Game On (Into Darkness, #3) by Navessa Allen Review

This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my reviews of Lights Out and Caught Up on my blog, now!

I honestly did not set my expectations high for this final installment - I was not overly obsessed with Lights Out like the Booktok community and felt let down by Caught Up. I think I was hoping that this series would follow through with the dark romance with comedic relief, much like what I saw in Butcher & Blackbird, but instead I was let down once again. At least in the first book we saw a glimpse of the dark part of what a dark romance should be, but in the remaining books, it felt as though the original essence was abandoned. This is also the first time I have read an age gap romance where the female lead was older than the male lead, and safe to say this was not my cup of tea. However, I did appreciate that the author did not constantly bring up their age difference, it was only mentioned a couple of times.

Tyler seemed to be clouded by revenge, understandably so, but I still found myself aggravated with his reasoning on why he was targeting Stella in the first place. I kept wanting a big reveal to happen and have him go totally off the rails to actually fall in line with the dark and mysterious vibe he was going far, but it just never came. He definitely is dedicated, motivated, and passionate when it comes to collecting a debt and seeking revenge, but I wanted him to have that extra something-something to really draw me to him. He is certainly enthusiastic when it comes to getting spicy and exploring new things about himself, so I can give him that.

Stella's characterization was something that felt surface-level to me, which feels wild considering she does have a few moments where she is seen to be more fleshed out, but it does not seem to last long. I wanted to her grow into a more intense character, and when it came to getting freaking with Tyler she definitely excelled in that, but when it came to the overall plot of the book, she was lacking. Yes, she is willing to do anything for her younger brother, but I wanted the author to have her grow even more than the minimum growth and self-reflection she did experience. She is presented as this alternative tattoo artist with a troubled past but her character was just not drawing me in at all.

The little callouts to the prior books is always fun and I do love a Josh appearance, but the overall premise of this book was not alluring after I began reading. Tyler's "ruthlessness" in the beginning made me start to have hope that this would be an improvement from the second installment, but unfortunately it did not seem to stem too far and left me unsatisfied. The spicier scenes were tame in comparison to other books I have read, however the scenes that included AJ definitely were the highlight of those moments in the book. Tyler and Stella's relationship development throughout their story was pretty predictable and the fact that the most exciting parts were when they added someone else into the mix showed me that their relationship needed something more to make them exciting.

I really wanted to enjoy this book and while I did finish it in one day, it was more so in an effort to see it through and have a justified opinion on the series as a whole. I found myself not invested in Tyler's revenge scheme and bored with his constant rants - whether internal or not - about how angry he was about his life and how he wanted every wealthy person to pay. If you are looking for the "lighter" types of dark romance, this series could be a hit with you, but if you are looking for something with a little power, this would be a skip.

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Caught Up (Into Darkness, #2) by Navessa Allen Review

This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my review of Lights Out on my blog, now!

In the interconnected sequel to Lights Out, Navessa Allen returns to deliver a mob stalker romcom in this story following Nick "Junior" Trocci and Lauren Marchetti as they reconnect and explore the possibility of second chances. I had mixed feelings after finishing Lights Out, more so with the fact that it was not to the "dark romance" level that I was expecting - going into Caught Up, my expectations were set accordingly and I had a lot of fun reading this book. Nick was an enjoyable mobster that wanted out of that lifestyle, and Lauren is an online sex worker and club member advocating for sex worker rights. With their past hindering a relationship, Nick began following her online to be as close to her as possible.

The plot was a touch all over the place, to be quite honest. Nick was on this internal journey to leave the mob life that his father was insistent he continue, and Lauren was figuring out if she could ever trust Nick again. It felt as though Nick's journey was much more prominent in this book, and while Lauren's own journey was not as intriguing. With Nick's perspective chapters, we see his conflicted feelings as he continues his mobster ways while actively works to remove himself from that activity. He was very focused on bettering himself and getting Lauren to trust him again without blowing up their relationship/friendship like all those years ago.

