Lights Out by Navessa Allen
- Alisha Eadle
- Jun 7
- 5 min read
Lights Out
by Navessa Allen
Published by Zando - Slowburn
Book 1 in the Into Darkness Series
I want someone with a soul as black as night. Someone who would burn the world down for me and not lose a single minute of sleep over it.
Trauma nurse Aly escapes her hard-working days by thirsting after masked men online. To her, nothing could top the fantasy of her favorite tattooed and masked man hunting her down. But she never could have guessed that one drunken text would turn those dreams into reality . . .
I want things most people don't, craving darkness and depravity instead of light and love.
Josh has spent his life avoiding the limelight, but his online persona is another story. At night, he posts masked thirst traps for his millions of fans, until one follower catches his Aly.
Together, Aly and Josh live out their darkest fantasies, unaware that Aly has captured the attention of someone with far more sinister intentions. As Josh turns from predator to protector, he must ask himself how far he'll go for the woman he can't live without.
Genre
Triggers
Sexually explicit discussion and scenes (including anal play), alcohol consumption, mention of (off-page) rape, child abuse (remembered), medical content, blood and gore (in a hospital setting), discussion of mental health, mention of serial killers and their crimes, limited description of a mass shooting, stalking, invasion of privacy, home invasion, hidden cameras, hacking, theft, unintentional cannibalism (remembered), death, car accident (remembered), description of a violent death (remembered), death of a parent, breath play, knife play, gun play, fear play, primal play, mask play, consensual dubious consent
Lights Out was an adventure.
Months after reading it, and I'm still not quite sure what to think.
Lights Out starts out as one book, and seems to flip into a different type of a book midway through.
It's funny when I think about it, because in other dark romances, I'm annoyed by how the romance is basically a sexual connection, with very little growth in the characters - individually and romantically.
Navessa makes our masked, stalker, romantic lead a bit of a golden retriever behind that mask. And what you think is going to be another romance standing on the wobbly legs of sexual chemistry, she throws them into a situation that forces them to work together in an unpredictable and dangerous situation.
I get it. I actually loved Josh's character. I loved that he was secretly a TikTok star, making thirst trap videos while masked, and insinuating danger. I loved that he was definitely morally gray. I mean, golden retriever or not, he still stalked Aly.
It just so happened that she liked it.
It was just the execution that didn't sit well with me.
It felt like two different books were glued together. It just felt ... odd.
Odd enough that it took me longer than usual to get through it.
That being said, I liked the storyline. Lights Out is definitely a dark rom-com. It had me smiling and laughing more often than not. The inner thoughts of Aly and Josh, and their banter, was so much fun to read.
The chemistry between them was hot - even when he was stalking her.
...
Such a weird thought to have.
Dark romance is such a trip.
It's only okay in the fictional world.
Lights Out was a fun, if confusing book. I liked it enough to preorder the next book in the series, Caught Up. It sounds deliciously dark, and I can't wait :)
Tyler: "I just want to get in, get off, and get the fuck out. I'm not down for playing games."
How unfortunate for the people he slept with.
I knew I should have argued with my therapist when she said it was time to wean me off the anti-psychotics. Clearly, they'd been necessary if one of the first things I did once they were out of my system was start stalking someone.
I lifted my eyes just in time to watch Aly drop her phone on the comforter and place her head in her hands.
Aly: "I need so much more therapy than I'm currently getting."
I grinned, because same.
It was another test. Most likely, she was about to call the cops, but on the off chance she didn't, she was about to take the first step toward becoming mine.
Aly: "Is his ...?"
Hand sliding into his pants? Yes, it was, and I was absolutely going to hell for taking a video of myself stroking my dick to full arousal in her bedroom.
Her head fell forward, and a low moan slipped from her lips. Her eyes were half-lidded again when she raised them, cheeks pink, and suddenly, I realized what this expression was: lust.
Aly was fucked up, too. Hallelujah.
No. This was wrong. I wasn't going to watch Aly pleasure herself to a video I'd sent her. And I definitely wasn't snaking a hand into my shorts and choking the base of my dick.
Stop that. Bad hand. We're not doing this.
Stupid kink making me lust after a man who probably wanted to carve my skin off and make himself a pair of gloves out of it.
Aly: "What the fuck? Are you listening to me somehow? How the hell do I disable the microphone on a laptop?"
Josh: Well, I'm certainly not telling you,
I sent back.
Aly: "I hope you're enjoying yourself, you son of a bitch,"
she snarled.
Josh: Immensely,
I responded, adding a smiley face emoji for good measure.
Aly: "I am going to find you, and I am going to make you regret this."
Josh: Sounds kinky.
A strangled laugh came through my speakers, and the grin that split my face in response felt evil. Got her. She was enjoying this on some level, too. Now, I just needed to keep pulling her strings until I found the one that unraveled her enough that she stopped fighting against her nature and joined me on my descent into darkness.
Aly: "Do not misconstrue the sound that just came out of my mouth. It was hysterical laughter only. Brought on by stress and a murderous rage."
Josh: Hot.
She choked on another laugh.
Aly: "Goddamn it. That's it. I'm turning off my computer."
I sent a crying face emoji.
Aly: "This means nothing. Cats are sociopaths by nature. Fred simply recognized a similar creature."
Josh: If I'm the cat, what does that make you? The mouse?
Aly: "I'm a motherfucking wolf,"
Aly said, and then her computer cut off as she killed the power.
I updated my Google Chrome and it deleted THE REST of my favorite quotes. And I already removed the tabs from my book.
*CRYING FROM HOURS OF LOST WORK*
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