Welcome Back to the Darkness
Alright my fellow spicy book dragons!! It’s time for Caught Up by Navessa Allen, the second book in the Into Darkness series. If you loved Lights Out, you are going to want to dive straight into this one. In the first book, we get a little glimpse of Aly's cousin Junior, but if you thought Caught Up was going to give us more of Aly and her family, you would be wrong.
This is Junior's story. More specifically, it's the story of Junior and the woman he's been in love with for a freaking decade.
And just like Lights Out, Caught Up is packed with amazingly funny banter, plenty of spice, morally questionable behavior, characters who probably shouldn't be allowed to make important decisions unsupervised, and crazy plot twists.
So buckle up, spicy book dragons, because Junior has a very important question for you: “How do you want it?”
Meet the Characters
Nico “Junior” Trocci (MMC): Junior works as a cleaner for the mob and desperately wants out of the world of violence and depravity he's been surrounded by. He's ruthless, grumpy, possessive, protective, and has the ultimate touch-her-and-die personality. Basically, he's a walking red flag. Good thing red is Lauren's favorite color.
Underneath all that violence and his no-nonsense attitude, though, Junior has a surprisingly sweet and caring side. He's intelligent, loves his mother, and has spent years completely obsessed with the one woman he's convinced himself he's not allowed to have.
Lauren Marchetti (FMC): Lauren is smart, caring, witty, hilarious, and pure sunshine with a backbone. She takes absolutely no one's shit and is unapologetically herself. She's an adult content creator, an investor in a play club, and an advocate for sex workers' rights. She lives with her two roommates, Taylor and Ryan, who are basically family, along with their goofy fur baby Walter. And let me tell you right now, Walter is a freaking menace.
She's Been Off Limits for Ten Years
Junior has wanted Lauren since they were teenagers. The problem is that Lauren was supposed to be off limits. Junior lives in a world filled with violence and depravity, and in his mind, men like him don't get women like Lauren. That's why he pushed her away in high school and continued keeping his distance for years. Except keeping his distance doesn't exactly mean he stopped watching.
Because spicy book dragons, this man has been keeping tabs on Lauren from afar.
And when Lauren's father is finally out of the picture? All bets are off. Junior has spent ten years wanting her, and he's finally decided that watching isn't enough anymore. He's going to make Lauren his.
Her Number One Fan
The book starts on the darker side with Junior and his brothers cleaning up a very unpleasant mess down at the docks. On his birthday, no less. Afterward, Junior returns to an apartment he barely uses, showers off the evidence of his night, and settles in with his favorite social media account.
Lauren's.
Then he follows the link to her adult content page. And that's when we discover something interesting. Junior is Lauren's number one fan. In fact, he's her very first subscriber. Lauren just has absolutely no idea it's him. I was immediately invested. Junior might have physically stayed away from Lauren for years, but mentally? That man never went anywhere.
Lauren, Taylor, Ryan, and Walter
One of my favorite parts of Caught Up was Lauren's little found family.
I absolutely loved the dynamic between Lauren, Taylor, and Ryan. They're roommates, but their relationship goes so much deeper than that. They're family. Their banter feels like the kind you only have with people you're ridiculously comfortable around. They mess with each other, make fun of each other, support each other, and generally cause chaos together.
Then there's Walter. Oh, Walter. The scene where Walter gets ahold of Lauren's favorite wipe had me CACKLING. Everyone is running away because no one wants to get wiped while simultaneously trying to convince this ridiculous dog to drop the damn thing. Chef's kiss.
These moments are one of the reasons I enjoy Navessa Allen's books so much. She can give us something dark and twisted, then turn around and have me laughing my ass off a few pages later.
Unholy Things Keep Happening at Church
Junior goes to mass for one very important reason. Lauren. And I'm telling you right now, every time these two end up in church together, they somehow manage to do something unholy. Junior corners Lauren during coffee hour after she comes out of the bathroom, pins her against the wall, and asks if she missed him.
Lauren tells him no. As far as she's concerned, after what happened between them when they were younger, Junior became no one to her. Except her body isn't exactly agreeing with that statement. When Junior points this out, Lauren decides there can only be one reasonable explanation. She's being possessed by a horny ghost nun.
Naturally, she starts mumbling: “The power of Christ compels you.”
Junior thinks she's trying to exorcise him. I was dying. And when Junior overhears some of the older women at church talking shit about Lauren? Well... Their tires mysteriously don't survive the day. Apparently, touch her and die also comes in a slightly less murderous talk about her and lose your tires package.
