As promised, we’re back with another post about Navessa Allen’s Lights Out, dear bookworms. If you are in the mood for a little spicy and dark rom-com about masked men and their undying need to worship their girls, then the first book of the Into Darkness trilogy is definitely for you.
This time, we will give you the summary of this slow-burn dark romance book to convince you to add it to your Amazon or Goodreads TBR. If you haven’t checked out our favorite Lights Out quotes, then what are you doing here?
For true virtuosos of the love in the dark side, here is our Haunting Adeline characters guide, and the Punk 57 book summary to get you in the mood for more reading. Or perhaps a little fantasy dark romance, with the A Touch of Darkness summary?
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Let’s dive straight into Josh and Aly’s story, and beware of the spoilers ahead!
The story kicks off with Aly Cappellucci, a tired and definitely overworked trauma nurse, doom-scrolling through her social media fyp. Her latest obsession? Hot thirst traps featuring muscular, masked men. Her favorite by far is the Faceless Man, a mystery with a body to die for and a killer taste in music. Our FMC isn’t into relationships, so she sends a cheeky photo of the Faceless Man to her latest hook-up, Tyler, to see if he’d be into trying a little masked action kink. Tyler is not impressed—and even shows it to his roommate, Josh, as proof that Aly isn’t worth the trouble. What Tyler doesn’t know is that Josh is the Faceless Man. And now, Aly is officially on his radar.
Josh Hammond, son of a notorious serial killer, has lived his whole life being afraid he is just like his father. Away from the public eye, he uses his mask to adopt a new persona, a fearless, sexy, and dark man. He is also an expert hacker, and he uses those skills to find out all Aly has ever said about him online. It turns out her darkest fantasy is for the Faceless Man to break into her house and absolutely wreck her. So that’s what he decides to do.
He starts by getting into her house, placing a camera in there, playing with her cat, Fred, and leaving her little traces of his presence. He even films a thirst trap in her room, which makes Aly feel all the more special when she thinks they own the same comforter. He also orders her a state-of-the-art security system—what a thoughtful dark stalker.
But when Aly comes home, she realizes that he was literally in her house, on her bed. She grabs one of the guns she has lying around, because Aly is a badass who takes self-defense lessons and refuses to be helpless. Then a message pops up on her phone, and the game of cat and mouse begins. Aly and the Faceless Man start exchanging messages full of innuendos and secret thrill on both sides.
After a brutal shift at the hospital, the Faceless Man picks her up in her own car—mask and all. Aly is understandably freaked, but she’s not one to back down from a challenge. She hops in, snacks on the treats he packed for her, and holds his own knife to his throat. The ride ends with Aly giving him the best head of his life… and accidentally stabbing him. He refuses to go to the hospital, so she stitches him up, but being the smart girl she is, she keeps some of the bloody gauze for a DNA test in case something happens to her.
In the meantime, she asks for Tyler’s help. Knowing his roommate is a computer genius, maybe he can help her locate her hot stalker. If only she knew they were one and the same! She meets up with Josh, who is super funny, attractive, and sweet, but also super smart and has covered all his tracks. Somehow, she catches on to him, but her efforts to prove it with some hair from his sweater fail due to him having worn Tyler’s sweater.
In her next shift at the hospital, Aly has to deal with a potential rapist and killer. Let’s say she is left feeling scared after an altercation with him, and the Faceless Man is there to comfort her. He not only comforts her but also gives her multiple orgasms and cooks her an awful breakfast. He sleeps by her side—his face still hidden—when a security notification alerts him: someone is trying to break into Aly’s home. He springs into action and confronts the intruder, who is none other than the perv from the hospital, caught with a full-on murder kit.
They decide to dump the guy at his last known victim’s house so the family can handle it. But things don’t go as planned. The guy dies en route. Josh freaks out, rips off his balaclava, and throws up—panic spiraling about whether he’s just like his father. Aly, ever cool under pressure, talks him down and gets to gloat about being right all along. She also presents him with the solution to their problem; her estranged uncle is a mobster and can take care of the body. Aly and Josh drive to her uncle, and with his and her cousins’ help, they manage to dump the body and clear themselves and incriminate the man for his crimes.
And now the question of Josh’s past remains. The DNA results are in; it’s not a match, but the man is related to a serial killer. Aly freaks out, and with good reason. Tyler has been Josh’s bestie since childhood, and despite being a douche, he comes through for Josh, explaining his story and convincing her to give him a chance. Once the air is cleared and we learn of the horrid details of Josh’s past, Aly is more determined than ever to stay with him. Aly helps Josh realize he is not a killer in the making, and Josh helps Aly fight her guilt over her mother’s death—yay, character development. At the end, Josh proposes to Aly, and she happily accepts, because the couple that slays together stays together!
If you are looking for a BookTok-approved, dark romance with the stalker trope and plenty of trigger warnings, you will not be disappointed. With a humorous writing style and a dual POV, Lights Out combines all the lightness of contemporary romance and the morally grey hero. Jacob Morgan’s audiobook performance has also been praised by fans!
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Lights Out is on the lighter side of dark romance, with a slightly morally grey MMC and a badass heroine. Josh is a bit twisted, but he does not harm Aly and is a big fan of consent. Boundaries? Not so much. Lights Out could be a good venture for a dark romance novice.
The main characters are Josh Hammond and Alyssa “Aly” Cappellucci. Josh is the son of the notorious Ken Doll serial killer and is struggling with accepting that he is not like his father. Aly has grown up feeling guilty for her mother’s death and is working herself to the bone as a trauma nurse. Their chemistry is undeniable and explosive.
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.
