Navessa Allen Books in Order: How Dark and Spicy They Actually Are

I started reading Navessa Allen books in 2024. Yeah, the Lights Out craze got me. And honestly, you should start there. No question. But she’s not the dark romance author Booktok says she is, and that’s mostly good news. She’s written 2 series and a handful of standalones, but they’re not all created equal. Let’s get into what her catalog is, how spicy is it, and who is it for (or not).

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Where to start reading Navessa Allen books?

Personally, I think her best work is the best place to start and that is Lights Out. It’s the start of the Into Darkness series, yes, but more importantly it gives you a taste of the light-hearted dark romance she’s truly known for. I think the other books never quite hit that tone again.

But if you actually already read the Into Darkness series and you’re wondering… now what? The answer is Valentine’s Slay. I wouldn’t steer you to the backlist titles, which are getting beautiful reissues via Forever, only because the tone and voice of those is giving you something different. Valentine’s Slay is a short story, yes, but it does hold the dark humor that we know and love from her series.

My thoughts after reading Navessa Allen

I think Navessa Allen uses humor as a great delivery mechanism for dark material really well. We see this especially in Lights Out when there’s funny and adorable moments of Josh with the cat as he’s literally breaking into Aly’s house and stalking her. They break up the tension and soften things when it matters. You even see that before you start the book from the trigger warnings, and if you’re listening to the audiobook that sets the mood for the book.

But not every single book delivers on that. The mafia thread in the Into Darkness series never fully commits for me, but the dark romance tone also softens even more as you go along. So the series keeps promising an edge but never fully delivering it. Then you dive into the backlist and realize that also feels different.

I picked up Lights Out in 2024 on audio, which is a must listen experience, expecting Mindf*ck series. And honestly I got something else. But I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was one of my first true stalker romance reads and yes, it felt a bit unsettling. At the same time, I could see the appeal and I wanted more.

These days I think of Navessa Allen as a great gateway author. If you’re looking to start reading any of the tropes or genres that she writes, if you start with her books you’ll know if the theme is for you. Never too deep or over the top into them. Want to start reading dark romance? Try Lights Out. Never read a paranormal romance? Try The Lunatics.

Want to know what you’re getting into by reading Lights Out? I would say think of the humor of Butcher and Blackbird mixed with a sprinkle of darker elements (and knife play). A touch of Mindf*ck, specifically in Josh who I think is similar to the heroine of that series. And Joe Goldberg’s internal monologue (from You by Caroline Kepnes and TV Show) because Josh’s stream of consciousness carries his particular brand of funny.

Navessa Allen Books in Order

You are here, most likely, because you’ve seen the Into Darkness series somewhere on Booktok (or the popular tables at B&N) and want to know where to start or what to read next. Like I said before, start with Lights Out. So lets get into that series first.

How to read the Into Darkness series

Lights Out does kick off the Into Darkness series that currently has 3 books out. No announcements yet for another one, although there are characters we’d love to see in future books. But each of these stand alone. You don’t have to read them all, and you don’t have to read them in order either. The heroes of books 2 & 3 are introduced in book 1, and the previous couples make cameo appearances.

Click on these for my individual book reviews

1. Lights Out (2024)
   My absolute favorite one of the bunch where you get a cat daddy stalker who gets mad if someone else is stalking her.
2. Caught Up (2025)
   This is the more mafia romance meets 2010s erotic romance at a kink club. It’s a good time, but it’s a shift from Lights Out.
3. Game On (2026)
   A little closer in tone to Lights Out, but still not true dark romance. More light romantic thriller with a revenge and fake dating plot.

Grab the Into Darkness series on Amazon

Navessa Allen’s Backlist: New Books or One’s You’ve Already Read?

Forever recently acquired all of Navessa Allen’s backlist. This is excited because they are reissuing her indie backlist titles through 2026. The new covers are gorgeous, the indie ebooks are going down, but nothing on this list is a new book. I’ve got a table with the release dates so you can check if you’ve already read them.

