Title: Game On
Author: Navessa Allen
Category: Gothic Romance
My Rating: 4 Stars
Book Blurb:
Book three in the No.1 New York Times bestselling Into Darkness series, following the dark rom-com sensations Lights Out and Caught Up. The game is on for these enemies-to-lovers with laugh-out-loud banter and scorching-hot brat play.
I hate that woman.
Tyler Neumann has spent years looking for his father, and not because he wants to meet the man. No, he wants to destroy him. And he’ll manipulate whoever he can to exact his revenge.
Including Stella McCormick. She’s everything Tyler hates. Her wealth and privilege have protected her for her entire life, and Tyler thinks it’s time she finally paid the price. Whether she’s ready to or not.
I hate that man.
Stella might not believe in love at first sight, but loathing at first sight – no question. From the moment she sets eyes on Tyler in her tattoo parlor, she knows he’s the devil planning to make her life hell.
Forced to play the part of his girlfriend and invite him into her family’s glittering circles, Stella quickly clocks Tyler’s ulterior motives. But love and hate are two sides of the same coin, and soon she doesn’t know which is worse: being blackmailed by a man who wants to ruin her, or that they can’t seem to keep their hands off each other.
Game On is an enemies-to-lovers dark romance with morally grey characters. Some themes and scenes may be disturbing to readers. Please check the content warning at the beginning of the book.
My Review:
I picked up Game On by Navessa Allen from a Blind Date with a Book stall while visiting Stratford-upon-Avon. The mystery clue on the back read: Dark Rom Com, Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity, Fake Dating Scheme, Blackmail, High Spice.
I was sold!
Navessa Allen is a new-to-me author, but after reading this, she’s definitely one I’ll be following. This book is the third in her series, but you can read it as a standalone.
When that mystery clue said high spice, it really wasn’t kidding! Game On is GRAPHIC, so this certainly won’t be for everyone, but beneath all that spice is a beautifully written story with characters who have far more depth than I expected.
I particularly loved the character development, and dual POV chapters are fast becoming a firm favourite of mine. Being able to see what was going on inside both Stella and Tyler’s heads added so much to their relationship and the enemies-to-lovers dynamic.
Tyler is an absolute s**t for most of the book, and yet I still found myself sympathising with him. Understanding his backstory, his motivations and where all that anger came from made it much harder to simply write him off as the villain.
My only slight disappointment was the ending. The switch from bad to good felt a little too neat for me, especially after everything that came before. I would also have liked the power play between Stella and Tyler to stay a bit grittier for longer rather than softening quite so much.
That said, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Dark, funny, filthy, morally grey and surprisingly emotional. Game On was a great holiday read (although I did worry the young lady in the plane seat next to me might wonder what the hell I was reading!) and a brilliant Blind Date with a Book discovery.
Buy your copy here: Amazon UK or Amazon US
