I devoured this book in one sitting! I loved the banter both online and in person between Aly and Josh. It is a stalker dark romance but, it's really a sweet and loving relationship. Josh is stalking Aly once he realizes she's interested in blurring fantasy and reality but, seriously he is the most loving and caring stalker ever! I love when an author gives us a good epilogue and this one is pure perfection!

Honestly this was kind of a disappointing read. It was fun for like 20% where the MMC was actually a dark stalker obsessing over the FMC. After that he turned into a goofy cinnamon roll. The FMC was kind of insufferable as well. Like her character was just not believable at all which took me out of the story completely. Then at about 60% there’s a completely 180 plot shift that has you like ??????? Idk this book just did not work for me and would not recommend this read as it was sloppy and all over the place.

Mask kink and make it a romance that’s more than just pure filthy sex
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Aly Cappellucci is a trauma nurse and to relax her mind after hard shifts, she watches hot men in masks .. particularly one man. She’s a little hooked on him.
But when he realizes she, the ex hookup of his best friend, has all kinds of fantasies, he wants to make them come to life.
Josh is a hacker and goes feral for Aly. He goes above and beyond to know everything and every move of Aly. Aly has no idea who this masked man is. And it’s part of the thrill…

The thrill. The chase. The fear. They both realize how seriously turned on it makes them both.
“I wasn't rational. It was time to accept that about myself. Sometime in the past year or two, I'd waded into darkness, and now I was swan-diving into the deep end. I was a sex-craved, sleep-deprived woman more interested in a kinky fuck than safety and comfort.”

As these two get their freak on, Aly finds herself face to face with a real stalker .. and Josh helps with a master plan to get rid of this person.
There’s only one guy that’s allowed to break into Aly’s home and that’s Josh.

Fun, spicy, and entertaining. I really enjoyed it. It’s actually kinda sweet. I mean, Josh is a sweet guy. You’ll just have to read it for yourself! HEA!

I really loved the first half of the book! It was mysterious, exciting and fun! I did love the idea that she was a nurse with a “secret” love for masked men. My favorite scene was easily when he broke into her house and she was excited and terrifiedBd was itching to find out who it was.
I was ultimately let down by the second half. I feel like we lost the masked man plot and entered Italian mafia? It felt all over the place and inconsistent. The MMC all of a sudden went from mysterious and sexy to a golden retriever boyfriend. And the ER nurse turned into a morally grey who was mostly okay with murder? I was also expecting the “kinky” scenes to be actually kinky but it just felt pretty tame until the epilogue where we had primal play.

I was super excited over the idea of a masked man trope and was hoping for more of it!

I absolutely LOVED this book!! A dark romance with a morally grey masked man that actually has a plot? Uhhh count me in!
Loved that amidst all the darkness, smut, suspense and everything in between, there was a masked man who played the role just as well as he did the fluffy, loving man who fell head over heels for a woman and her cat.
This book had me feeling all the feelings, one minute I’m laughing, the next I’m sitting on the edge of my chair or on a masked men bing eon TikTok wishing I was Aly 😂
Aly and Josh had hilarious banter despite all the dark and I absolutely loved it 👌🏼

If you love Butcher & Blackbird and Leather and Lark , this absolutely has to be your next read.

Considering the darker themes in this book, you wouldn't think it'd be possible for it to be as absolutely hysterical & heartwarming as it is.

I love how quirky Josh is & both of their dark senses of humor. I loved how Josh takes care of Aly & the fact that there is such detailed aftercare after the spice is so freaking good. You really don't see it enough in books & this was perfection.

I love them together & now I need to own this in every format and find a hundred more books just like it. You won't regret reading this spicy, humorous stalker romance!

This was a WILD ride and so unique. I really enjoyed how Josh and Aly met. Honestly I enjoyed that Aly was doing some light stalking first! The content was dark, but it was actually such a sweet romance. They were so gentle with each other (emotionally).

<b>"I didn’t want him morally gray. I wanted 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."</b>

if you're looking for a dark(ish) rom-com, this is your book!

