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Into Darkness #3
Game On
Book three in the No.1 New York Times bestselling Into Darkness series, following the dark rom-com sensations Lights Out and Caught Up. The game is on for these enemies-to-lovers with laugh-out-loud banter and scorching-hot brat play.
I hate that woman.
Tyler Neumann has spent years looking for his father, and not because he wants to meet the man. No, he wants to destroy him. And he'll manipulate whoever he can to exact his revenge.
Including Stella McCormick. She's everything Tyler hates. Her wealth and privilege have protected her for her entire life, and Tyler thinks it's time she finally paid the price. Whether she's ready to or not.
I hate that man.
Stella might not believe in love at first sight, but loathing at first sight - no question. From the moment she sets eyes on Tyler in her tattoo parlor, she knows he's the devil planning to make her life hell.
Forced to play the part of his girlfriend and invite him into her family's glittering circles, Stella quickly clocks Tyler's ulterior motives. But love and hate are two sides of the same coin, and soon she doesn't know which is being blackmailed by a man who wants to ruin her, or that they can't seem to keep their hands off each other.
Game On is an enemies-to-lovers dark romance with morally grey characters. Some themes and scenes may be disturbing to readers. Please check the content warning at the beginning of the book.
Enemies-to-lovers
Forced proximity
Fake dating
Rom-com
Morally gray MMC
Black cat FMC
Blackmail
Kidnapping
Power imbalance
Age gap
Betrayal and redemption
Dark past
Revenge
384 pages, Paperback
First published March 31, 2026
About the author
Navessa Allen
26 books25.5k followersNavessa Allen lives on a 200-year-old farm in rural New England with her husband, their cats, and an assorted collection of farm animals.
To keep up with her latest projects, check out her Patreon Page or subscribe to her website.
To keep up with her latest projects, check out her Patreon Page or subscribe to her website.
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April 25, 2026
Okay. I genuinely wish I could do to this
This was horrific. I have no words-actually, no, I do have words, but none of them are kind. What the hell did I even read??
Before I even start, I need to share a moment from me and Bee’s DMs. We were trying to figure out what was even “dark” about this romance (besides the kinks and… whatever that was supposed to be). At one point I said, “I don’t even know where to put this,” and Bee just replied: “In the garbage.”
And honestly? Bee, you were so right.
I will try to keep this somewhat professional, but I am so annoyed that I will probably fail. Bear with me.
First things first: YOU CANNOT CONVINCE ME THESE TWO HAVE CHEMISTRY. OR THAT THEY’RE IN LOVE. LIARS.
Now let’s dissect this mess.
At around 11%-ELEVEN PERCENT-he goes to her tattoo studio, sits in the chair, and she climbs on top of him and they start making out and dry humping. And THEN he calls her a “dirty little slut.”
Sir??? Too. Freaking. Soon.
But what’s even weirder? He never says it again. Not once. So what possessed you in those first three minutes of knowing her??
Also, Tyler is quite possibly the biggest douchebag I’ve ever encountered in a book. He’s basically your stereotypical jock-rude all the time-and somehow we’re supposed to call that “banter”? No. That man is just straight-up rude. Full stop.
Stella… oh, Stella. She is painfully boring. No backbone, no spark. He literally blackmails her and she just… goes along with it?? Girl, stand UP. And her entire personality seems to revolve around her chronic illness and her being horny, which brings me to the next thing: the sharing.
“Sharing is caring”… but does it even make sense here??
Around the 55% mark, this whole situation comes in. And listen, I’ve read RH. I’ve read Devil’s Night series. I’m not new to this. But THIS?? This was just bizarre. We meet AJ for one chapter-ONE-and suddenly in the next he wants to sleep with Tyler’s girlfriend. And Tyler is like… into it?? Encouraging it??
Meanwhile Stella is thinking she needs this to feel wanted because she’s skinny from her illness???
I was sitting there like: DID I READ THAT RIGHT? AM I THE PROBLEM?? Maybe I am???
And then - poof - goodbye AJ for the rest of the book.
Bye AJ!! Lovely seeing you for five minutes!!!
Now. The 75% mark. The moment that gave me the biggest ick of my life. I’m putting it here because I need someone to explain the logistics to me:
Girl. I have QUESTIONS.
First of all - HOW?? How did you successfully trace those letters?? Are you an octopus??
Second - HOW MUCH was needed for that?? What font are we working with here??? I was so grossed out I had to put the book down.
APOLOGIES. I finally got the answer in my comments section 😭 She did NOT trace it - she used the black light from the studio to see the letters!
I must apologize to everyone because I literally skimmed this book after the AJ incident, so… well, at least we got some laughs together 💀
BUT STILL: GROSS, GIRL. GROSS. JAIL! 🚔😭
And I’m not even done.
Here is the spoiler... Read it for funsies hehe
Also, AJ magically reappears at the end, and now they’re contemplating involving him - but are these two even in a defined relationship?? Because I genuinely couldn’t tell.
I got so frustrated by the end that I just wanted it to be over.
OH - and he’s going to therapy. If he picked the same therapist as Stella, I’m fully convinced the therapist bought her/his diploma on Temu.
I just wanted to
Anyway. Shoutout to Bee for being my emotional support through this disaster. I truly don’t know how I would’ve survived finishing this without you.
____________
pre-read
Okay, my bestie Bee is totally hating this book… and for the sake of our friendship, she forced me to read it! I can already tell this is going to be a full-on rage read, and I’m here for it because it’s been ages since I’ve hated a book — honestly gotta remember how that feeling even works, hehe...
Also, check out this rage review from my Bee!
This was horrific. I have no words-actually, no, I do have words, but none of them are kind. What the hell did I even read??
Before I even start, I need to share a moment from me and Bee’s DMs. We were trying to figure out what was even “dark” about this romance (besides the kinks and… whatever that was supposed to be). At one point I said, “I don’t even know where to put this,” and Bee just replied: “In the garbage.”
And honestly? Bee, you were so right.
I will try to keep this somewhat professional, but I am so annoyed that I will probably fail. Bear with me.
First things first: YOU CANNOT CONVINCE ME THESE TWO HAVE CHEMISTRY. OR THAT THEY’RE IN LOVE. LIARS.
Now let’s dissect this mess.
At around 11%-ELEVEN PERCENT-he goes to her tattoo studio, sits in the chair, and she climbs on top of him and they start making out and dry humping. And THEN he calls her a “dirty little slut.”
Sir??? Too. Freaking. Soon.
But what’s even weirder? He never says it again. Not once. So what possessed you in those first three minutes of knowing her??
Also, Tyler is quite possibly the biggest douchebag I’ve ever encountered in a book. He’s basically your stereotypical jock-rude all the time-and somehow we’re supposed to call that “banter”? No. That man is just straight-up rude. Full stop.
Stella… oh, Stella. She is painfully boring. No backbone, no spark. He literally blackmails her and she just… goes along with it?? Girl, stand UP. And her entire personality seems to revolve around her chronic illness and her being horny, which brings me to the next thing: the sharing.
“Sharing is caring”… but does it even make sense here??
Around the 55% mark, this whole situation comes in. And listen, I’ve read RH. I’ve read Devil’s Night series. I’m not new to this. But THIS?? This was just bizarre. We meet AJ for one chapter-ONE-and suddenly in the next he wants to sleep with Tyler’s girlfriend. And Tyler is like… into it?? Encouraging it??
Meanwhile Stella is thinking she needs this to feel wanted because she’s skinny from her illness???
I was sitting there like: DID I READ THAT RIGHT? AM I THE PROBLEM?? Maybe I am???
And then - poof - goodbye AJ for the rest of the book.
Bye AJ!! Lovely seeing you for five minutes!!!
Now. The 75% mark. The moment that gave me the biggest ick of my life. I’m putting it here because I need someone to explain the logistics to me:
“F…
U…
C…
K…
Y…
O…
U…
Fuck you.
