I saw a goodreads mutual reading The Pucking Wrong Number by CR Jane, and then saw them immediately pick up the second in the series. That had me immediately picking this up and when I tell you, that mutual was not wrong because I also went and immediately picked up books 2 and 3 (though I haven’t had the time to start them yet.) This was a great dark hockey romance that was actually fairly dark, very spicy, and so enjoyable!
To start, this is an actual stalker romance. It isn’t boring with barely any stalking like Haunting Adeline (yes, I will forever be upset that folks tout that as the ultimate dark stalker romance when it truly isn’t.) There are some dark elements that you’ll need to pay attention to the trigger warnings for because I’ve seen so many reviews giving this a 1-star or DNFing because they didn’t expect this to be that dark (weird I guess because a lot of the kinks seemed typical for dark stalker romances but what do I know.) Pacing was quick. I never felt like the story lagged or dragged on. Characters fulfilled their role. What I mean is, this isn’t the type of story where we’re going to get deep, fully 3D believable characters with a rich tapestry of backstory. It’s a dark hockey stalker romance under 400 pages and the characters fit the bill.
MMC Lincoln is obsessed after some back and forth texts with a wrong number. He finds out everything about Monroe, our FMC, follows her, breaks into her apartment, etc. He is deliciously dark and absolutely infatuated. Monroe thinks he is a nice guy and likes him. She just wants to work hard and move up in the world. But for some reason, everything seems to fall apart around her and she has no clue why. I’m not sure why, but Monroe being completely naive and clueless didn’t turn me off the way many flat, doormat FMCs do. I think because once things happen, she does at least try a little bit to fight back.
If you want a dark stalker romance, with a bit of hockey thrown in, I think you’ll enjoy The Pucking Wrong Number by CR Jane. It is wildly spicy with a satisfying ending. If you’re new to dark romance, or have some hard lines against typical kinks in this genre, maybe try something lighter. And if you’re looking for some deep, soul changing profound writing, definitely look elsewhere. This is a book that you just take as is and what it is is dark, obsessive, and unrealistic, but boy a fun ride.
Featured Kinks/TWs: dubcon, somnophilia, stalking, false imprisonment
