in James’s bar, he sees his way in. Seduce the girl and use her for his revenge. It’s the perfect plan, until things in James’s organization begin to crumble. Suddenly, he has to find the traitor in his midst, and his plan for revenge gets murkier as James starts to see Wendy as more than just a pawn in his game. Wendy has been cloistered away most of her life by her wealthy cold father, but a spontaneous night out with friends turns into an intense and addictive love affair with the dark and brooding James. As much as she knows James is dangerous, Wendy can’t seem to shake her desire for him. But as their relationship grows more heated and she learns more about the world he moves in, she finds herself unsure if she’s falling for the man known as James or the monster known as Hook. ( )

Smut book club dark selection
A rather naive Wendy meets Hook - drug runner, murderer, and oh so sexy villain with a grudge against Wendy's father - and she's soon in over her head. But Peter's not the hero of this Peter Pan reimagining, and there's more to the story than faith, trust, and pixie dust.
Hooked was fairly dark. I liked the way side characters and locales had names linking them to the overall Peter Pan theme. The sexual tension is great and the writing is high quality. I would read another of her books. ( )

DNF

the cringe is strong with this one

Hooked by Emily Mcintire
Genre: Dark Romance
Read: March 2023

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I think Hooked is my least favourite of the Never After series.

Don’t get me wrong, Emily’s writing is phenomenal and the story itself was good. I think my biggest issue was with Wendy. She was too submissive and not the brightest. James on the other hand was smokin’! I can totally see Tom Ellis playing James. 🥵❤️

I guess Wendy can be somewhat redeemed at the end for finally standing up for herself, but I think it was a little to late for me. ( )

Touted as a modern-day "Peter Pan"-flavoured dark romance. Definitely not a retelling, more an AU take. The writing was fair but I didn't enjoy the overly simplistic characterisations. I found the violence tediously cartoonish, the plot paper-thin, the characters bland and the twist not only telegraphed but semaphored, phoned and texted at me.

Unrealistically beautiful people falling in "Twue Wuv" practically instantaneously is just not something I can suspend my disbelief for, and don't enjoy it. I also have Thoughts about the sex scenes when seen in context of the time frame they're portrayed as occurring. Maybe Romance just isn't the genre for me. All in all, meh. ( )