He’d written ‘fuck you’ on my back in cum.”
Girl. I have QUESTIONS.
First of all - HOW?? How did you successfully trace those letters?? Are you an octopus??
Second - HOW MUCH was needed for that?? What font are we working with here??? I was so grossed out I had to put the book down.
APOLOGIES. I finally got the answer in my comments section 😭 She did NOT trace it - she used the black light from the studio to see the letters!
I must apologize to everyone because I literally skimmed this book after the AJ incident, so… well, at least we got some laughs together 💀
BUT STILL: GROSS, GIRL. GROSS. JAIL! 🚔😭
And I’m not even done.
Here is the spoiler... Read it for funsies hehe
Also, AJ magically reappears at the end, and now they’re contemplating involving him - but are these two even in a defined relationship?? Because I genuinely couldn’t tell.
I got so frustrated by the end that I just wanted it to be over.
OH - and he’s going to therapy. If he picked the same therapist as Stella, I’m fully convinced the therapist bought her/his diploma on Temu.
I just wanted to
Anyway. Shoutout to Bee for being my emotional support through this disaster. I truly don’t know how I would’ve survived finishing this without you.
____________
pre-read
Okay, my bestie Bee is totally hating this book… and for the sake of our friendship, she forced me to read it! I can already tell this is going to be a full-on rage read, and I’m here for it because it’s been ages since I’ve hated a book — honestly gotta remember how that feeling even works, hehe...
Also, check out this rage review from my Bee!
August 30, 2026
Book 1: fck yes!
Book 2: fck no!
Book 3: ... fck it, why not? Let's gooooooooo!!
Update: what the fuck was that? Seriously. What. The. Duck. Did I just read?
I'm retroactively bumping book two up to 2 stars cause there's no way both books were equally bad.
The best part was the bonus scene from Aly's cat's perspective.
*ahem* The Review:
Junior and Lauren? 2gether 4eva.
Tyler and Stella? Not. A. Chance.
Tyler Neumann (Josh's roommate) has...issues...to put it mildly. He grew up poverty stricken but in full knowledge that he had a very rich father who could help, but chose not to.
And throughout all those years, Tyler let his anger fester and grow into a malignant tumor which completely eclipsed his entire life. He has one driving purpose: destroy his dad, and FCK anyone who is in the way.
Aka. Tyler has daddy issues.
And he's set his sites on the McCormick family. Using his vast wealth of knowledge and power dynamics, he manages to manipulate Stella McCormick under his thumb - she will be the one to take down his father.
And her own feelings? Don't know, don't care. She's rich, so she must be stuck up, snobbish, and rotten to the core.
But Stella is unlike anyone he's ever met. And Tyler starts to wonder what was the point of it all?
Okay, I feel like my summary above really does not encompass my feelings so allow me to summarize below:
FUCK TYLER (NOT in the sexy way, just seriously fuck that guy).
I rarely (rarely) hate love interests in a story but GOSH FREAKING DANG did Navessa Allen make him the scummiest slimiest turdball in existence.
What really unsold me on him as a human being is that we get that dual perspective throughout this series, so we always know what the characters truly feel.
For example: Josh and Aly - we can see their relationship is dark BUT they are really, genuinely enthusiastically consenting and excited for their trysts.
Another example: Junior and Lauren - hey, you do you when it comes to career choices but there's no denying how much he adores her and how she liked him about half as much.
Tyler and Stella - the one thing I picked up from his perspective is just how truly vile he is and how much he abhors Stella for breathing.
But NOPE you can't trick me.
Anyone willing to is an instant no-go. I don't care if you have a brat kink, praise kink, whatever kink. There's no cutesy-ing your way out of that.
In short: Let's all collectively pretend that the first book is the only book in this series cause that was a fun, sexy dark romp. This rest of the series? *poof* it doesn't exist.
P.s. Normally, I will praise the audiobook narrators for their work here...but the guy narrating Tyler? He added so much venom to his words for every negative action or reaction from Tyler that I found myself hating the main character even more. So I guess...great acting...but gosh dang it didn't endear me to Tyler AT ALL.
Book 2: fck no!
Book 3: ... fck it, why not? Let's gooooooooo!!
Update: what the fuck was that? Seriously. What. The. Duck. Did I just read?
I'm retroactively bumping book two up to 2 stars cause there's no way both books were equally bad.
The best part was the bonus scene from Aly's cat's perspective.
*ahem* The Review:
Josh and Aly? Stronger than ever.
“Oh, please. You probably fuck like you’re scooting a chair closer to a table.”
“And you probably fuck like a bored fitness model bouncing on a stability ball.”
Junior and Lauren? 2gether 4eva.
Tyler and Stella? Not. A. Chance.
Tyler Neumann (Josh's roommate) has...issues...to put it mildly. He grew up poverty stricken but in full knowledge that he had a very rich father who could help, but chose not to.
And throughout all those years, Tyler let his anger fester and grow into a malignant tumor which completely eclipsed his entire life. He has one driving purpose: destroy his dad, and FCK anyone who is in the way.
Aka. Tyler has daddy issues.
And he's set his sites on the McCormick family. Using his vast wealth of knowledge and power dynamics, he manages to manipulate Stella McCormick under his thumb - she will be the one to take down his father.
And her own feelings? Don't know, don't care. She's rich, so she must be stuck up, snobbish, and rotten to the core.
But Stella is unlike anyone he's ever met. And Tyler starts to wonder what was the point of it all?
Okay, I feel like my summary above really does not encompass my feelings so allow me to summarize below:
FUCK TYLER (NOT in the sexy way, just seriously fuck that guy).
I rarely (rarely) hate love interests in a story but GOSH FREAKING DANG did Navessa Allen make him the scummiest slimiest turdball in existence.
What really unsold me on him as a human being is that we get that dual perspective throughout this series, so we always know what the characters truly feel.
For example: Josh and Aly - we can see their relationship is dark BUT they are really, genuinely enthusiastically consenting and excited for their trysts.
Another example: Junior and Lauren - hey, you do you when it comes to career choices but there's no denying how much he adores her and how she liked him about half as much.
Tyler and Stella - the one thing I picked up from his perspective is just how truly vile he is and how much he abhors Stella for breathing.
Things might have been different if he would say one thing but think another, but so many times what he said would completely align with what he thought.
“And just so we’re clear, I don’t give a fuck who you are,” I said. “I don’t care that you’re wealthy. I don’t care that you’re a woman. If you say anything to anyone about this, I’ll make what you did to Emily look like child’s play. And I’ll laugh while doing it.”
It didn't help that he would have flashes of humanity that would cause his personality to flip on a dime and suddenly he'd be portrayed as this caring, cool guy who was just a lil dark.
“How long do we need to keep this up?” she asked.
“As long as it takes for you to lose the attitude,” I shot back...
But NOPE you can't trick me.
Anyone willing to is an instant no-go. I don't care if you have a brat kink, praise kink, whatever kink. There's no cutesy-ing your way out of that.
In short: Let's all collectively pretend that the first book is the only book in this series cause that was a fun, sexy dark romp. This rest of the series? *poof* it doesn't exist.
P.s. Normally, I will praise the audiobook narrators for their work here...but the guy narrating Tyler? He added so much venom to his words for every negative action or reaction from Tyler that I found myself hating the main character even more. So I guess...great acting...but gosh dang it didn't endear me to Tyler AT ALL.
April 3, 2026
audio: literally all the stars!!! Honestly the audio made this a lot better!
book: 2.5 stars ig?
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok so this was much better than book 2. My main issue with book 2 was how disappointing and mind numbingly boring it was. This, however, wasn't boring but it also wasn't a perfect reading experience.