I really enjoyed this book! it's full of witty banter, spice, and a touch of murder.

The man in this book may be morally gray, but he does have a heart of gold.

Aly is a trauma nurse. Josh is the masked man who makes thirst trap videos on an app. When Josh finds out through a mutual friend that Aly is a big fan and regularly comments that he can wait in her house for her, Josh decides to see whether Aly is just talking or is really open to discovering the kinks together.

And let's not forget Fred the cat! I love books in which the animals play a major role and are respected by the main characters!
And Fred was clearly a spoiled cat 🥰.

“<b>I mean, I know we haven’t had the official conversation yet, but we share a child, and I feel like disposing of a body is a boyfriend-girlfriend activity and not something you do with a casual hookup.”</b>

What can you expect:
🔪fmc is a nurse
🔪mmc is a masked man
🔪stalker
🔪a lot of kinks
🔪a very sweet man
🔪murder
🔪mob family
🔪touch her and die
🔪mmc is a hacker
🔪knife play
🔪witty banter

This book.
Man. This book was fun, quirky, hot, full of suspense, and sexy as hell. I love the premise of the tik tok masked “stalker” fulfilling a fantasy. The whole set up felt suspenseful but also safe in that we knew the main characters actual relationship to each other - even when they didn’t. I loved watching their connection play out and the fact that their own insecurities were a part of their “seduction”.
This book made me laugh and giggle and smile the whole time. Loved it!

Did I have a mask kink before Lights Out? No...do I after Lights Out?? For sure, yes!!

This was a fun and enjoyable read. I absolutely loved how "almost" realistic situations were. Like books are for fun, but it's refreshing reading how the characters aren't just about to jump on some stranger right off the bat just because.

𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥: 2.5★
𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭: 2★
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬: 3★
𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 2★

This book didn’t have a plot really it was just a lot of smut, which if you are interested in that then you should read this book maybe after reading a huge fantasy book lol it was hard for me to finish the book because I need a good plot and there just wasn’t… a plot! 😂 I didn’t love the characters but I did like the banter and the 🌶️ scenes.

What an amazing book!!!

Aly is an ER nurse and if you know anything about healthcare it takes a special kind of humor to make it through. She doesn’t have friends, random hook ups here and there. But she finds herself obsessed with masked men on TikTok, one in particular. Will her comments on his videos stay comments? Or will fantasies come to life from someone she least expects?? The banter between the mmc and fmc is top notch! Will recommend this book to everyone who loves a dark romance mixed with a little comedy!

First, a thank you to the publisher for early access. This was a very delightful read. It's smart, funny, silly, scary, creepy, and sexy. The TWs at the beginning look overwhelming but take the moment because they all happen. Shout out to Fred.

Butcher and Blackbird for those of us who have masked men popping up on their fyp. It’s got dual pov, stalking, manslaughter, serial killers, primal play, knife play, breath play, bondage, CNC and, perhaps most impressive, excellent banter. Despite that, I had a hard time really getting invested in either of our main characters. Maybe it’s because it’s fairly angst free and I’m not fond of instalove, but that’s not this book’s fault! That honor belongs to my parents, my genetics, my favorite fanfics, and my shoddy neurotransmitters.

3.75 ⭐️

I find it absolutely wild this concept came about because a video on TikTok went viral, lol. Anyway, this was a decent read; my initial thoughts going in; a dark, stalker romance, with a mask play kink, what's not to love. I think I glossed over the rom-com bit, because I was not expecting for this to be so funny.

There were parts that I really enjoyed and other parts that fell a bit flat, in terms of the plot. It started off really strong and I really liked the main characters, Aly and Josh. They had great banter and chemistry, too; Josh was just so unhinged most of the time, I loved it. I thought they were really in-depth characters, Josh especially with his childhood upbringing and notorious dad, known as the 'Ken Doll Killer'.

