OMG, this was fire! It’s definitely a dark romance that I absolutely devoured! Between all the spicy, the triggers, and the witty humor this book is just amazing!

If you are a fan of You or Butcher & Blackbird you need to read this book!

****Many thanks to Dreamscape Media and Slowburn/Zando for my gifted copy in turn for an honest review!

4.5 stars rounding up to 5 stars on Goodreads

WOW. What can I say about this besides I absolutely devoured it and loved e v e r y second of it.

If you enjoyed the Mindf*ck series and Butcher and Blackbird, imagine they had a baby and you’d get Lights Out.

The characters are so much fun, the story was written as if I was a fly on the wall. I love all things masked men and this one did not disappoint

I’m always worried when social media is the route that introduces me to a book, but this book did not disappoint! And honestly, we has a society need to confer—what makes a slow-burn?—because honestly “slow burn where?” Never met her here.

The spice and the plot went together so perfectly in this book that around the 70% point when I was expecting an “oop the story is over now” romance style wrap up, I look to see I have 30% more to go?! Loved that, no loose ends!

All around a really well done dark romance with all the kinks in all the right places.

Lights out is deliciously unhinged. Equal parts dark and hilarious, I found myself saying “oh, that’s not so bad” to the myriad of TWs.

Navessa Allen’s characters are multi-faceted. MMC Josh is fierce, protective, a stalker, and a golden retriever. FMC Ally is strong, loyal, likes it rough, and just wants someone to take care of her. These two match each other’s freak and it was fun reading along as they tried to outsmart one another.

I absolutely loved Lights Out and would recommend it to any dark romance readers or those who liked Brynne Weaver’s Ruinous Love trilogy.

For the fans of Butcher and Blackbird, this is SO for you. If you are looking for a dark rom com full of witty banter and some amazing spice, Lights Out is definitely a book to add to your TBR. After coming across a reel about riding a knife I knew I had to check this book out. Allen definitely did not disappoint. SPICE LEVEL - 5/5, FIVE STAR READ.

Thank you to Zando, NetGallety and Ms. Allen for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not requried.

Definitely feel like this is an entry into the subgenre? niche? of whatever category Butcher & Blackbird is in. Dark romance but make it even more niche. This book features mask fantasies/mask kink/fear kink, which I've never really read about before but I suppose, sure, why not. I really liked that Josh's background (his father was a notorious serial killer) made him constantly question his motivations, his true feelings, and his choices. On the other hand, Aly seems like a more mainstream person who has discovered a kink for masked men in social media thirst traps. She is a trauma nurse (I believe she worked in an ER, but I could be wrong) who lets off steam by surfing social media in her downtime and has come across videos of "the Faceless Man," a hard-bodied, tattooed man who wears a mask and frequently plays with knives and blood and other, um, props.

Aly's <s>infrequent booty call</s> sort-of ex Tyler is actually Josh, AKA, the Faceless Man's roommate. When Aly messages Tyler in hopes of reenacting some masked scenes, Josh (a skilled hacker) finds out and is able to find her from messages left on his accounts. He makes contact with her through social media and thus begins a stalking (but mostly consensual) relationship between them.

I was actually really enjoying the book for the first half to two-thirds, until the plot took a sharp turn from Aly and Josh's "relationship" into sort of a mafia book, which I didn't care for so much. The momentum completely ground to a halt and the tone of the book seemed completely different. I also enjoyed Fred (Aly's cat) at first; he served as a sort of canary in the mine for Josh as to whether -as the son of a serial killer- he could tolerate animals. However, the baby-talk lavished on Fred sort of veered into cringe territory for me. (I have a dog. I have had dogs and cats. I LOVE my pets. But I don't talk to or about them like Josh and Aly do. Too much.)

I wish we could have cut out the mafia part entirely and had Josh (or Aly!) go a little darker and handle Brad themselves. I mean. It's DARK romance, right? Sloane and Rowan would have chewed these two up and spit them out before the first chapter had even ended. Josh turned out to be a GIANT cinnamon roll underneath that mask.

Apparently there are trigger warnings; none of them bothered me so I don't even remember what they are but if you are a very sensitive person please watch out for those.

All in all, the first part was fun, solid 3 1/2 stars. If the author writes more I'd be more than happy to read them.