The first half of the book wasn't that good. I liked their bickering and they really did hate each other (while also lusting for each other sigh). The author was trying too hard to be funny SOMETIMES, but other times I really did laugh out loud at some of their digs at each other😅 The second half picked up way more because we got to see them connect more and we learned more about why Tyler was such a monumental dick😅
Tyler confused me tbh. At first I outright disliked him; he was mean and rude and just made assumption after assumption. He was a typical man thinking he knew better than everyone else😅 However, as the story progressed and we learned more about what made him the way he is, I began tolerating him, then feeling bad for him and finally actually liking him. Is he book boyfriend material? Heck no. Is he hot? well.. yes😶🌫️
I liked Stella to an extent. I like how she took accountability for her past actions and all, but I think she didn't act her age at some points in the story.
As far as plot goes, it was decent, nothing special but entertaining enough. I mean could Tyler have asked Stella about some stuff before making assumptions thereby avoiding lots of misconceptions? Sure! But then you'd have no story I guess and where would the fun be in that😅
SPOILER WARNING HERE!
The spice in this book was seriously hot, like maybe the hottest out of all her books. The brat kink?? Tyler begging and groveling??? Damn🥵 However, the sharing part of the spice was so.. weird? Like it felt.. forced? I don't mind RH or mmf books but AJ being part of their relationship was strange. He was never a permanent fixture in the book, but by the end of the epilogue they were discussing asking him to be in a relationship??? Again I am not opposed to mmf books because when I read one, I already know this will be one and there will be 2 mmcs. Here it just didn't feel right at all.
Overall thoughts:
I enjoyed some parts of the book but disliked other parts. It was a very fun audiobook though, but I doubt I would have finished the book if I had eyeball read it tbh. Would I recommend this? In audiobook form yes and if you're in the mood for something mindless. I do think Lights Out is her best book because it was genuinely fun from beginning to end!
_______________________________________________________
pre-read:
I really hope this is better than whatever book 2 was😭
book: 2.5 stars ig?
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok so this was much better than book 2. My main issue with book 2 was how disappointing and mind numbingly boring it was. This, however, wasn't boring but it also wasn't a perfect reading experience.
The first half of the book wasn't that good. I liked their bickering and they really did hate each other (while also lusting for each other sigh). The author was trying too hard to be funny SOMETIMES, but other times I really did laugh out loud at some of their digs at each other😅 The second half picked up way more because we got to see them connect more and we learned more about why Tyler was such a monumental dick😅
Tyler confused me tbh. At first I outright disliked him; he was mean and rude and just made assumption after assumption. He was a typical man thinking he knew better than everyone else😅 However, as the story progressed and we learned more about what made him the way he is, I began tolerating him, then feeling bad for him and finally actually liking him. Is he book boyfriend material? Heck no. Is he hot? well.. yes😶🌫️
I liked Stella to an extent. I like how she took accountability for her past actions and all, but I think she didn't act her age at some points in the story.
As far as plot goes, it was decent, nothing special but entertaining enough. I mean could Tyler have asked Stella about some stuff before making assumptions thereby avoiding lots of misconceptions? Sure! But then you'd have no story I guess and where would the fun be in that😅
SPOILER WARNING HERE!
The spice in this book was seriously hot, like maybe the hottest out of all her books. The brat kink?? Tyler begging and groveling??? Damn🥵 However, the sharing part of the spice was so.. weird? Like it felt.. forced? I don't mind RH or mmf books but AJ being part of their relationship was strange. He was never a permanent fixture in the book, but by the end of the epilogue they were discussing asking him to be in a relationship??? Again I am not opposed to mmf books because when I read one, I already know this will be one and there will be 2 mmcs. Here it just didn't feel right at all.
Overall thoughts:
I enjoyed some parts of the book but disliked other parts. It was a very fun audiobook though, but I doubt I would have finished the book if I had eyeball read it tbh. Would I recommend this? In audiobook form yes and if you're in the mood for something mindless. I do think Lights Out is her best book because it was genuinely fun from beginning to end!
_______________________________________________________
pre-read:
I really hope this is better than whatever book 2 was😭
April 18, 2026
this is why I prefer standalones.
April 10, 2026
So….that happened.
Just when I thought it couldn’t possibly get worse, surprise! It did. This was so horrifically bad I’m shocked my face isn’t stuck in a permanent cringe because my face was certainly doing something while I was reading this book.
Honestly, I was expecting the funny Navessa Allen like I know and love but instead, I didn’t laugh once and I cringed more times than I can count. I thought this series would get better as it continued, but unfortunately, Lights Out was the peak of this series and it was all downhill from there.
Let’s start off with Tyler, the douche jock bro whose only personality is going to the gym and being mean to women. I mean you cannot convince me that these two fools were in love. And if by chance they actually were, that means that Stella must have some serious Stockholm’s syndrome because she essentially falls for her blackmailer and captor… and not in the hot way. In the I take disrespect and my partner being horrible and rude to me.
Stella was not quite to so bad but still bland asf. Her only personality trait was her chronic illness and being skinny from her chronic illness. Oh and maybe also being goth?
let’s move on to the plot, or lake thereof.
this was a pitiful revenge story. The revenge was the entire plot and it felt so low stakes I couldn’t for the life of me gather enough energy to give a single f*ck. I mean, at least have some side plots if you’re gonna make the main plot this boring and predictable. He wanted this revenge so bad but in the end, he didn’t even get it and started going to therapy. I mean, good on you for trying to work this out the regular human way, but if you’re going to put this much energy into revenge story, at least give me the satisfaction of actually getting revenge. 🤦🏻♀️I pushed through just so I could write this review.
but wait. It gets worse.
what the hell was the AJ situation? So they’re a throuple? If there’s going to be another person in the relationship at least give him some more page time for goodness sake! I felt like he was thrown into there for kinks sake. Tyler was bi so I guess the author thought it would be just dandy to throw in a random dude in the mist of this chaos shit show relationship. I guess they wanted to have some multi partner seggs but WHY did they have to invite him into their relationship permanently??? I feel like if the story is going to end with a throuple then the blurb of the book should reflect that. I mean, yikes man, I thought that would be common sense. Warn a girl at least!
let’s talk about the single redeeming quality of this book.
The Josh and Aly cameo. And that lasted for about two pages and those were frankly the best two pages of the book.
In conclusion, this book had NON of the Nevessa Allen charm that I was counting on. I didn’t laugh and I hardly felt anything. This book felt pretty soulless 😣 Plus, adding that extra dude to spice things up totally backfired. Instead of the desired effect, I was left confused and quite frankly, enraged. Also, Tyler the douche jock bro, you can f right off. I’m so glad he is a fictional character because the world does NOT need another Tyler.
And that, ladies and gents, is my reveiw of this dumpster-fire book. Thank you for reading.
Just when I thought it couldn’t possibly get worse, surprise! It did. This was so horrifically bad I’m shocked my face isn’t stuck in a permanent cringe because my face was certainly doing something while I was reading this book.
Honestly, I was expecting the funny Navessa Allen like I know and love but instead, I didn’t laugh once and I cringed more times than I can count. I thought this series would get better as it continued, but unfortunately, Lights Out was the peak of this series and it was all downhill from there.
Let’s start off with Tyler, the douche jock bro whose only personality is going to the gym and being mean to women. I mean you cannot convince me that these two fools were in love. And if by chance they actually were, that means that Stella must have some serious Stockholm’s syndrome because she essentially falls for her blackmailer and captor… and not in the hot way. In the I take disrespect and my partner being horrible and rude to me.
