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 Cappellucci doesn’t need any more kinks. She likes the one she’s landed on just fine. To her, nothing could top the masked men she follows online. Unless one of those men was shirtless, heavily tattooed, and waiting for her in her bedroom. She dreams about being hunted by one in particular, of him chasing her down and doing deliciously dark things to her willing body. She never could have guessed that by sending one drunken text, those dreams would become her new reality.
I want things most people don’t, craving darkness and depravity instead of light and love.
Josh Hammond 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 to drool over, but one follower has caught his eye: Aly. After reading a comment begging him to break into her house wearing a mask, he decides to take her up on her offer.
Together, Aly and Josh live out their darkest fantasies, unaware that Aly has captured the attention of someone else. Someone with far more sinister intentions than a little light stalking. As Josh turns from predator to protector and the stakes heighten, he must ask himself how far he’s willing to go for the woman he’s obsessed with.
Anyone who knows me knows I am picky when it comes to romance. I need to quickly click with the main characters; I need to adore them. I don’t put up with lukewarm love interests. It’s part of why I don’t dig into that genre more, and I usually end up reading a fantasy or thriller, with a side romance storyline.
O. M. G.
When I say I was kicking my feet like a giddy girl, I’m not even being figurative. I listened to the audiobook while on my exercise bike in the morning and I would have to stop pedaling to just take it in.
Narrator Jacob Morgan is brilliant in the audiobook. I just have to shout him out really quick, because bravo, good sir! He genuinely made me forget he’s not Josh. He’s so convincing and funny and brings great timing and inflection to the male lead.
Now back to the novel itself. Chapters from either perspective are equally enjoyable and the characters are both interesting, which is no easy feat. Author Navessa Allen excels at towing the line between “that’s creepy and definitely a privacy issue” and “please do continue because it’s hot as all hell”.
The only reason Lights Out is not a five star read for me is the last third of the novel. Once Josh is unmasked and we switch to a mafia-esque threat against the couple, I feel like we lose the spark that makes Aly and Josh such a delicious couple. There’s no more good thrill, just regular old non-sexy danger thrill, which can’t hold a candle to the beginning of the story.
By the end of the book, I find myself unsure if I’ll pick up another book in the Into Darkness universe. I don’t know if the author can recreate this experience again, because she couldn’t maintain it to the end of even its own story.
Still, I regret nothing. This is a strong entry point for readers who want to try a stalker romance that isn’t as dark as something like Haunting Adeline. Although, that “accidental cannibalism” trigger warning did catch me off guard when the narrators read it out loud. Don’t let it scare you away, this is a gem you won’t want to miss!