Review: Where's Molly? By H D Carlton
- Courtney
- May 7
- 2 min read
A dark romance featuring the mysterious Molly.
Dates read: 12/02/25 to 05/03/25
Word to describe: Haunting
Star rating:⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Dark Romance, Erotic Fiction, Thriller
Trigger warnings: please take care when reading this book it contains strong subjects. Sexual assault, rape, child trafficking, paedophilia, incest, parental abuse, sex trafficking, murder, self-harm, child abuse, physical abuse, physical harm during consensual sexual acts.
Where's Molly? Everywhere and nowhere. Kidnapped, assaulted, and then turned into a human body garbage disposal.
Molly's character is strong, passionate, and unyielding. She has escaped horrors from her past, saved her younger sister from a childhood of torment and abuse, and rescued herself from the clutches of evil. She now finds herself settled in a pig farm and helping to dispose of the remains of child abusers and rapists. Then a face from her past shows up and she can't help but fall for him.
When Molly escaped her abuser and rapists trafficking house she found herself unsure of how to return to society and function with her trauma. She finds her sister and rescues her from their father and learns of her mother's death. With her little sister in hand she flees her old hometown and tries to new. But things don't go as planned. Several years later we meet Molly again, alone and secluded from the world - just the way she likes it.
One thing I enjoyed about Where's Molly is the little snippets into Molly's past, and whilst I still wish we as readers saw more of Molly's transition and healing of her trauma, I think that H D Carlton truly brought Molly to life in these flashbacks and showed her struggle to return to society and feel at home in her new life.
When Molly is reintroduced to a man she said goodbye to several years ago sparks return and she struggles with feelings of inadequacy and longing. Her trauma leaves her feeling ugly and unworthy of Cage's love. Determined to prove that Molly is worthy Cage returns to her home time and time again to beat down the walls she has created and shown her she needs love (and passionate sex) in her life.
Honestly, I didn't like the romance aspect of this book. I felt like Cage's character was unrealistic and spent too much time pushing Molly's boundaries and forcing a connection. I know this is H D Carlton's favourite kind of male characters, a man who can't take no for an answer and feels his way into romance, but with Cage it felt forced.
I wanted less of Cage and more of Molly and her backstory. I think the letters in the previous duology Haunting/Hunting Adeline set up the expectation that Molly's story would be badass and this one was just okay.