Stella was not quite to so bad but still bland asf. Her only personality trait was her chronic illness and being skinny from her chronic illness. Oh and maybe also being goth?
let’s move on to the plot, or lake thereof.
this was a pitiful revenge story. The revenge was the entire plot and it felt so low stakes I couldn’t for the life of me gather enough energy to give a single f*ck. I mean, at least have some side plots if you’re gonna make the main plot this boring and predictable. He wanted this revenge so bad but in the end, he didn’t even get it and started going to therapy. I mean, good on you for trying to work this out the regular human way, but if you’re going to put this much energy into revenge story, at least give me the satisfaction of actually getting revenge. 🤦🏻♀️I pushed through just so I could write this review.
but wait. It gets worse.
what the hell was the AJ situation? So they’re a throuple? If there’s going to be another person in the relationship at least give him some more page time for goodness sake! I felt like he was thrown into there for kinks sake. Tyler was bi so I guess the author thought it would be just dandy to throw in a random dude in the mist of this chaos shit show relationship. I guess they wanted to have some multi partner seggs but WHY did they have to invite him into their relationship permanently??? I feel like if the story is going to end with a throuple then the blurb of the book should reflect that. I mean, yikes man, I thought that would be common sense. Warn a girl at least!
let’s talk about the single redeeming quality of this book.
The Josh and Aly cameo. And that lasted for about two pages and those were frankly the best two pages of the book.
In conclusion, this book had NON of the Nevessa Allen charm that I was counting on. I didn’t laugh and I hardly felt anything. This book felt pretty soulless 😣 Plus, adding that extra dude to spice things up totally backfired. Instead of the desired effect, I was left confused and quite frankly, enraged. Also, Tyler the douche jock bro, you can f right off. I’m so glad he is a fictional character because the world does NOT need another Tyler.
And that, ladies and gents, is my reveiw of this dumpster-fire book. Thank you for reading.
August 3, 2026
★
Glad that game is OVER .
౨ৎ Lights Out
౨ৎ Caught Up
Glad that game is OVER .
౨ৎ Lights Out
౨ৎ Caught Up
March 31, 2026
GAME ON: Manosphere edition
Honestly if I wanted to read about an asshole jock who resembles so much of the irl podcast bros, who's also bitter and treats the FMC like shit and assumes everything about her, without asking even ONE single question, I would've skipped this honestly.
I knew before going in that Tyler wouldn't be my type of MMC, but I had hope, because I'm one of those people that rated 5 stars both Lights out and Caught up, even if both are completely different in my opinion. So this had the chance about 60% where I dnf'd the shit out of it, to give me SOMETHING to work with. But it didn't.
I also don't understand what Navessa is trying to communicate to the audience, that she's gonna do full why choose in the future or something? I don't mind but I'm not the audience for that, and since in the content warnings for the book there is "sharing", I thought that it will be like in Caught up, where there was some sort of voyeurism, others watched or they did. But never touched others. Well here, chapters 21 ladies, it's where I gave up lol. FMC just had full on sex, first spice scene with another dude and sort of Tyler on the side. ALL because listen, they were stubborn and super horny. Wtf was that even? You will see how that makes sense in the context lol. Also yes it's not really a spoiler as it's in content warnings, I don't know if there is more of it or not further in the book.
Speaking of the FMC, she's supposed to be 35, and she acts like she's a fucking teenager. I simply cannot comprehend, how a woman over 40 cannot write another woman who is mature or at least close to that. Completely dissapointing. And their banter as such is stuff like your breath stinks and she's too skinny?? I don't know. I felt enraged reading and then the smut scene settled it for me. Garbagioooo. Bye.
_______
pre:read
my local bookstore pulled through with the early preorder, so you know what time it isss 💚💚
Honestly if I wanted to read about an asshole jock who resembles so much of the irl podcast bros, who's also bitter and treats the FMC like shit and assumes everything about her, without asking even ONE single question, I would've skipped this honestly.
I knew before going in that Tyler wouldn't be my type of MMC, but I had hope, because I'm one of those people that rated 5 stars both Lights out and Caught up, even if both are completely different in my opinion. So this had the chance about 60% where I dnf'd the shit out of it, to give me SOMETHING to work with. But it didn't.
I also don't understand what Navessa is trying to communicate to the audience, that she's gonna do full why choose in the future or something? I don't mind but I'm not the audience for that, and since in the content warnings for the book there is "sharing", I thought that it will be like in Caught up, where there was some sort of voyeurism, others watched or they did. But never touched others. Well here, chapters 21 ladies, it's where I gave up lol. FMC just had full on sex, first spice scene with another dude and sort of Tyler on the side. ALL because listen, they were stubborn and super horny. Wtf was that even? You will see how that makes sense in the context lol. Also yes it's not really a spoiler as it's in content warnings, I don't know if there is more of it or not further in the book.
Speaking of the FMC, she's supposed to be 35, and she acts like she's a fucking teenager. I simply cannot comprehend, how a woman over 40 cannot write another woman who is mature or at least close to that. Completely dissapointing. And their banter as such is stuff like your breath stinks and she's too skinny?? I don't know. I felt enraged reading and then the smut scene settled it for me. Garbagioooo. Bye.
_______
pre:read
my local bookstore pulled through with the early preorder, so you know what time it isss 💚💚
April 3, 2026
1.5⭐️
Well that was disappointing!!!!
I actually thought I was going to love this book since I LOVEEEEE Lights Out and liked Caught Up…. But this one did NOT hit !
First of all Tyler is INSUFFERABLE!!!!
Second Stella is 35 acting like 17.
And what the hell was the AJ situation in the end?
So to whoever is thinking “but hey I thought you loved throuples or why choose?”
I will say, YES I DO WHEN IT IS WELL DONE ! I need more to the story. Let me explain the situation here. So Tyler is Josh’s best friend but he is an illegal gambler, he promotes illegal gambling parties and makes money if of extortion and debt. Ok whatever, I am fine with that storyline I even think it’s fun to have a darker MMC but then Tyler is hellbent in destroying rich people for vengeance because of how he was abandoned by his rich father and grew up in poverty. He uses Stella’s brother who’s naive to get to Stella to then get to his father all the while being the worst person EVER to Stella all “assuming” something that wasn’t what happened. Ok it would’ve been fine if the author didn’t portray him as SUPER SMART who had ALL the information before getting his targets. So he is that guy but somehow had everything wrong about Stella, her parents and HIS FATHER ??? How you always know everything and don’t know this ? It turns out his dead mom was the one that lied to him his whole life, his father was actually good and all the stupid mistreated he did to Stella was for nothing. BUT WORRY NOT he did NOT need to grovel for her forgiveness because she just forgave him in less than 1 second had sex with him immediately and that was done.
Also the AJ situation is , this guy is in 0.2% of the book. LITERALLY HE IS IN 2 scenes, we have no background on him besides him being an on and off again Stella hookup. They have one threesome and then in the last chapter one more and bam off page they had many encounters but we never saw and they ask him to be in a relationship with them which he agrees and they are a throuple by the end of the book. A character we didn’t even see in the entire book and know nothing about it . Also Tyler and Stella didn’t even have enough chemistry by themselves and only had like 2 or 3 sex scenes that were “mid” not even…. So for a book that was marketed as MF to be the story of Tyler and Stella to end up in a throuple after the other guy appeared for 2 seconds was SUCH A REACH for me . I like to fall in love with all the characters and here I liked none of them !
Well that was disappointing!!!!
I actually thought I was going to love this book since I LOVEEEEE Lights Out and liked Caught Up…. But this one did NOT hit !
First of all Tyler is INSUFFERABLE!!!!
Second Stella is 35 acting like 17.
And what the hell was the AJ situation in the end?
So to whoever is thinking “but hey I thought you loved throuples or why choose?”
