Game On by Navessa Allen Review: My Least Favorite in the Series

Game On by Navessa Allen is a perfectly solid contemporary romance with spice, good chemistry, and a fake dating setup navigating rich families world. ~ Under the Covers

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. This post contains affiliate links. That means we receive a small commission at no cost to you from any purchases you make through these links.

Game On by Navessa Allen is one of those books that worked better for me once I stopped expecting a dark romance and started reading it as a spicy contemporary romance with a revenge plot. Tyler and Stella have strong chemistry right from the start (insta lust even), and their fake dating dynamic keeps things fun, but this one never fully delivered the darker edge I was hoping for. If you’re here for banter and spice, this could still be a good time.

What is Game On by Navessa Allen about?

Game On by Navessa Allen is a spicy contemporary romance about Tyler, a man out for revenge against the family that wronged him, and Stella, the wealthy woman who ends up caught in the middle of his plan. When Tyler forces Stella into a fake relationship so he can gain access to her world, their mutual dislike quickly turns into intense chemistry. What starts as a revenge driven setup becomes a story about attraction, power, and blurred lines, with plenty of heat along the way.

Is Game On by Navessa Allen really a dark romance?

This was the biggest thing for me while reading Game On by Navessa Allen. At this point, I think my main issue with the book is less about what it is and more about what I expected it to be.

After Lights Out, and even after Caught Up, I was still going into this series hoping for dark romance or at least dark rom-com vibes. Not necessarily the exact same flavor every time, but something with real danger. Game On never really gives that for me.

Instead, this felt much closer to an older 2000s or 2010s contemporary romance, where the hero has been wronged, clawed his way into power through questionable means, and comes back ready to make the people who hurt him pay. That setup is solid, but this book never really pushes it into anything that feels especially fresh or dark.

That does not make it bad. But it didn’t quite meet the expectations I had going in. So if you’re going into expecting a contemporary romance with spice and some kink, you’ll probably enjoy it more.

Does Game On by Navessa Allen deliver on enemies to lovers?

Not really, at least not in the way I wanted it to.

Tyler and Stella technically start off as enemies because of Tyler’s plan to use her, and the relationship is built around that and the fake dating setup. The dangerous undertones fade pretty quickly for me. The animosity is there, but it never develops into the kind of emotional stakes you want with enemies.

I do think the fake dating works. That ended up being the real driver of the book for me. Watching them play a role, move through Stella’s world, and blur the line between performance and reality was fun.

Game On by Navessa Allen characters

The chemistry is what carried this book for me. Tyler and Stella work well together, and even though the relationship does lean a little insta lust, I bought into them as a couple. They have an immediate pull and I liked them together.

I would not say they are the most memorable couple in the series, and I do not mean that in a bad way. They are solid together. They just did not leave the same kind of impression on me that the first couple did.

How spicy is Game On by Navessa Allen?

The spice definitely delivers. The kink elements worked for me, even if I would have been happy with a little more. The brat play was solid, and I liked the dynamic it created between Tyler and Stella. It never felt like it was thrown in just to check a box.

I also really enjoyed the threesome woven into the story. It’s not wildly boundary pushing, but it adds a playfulness to the sexual dynamic and it also ends up giving us a sense of what their relationship might look like going forward.

Is Game On by Navessa Allen worth reading?

Game On by Navessa Allen is a perfectly solid contemporary romance with spice, good chemistry, and a fake dating setup navigating rich families world. What held it back for me was mostly that it felt like the series has kept drifting farther away from the dark romance vibe that originally pulled me into the series.

That is why this ended up being my least favorite of the three, even though I still had fun with parts of it. The humor is dialed down, the darkness isn’t there, and while the emotional intensity and kink are still there, they are not enough to make this feel especially memorable for me. The premise is enjoyable, the couple works, and the spice is strong. So it’s a solid read! I just wanted a different book than the one I got. If you go in thinking spicy contemporary romance, there is a good chance you will have a better experience than I did.

Check out my reviews for: Caught Up by Navessa Allen and Lights Out by Navessa Allen. And if you’re looking to start reading dark romance, don’t miss my dark romance starter pack or check out more dark romance books.

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