Hooked: Review

Welcome to 2024, friends! Remember that time when I used to blog? WELL I DO TOO, let’s see if we can get back to it… 

I’d love to go into a nice, long recap of the last several years of my life. You know… what I’ve been up to, what I’ve been reading, a long story about some obstacle I’ve overcome… but if you’re anything like me, you’ll just skip it, so I think I will too. INSTEAD, let’s talk about some of the smut I’ve been reading. Because that’s one thing I will update you on – I’VE DISCOVERED SMUT AND IT. IS. GOOD. 

First read of the year – Hooked by Emily McIntire.  

This is the second Never After book I’ve read, because I inexplicably started on #2?, and I loved it. There’s something about reliving childhood Disney stories, but in an extremely dark and smutty way, where the villain gets the girl (SPOILER ALERT), that really piqued my interest… so, let’s get to it. 

Highlights:
Hook is not a good man. He kills, maims, and overall just does what he wants. 
Wendy has been sheltered her entire life. Her rich and powerful father has kept her docile, and she’s let him. 
When Hook and Wendy meet up by chance at his bar, neither expect to fall head over heels. Will his need for revenge overpower his growing feelings for her? And can she accept the man she’s come to know or will his reputation precede him?

Trigger warnings (TW): graphic sexual scenes, breath play/choking, torture, murder, physical assault, kidnapping, mentions of pedophilia/sexual abuse of a minor, mentions of physical abuse of a minor.

What I thought:
LOVED. IT. 

I’ve actually never been a big Peter Pan fan, which is why I didn’t immediately pick this up. That said – this is not Walt’s Neverland. The Boston accents are heavy (and really annoying on audio) and the violence is ABUNDANT. Hook/James doesn’t pretend to be anything other than he is, and Wendy doesn’t get annoyingly weird and flip floppy when he shows her his true colors. It’s short and sweet enough to get to the point, but long enough to give us backstory and plot to make the whole thing entertaining. I quite literally couldn’t put it down and ravaged it (pun intended) in less than 24 hours. 

P.s. Emily McIntire reposted my story when I finished this last night, so… I might have peaked early this year…