I will say, YES I DO WHEN IT IS WELL DONE ! I need more to the story. Let me explain the situation here. So Tyler is Josh’s best friend but he is an illegal gambler, he promotes illegal gambling parties and makes money if of extortion and debt. Ok whatever, I am fine with that storyline I even think it’s fun to have a darker MMC but then Tyler is hellbent in destroying rich people for vengeance because of how he was abandoned by his rich father and grew up in poverty. He uses Stella’s brother who’s naive to get to Stella to then get to his father all the while being the worst person EVER to Stella all “assuming” something that wasn’t what happened. Ok it would’ve been fine if the author didn’t portray him as SUPER SMART who had ALL the information before getting his targets. So he is that guy but somehow had everything wrong about Stella, her parents and HIS FATHER ??? How you always know everything and don’t know this ? It turns out his dead mom was the one that lied to him his whole life, his father was actually good and all the stupid mistreated he did to Stella was for nothing. BUT WORRY NOT he did NOT need to grovel for her forgiveness because she just forgave him in less than 1 second had sex with him immediately and that was done.
Also the AJ situation is , this guy is in 0.2% of the book. LITERALLY HE IS IN 2 scenes, we have no background on him besides him being an on and off again Stella hookup. They have one threesome and then in the last chapter one more and bam off page they had many encounters but we never saw and they ask him to be in a relationship with them which he agrees and they are a throuple by the end of the book. A character we didn’t even see in the entire book and know nothing about it . Also Tyler and Stella didn’t even have enough chemistry by themselves and only had like 2 or 3 sex scenes that were “mid” not even…. So for a book that was marketed as MF to be the story of Tyler and Stella to end up in a throuple after the other guy appeared for 2 seconds was SUCH A REACH for me . I like to fall in love with all the characters and here I liked none of them !
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2026
I've really been struggling on how to rate this book because I did enjoy it at times, but overall, it was not a good experience for me. I had too much issues in the end to rate it higher..
I absolutely loved Lights Out and Caught Up, they were both so good, just in different ways. I know a lot of people had problems with Caught Up, but I had fun and I loved Nico. Here, on the other hand, I struggled with liking Tyler. He had his moments, but I never connected to him or really cared. He was an asshole, had anger issues, and I do understand where he's coming from, but he went overboard sometimes..
Stella got on my nerves most of the time, but I did appreciate the representation. I have chronic gastritis and I know the pain and restriction it comes with, but that's the only good thing I can say about my connection to her. I admired the way she faced her past mistakes, but her behaviour bothered me. She never truly acted her age.
I didn't feel the chemistry between Tyler and Stella, at all. The banter felt forced and mean at times, instead of exciting, and their relationship didn't really make sense to me. The spice was hot, but it could've been better.
The main complaint I have is the AJ thing. Look, I'm the number one fan of that trope, but this is not how you do it. He made an appearance, then disappeared, then suddenly he's back and he's in. I literally couldn't tell you a single thing about him, we didn't learn anything substantial and yet you want me to root for it. It felt so random, like trying to tick a box without actually doing the work. This is the worst possible way to do this, either do it right or don't do it at all. I understand this series is basically a light version of dark romance, although calling it a dark romance in any shape or form feels wrong because it's really not, but still, it all felt sudden and unnatural.
Now, I'm used to a lot of weird stuff and I rarely get an ick anymore, but that one scene, iykyk, made me gag so bad. I just couldn't..
The plot, for most of the time, was at least a little exciting, but the end was incredibly anticlimactic.. It was rushed and I guess I was just expecting more. Also, Blake is such an idiot.
The best part was seeing Josh and Aly again, I love them so much!
I love Navessa and her writing, this just didn't hit as I thought it would. It's very much a me problem.. I'm really looking forward to seeing what she does next though!!
.·:*¨ ¨*:·.
I've seen quite a few negative reviews, I didn't read any of them, but they did make me nervous to start this.. I need this to be good!! My last read was abysmal, so I'm going to crash out if this is bad too.. Wish me luck 🤞
I absolutely loved Lights Out and Caught Up, they were both so good, just in different ways. I know a lot of people had problems with Caught Up, but I had fun and I loved Nico. Here, on the other hand, I struggled with liking Tyler. He had his moments, but I never connected to him or really cared. He was an asshole, had anger issues, and I do understand where he's coming from, but he went overboard sometimes..
Stella got on my nerves most of the time, but I did appreciate the representation. I have chronic gastritis and I know the pain and restriction it comes with, but that's the only good thing I can say about my connection to her. I admired the way she faced her past mistakes, but her behaviour bothered me. She never truly acted her age.
I didn't feel the chemistry between Tyler and Stella, at all. The banter felt forced and mean at times, instead of exciting, and their relationship didn't really make sense to me. The spice was hot, but it could've been better.
The main complaint I have is the AJ thing. Look, I'm the number one fan of that trope, but this is not how you do it. He made an appearance, then disappeared, then suddenly he's back and he's in. I literally couldn't tell you a single thing about him, we didn't learn anything substantial and yet you want me to root for it. It felt so random, like trying to tick a box without actually doing the work. This is the worst possible way to do this, either do it right or don't do it at all. I understand this series is basically a light version of dark romance, although calling it a dark romance in any shape or form feels wrong because it's really not, but still, it all felt sudden and unnatural.
Now, I'm used to a lot of weird stuff and I rarely get an ick anymore, but that one scene, iykyk, made me gag so bad. I just couldn't..
The plot, for most of the time, was at least a little exciting, but the end was incredibly anticlimactic.. It was rushed and I guess I was just expecting more. Also, Blake is such an idiot.
The best part was seeing Josh and Aly again, I love them so much!
I love Navessa and her writing, this just didn't hit as I thought it would. It's very much a me problem.. I'm really looking forward to seeing what she does next though!!
.·:*¨ ¨*:·.
I've seen quite a few negative reviews, I didn't read any of them, but they did make me nervous to start this.. I need this to be good!! My last read was abysmal, so I'm going to crash out if this is bad too.. Wish me luck 🤞
March 16, 2026
3.5 🌟 (ARC review, thank you Quercus) I ATE THIS UP!! I loved this so much more than book two, this was TRUE enemies to lovers and the tension was crazy! Tyler is mean and icl I hated him but I also kind of loved him 😭🫣 but like if bad, why hot?? I really enjoyed the plot, the fake dating situation, secrets, lies and bickering/banter between the characters had me laughing out loud multiple times. I’m sad this is the last book in this series 😭❤️🩹
February 5, 2026
Better than book two. Still absolutely abysmal.
Apparently the mention of a tattoo gun is a trigger warning for needles… also according to this trigger warning page, the whole world is a trigger.
Ok based on her defending her fmc “chronic illness” I’m already mad. I literally hate when authors take a real life illness and just show how pathetic they think it makes a person.
Black cat x morally grey…. If a raging witch bitter goth tattoo artist chick means black cat then pop off ig.
He isn’t morally grey. He’s also just bitter and raging. The whole “premise” of his rage literally dissolves in one page and she still hates him but “well he has a therapist now so ig it’s fine if I’m in a weird random never fleshed out throuple with him and some guy I used to hook up with in high school and college”
Age gap…. It’s mentioned but she’s so immature it’s hard to believe she’s supposed to be THIRTY FIVE YEARS OLD. She actaully said “sir. You’re a blonde man. Calm down” OUTLOUD. TO SAID MAN. I’ve never hated anything more. And if you think the banter will save this ??? She actually told him his “breathe smelt like milk farts” so yeah. Literally wanted to stab my eyes out.
JK HE BLAMED SOMETHING ON HIS ZODIAC SIGN. FML
Also there were sooooo many times I went “oh I’ve totally read this before in a different book”
Wanted to Dnf at 10%. Stuck it out for you all till 50% where I gave up for two days. Skimmed the rest to verify it was just as bad as I figured it would be. Highly recommend skipping this one as well. People who think this is enemies to lovers… HOW SHE HATES EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING. ALL THE TIME. FOREVER. .
Because of my job as a bookstore manager I receive advance copies of books.
Apparently the mention of a tattoo gun is a trigger warning for needles… also according to this trigger warning page, the whole world is a trigger.
Ok based on her defending her fmc “chronic illness” I’m already mad. I literally hate when authors take a real life illness and just show how pathetic they think it makes a person.