**Trigger/ Content Warnings: Sexually explicit scenes and language, knife play, alcohol use, stalking, mention of off page SA, medical content, death, blood, gore, remembered child abuse, anal play, mental health and illnesses, mentions of serial killers and their crimes, invasion of privacy, limited description of mass shooting, home invasion, hidden cameras, theft, hacking, remembered unintentional cannibalism, remembered car accident, breath play, primal play, mask play, death of a parent, gun play, stabbing, fear play and consensual dubious consent.**

I heard about one particular scene from several months back and I was SOLD! The rest of the story also did NOT disappoint! This book had me giggling and kicking my feet at certain moments and drooling and fanning myself at others. I’ll be adding Josh to the top of my ever growing list of book boyfriends. Speaking of list’s I highly recommend adding this book to yours!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Zando for an eARC of this book- this is a re-release through a trad publisher.

Themes/Tropes: Serial killer parent, stalker, he falls first, morally grey, Mask, unaliving, ex's best friend

Check you CW for this one my friends...

I would say this is for people who enjoyed dipping their toe into dark romance with Butcher and Blackbird but wanted something darker... Also if you liked Mercy this one will be right up your alley.

I enjoyed this book and the two main characters. The MMC, yes he's a stalker, but somehow he was also kind of a golden retriever BF, I honestly don't know how those two go together but it works- I promise.

The FMC is a trauma nurse and has discovered masked men on TikTok, she has a favorite and when she is trying to see her occasional friend with benefits she send a video asking him if he would come over in a ghost face mask. When he asks his roommate about it... well lets just say the roommate liked to wear mask on TikTok.

The MMC has so much inter turmoil associated with his father and his childhood, it was a lot, but because of it he has become a recluse and hides in his apartment all day, except when he is making his TikTok content or hacking into computer networks.

Oddly enough this book was a wild ride, some mystery, lots of smut, and a cute cat named Fred.

What to expect:
*Dark Rom Com
*Masked stalker
*Touch her and die vibes
*Darker kinks (consensual dubious consent, knife play, gun play)

Aly is a hospital trauma nurse with a mask kink she has mostly kept to herself. Josh had a complicated childhood he tries to hide from but has a significant presence online as a certain masked persona. When Josh learns Aly not only follows his account but may be interested in the same darker kinks he is, his interest grows to an obsession to stalk and try to play it out with her. As their masked interactions go on, it becomes clear to Aly she doesn’t fear harm from her masked stalker and Josh grows to realize he cares for her beyond fulfilling some dark fantasies.
If you are a fan of dark rom coms you will find this to be a fun read. The banter between Aly and Josh was so playful and fun, even along the darker themes and situations. I love dark humor, so it didn’t faze me. This was a high spice read for sure! Josh was the best at fulfilling his role while still making sure she was onboard and just as into it along the way. This is Dual POV, which I loved because we got to see and understand each one inside and out.
Do check your trigger warnings if you have themes that might bother you, but I think Navessa Allen did a great job distinguishing between what darker fantasies and kinks can look like in a healthy way versus truly problematic behavior. It was a great read overall. Thank you NetGalley and Zando Projects for a chance to read and review this book!

This book has an identity crisis. It’s trying its hardest to be the love child of Haunting Adeline and Butcher & Blackbird, but it falls short on both. The storyline had potential, but it reads more like fanfic as written.

The problem is Josh is more cinnamon roll than Zade or Rowan. He’s like a golden retriever playing dress up, and Aly truly is the first person who would die in a horror movie.

And the baby talk to/about the cat? Just no. I have two dogs and a cat so it’s not like I’m anti pet. The first instance was cute, but it was overdone and became less cute and more cringe.

It got a little more interesting near the end with the Brad storyline. Had the book explored and expanded on that, I think I would have really enjoyed it.

4.5⭐️

really enjoyed this book!!! I have never read a stalker romance before and boy am I glad I dipped my toes in with this book!

I loved the mixture of dark romance, banter and murder that was featured in this book, it all really kicked in after the first 20% and left me to absolutely binge read it over the course of three days. Aly and Josh are such a hot power couple, the chemistry they have... wow... All I can say is that they definitely match each other freak. That epilogue was 🔥🔥🔥🔥

For some reason I thought this was a serial killer romance à la B&B and had forgotten it was also a stalker romance so that was a bit of an adjustment but I really enjoyed the book overall and will definitely be picking up more from this author!

Thanks to NetGalley and Zando Slowburn for providing me with an eARC in return for an honest review.

Emergency room nurse Aly has been secretly watching the Faceless Man thirst trap TikToks for months. Little does she know, the Faceless Man is actually someone in her orbit. When he learns that she’s been watching him, he decides to watch her back. With or without her consent.