Lauren's journey with her two roommates was more lighthearted in the sense that I was never truly worried about her safety - in the sense that this is marketed as a stalker romcom, but I would not even consider Nick to be a stalker. There were definite romcom elements to this book, but I still would have loved for this to lean more heavily on the stalker aspect - yes, they knew each other when they were younger, but I felt as though once she found out about Nick, she was not even that fazed by the discovery. Lauren's moral compass is pretty solid and she is a great advocate - her character was easy to like, and she was enjoyable to follow as the story went on, I just wished I was as intrigued by her story as I was with Nick's story.

The side characters definitely made Lauren's journey feel more stable, as well as the presence of Nick's brothers making his own journey have a solid foundation. Honestly, the side characters were the true comedic relief in this installment, and while Lauren and Nick certainly had their moments, it seemed to fall on these secondary characters to lighten the mood. The smut in this book was actually unreal at points, and I will say that Allen has that aspect of her books locked and loaded - no notes from me. My jaw dropped several times, and she wasted no time at all diving right into the smut and romance of this book. Given the fact that Lauren makes online videos as a sex worker, the smut did play a more important role in this book compared to the role it played in Lights Out.

This interconnected series is a fun time that keeps the reader entertained, and yet I seems to always yearn for something more in these stories. It often feels as though conflict is resolved relatively quickly and that there seems to be no true consequences to those that have either wronged the main characters, or if they do reap their punishment, it is not to the extent that I would have expected. If you are looking for a quick, steamy read, the Into Darkness series my very well be your next journey in dark romcoms.

You can add Caught Up on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.

You can catch up with me and my current reads by friending me on Goodreads and following this blog, my Twitter (X), and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!

Lights Out (Into Darkness, #1) by Navessa Allen Review

This is a spoiler-free review!

TikTok has led me to places I never knew I would go, and after seeing about one hundred videos about this book, I knew I had to see it out for myself. With the way it is described, I thought it would rival Butcher & Blackbird and maybe Haunting Adeline in terms of being dark, but I was left wanting more and feeling slightly misled. Do not get me wrong, I enjoyed Aly and Josh's story, but even the tagline on the cover notes "The couple that slays together, stays together," and yet there was not a ton of slaying at all throughout the entire book. This leans more towards a stalker romance with BDSM elements, but I would not call it a dark romance in true form.

I was not in love with the first person perspective - it is never my first choice, but Aly's inner dialogue felt underdeveloped and she was constantly referencing her "lizard brain" when she is a whole adult woman. However, her character as a whole was pretty entertaining to read, and while she does make some choices I was not pleased with, she added the "quirky" aspect to her and Josh's relationship. She was so real for spending hours on TikTok watching and favoriting the thirst trap videos because girl... same. Aly must have a horror kink because this girl is horny about twenty-four hours a day, and she literally does not care how dangerous the situation is.

The second Aly thinks she knows who her stalker is, she starts tracking him, and when she realizes that he is hot, she literally celebrates. This reminded me so much of Haunting Adeline, and I just know her and Addie would be friends. Her self preservation goes out the window and across the yard at nearly every scenario - going into a room alone with a known rapist... girl, get out of there!!

Josh is hands-down one of the funniest stalkers - compared to Aly's inner dialogue, I found his much more enjoyable and humorous. I did not love his Batman voice and references, and I thought he would be more dangerous throughout the book - it felt like Aly was more prepared to commit crimes than he was even though he is a literal stalker. Based off of the summary, I was under the impression they would be killing or committing crimes a lot earlier in the story, but it really was not towards over halfway into the book. Together, they literally commit one crime together and it was not even that exciting.

The scariest part of this book is that Aly said they were not going to have any safe words, and when she told Josh that he could do anything he wanted to her, his first thought was knife play. Like let's be so serious right now, this probably would have sent her spiraling. Their spicy scenes were pretty good, but I would have preferred them more spaced out rather than being somewhat lumped together in the second half of the book.

The epilogue was a fun way to wrap up their story, and I would have loved to see more chapters like that in the actual book. Josh was a fun male lead, but he could have been a little more wild, especially compared to other stalker romances out there. If you are looking for a tame introduction to stalker romances or dark romances in general, Lights Out definitely provides the gateway.

You can add Lights Out on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.

You can catch up with me and my current reads by friending me on Goodreads and following this blog, my Twitter, and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!