Black cat x morally grey…. If a raging witch bitter goth tattoo artist chick means black cat then pop off ig.
He isn’t morally grey. He’s also just bitter and raging. The whole “premise” of his rage literally dissolves in one page and she still hates him but “well he has a therapist now so ig it’s fine if I’m in a weird random never fleshed out throuple with him and some guy I used to hook up with in high school and college”
Age gap…. It’s mentioned but she’s so immature it’s hard to believe she’s supposed to be THIRTY FIVE YEARS OLD. She actaully said “sir. You’re a blonde man. Calm down” OUTLOUD. TO SAID MAN. I’ve never hated anything more. And if you think the banter will save this ??? She actually told him his “breathe smelt like milk farts” so yeah. Literally wanted to stab my eyes out.
JK HE BLAMED SOMETHING ON HIS ZODIAC SIGN. FML
Also there were sooooo many times I went “oh I’ve totally read this before in a different book”
Wanted to Dnf at 10%. Stuck it out for you all till 50% where I gave up for two days. Skimmed the rest to verify it was just as bad as I figured it would be. Highly recommend skipping this one as well. People who think this is enemies to lovers… HOW SHE HATES EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING. ALL THE TIME. FOREVER. .
Because of my job as a bookstore manager I receive advance copies of books.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
huge thank you to netgalley and zando for the arc!
4.5 ⭐️
this is by far my favourite book in the into darkness series ☺️
morally grey MMC x black cat FMC i absolutely loved them! stella was complex but once you get to know her more i couldn’t help but feel for her and wanted to protect her at all costs 😭 tyler was also the same way.
i really liked the plot, it was fast paced which made it enjoyable. tyler blackmails stella and forces her to be his girlfriend to get revenge on his father. nevessa’s writting style is amazing and really sucks you into the world.
the spiceeeee oh my i’ve never felt that way while reading that before WOW 🥵
4.5 ⭐️
this is by far my favourite book in the into darkness series ☺️
morally grey MMC x black cat FMC i absolutely loved them! stella was complex but once you get to know her more i couldn’t help but feel for her and wanted to protect her at all costs 😭 tyler was also the same way.
i really liked the plot, it was fast paced which made it enjoyable. tyler blackmails stella and forces her to be his girlfriend to get revenge on his father. nevessa’s writting style is amazing and really sucks you into the world.
the spiceeeee oh my i’ve never felt that way while reading that before WOW 🥵
March 26, 2026
What the actual fuck did I just read
April 8, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Navessa Allen is back, and while Game On definitely slides into a solid middle-ground for me, it’s a total departure from her usual playbook. After the absolute masterpiece that was Lights Out, I started this expecting that same life-altering chokehold, but what I got was more of a playful nudge. It’s objectively better than Caught Up, and the writing is as slick and engaging as ever, but the vibes? They were a complete 180. If you’re here for a total style shift, Navessa really delivered—specifically with a first-time threesome encounter that had me doing a double-take. I’m definitely not complaining about the spice level, but the direction was... unexpected.
The plot line itself was solid and kept me turning pages, but it never quite reached that "can’t-breathe-until-it's-over" peak. It’s a fun, fast-paced ride, but let’s get into the real reason this landed at a 3-star rating for me: the tropes. Specifically, the brat kink. I know, I know—some of you live for the sass and the power exchange, but for me? It was a total ick. I prefer my MMCs to hold the reins, or at the very least, have a sophisticated switch dynamic. Watching the FMC control the bedroom to that extent just didn't hit the right notes for my personal taste.
And then there was the humiliation kink. Honestly? GAG. Again it’s just not for me. Oh and how can I forget the foot licking. Excuse me while I go vomit. That was straight-up NO for me. I'm all for fetishes but foot fetish is just disgusting and she didn't even wash her feet and Theo just dived in and had a five star meal according to him. I like my romance with a side of high-stakes intensity and protective energy, so when the dynamic shifted into that territory, I felt myself disconnecting from the chemistry. It felt less like a dark, gripping romance and more like a specific niche play that just didn't translate. If you’re into the "good girl/bad girl" bratty energy, you will probably devour this, but for me, it was a hurdle I couldn't quite clear.
However, the absolute saving grace of this book—and the reason I’m still smiling—was the additional epilogue from Fred the cat’s perspective. I was literally cackling. Navessa captured the sheer, ego-filled audacity of a cat’s brain so perfectly that I’m now convinced my own cat is judging my reading choices with the same level of sophisticated disdain. Seeing the world through Fred’s fluffy, chaotic little head was the highlight of the entire experience. He is, without a doubt, the real Main Character of this series.
Ultimately, Game On is a well-written, high-heat romance that just happened to hit a few of my personal Hard Outs. If you love a woman who takes charge and doesn't mind a little degradation in the sheets, this is going to be your new personality. But if you’re like me and prefer the Rina Kent style of "he’s the boss," this might feel a bit like a mismatched negotiation. It’s a 3-star read that I don’t regret, but I’m still chasing that Lights Out high.
-------
Navessa Allen is back, and while Game On definitely slides into a solid middle-ground for me, it’s a total departure from her usual playbook. After the absolute masterpiece that was Lights Out, I started this expecting that same life-altering chokehold, but what I got was more of a playful nudge. It’s objectively better than Caught Up, and the writing is as slick and engaging as ever, but the vibes? They were a complete 180. If you’re here for a total style shift, Navessa really delivered—specifically with a first-time threesome encounter that had me doing a double-take. I’m definitely not complaining about the spice level, but the direction was... unexpected.
The plot line itself was solid and kept me turning pages, but it never quite reached that "can’t-breathe-until-it's-over" peak. It’s a fun, fast-paced ride, but let’s get into the real reason this landed at a 3-star rating for me: the tropes. Specifically, the brat kink. I know, I know—some of you live for the sass and the power exchange, but for me? It was a total ick. I prefer my MMCs to hold the reins, or at the very least, have a sophisticated switch dynamic. Watching the FMC control the bedroom to that extent just didn't hit the right notes for my personal taste.
And then there was the humiliation kink. Honestly? GAG. Again it’s just not for me. Oh and how can I forget the foot licking. Excuse me while I go vomit. That was straight-up NO for me. I'm all for fetishes but foot fetish is just disgusting and she didn't even wash her feet and Theo just dived in and had a five star meal according to him. I like my romance with a side of high-stakes intensity and protective energy, so when the dynamic shifted into that territory, I felt myself disconnecting from the chemistry. It felt less like a dark, gripping romance and more like a specific niche play that just didn't translate. If you’re into the "good girl/bad girl" bratty energy, you will probably devour this, but for me, it was a hurdle I couldn't quite clear.
However, the absolute saving grace of this book—and the reason I’m still smiling—was the additional epilogue from Fred the cat’s perspective. I was literally cackling. Navessa captured the sheer, ego-filled audacity of a cat’s brain so perfectly that I’m now convinced my own cat is judging my reading choices with the same level of sophisticated disdain. Seeing the world through Fred’s fluffy, chaotic little head was the highlight of the entire experience. He is, without a doubt, the real Main Character of this series.
Ultimately, Game On is a well-written, high-heat romance that just happened to hit a few of my personal Hard Outs. If you love a woman who takes charge and doesn't mind a little degradation in the sheets, this is going to be your new personality. But if you’re like me and prefer the Rina Kent style of "he’s the boss," this might feel a bit like a mismatched negotiation. It’s a 3-star read that I don’t regret, but I’m still chasing that Lights Out high.
-------
April 4, 2026
Content warning: feet 😂
May 7, 2026
On a scale of zero to ten, this is a negative five.
IYKYK.
IYKYK.
July 14, 2026
it just wasn’t for me. maybe the audiobook would be a better experience?
April 5, 2026
"𝑰’𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆, 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒅 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆.
𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇."
