
Member Reviews

This book was AMAZING! I thought there was so way to top the first one but I loved everything about it. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read!

๐๐๐๐๐๐: 4.25โญ๏ธ
๐ถ๐๐๐๐: Dark romance ๐
๐ผ๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐:
I really liked the first book but this one just didnโt live up to the hype for me compared to Lights Out.
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐๐:
Second chance romance
Mafia family drama
Sex positivity
Touch her and die
Found family
Kick clubs
Opposites attract
Morally grey MMC
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ธ ๐๐๐๐๐:
How well they communicated
The photo booth and confessional scenes were fire
Laurenโs confidence
The roommates
Josh and Aly appearances
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ธ ๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐:
The romance felt a little rushed after 10 years
Wasnโt as funny as Lights Out
Overall it was kind of boring- I wanted more tension
๐ต๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐:
โ
"She made me want to fight to keep living, to not let the monsters and the darkness win, because it was so much better being surrounded by her light."
โ
"I don't want to clip your wings, Lo. I want to see you fly. "
โ
He's ruthless; a walking red flag. Good thing red is my favorite color.โ

I enjoyed this read! It was darker than lights out, and was missing the humor of Josh.
But it was a hot and spicy mafia romance!
Super enjoyable!

In early 2020 was when I first jumped from a pure fantasy/sci-fi reader to dark romance and into mafia. Since then, I seem to go through phases of wandering to it and coming back to my roots, but Navessa Allen ALWAYS brings me right back into it.
First, I just have to get it out, stop going into books hoping it's a copy/paste of book one. This book was fantastic on it's own. Second, Navessa Allen picks the BEST narrators where I will never in my life bad mouth audiobooks again.
'Caught Up' was hot, it was dangerous, and it had me enthralled. Navessa Allen has me in a chokehold with the obsession that these men have. Junior is walking, talking danger, but can communicate better than 98% of men I have ever interacted with, which should be illegal because how is a man supposed to be that unhinged AND that emotionally available? I can't be looking towards dangerous men like this. Lauren is iconic. She's the mature adult I always say I want to be when I grow up (even though I am an adult, obviously). The chemistry between these two is so electric it could power a small city, and their relationship progression feels both inevitable and completely earned.
This book delivers the perfect cocktail of angst, steam, and character development without drowning in unnecessary drama or miscommunication tropes that make you want to throw your Kindle. And, of course, Navessa Allen knew exactly what to do when she brought the spice and put new "ideas" into my head and on my list that have no right being there.
I said it with Lights Out and I'll say it again, if you have an audible credit or are looking for an audiobook, this. I read it with my eyes and then my ears and it just hits different in my ears.

This was such a good second chance romance. I loved seeing glimpses of Josh and Allie from the first book, Lights Out. Nico and Lauren had such undeniable chemistry. They met in high schoolโ she loved him but he disappeared. He has been keeping track of Lauren for years but never made a move until now. I loved the mafia storyline. It added more drama in this book and really pulled me in. The angst was off the charts between these two!

I was super excited to read this after loving Lights Out. I had really high hopes for this one and I am sad to say it didn't hit the way that Lights Out did for me. I laughed hysterically in that one and absolutely loved the characters. I hate comparing a book to something else, but when you set those expectations you can be disappointed when they don't live up. I still enjoyed the book and loved parts of the book, but didn't feel like I was absolutely in shambles over this one.

Did not love this one like Lights Out. Felt like it was part of a whole different series.
I didnโt connect with the characters like I did In book one, I thought it would have more substance and I was also expecting to have a more light hearted vibe mixed with dark romance and I didnโt get that at all. Loved that Josh and Aly made an appearance but that was about it.

I couldnโt get enough of Junior & Lauren. Their โsecond chanceโ romance was fire and I loved the overall story line. The advocacy and de stigmatizing of SW was done incredibly well.
The audiobook was done incredibly well - I did a tandem read.
If you wanted the same story as Lights Out, this wonโt be for you - but if you wanted a new story, set in the same world - you wonโt be disappointed.

Woah. At least the first book was funny. This one ended up feeling way more serious with a little bit of sex thrown in, but not much else. I really thought I was going to enjoy it. For the first 30 percent, I was convinced it would be at least a four-star read. But as the story went on, it felt like nothing actually progressed. I got to 97 percent and thoughtโฆ thatโs it? I think Lights Out worked because it was fresh and fun, but making it into a series might not have been the best call. Even the "cliffhanger" at the end didnโt make me want to pick up the next book. If that was supposed to hook me, it definitely missed.