Title	Originally	Forever edition	What it is
Scandal	2020, indie	February 3, 2026 ebook December 1, 2026 paperback	Standalone. Historical, Napoleonic era, MFM triad
The Lunatics	2019, indie	February 3, 2026 ebook August 4, 2026 paperback Holds both indie novellas	Series. Paranormal, werewolf shifters, Boston. Ends on a cliffhanger.
The Kings of Kearny	2021, indie	February 3, 2026 ebook June 9, 2026 paperback	Standalone. MC romance, small-town Texas, two veterans
Snowed In	2020, indie	December 16, 2025 ebook November 3, 2026 paperback	Standalone. Small-town, athlete hiding from fame, slow burn

Did you know that Navessa Allen wrote historical romance? That is the one I still have left to read and I’ll be doing that soon and updating you guys here.

Short Fiction and Novellas

Navessa also released Valentine’s Slay as part of The Improbable Meet-Cute series. This is an Amazon Original Stories collection released January 2026. It’s a steamy dark romantic comedy about a Louisiana gravedigger who finds his high school crush alive in a freshly dug grave on Valentine’s night.

Super short (95 pages) and something you can read in one sitting, literally. This collection also includes Christina Lauren, Hannah Bonam-Young, Julie Soto, Trilina Pucci and Catherine Cowles. All amazing authors. And in this collection, Navessa’s was my favorite. It definitely carries more of the signature of Into Darkness and is genuinely a great mid-day pick me up.

If you have Kindle Unlimited, and I believe Prime as well, you get to either read the ebook or listen to the audiobook as part of your membership.

The best Navessa Allen books according to my ranking

Now let’s play a little game. I have read pretty much her whole backlist and this is where I put every book (1 being my favorite). Some are genuinely a toss up.

1. Lights Out: this is the book that made me fall in love with her writing. But I will be objective and say that a lot of that is because of how much I love Josh.
2. Valentine’s Slay: the dark humor does it for me here. It captures the parts about Lights Out that I loved and it’s a quick read.
3. Game On: I’m quite partial to a man on a mission, even if that mission involves getting revenge and using the heroine to do it. He’s probably the most red flag.
4. The Lunatics: all the elements of a good paranormal romance mixed with a mafia style organizational structure. That gets me every time. Also the mating bond was quite interesting and I don’t think I’ve read that before, but the world building was a little thin.
5. The Kings of Kearny: I love a grumpy bearded MC vet. They just want to take care of their people and isn’t that sexy. But she can give as good as she gets. As someone who’s read MC books since the start of the trope back in 2012, this doesn’t quite get as dark as I would want. So don’t go into it expecting Sons of Anarchy.
6. Caught Up: just so fun to see a Catholic boy discovering kink for the first time and accepting that his woman is a sex worker. I think going in with the right expectations, I would’ve liked it more. I was expecting Lights Out and that’s not what I got.
7. Snowed In: the sweetness mixed with the trauma I wasn’t expecting. It delivers on the winter vibes, but I found some of it mundane.

To be read and ranked: Scandal.

While you can read my individual reviews for the Into Darkness books (linked above), here are some of my thoughts on her backlist titles.

Snowed In by Navessa Allen mini review

This book was originally published in 2020 and I read the indie edition. I think Navessa put her backlist ebooks as freebies for a couple of days and I of course grabbed them. We’ve got a remote small town in the dead of winter. The heroine’s uncle’s new neighbor turns out to be a retired football player and he’s dealing with some pretty heavy things, which is why he’s isolating himself. Check trigger warnings on this one for death of a loved one, grief, depression, medical uncertainty, concussions. I was expecting a light and fluffy snowed in romance and this got a little heavy too. But it wasn’t all heavy, there was also a lot of mundane, routine, daily stuff.

The thing with this one is that it definitely read like the earlier work of the author I met in Lights Out. The writing wasn’t as mature yet and it showed. I can’t say if that was polished in the reissued version because I haven’t read that one.

But if you want a book with a winter vibe, where the heroine is the one person who makes the hero feel normal and seen, plus there’s cute dogs in the snow, then you’ll want to check it out. However, they are never truly as “snowed in” as I was wanting from the trope.

The Lunatics by Navessa Allen mini review

Layla Fitzpatrick is a werewolf keeping her head down and not interested in mating. Michael Korbeck is a corporate shifter running his family’s empire with no time for anyone. They both attend a ritual bonding ceremony for other people and the magic goes wrong and they end up mated to each other. Set in Boston with shifters, witches, vampires and a bit of a supernatural mafia.