✄┈ 𝘛𝘺𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩—𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘹 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦, 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 💰
Compared to the second book, this one was definitely better. I actually enjoyed some parts of it, especially the revenge aspect. 🔥
Tyler was very morally grey and moody. He was completely determined to get his revenge, and honestly, his plan was smart… but I didn’t like that he used innocent people to achieve it. I did enjoy his dominance at times, though. And when I found out he actually likes being submissive… I wasn’t even surprised 😂 because let’s be real, most people who act dominant are actually the opposite 🤷🏻♀️.
But in the end, I felt really bad for him. Living your whole life based on a lie is such a huge shock.
Stella… when I read that she was 35, I was honestly surprised because she didn’t act like someone close to 40 at all. She felt more like someone in her early 20s. But if I ignore that, she was okay. She was smart enough to listen to Tyler’s demands and go along with them… because honestly, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he did something bad to her at the beginning. 👀
I also loved seeing Josh and Aly again! And of course, we all knew Tyler already knew what Josh was doing secretly and was the one who led him to Aly. 😂
Just like in the second book, I didn’t like the part where a partner is shared with someone else in an intimate relationship. But having THREE people in an exclusive relationship?? That’s even weirder. Especially since Stella still had feelings for the third person. 😕
Overall: better than the second book, with some enjoyable moments, but still several things didn’t work for me.
˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖ 𐙚 ˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖ 𐙚 ˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖ 𐙚 ˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖
⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡ |𝑃𝑟𝑒-𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑💰
🫣🫣🫣
𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇."
✄┈ 𝘛𝘺𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩—𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘹 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦, 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 💰
Compared to the second book, this one was definitely better. I actually enjoyed some parts of it, especially the revenge aspect. 🔥
Tyler was very morally grey and moody. He was completely determined to get his revenge, and honestly, his plan was smart… but I didn’t like that he used innocent people to achieve it. I did enjoy his dominance at times, though. And when I found out he actually likes being submissive… I wasn’t even surprised 😂 because let’s be real, most people who act dominant are actually the opposite 🤷🏻♀️.
But in the end, I felt really bad for him. Living your whole life based on a lie is such a huge shock.
Stella… when I read that she was 35, I was honestly surprised because she didn’t act like someone close to 40 at all. She felt more like someone in her early 20s. But if I ignore that, she was okay. She was smart enough to listen to Tyler’s demands and go along with them… because honestly, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he did something bad to her at the beginning. 👀
I also loved seeing Josh and Aly again! And of course, we all knew Tyler already knew what Josh was doing secretly and was the one who led him to Aly. 😂
Just like in the second book, I didn’t like the part where a partner is shared with someone else in an intimate relationship. But having THREE people in an exclusive relationship?? That’s even weirder. Especially since Stella still had feelings for the third person. 😕
Overall: better than the second book, with some enjoyable moments, but still several things didn’t work for me.
˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖ 𐙚 ˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖ 𐙚 ˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖ 𐙚 ˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖
⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡ |𝑃𝑟𝑒-𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑💰
🫣🫣🫣
Did Not Finish
April 18, 2026I loved Lights Out, but it seems like that's where my love for this romance series ends. I DNF'ed this one at only 15% in because it was so INSTA lust. Like what do you mean they're already making out and dry humping 11% into the book? I wasn't a big fan of Tyler in Lights Out, so I was already hesitant about reading his story here, and I was right to be concerned, I just don't really like his character very much. I looked up spoilers and tbh I'm glad I didn't continue, I don't think this would be the book for me anyway. What a bummer. /:
May 21, 2026
1.5 ⭐️
I have thoughts:
1. I wish I could go back in time and stop myself from reading this book.
2. Josh and Ally you will FOREVER be the best part about this series !! 🫶🏻 literally the best part about this book and they were hardly in it!!
3. The amount of times I cringed in this was criminal!!
4. How can I get back my 6.99 that I spent on this disaster. This was my only reason for not DN’fing !!
That is all.
I have thoughts:
1. I wish I could go back in time and stop myself from reading this book.
2. Josh and Ally you will FOREVER be the best part about this series !! 🫶🏻 literally the best part about this book and they were hardly in it!!
3. The amount of times I cringed in this was criminal!!
4. How can I get back my 6.99 that I spent on this disaster. This was my only reason for not DN’fing !!
That is all.
Did Not Finish
May 8, 2026DNF @ 30%🥀
If I had to listen to that loser and that dumb girl whine any longer I might have committed a crime. Save your sanity
Authors need to learn it’s okay to have a one hit wonder because this ain’t it at all😭 (sorry if that’s mean)
If I had to listen to that loser and that dumb girl whine any longer I might have committed a crime. Save your sanity
Authors need to learn it’s okay to have a one hit wonder because this ain’t it at all😭 (sorry if that’s mean)
October 5, 2025
it’s giving powerpuff girls
April 2, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 💫 「3.5 Star Review...」☀︎ ❥☀︎ GAME ON☀︎ ❥☀︎
Is the third full length dark enemies to romance book in the (into Darkness) series by author Navessa Allen. Main characters: Tyler & Stella.
📚'𝙼𝚈 𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙸𝙴𝚆 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁𝚂'📚 can also be found on my blog:
╰┈➤KITTY KATS CRAZY ABOUT BOOKS
I really enjoyed the first book in this series, second book though was good it didn't live up to the previous one, here's hoping this book brings me those first book feels.
Tropes:
☀︎ Enemies-to-lovers
☀︎ Forced proximity
☀︎ Fake dating
☀︎ Rom-com
☀︎ Morally gray MMC
☀︎ Black cat FMC
☀︎ Blackmail
☀︎ Kidnapping
☀︎ Power imbalance
☀︎ Age gap
☀︎ Betrayal and redemption
☀︎ Dark past
☀︎ Revenge
This book has a lot to live up to going by that trope list..
This was marginally better than book#2 and the enemies to lovers was spot on, because being real he was a dick, one minute I hated him, the next I tolerated him, then I kind of liked him, he was hot and cold like the turn of a tap. Mean one minute, bearable the next, all whilst lusting after her all in the same breath.
But Stella gave back as good as he gave her.. He’d met his match. It was like watching a tennis match as they tried to outdo the other with their barbs.
Though I'm unsure about the brat kink because it didn’t really suit him. But each to their own. The sex scenes were hot, throw AJ into the mix and that heat factor scorched my ipad.
I loved quirky Amos and his wanting of treats by his human. He lightened up what could’ve been a heavy monotonous book with revenge running rampant on each page.
As part of the trope list I wouldn't even put kidnapping, because did he really kidnap her with an unloaded gun? No effort to really run away. And I wouldn't peg it as dark.
First he set the trap of ensnaring her brother in a gambling debt up to his eyeballs, then his next step was blackmailing Stella into becoming his fake girlfriend, and the end game was to get revenge on his father. But along the way lines became blurred, things weren't as black and white as he'd assumed.
Is the third full length dark enemies to romance book in the (into Darkness) series by author Navessa Allen. Main characters: Tyler & Stella.
📚'𝙼𝚈 𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙸𝙴𝚆 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁𝚂'📚 can also be found on my blog:
╰┈➤KITTY KATS CRAZY ABOUT BOOKS
I really enjoyed the first book in this series, second book though was good it didn't live up to the previous one, here's hoping this book brings me those first book feels.
Tropes:
☀︎ Enemies-to-lovers
☀︎ Forced proximity
☀︎ Fake dating
☀︎ Rom-com
☀︎ Morally gray MMC
☀︎ Black cat FMC
☀︎ Blackmail
☀︎ Kidnapping
☀︎ Power imbalance
☀︎ Age gap
☀︎ Betrayal and redemption
☀︎ Dark past
☀︎ Revenge
This book has a lot to live up to going by that trope list..
This was marginally better than book#2 and the enemies to lovers was spot on, because being real he was a dick, one minute I hated him, the next I tolerated him, then I kind of liked him, he was hot and cold like the turn of a tap. Mean one minute, bearable the next, all whilst lusting after her all in the same breath.
