Hooked by Emily McIntire

This is a standalone and the first in the Never After Series of a dark romance where the villain gets the girl. It is not a literal retelling but a dark, spicy contemporary romance (not a fantasy) reimagining of Peter Pan.

Wendy meets James (Hook) at a popular bar he runs in town when she and her friends sneak in with a fake ID. Before he knows she is the daughter of the man who ruined his life (Peter), she stands out like a bright star in the sky. When he bumps into her and she doesn't fall at his feet like all other women do when they look upon his devastatingly handsome face, that makes her even more interesting. He likes that he has to pursue her rather than throwing herself at him. The fact that his arch enemies precious shadow willingly came into his domain was perfect and now he needs to work his charm to win her over so he can finally destroy him once and for all. The bar is where he and his partner filter money, but their real business is in selling drugs and protection to the surrounding businesses. Peter is trying to take over the area and Hook will have none of that. He will ruin him and take the one thing Peter truly cares about—his beloved shadow, his daughter Wendy.

This hit many of the character points with familiar references to them without it being a fantasy and had not only "Hook" as a villain but Peter as well. Although James "Hook" is known to be a powerful and dangerous man, he falters a bit regarding Wendy. She is nothing like any of the women he has ever known, and he gets under his skin. Again, this is a spicy tale, so don't let your kiddos read it.

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lovelynovellas's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“The greatest thing I’ve ever done in my life was to love you, Wendy darling”

I enjoyed this. Wendy was a bit too “innocent” and naive for me, it was a bit eye rolling. I liked the twists at the end and the epilogue taking place two years later.

Tw: death, murder, kidnapping, blood, gore, drugs, knives, guns, torture, sexual content

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gturner92's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Everyone was dumb and whiny. I couldn't get into it. Both main characters were just oblivious to everything around them. How people acted towards then told everything we needed to know and they were just delusional. It was an annoying book. Stockholm syndrome is real apparently.

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m3ll0n_c4t's review against another edition

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4.75

I loved this book! I am hesitant to give it 5 stars because there were a couple plot points that were a little silly, but it was an amazing book overall.

Was not expecting the first spicy scene to involve choking, great into to the sex scenes

There was a lot of foreshadowing for the main bad guy at the end, so it was a bit predictable. However I did not predict WHY he was against the MMC, great twist! Or the suprise after that.

Satisfying ending with lovable characters and great spice.

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crazybooklady89's review

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

🌶️🌶️🌶️ oh my! I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect when starting this one, but this wasn’t it. I loved this re-imagination of Peter Pan so much!!! James (“Hook”) was so endearing, and Wendy didn’t irritate the hell out of me like most heroines do in these types of books. Taking 1 star away because I do think it was rushed in many parts. I wish the book had been longer so that more buildup and detail could be added.

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