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.

Content Warnings

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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cookreadrepeat's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

crazybooklady89's review against another edition

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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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whitneylv's review against another edition

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Not bad. Might pick it up later but just not the best and much darker than I anticipated.

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things100's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Oh my gosh this book was soooo good. James was sooo morally grey I’m obsessed. Wendy and James are the cutest

Content Warnings

eule's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

3.0

The darkest romance I've read so far, I believe (next to neon gods).
It was good. Not fantastic and not exquisite.
The characters and their back stories were build pretty bland. The storyline was obvious and the rapid change of the main characters feelings for eachother (I hate you to I love you in literally two chapters) was a little cheap.
However, I enjoyed the sex. Be real, we are all here for the smut. So if you want to read toecurling porn, then go for it!

Content Warnings