But Stella gave back as good as he gave her.. He’d met his match. It was like watching a tennis match as they tried to outdo the other with their barbs.
Though I'm unsure about the brat kink because it didn’t really suit him. But each to their own. The sex scenes were hot, throw AJ into the mix and that heat factor scorched my ipad.
I loved quirky Amos and his wanting of treats by his human. He lightened up what could’ve been a heavy monotonous book with revenge running rampant on each page.
As part of the trope list I wouldn't even put kidnapping, because did he really kidnap her with an unloaded gun? No effort to really run away. And I wouldn't peg it as dark.
First he set the trap of ensnaring her brother in a gambling debt up to his eyeballs, then his next step was blackmailing Stella into becoming his fake girlfriend, and the end game was to get revenge on his father. But along the way lines became blurred, things weren't as black and white as he'd assumed.
Want to Read
October 27, 2025༄.🍃.࿔*: I didn’t vibe with the second book at all, which honestly broke my heart because I was so excited and eager to read it. It just didn’t click for me the way I hoped it would. So now, I’m really crossing my fingers that this one will be at least enjoyable enough to keep me hooked till the end. I just want that spark again, you know? Something to remind me why I was excited for the series in the first place.
August 20, 2026
this was an evil blond bisexual man with his mommy issues terrorising everyone around him for 350 pages
Want to Read
January 26, 2026If I end up enduring, (and at this point it’d be solely for lampoon-reading purposes), I’ll draw up a bingo card including prevalences such as ‘masculine sound of approval,’ ‘Cheshire cat grinning,’ “he made me feel special,” and faux-reluctant acquiescence to arousal toward possessive behavior/reproductive-organ scolding.
If not, I’ll have to recruit one of you to call out the answers. Game on, indeed.
If not, I’ll have to recruit one of you to call out the answers. Game on, indeed.
Read
June 3, 2026We better see more of Josh and Aly, I kinda miss them
I don’t know how I feel about this book, to be honest. Be right back after I collect my thoughts.
Edit June: So, I was so confused when it came to Tyler being bi and the whole revenge thing, but it was an interesting angle for sure.
For some reason, their character descriptions didn't help with the way I could imagine them better.
Also, the switch from: I don't care about this girl, she is the enemy, to I love her was a bit weird for me. He definitely needs therapy or something. 😂
Stella, well, I kinda liked her as FMC, but when it came down to the steamy scenes and her dominant role, I couldn't see it happening.
Overall, I'm happy because I got a few sentences about Josh and Aly 🥹
I don’t know how I feel about this book, to be honest. Be right back after I collect my thoughts.
Edit June: So, I was so confused when it came to Tyler being bi and the whole revenge thing, but it was an interesting angle for sure.
For some reason, their character descriptions didn't help with the way I could imagine them better.
Also, the switch from: I don't care about this girl, she is the enemy, to I love her was a bit weird for me. He definitely needs therapy or something. 😂
Stella, well, I kinda liked her as FMC, but when it came down to the steamy scenes and her dominant role, I couldn't see it happening.
Overall, I'm happy because I got a few sentences about Josh and Aly 🥹
April 9, 2026
4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 slutty little stars. If you loved Lights Out but maybe Caught Up wasn’t your jam, the banter is more in line with Lights Out so you may be back in the game!
PLOT
He hates the rich because his rich father abandoned him & his mom & has built a secret criminal empire with one end goal in mind; to take down dad. But be needs an in to the inner circle, & she’s just the target in mind. This book has
- enemies to lovers
- fake dating
- poly dynamic & bi MMC
- high spice
- duet audio
PROS
- Suuuuuch fun banter. I love when enemies to lovers is funny banter & clever insults vs. just like, mean. It’s my jam.
- Hot spice. Was sweatin’.
- I think the relationship dynamic in this was well done. I know poly isn’t what some enjoy reading - & it needs to make sense for me to enjoy it vs. just throwing in a 3rd because it’s “hot” - & I think it makes sense here!
- I love fake dating & them hating each other through it was sooooo fun.
- I laughed out loud a couple times. Super amusing & just very enjoyable.
- Solid disability rep!
- Audiobook is VERY well done!
- Cameos from recent books were very fun.
CONS
- None I don’t think! Definitely enjoyed. Not 5 star super but very very fun & much enjoyed.
Would reco to dark rom com lovers!
PLOT
He hates the rich because his rich father abandoned him & his mom & has built a secret criminal empire with one end goal in mind; to take down dad. But be needs an in to the inner circle, & she’s just the target in mind. This book has
- enemies to lovers
- fake dating
- poly dynamic & bi MMC
- high spice
- duet audio
PROS
- Suuuuuch fun banter. I love when enemies to lovers is funny banter & clever insults vs. just like, mean. It’s my jam.
- Hot spice. Was sweatin’.
- I think the relationship dynamic in this was well done. I know poly isn’t what some enjoy reading - & it needs to make sense for me to enjoy it vs. just throwing in a 3rd because it’s “hot” - & I think it makes sense here!
- I love fake dating & them hating each other through it was sooooo fun.
- I laughed out loud a couple times. Super amusing & just very enjoyable.
- Solid disability rep!
- Audiobook is VERY well done!
- Cameos from recent books were very fun.
CONS
- None I don’t think! Definitely enjoyed. Not 5 star super but very very fun & much enjoyed.
Would reco to dark rom com lovers!
April 9, 2026
This was fun. It strikes an interesting balance between the humor of Lights Out while still bringing in some of what worked in Caught Up almost as if Allen has found a balance between the different sides of her writing.
The biggest issue for me is that the central dynamic between Tyler and Stella starts to feel overused. It carries a lot of the story, but eventually becomes a bit exhausting, and I found myself wishing the book would move away from it sooner. The plot also gets a little shaky, especially toward the end, where it feels like there aren’t real consequences for what’s happened.
That said, I still had a great time. I love Allen’s voice. She’s effortlessly funny and consistently creates characters you enjoy, even when they’re objectively a mess. It doesn’t fully recapture what made Lights Out so special, but that one feels like lightning in a bottle.
The biggest issue for me is that the central dynamic between Tyler and Stella starts to feel overused. It carries a lot of the story, but eventually becomes a bit exhausting, and I found myself wishing the book would move away from it sooner. The plot also gets a little shaky, especially toward the end, where it feels like there aren’t real consequences for what’s happened.
That said, I still had a great time. I love Allen’s voice. She’s effortlessly funny and consistently creates characters you enjoy, even when they’re objectively a mess. It doesn’t fully recapture what made Lights Out so special, but that one feels like lightning in a bottle.
August 17, 2026
2.5 stars!
i still semi enjoyed this somewhat only because of the bickering. there's so many moments where i did laugh out loud.
one thing i am still unbelievably confused is AJ. this dude has not been in any chapters except when it's the playful time and i wish we could've gotten more scenes with him instead of that. i feel like navessa just threw him in there for the shits and giggles.
i was gonna give this book a 3 stars but at this point that would've been too generous. that ending is what bumped it down to 2.5.
ִ ࣪𖤐.ᐟ pre-read
i've heard bad things about book 3 but considering i have the physical copy.. i'm gonna have to see for myself if i'll enjoy it or not.
i still semi enjoyed this somewhat only because of the bickering. there's so many moments where i did laugh out loud.
one thing i am still unbelievably confused is AJ. this dude has not been in any chapters except when it's the playful time and i wish we could've gotten more scenes with him instead of that. i feel like navessa just threw him in there for the shits and giggles.
i was gonna give this book a 3 stars but at this point that would've been too generous. that ending is what bumped it down to 2.5.
ִ ࣪𖤐.ᐟ pre-read
i've heard bad things about book 3 but considering i have the physical copy.. i'm gonna have to see for myself if i'll enjoy it or not.
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