Hooked: A Dark, Contemporary Romance

Wendy and James’s relationship develops further when they have their first sexual encounter, but their conversations are based on a shaky foundation of intermingled truth and lies. Although James accuses Wendy of pretending to have feelings for him, she easily turns his own accusations back on him, reversing his trend of dominance and regaining control of the interaction. Up until this point, James has largely been in control of everything in his life. Wendy’s accusation that James is parading his possessions to avoid expressing himself makes James recall her initial rejections of his flirtation. While James wants to keep the focus on Wendy, she continues to reflect his attitude in a way that makes him more self-aware. Wendy’s ability to deflect James’s advances and tendency to take control in intimate situations are likely what lead James to suspect that she is smarter than he had anticipated. The goal of using Wendy as a tool to get revenge on Peter has not faded entirely, but there are gaps forming in James’s motivations. James notes that he does not want “these feelings to muddle up” (91) his real goal, but within this fear is the implicit acknowledgment that he does have real feelings and attraction for Wendy. Though he calls this “the pitch-black parts” of his soul calling out for “her light” (91), the mere presence of these feelings suggests that his soul is not so dark as he thinks. Again, Wendy is forcing James to self-reflect and analyze his own perspective, leading to a breakdown of his supposedly villainous personality, again illustrating The Fine Line Between Criminality and Villainy.

These chapters also continue the theme of The Problematic Portrayal of Violence as a Virtue in Dark Romance, for James and Wendy’s first sexual encounter aboard his yacht displays marked undercurrents of dominance, submission, and physical violence. Even though Wendy’s expressed desire to be choked indicates consent, the novel’s previous scenes depicting James’s predilection for physical violence and his ulterior motives in dating Wendy imbue the scene with an element of danger. However, even amid such nonstandard sexual interactions, Wendy manages to exhibit elements of Women’s Struggle for Independence in a Patriarchal World, for as James betrays signs of toxic possessiveness, she lies about having been with other men to subvert his expectations of her status as a virgin. The relevance of Wendy’s virginity plays into the complexities of both her self-esteem and James’s jealousy. James wants Wendy to be a virgin because it plays into his own narrative of becoming the sole proprietor of Wendy’s sexuality, but the idea of her sexual experience also drives the desire for total ownership further. For Wendy, on the other hand, the lie reflects her own internal uncertainty in the midst of this intense sexual experience, for the narrative implies that she is ashamed of her own inexperience. At the same time, she realizes that James is possessive, and she therefore lies partly to undermine his desire to claim total ownership over her body and her identity in this intimate moment. Because the characters’ first sexual encounter is dominated by these unspoken psychological games, the author demonstrates the couple’s reluctance to let each other become so dangerously close. Even in the midst of her physical surrender, Wendy is unsure of James’s true motives and does not want to give in to his charms too readily. Likewise, James has formed an idealized image of Wendy in his mind, and he does not want to learn that his vision of Wendy might not align perfectly with reality.

Standing in opposition to this growing relationship, Peter emerges as a common antagonist for both James and Wendy. Wendy is beginning to perceive Peter as being far more threatening than merely a disappointing and absentee father figure, for his unilateral decision to pack Jon off to boarding school represents his transition into an active threat to Jon’s well-being. Peter’s prior neglect of his family at least came with the benefit of allowing Jon to homeschool with Wendy. However, now Peter plans to send Jon to boarding school and does not even have the decency to deliver the news to Jon himself. Wendy also learns more about Tina Belle, Peter’s assistant, which sparks a more fully formed jealousy, for she realizes that the feminine voice over the phone is a woman who rarely leaves Peter’s side. Thus, Peter’s love interest represents a source of jealousy in the sense that she enjoys a level of affection and attention that Peter consistently denies to his family. In Wendy’s mind, Peter has chosen Tina and his business over her and Jon, and this realization further encourages Wendy to embrace a growing relationship with James.

Amid these interactions, these chapters also maintain a focus on Revenge as a Cycle, for McIntire makes it a point to clarify James’s motivations for seeking revenge on Peter. With the elucidation of the details surrounding the plane crash that killed his family, James gains a more sympathetic aura within the larger story, and his taste for violence and obsession with revenge become clearer. He also feels the need to protect Ru, who now plans to involve himself with Peter’s business endeavors. Thus, both Wendy and James are in situations that call for them to protect their chosen family from Peter’s machinations, with Wendy stepping in to support Jon and James trying to keep Ru out of trouble. As a result, Wendy feels the urge to rely more intensely on James, but James worries about his own desire to be close to Wendy, as it undermines his more callous plans to use her as a tool to get to Peter.