NT95
Then we get one of my favorite parts of the book. Junior has been interacting with Lauren online under the username NT95, but she has no idea who he really is. Eventually, NT95 sends Lauren a request for an in-person meeting. She denies it. So Junior sends another request. With more money. And a picture of something from Lauren's past that he absolutely should not have.
Cue panic.
Lauren drops her phone, Ryan asks what's wrong, and they start trying to figure out what the hell is happening. Then another message arrives.
“Please, Lo.”
NT95 IS NICO.
Spicy book dragons, I was HERE for it. And when Lauren finally agrees to his request, let's just say Junior intends to make one of her old fantasies a reality.🔥
The Banter Is Just as Good as Lights Out
One of my biggest questions going into Caught Up was whether it could match the humor of Lights Out. For me, it absolutely did. Junior and Lauren are hilarious together, but the side characters are just as entertaining. Even scenes that should probably be disturbing somehow become funny.
At one point, Junior and his brother Alec are sent into the woods to bury a box. They don't know what's inside. And apparently they've learned the hard way that sometimes it's better not to look.
So naturally, this turns into a lovely little game of: What's in the box?
Morbid? Absolutely. Did I laugh? Also absolutely. That's one of the things I love about this series. The humor doesn't erase the darkness. Somehow the two coexist in a way that works.
Junior Isn't Just a Walking Red Flag
I also really enjoyed seeing the softer parts of Junior's personality. Yes, he's violent. Yes, he's obsessive. Yes, his moral compass occasionally seems to have fallen out of his pocket somewhere. But the way he feels about Lauren is obvious.
One of my favorite moments is when Junior brings her to Josh and Aly's engagement BBQ. It's not necessarily one of the wildest scenes in the book, but I loved what it represented.
He's not ashamed of Lauren. He doesn't want to hide her. After spending so many years keeping his feelings buried and pushing her away because he thought she needed to remain separate from his world, he's finally allowing her into his life. For someone like Junior, that means something.
And Lauren Gives It Right Back
I also loved that Lauren isn't overwhelmed by Junior's personality. She's sunshine, but she's definitely not fragile. She teases him. She challenges him. She stands up for herself. She knows who she is and doesn't apologize for it.
That's what makes their grumpy x sunshine dynamic work so well.
Junior might be a terrifying mob cleaner capable of doing some seriously questionable things, but Lauren isn't going to quietly sit in the corner and let him control everything. She gives him just as much shit as he gives everyone else. And watching this massive red flag of a man deal with a woman who isn't afraid of him?
The Spice Is Definitely Spicing
If you've read Lights Out, you already know Navessa Allen isn't shy when it comes to spice. Caught Up continues that tradition. Junior and Lauren have ten years of history, attraction, anger, hurt feelings, and unresolved tension sitting between them.
When all of that finally starts coming out? Things get HOT.
Their chemistry is fantastic because the sexual tension isn't the only thing connecting them. There's history there. Junior has wanted this woman for years. Lauren has her own complicated feelings about the boy who hurt her when they were younger.
So when they finally start breaking through those walls, you get plenty of spice mixed with all those unresolved emotions.
The Verdict
Highly Recommended For: Fans of Lights Out, dark romance beginners, morally gray MMCs, mafia romance, grumpy x sunshine, childhood friends, second chances, touch-her-and-die heroes, obsessive men, found family, hilarious banter, high spice, and walking red flags you absolutely should not find attractive but somehow do anyway.
Caught Up DELIVERED. After loving Lights Out as much as I did, I wasn't sure if the second book would hit the same way. It did.
Junior and Lauren are completely different from Josh and Aly, which I appreciated. Instead of trying to recreate the first book, Navessa Allen gives us another unhinged couple with their own history, personalities, and relationship dynamic while keeping everything that made me love the series in the first place. The banter is just as funny. The spice is just as hot. The plot twists are just as crazy. And the characters are just as entertaining. I loved Lauren's relationship with Taylor and Ryan, I loved ridiculous Walter, I loved seeing little glimpses of Josh and Aly again, and I especially loved watching Junior finally stop pretending he could stay away from the woman he'd wanted for a decade.
This book did not disappoint. And my fellow spicy book dragons, you should know by now that if I preorder the next book, I really love the series. So yes. Game On was preordered. I am ready. Bring on the third and final book because I need to know what kind of chaos Navessa Allen is going to throw at us next.
Happy reading, and remember my fellow spicy book dragons, before starting a book please check the tropes, and always check for trigger warnings. Nobody likes an unfinished book because the tropes aren't your cup of tea or having a bad reading experience because of unexpected trigger warnings.
