Lights Out: An Into Darkness Novel: 1 (Into Darkness Series) Paperback – 19 Sept. 2024

⭐ 5/5 stars🌶️ 4/5 on the spice scaleReview for Lights OutThis isn’t your typical dark romance. Lights Out is what happens when a golden retriever puts on a wolf mask and decides he’s going to pamper you into submission. Josh is absolutely hilarious and obsessive in equal measure — spying on her at work one second, then leaving sweet treats for her at home the next. He’s not a stalker so much as a lovesick puppy with fangs, and I couldn’t get enough of him.The banter between Josh and Ally had me laughing out loud. It honestly reads more like a rom-com with dark edges rather than a straight-up dark romance, which makes it the perfect entry point for anyone nervous about diving into the genre. It’s got the themes — obsession, power dynamics, kink exploration — but all wrapped in humor, charm, and yes, even fluff. And don’t even get me started on Fred the cat. He might just be my favorite side character ever.There are a lot of triggers in this book, so make sure you’re comfortable before you go in. But the writing handles those darker notes in a surprisingly comical, non-threatening way that makes it easier to digest than most books in this space.Spice-wise, it’s a solid 4 out of 5. Some scenes weren’t entirely my thing — but honestly, that didn’t stop me from devouring every page. Because sometimes it’s fun to learn, explore, and laugh while doing it.If you’ve never read dark romance before? Start here. If you already love dark romance? You’ll still adore Josh. Either way, Lights Out delivers — funny, spicy, and utterly addictive.

I admit to not being a fan of many tropes in dark romantasy. Stalker fantasies leave me cold, and lack of consent I find repulsive and depressing. But given this genre's popularity I've been trying more and coming up unimpressed each time.But not with this book.Don't get me wrong, there was plenty here I didn't like. It starts with a stalker fantasy for one, the plot was stretching the limits of my belief to begin with and just went into fully overboard unbelievable in the middle (why is everyone in dark fiction connected to the Mafia/is a super hacker?) so there was plenty I was sighing at, but what I would say is that the main characters save this book and make it special.The romance between the main characters is wonderful, after a rocky start it's a perfect blend of pain and pleasure, demonstrating that sex and relationships dont need to be conventional or always gentle to work, reminding me of The Secretary, which remains one of my favourite films.The main characters themselves are self-aware, traumatized people who find comfort and redemption in their kinks and relationship and once it all became fully consentual (not far into the book, actually, which was reassuring) I was onboard.Both main characters are strong, interesting people with flaws and a dark sense of humour, and I was so relieved by Aly, the woman, because she was not (as I have read in other books) some terrified, pathetic, conventional damsel in distress flailing about uselessly, but a woman of courage, conviction and with layers to her personality.This book has a lot of dark humour, which is fine but I didn't really find it lol funny, and there's certainly some areas pressing on the morally dubious. But my biggest issue with dark romantasy is always consent, and although there's some pretty murky moments with this at the beginning, this issue is resolved fast. To me, at least, consenting adults getting up to whatever they want is fine, but remove the consent and you're into territory which I don't find dark, novel and exciting but rather conventional, historic and depressing. For thousands of years women had very few rights over consent, being given away in marriage or otherwise with no reference to their wishes, so dark romantasy harking back to that is just dull and depressing, imho. The trouble is some people seem to think it's novel, new and exciting, which depresses me even more.So this book was a shining star to me in this trip I've made into dark romantasy, and I recommend it highly. A truly interesting tale, great main characters, and I'll be looking for more from this author who seems to understand the nuances of a relationship which pushes boundaries, explores bdsm, and travels to dark places certainly, but is respectful and loving at the same time, and never ends in abuse. Good work!

Absolutely brilliant. Funny, spicy, just enough plot to keep it ticking over. I love the golden retriever energy of Josh paired with the darker, stalker premise. The banter between the characters was great.It was a quick and easy read, well written and thoroughly entertaining.

Jumping on the bandwagon of masked men on TikTok, this book is literally that but has some great bits. I actually really understood the characters and why they were the way the were, they're both a little messed up and are messed up together, I liked the backstories. I actually enjoyed how it went from a stalker romance to a semi mafia romance in the second half, and the banter was great, spice was pretty good but sometimes repetitive. Also there was a cat so 10/10 for that. MMC was hilarious, he broke into her house then ordered cameras because he was disappointed? Brilliant. However the last scene completely ruined the book for me. Mud in your nether regions? No ta. Would say 3.5 overall, quick read.