Reviews with content warning for Stalking - Caught Up: Into Darkness, Book 2

Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Caught Up: Into Darkness, Book 2 by Navessa Allen

174 reviews

ilmiruth's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense

Content Warnings

kelzurs's review against another edition

3.5

tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

If being woke is wrong, I don’t want to be right

Content Warnings

ceilidh_laochra's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional funny medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This really missed the mark for me and I’m debating giving it 2 stars since I went in with such high expectations and was just disappointed.

I had a really hard time believing the chemistry between Nico and Lauren. I did not like Taylor, though I did like Ryan a lot. The present day drama with Lauren’s dad was boring and I really don’t understand how Lauren “grew up in the mob”, her family knew Nico’s family, their dads worked together, and yet she didn’t seem to know the first thing about what he did or would be capable of doing?

I was frustrated with the way Nico chose to conceal certain secrets, reveal others, or wait until later to reveal this other thing that would make the previous thing make more sense…

And Lauren consistently demonstrated one of my least favourite dynamics.
Usually, when the MMC is rude, mean, disrespectful, etc to the FMC and pisses her off with the way he treats her, when they finally see each other again I am anticipating a big confrontation where she reams him out, explains he crossed a line, he is remorseful, and they make up.
Does that happen here?? Noooo instead, anytime they are within shouting distance of each other, Lauren melts into a horny puddle that can’t control her body as her brain leaks out her ears cause he’s just soooo hot…

Also, forget a third-act breakup, this one had breakups in every act except the final one and they could all be traced back to some miscommunication.

I felt like this book relied too much on the taboo, shock-factor of the kink-play sex scenes to carry the story and it just didn’t match the vibe of the first book, at all.

What I really want is a happily ever after for Moira, that woman deserved a better ending.
Although, I don’t understand how Moira was able to stand by and watch her husband essentially abuse and manipulate their children, then stay with him after and imply in the epilogue that they’re happier than ever?? Like, what?? I feel like if the man hasn’t managed to change for the better in the past 20 years and has only gotten worse to the detriment of everyone around him, then he is probably a lost cause.

My favourite part was Nico grovelling, on his hands and knees, begging Lauren for her forgiveness.

I also loved how wrecked and tortured Nico was after every time he fucked up and hurt Lauren. I love a man in distress and that was Nico pretty much this entire book

Content Warnings

anxiousadventurer_'s review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

vinylrose_reads's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

vgcolon's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

kailesbooks's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I am OBSESSED with a man who grovels and woman who knows her worth! There is stalking, cam work, private clubs, a man who knows when to get on his knees, the hottest spice (a scene in a confessional), and a handy-dandy taser… and yes it does come to play.

I’ve said it a million times, but anything Teddy Hamilton narrates, I will listen to!!! The audiobook was a masterpiece of a dual narration! Both characters were voiced to perfection and they really brought the story to life. I felt the anger, humor, lust, and heartbreak Lauren and Nico felt, both Teddy and Kasi personified Navessa’s characters wonderfully in my opinion.

Like Lights Out, this book is a dark romance, but Caught Up had a little less of a comedic twist and rather a more emotionally charged feeling. I loved the vulnerability and real talk of kink and the stigma behind sex work. Lauren is a bad bitch with a “take no shit” personality and I adored her character and Nico being the heir to the mob but wanting to get out gave a new perspective into this type of story.

If you enjoy a good redemption arc, a second chance romance, and two people with a lot of baggage coming together to get the happy ending they deserve, I would highly recommend you give Caught Up a read (or a listen if you want the juicy bits in surround sound)!!

Content Warnings

sanagirl's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

lost_between_the_pages's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Round up to 4.5 - and that's simply because it wasn't Aly & Josh's story... I just have a soft spot for them both and Navessa spoiled me with their love story. That said, I really enjoyed Lauren and Nics story, too! I'm really not sure why people are rating it so low and saying they hated it? Maybe because of Laurens profession and it makes them feel uncomfortable? I'm not sure... but people expecting another Aly & Josh have their expectations set too high... there can only be ONE Aly & Josh. I really loved their cameos in this story as well. Josh being an actual teddy bear and Aly being her strong, sassy self - I loved it so much that I'm going to go back and reread Lights Out (and I hardly EVER do re-reads). I also really loved the the whole players club aspect and while I'll be outing myself, I'm not ashamed of my sexuality and never will be so reading about others who also enjoy voyeurism and slight BDSM was super hot! The friendship between Lauren, Ryan and Taylor were super sweet and I wish I had a friend group like that - supportive through everything and absolutely hilarious .. ready to ride at dawn! At first I thought the next book would 100% be about Taylor because she is one of my favorite side characters in a dark romance so far but because of the epilogue, I'm pretty positive the next book is going to be about Tyler and Stella which I'm ok with.. should be good! I really love that Navessa doesn't hold back in her stories and she makes the characters seem REAL -- probably why Lauren drove me absolutely nuts at certain parts of the book and why I took .5 stars away because my gosh girl... communication is important, just assuming... well you know what that means. IDK... although yes, I did enjoy Aly and Josh's story so very much and I'm pretty sure they will ALWAYS be my favorite couple in this series... I really did love Lauren and Nics story too. It helped us understand the mob perspective we got in Lights Out and how Aly was involved in her family. It's become one of my favorite series and I can't wait to see what the next book holds and where the couples will be when we get to it. I am hoping that Navessa will make sure to hold space for a book that shows us where all the couples are later in their relationship as I think it would be fun to see where they are in a couple years, especially after the fun details we got in Caught Up. All in all -- this story was sexy, hilarious, impowering, motivating, and it felt like something that two real people could and would go through. I'm thankful I didn't listen to others and read it myself because I would have missed out had I not. In my opinion, it's a fun read with a really cute obsessed couple who's went through all the hard things and have a hard time trusting but find their way back to one another. I'm a sucker for second chances, what can I say?

Content Warnings

shadiaram's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book I liked better than lights out and I think she really captured the complications of family and different fields that people might somehow get into
As a dark romance this book leans on to the light hearted parts and it's not too dark .. but it is fun and entertaining ( Loved Nico we love a dark green flag man )

Content Warnings

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