Last chance to log into Amazon, Goodreads, or whatever alternative you prefer to add Lights Out by Navessa Allen to your TBR, bookworms! We have provided you with the summary of Lights Out, and the best quotes from the first book of the Into Darkness series. So now, it’s time to talk about the characters and their unbelievable chemistry.
One could say that the base of a slow-burn, dark romance is the tension and the stakes between the characters. And they would be right! Let us tell you that a morally gray masked man with a connection to a serial killer and a trauma nurse with a guilty conscience and a mask kink bring the tension to unbearable heights. Lots of trigger warnings sprinkled with some character development, and you get a perfect seat in a medium-dark romance book, ideal for beginners.
Don’t forget to check our Haunting Adeline summary or our Anathema summary if you are in the mood for a dark fantasy romance!
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Let’s explore the power dynamics of the characters of Lights Out, and beware of spoilers!
Aly is a trauma nurse who constantly overworks herself and blames herself for her mother’s death. Strong introduction, right? Aly’s mother died when she was sixteen in a car accident, when Aly was learning how to drive. Her inability to save her mother and placing the blame on herself has led her to put in countless hours into her work, sacrificing her personal life at every turn. She has no friends aside from her coworkers and her needy cat, Fred. She also does not do relationships, seeing as it would take time and emotional stability.
She is no meek girl, she has been hitting the gym and taking self-defense classes her whole life, and fear quickly turns to desire. She is the kind of girl who will ride her stalker’s knife instead of running. To pass the time, she doomscrolls through social media and is obsessed with masked men. She makes up many scenarios in her head, which she gladly comments on the Faceless Man’s posts.
When Josh comes into her life, she is at first spooked, but the adrenaline rush is immediate. It is the surprising companionship and the letting go of control that win her over. The way Josh is there to take care of her, when all her life she’s been trying to save anyone, thinking she doesn’t deserve saving. When a potential rapist and murderer tracks her home, Josh protects her, and when the bastard accidentally dies in their hands, they are now bonded for life by this shady secret.
Josh has grown up pretty isolated after his father was revealed to be one of the most prolific serial killers in the country. The Ken Doll killer has haunted him his whole life, and he has always been living with the fear that he is just like his father. He has been afraid of himself his whole life, and when Aly comes into his life, he lives in constant fear that some violent tendencies will creep up in him.
To hide from the radar, he has become an expert hacker for a living. He hides behind a ghost mask to literally cover his face because it is identical to his father’s, while also using military apparel and covering himself in fake blood to film thirst traps on social media. He uses his skills to stalk Aly, since she seems to be into the same things he is.
He steps into her life as if he immediately belongs—even getting Fred’s approval. Despite some difficulties like accidental stabbing and accidentally killing a rapist, Josh becomes the perfect boyfriend for Aly. He takes care of her in every way, he helps her with her emotional trauma, he buys Aly flowers, and he provides her with all a girl could want. Just don’t ask him to cook; he’s been vegan his whole life ever since his father cooked up his last victim into burger patties that the whole neighborhood ate.
When shit hits the fan and Brad Bluhm dies after his attempt to murder Aly, he is prepared to take the fall to keep Aly safe. However, with her mafia connections and his hacking skills, they come clean and even incriminate Brad for the dead bodies in his house and all his other crimes, his family covered up for him, serving justice to the victims’ families.
Tyler is one of Aly’s hookups and Josh’s best friend and roommate. Aly sends him a drunken text with a screenshot of the Faceless Man, and he is the one who rats her out to Josh. He has no problem whatsoever with Josh and Aly hooking up, and despite being kind of a douche, he is actually a really good friend to Josh. He protects him by letting almost no one who could recognize him in their apartment and assures Aly she is safe with Josh, despite who his father is.
Aly’s estranged uncle and a part of the mob, Nico helps them deal with Brad’s body. He values family above all else, which is why he does not hesitate to protect Aly. Josh, on the other hand, is free game, until Aly forces Nico to accept him and include him in his protection plan. Nico, along with his sons, runs a pretty tights mob-ship and has no problem covering up a murder. The next book in the series, Caught Up, is about Nico’s oldest son, Nico Junior, and a shy bookworm—wink wink!
Tanya is an older nurse in the hospital Aly works for. She is one of the people she is closest with, perhaps her only true friend. She is a mother figure and protector for Aly, both at work and on a personal level.
If you are ready to dive into this dark stalker rom-com, Navessa Allen’s humorous writing style and Josh and Aly’s relationship will make it worth your while. There is also a dual POV, and we suggest you give the audiobook a chance—Jacob Morgan’s performance is highly acclaimed.
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Yes! Lights Out has sexually explicit scenes with explicit language. Not an ideal read for lovers of clean romance. But if you are deep in the rabbit hole of dark romance, look out for chapters 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 15, 20, 25, and the Epilogue.
Always living in her own enchanted little world, Christina discovered the magic that can be hidden within the pages of a book when one dares to take a closer look from a tender age. An avid reader, she is constantly inspired to delve into the secrets woven between the lines and challenges herself to find her own voice amidst the chaos. She is a dedicated fan of the classics, but the supernatural creatures that have tormented readers for years are her kryptonite. The mastery it takes to infuse the author's essence, molded by the era they grew up in to their innermost desires fascinates her. Undoubtedly, putting her passion and knowledge on paper has a mesmerizing allure on her, and following the steps of so many other dreamers before her she wishes to leave her mark in the literary world. Guided by T.S Eliot’s haunting words: “I will show you fear in a handful of dust” she intends to wreak havoc in the minds of her future readers.