Another incredible dark romance from one of my new favorite authors. It did feature a lot less comedy of book 1, which I felt worked because Nico and Lauren are a totally different couple and their vibes called for a different overall tone. I don't usually love a second chance romance this much, but I adored their love story and absolutely devoured this book!

I absolutely adored this book! Lights Out was one of my favorite books ever, so I was beyond excited to get Juniors story, & this did not disappoint! The tension & build up was phenomenal! I loved Lauren & her entire personality! I also love how obsessed Nico is with her! 5 stars!!

3.5โญ๏ธ
In my opinion this book wasnโt Lights Out 2.0, BUT it did still keep me entertained all the way through. I think we all expected Caught Up to be a Dark Rom-Com like the first book in the series, and letโs just be completely honest here and say that it isnโt. This book doesnโt have the banter and witty moments that Lights out did, but it did still have some great tension, steamy moments, and YME (Yearning Man Energy)- which I thoroughly enjoyed. Now I do hope that for the next book in the series we can get back some of the lighthearted banter we had in the first book.

4.25 stars all aroundโ I loved the darker vibes of this one from Lights Out, although there were still great moments of humor and I loved Nic & Lauren just as much as Josh and Aly. I'm not usually a mob romance girlie so I was hesitant going in, but Navessa doesn't miss and it was an absolute banger. The setup for book 3 has me totally hooked and I loved the little cameos from everyone we loved from the first book!

This one was just okay! It was definitely lacking the playful push and pull that book one had. I liked the characters enough, but their romance fell a bit flat? The hero was in the kind of mafia, but it didn't really feel like a full mafia romance? And then he stalked the heroine, but her reactions weren't this playful flirty banter and he wasn't...endearing enough for it to work? It just felt like all the pieces were there and stuck together instead of having characters I could love and a story I could love. I was definitely expecting more from their story!

I loved the first book in this series, but this one had a trope I don't love - where a sex worker (a la Only Fans) falls in love with one of her clients. No shade to the job but this just isn't the meet-cute for me. I DNF at about 30% but would definitely read another book by this author.

June 19, 2025
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
It was so fun to be back in the world of Lights Up and to see more about the mafia lifestyle Aly was involved in. This time we're with Junior, aka Nico, who desperately wants out and can't help but still be obsessed with his first love. For Lauren, Nico is the guy who ruined her life by pretending they weren't hanging out, but she has no clue what Nico thinks he saved her from. Caught Up is full of tension, chemistry, and stalking. I'm glad both Nico and Lauren talk about their limitations, boundaries, and past mistakes in this aspect. For Nico, he takes his actions as ways to make sure Lauren is safe, to enact justice, and to help her out behind the scenes.

This one was fun. I know Iโm the minority here, but between the cat daddy and Batman references, Lights Out imo was too cringy to enjoy. This one i found much more enjoyable.

This book was ๐ฅต๐ฅต๐ฅต. The FMC is a cam girl and I think that is really underplayed in the synopsis. Itโs definitely NOT what I was expecting! It isnโt a bad thing but I had to kind of readjust my expectations of the book because of that. I also was expecting some of the same humor that Josh injected into Lights Out and this book was not nearly as humorous. That is not a bad thing at all but again. These are things that should have been addressed in the synopsis.
I did really like Lauren the FMC. She is a badass and I like how Junior brings out her bratty side! I also liked Juniorโs POV because it showed how into her he was. Without it, the man would just be a million red flags ๐. Seeing Juniors dad get out in his place was SO satisfying and I liked that we got more of Ally and Josh too! Iโm also SO curious about Tyler and I canโt wait for that book
Definitely recommend this one for smut and mafia romance lovers!
A huge thank you to @netgalley and @slowburn.reads for an ARC copy!!

I had a great time with this one! I didn't like it as much as the first, but still enjoyed it overall. I loved how quickly the plot took off and felt like there were not many "slow" parts. It was definitely angsty which I loved.

๐๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ณ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด; ๐ข ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐จ. ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ.
Navessa absolutely did it again. Second chance happens to be one of my fav tropes so throw that in a dark rom com and baby I am SATTTT. Lauren? Absolutely iconic. Nico? Oh baby he had me from page one. We love a man whoโll do whatever it takes to get his woman BACKKKK.
Navessa babe I will read any and everything you put out you absolute QUEEEEEN. youโre an icon ๐ง๐ปโโ๏ธ
also did we get a glimpse of who book 3 is about bc I KNOW I KNOW ๐๐ปโโ๏ธ