This new dark romance from Navessa Allen and Zando books was honestly so much fun! It did remind me a bit of Butcher & Blackbird in that it deftly mixed comedy with really dark romance and content but it definitely had a unique tone all of its own.

Josh was such a surprising softie that I couldn’t help but fall for him. The way he was so obsessed with Aly was so cute, even when he did things I would absolutely consider major red flags irl. His relationship with Aly’s cat was one of my favorite parts of the book.

This one is quite dark and does have a long, long list of triggering topics at the front. Please do read and be mindful of this if you pick this one up!

it was entertaining but :
- the tone in the first chapters made me expect something really dark when it really wasn't
- the mmc doesn't fit the dark romance genre in my opinion
- the mix of serious and unserious plot points was a bit confusing

the author saw the thirst traps of masked men on tiktok and took that as inspiration, but i think the fantasy is about masked men and the mysterious/dangerous side of them and not about a man who takes videos of himself in his room. The mmc also was way too gentle to fit what dark romance readers expect of this trope (in my opinion).

OH MY GOSH!! This book was everything I didn’t know I needed in my life🤭 absolutely a top read of the year for me.

If you loved Butcher & Blackbird, you NEED to read this!

The banter, the spice, the plot *chefs kiss*🤌🏼💋 already planning my reread when I get my hands on the physical!

-stalker romance
-morally grey MMC
-masked stalker
-he falls first
-black cat x golden retriever
-kink friendly

5/5⭐️ | 3.5-4/5 🌶️

Thank you Zando & Slowburn for an early copy.

Truth be told, this is not my first time reading this masterpiece. Was it just as good as the first time I read it? Abso-freaking-lutely!!!!!

This book has the best of everything. Romance, comedy, spice, adventure, trauma and healing for the characters, friendships and even Mafia!

Somehow Navessa has managed to craft a story that holds such incredibly heart felt serious moments and so many spit-out-your-tea laughing moments too. I will never tire of reading this story.

There are zero faults for me in this book. It is the most unique book I've ever read and I'm so freaking thankful I've had this book in my life.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this eARC.

What a wild ride this read was! I’ve read some dark romance, but this was my first ✨dark✨ romance and it was so fun. I immediately fell in love with the characters and was giggling throughout the story because of their banter & humor, and I really enjoyed the plot. A great mixture of toxicity (😂), suspense and spice! I also learned some….. interesting things while reading the book as well 🫣 I’m excited to see what the rest of the trilogy will be about!

Thank you @zandoprojects #partner for the free copy of this ebook!

Wowza this one was so wild and a hella spicy! This one gave me Butcher and Blackbird-ish vibes with even more spice! It’s definitely not the same but fell in that realm for me. I definitely had to suspend belief because the policeman daughter in me was screaming “oh hell no” the entire time when it came to the FMC safety and the decisions she made. No one…and I mean no one, is making those decisions! 👀 All that aside, the humor and banter between the characters was a lot of fun! I caught myself chuckling a few times out loud which I love! This book was extremely entertaining if you like dark romance and a bit of playing hard to get. My favorite part of the story was the relationship that came to be with the FMC and MMC. I liked how the trauma of the MMC brought them together in the end. Speaking of the end, it was very intense and felt a bit like it was part of another storyline but I do think it came together and ultimately tied the loose ends up. Make sure to check the TW in this one as there definitely were some…and to those that aren’t sensitive, buckle up buttercup because this one is crazy!

Dark Romantic Comedy🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
This was really entertaining read I loved Aly and Josh and Fred!! The characters were so good Aly was strong and confident and Josh was a mix of red & green flags in the best possible way. Overall a very fun and high energy read with an unexpected twists and turns in the second half of the book. Would definitely recommend.

I actually really enjoyed this book.
The witty banter between the two main characters set the story up for some great comical moments! Aly takes nothing from anyone, and Josh uses humor to deal with his childhood trauma and these two together were perfect!

Aly is a strong FMC I love to see and she puts a lot of male characters in their place in the best way! She’s confident and falters for almost no one, except Josh…

Josh’s family history and trauma really lends itself to his comedic relief but also explains so much about his characters personality and I loved seeing his character come out of his she’ll because of Aly.

I love how you aren’t kept in the dark about Josh’s identity for very long and you know almost right away but Aly is left wondering for much longer!

I did feel like the beginning was a little slow but about 1/2 way through the pace really picked up!

Definitely check your trigger warnings as this is very clearly dark a lot of times so if dark humor is your thing, you’ll love this one!

This was fantastic. I really enjoyed reading it and didn’t want to put it down. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!