The second half of the book felt like a completely different story from the first half; I thought it was good, but didn't quite fit, as the first half had focused on Aly and Josh's relationship and the whole mask thirst trap thing going on. Aly having connections to the mafia; it just felt a bit disjointed and out of place, but I did like her estranged family members.

Lets get into the kinks; breath play, knife play, gun play, fear play, primal play, a sprinkling of praise kink, and of course, mask play - it was a lot of fun; honestly, I would have been fine with this just veering on the physical side of things and the characters themselves than the whole mafia subplot.

I will say that there was some pacing issues and clunkiness with some sentences/phrasing/writing that just felt like I need to take a breath, or just random, didn’t flow well, but wasn’t overly bothered by it, and I overall had a fun time reading.

Tropes

He falls first
Dark rom-com
Stalker romnce
Touch her and die
Morally grey mmc
Kinks; cnc, breath play, knife play, gun play, fear play, primal play, praise kink, mask kink, anal play, edging and spanking.

Do you like banter? Sexy masked men who are obsessed and will stalk you...new kinks? Strong willed FMC's? Exciting plots and sexy time that are equally plentiful? Then this book is right up your alley! I laughed for a majority of the book with the back and forth banter between the MMC and FMC. They played off of each other so well never backing down. The characters were well developed as was the story. This book has many different levels each leading into the next keeping the reader engaged and thoroughly entertained. The backstory slowly emerges for each character bringing clarity to why they are and do what they do. I recommend this book as it does not disappoint and will leave you wanting to know what happens next.

I saw the posts, the TikToks, the quotes and immediately went feral, desperately trying to find a copy and along came Zando to bless my kindle!

I was so incredibly excited and it did not disappoint! It was dark and spicy and everything I was looking for. It was the stalker romance that had sweet moments but also had you on the edge of your seat. It sometimes made me giggle and other times I genuinely couldn’t put it down.

Also the spice - TOP TIER! I love a morally grey character and this really took it there. It was so freaking good, I absolutely ate it up! I can’t wait to read anything and everything from Navessa Allen - you’ve got yourself a fan for life!

This was so good!!! 🤭
I swear I had so much fun reading this one !

It was my first masked men dark romance and it didn’t disappoint ☺️now I want more !!

The “LOL” scene made me cackle 🤣
Josh is sooo funny & such a sweetheart!

But we can all agree that the star of the show clearly was Sir Frederick Cappellucci Hammond, the first of his name 🐱 I love him!!

This book gave me kind of the same vibes as butcher & blackbird but slightly less darker & a bit more funnier !!

Oh & The spice was top tier 😮‍💨🔥 soooo good

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

I actually give this book a 3.5⭐️ but I can’t do halves on here and it’s closer to a 4 than a 3. It’s a level 2.5 on my spice scale as well. I had a lot of thoughts while reading this book. It is a stalker romance, at least during the first half but it changed direction. Really enjoyed the stalking and playful tricks that the MMC played on the FMC. But then out of nowhere and with no explanation on how she made her conclusion or her thought process, our FMC figured out who her stalker is. How did you figure it out? What was your thoughts process? The name of the MMC really threw me off as well. Josh, a J name? Of all the names in the universe, Josh is his name. I don’t know why but that really got me. About half way through the book it took a hard right turn as well. Our FMC is no longer the career driven woman who is saving lives at all cost. Now she is dark and having murderous thoughts and she also has ties to the mob? That was way outta left field. I definitely didn’t predict that one. All in all, while I did have several issues with this book I did still enjoy it. I think it should be at least 100 pages shorter than it is, lots of unnecessary content in there, but I did still enjoy it.

I am concerned how much I love these morally grey rom com dark romances 😂 send help… or more of them??

Aly and Josh’s chemistry is 🔥 and mix in some cute cat daddy dynamics with Fred the cat and you’ve got a winner. I enjoyed the story and boy was there some spice. Sure there were some parts where I was WHAT but there were some high stakes thrills and excitement that kept me on the edge of my seat.

So if you like a golden retriever, morally grey stalker who falls first, get your hands on this book and devour it.

As always check the trigger warnings before you dive in.