Hooked- Emily McIntire

Narration: Dual 1st person POV

*Spice*: 3.5/5

Trope: No clue

Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall Rating- 5/5

JAMES ANDREW BARRY! SIRR! 

Emily, Emily, Emily. Thank you. 

Let me start with this; as my first read of 2024, I couldn’t have asked for a better book to start with. Spicy, steamy, dark and a little messed up. This entire series all take inspiration from one of the fairytales, they are not retellings. Hooked takes inspiration from Peter Pan. If you watched Peter Pan as a kid, you’d understand all the little easter eggs she’s hidden in this book. 

This is where some of the potential spoilers start, so read at your own risk. 

First the characters we all know. We have a lot of the original characters; captain Hook, Peter Pan, Wendy, little John, Mr. Smee, Tinker Bell (just wait for it ok), Curly, Starkey and the Jolly Roger. So, Hook is still Hook, Peter Pan is still Peter Pan, and they still have that rivalry. Wendy, however, is Peter’s daughter. Little John (he’s just John in the book, is Wendys little brother). Curly, Starkey and Mr. Smee still work for Hook, and the Jolly Roger is the name of Hook’s bar that he owns. Tinker Bell is actually Tina Bell and is Peter’s assistant. She’s still jealous of Wendy (shock). 

Then there’s the tiny details. In the movies growing up, Wendy always had a baby blue dress. In the book, the first time she meets Hook, she’s wearing a blue dress, he buys he blue dresses and requests (it’s not really a request, but you know what I mean) that she wears something blue. ‘Pixie dust’ is the name of the drug Hook is distributing; this is modern day, and he is a drug lord. The Jolly Roger is the name of his club, and the main place they’d use to clean the drug money. We all know that Hook was always afraid of this one crocodile right, he was always trying to catch and kill it. In this instance, the crocodile is his uncle, Croc. He went to live with his uncle when he was 11 and well……let’s just say his uncle wasn’t the best. With this, we all also remember from the live action film in 2003, Hook always knew when the crocodile was coming because of the ticks of the clock. In the book, Hook hates the sound of any clock ticking; it reminded him of when he was younger, and he could always hear his uncle’s pocket watch ticking. In the originals, Wendy’s last name is “Darling”; Hooks pet name for Wendy in the book is darling, so he’d always refer to her as “Wendy darling”. Obviously, we can all guess what happens in the end right? Hook and Wendy end up together. 

All these little details only enhanced the book. If you took them away, this would still be a terrific book. With the spice and drama, it was amazing. 

The MOUTH on this man! Good lord!! We love a man who knows what to say to you. He is our tall, dark and handsome man. That part is no surprise really. He’s protective of Wendy, and then eventually her little brother as well, which we love. He’s a busy man that makes time for his woman. We love to see it. 

Wendy starts off as innocent and timid, and very protective of her brother.  She’s a girl who just wants to live a life that isn’t in her dad’s shadow. We see her become brave and woman really. We love a woman becoming her true self.

Overall, I think it’s safe to say I loved this book, and I would highly recommend it. I gave the spice a 3.5 only because there wasn’t a large amount of it, but when there was………baby girl, have the towel at the ready. You know what I’m saying. If you’re new to dark romance, this is a great start. It’s not straight in with the stalking, Stockholm syndrome or violence. It’s a good entry. 

So, if you want to see the villain have his happy ending, you should read Hooked.