Listen, if there’s one thing Navessa can write is a mafia structure and it works even here. While this one doesn’t quite develop the paranormal world as much as I would’ve liked, I think it’s a great introduction to the genre for someone who is not familiar with paranormal romance and wants to try. It kinds of works the same as if you like Bride by Ali Hazelwood.

Even though the paranormal is a little thin, we have likable characters and an interesting plot. Would someone that loved Lights Out like this? It’s a possibility. I would say think closer to a mix of Caught Up and Game On than Lights Out, but with supernatural politics and mating bonds.

Now, even though I have the indie edition on my kindle, I actually read an ARC of this one from Forever so I wouldn’t be able to tell you if there was anything changed. But just know that the two indie novellas that are part of this series can be found in the current edition. And we are still waiting for the continuation because the book ends on a cliffhanger.

The Questions People Usually Ask

Does Navessa Allen write dark romance?

BookTok says yes. I’m going to disagree. Navessa Allen writes edgy, modern romance but I wouldn’t call it dark romance. Lights Out works as a legitimate light dark romance for beginners. But the rest of her books are not very dark in my opinion.

How spicy are Navessa Allen’s books?

Yes, her books are spicy. I also think BookTok oversells the heat. Granted, spice is subjective and there is real spice, some of it quite creative, in her books. But I would argue that you will find spicier, by quite a bit, from other authors. I would put her middle way on the spice scale.

Do you have to read the Into Darkness books in order?

Honestly, no. The order matters only if you care about cameos appearances and to know where a character first appeared. But reading them in order doesn’t add or take away anything from the enjoyment of any of the books.

What are the content warnings for Navessa Allen’s books?

Each book will have individual content warnings and Navessa Allen is great at including those at the beginning of her books. But with the Into Darkness series you’ll definitely get stalking, some variation of danger mixed with sex (like knife play) and men obsessed with their heroines to the point of red flag territory.

Is Lights Out being made into a movie?

The Lights Out adaptation is in development at Netflix, proposed to be a series not a movie. It’s not greenlit, not in production. Things can still fall through. But it was announced February 11, 2026. Hannah Schneider is the show runner, writer and EP. There’s no cast, no date, no news. Will keep you updated when there’s developments.

Is Snowed In / The Lunatics / Kings of Kearny / Scandal a new Navessa Allen book?

No. All of these are reissues of her indie published backlist. You can check the table of release dates above to see when she originally released the indie version and when Forever released the reissued version.

Does The Lunatics end on a cliffhanger?

Yes. The Forever edition published in 2026 is actually the 2 indie novellas in one book. But it ends on a cliffhanger and there was an announcement in 2020 (when it was indie) that there would be more. But no news since yet.

Can you still buy the original indie versions of Navessa Allen’s books?

Not from what I could find. Only the Forever ebook or paperback editions are available for purchase at the moment.

Are Navessa Allen’s books standalone?

Absolutely. I think she does a great job at writing a standalone, even when writing within a series structure. They are the most interconnected standalones I have read. But also most of the rest of her backlist is actual standalones.

Are the Navessa Allen audiobooks worth it?

100% yes. If you’re going to pick up Lights Out, it’s a better experience on audio. Or do an immersive tandem read so you listen to the audiobook while you read a physical or ebook copy. It was like listening to Josh, literally.

What’s Next from Navessa Allen?

There are currently no news about upcoming books yet. She did recently release a Lights Out coloring book, if you want something to do while you wait for her next announcement. On the reissue schedule we have Snowed In getting a special trade paperback release with sprayed edges on November 3, 2026 and Scandal on December 1, 2026.

And then we wait for any adaptation news.

If You Like Navessa Allen, Read Next

I’ll give you 5 books or series to go dive into. Brynne Weaver’s Ruinous Love trilogy, Lauren Biel’s Slaycation series, Good for Her by Tylor Paige, Midnight Message by Avina St. Graves, Naughty or Nice by Alta Hensley. Check trigger warnings on all of these as they are all some level of slightly beginner dark romances. And if you liked The Lunatics, check out Bride by Ali Hazelwood.

Want more book recs?

If you loved the stalker element of these Navessa Allen books and want more of it, I’ve got a list of stalker romance recommendations that will be perfect for your next binge.

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