Caught Up by Navessa Allen

Narrated by Kasi Hollowell, Teddy Hamilton, and Jason June

Standalone in a series

I’m a romcom girl, and I’ve been loving the recent wave of dark romantic comedies. I really loved Lights Out by Navessa Allen—it made me smile and gave me those fluttery, giddy feelings the whole way through. Caught Up, on the other hand, almost felt like it was written by a completely different author—or at least for a totally different series. The twisted humor I loved so much in the first book was missing here.

Lauren and Junior have a complicated past. Their fathers were in rival mafias, and the two were hooking up back in high school until a big fallout ended things. Now, years later, Lauren is a cam girl who performs solo sex acts on camera, is part owner of a sex club, and fights hard for sex worker protections. So hard, in fact, that the book sometimes felt more like a campaign for cam girls than a romance. I felt like her profession took center stage instead of the actual relationship.

Meanwhile, Junior has been secretly obsessed with Lauren for years. He was her very first subscriber and has been paying for private videos ever since, but she doesn’t realize it’s him. He and his brothers are full-on mob enforcers, but he’s ready to get out. When he spots her at a sex club, he finally decides to step out of the shadows and claim her.

This beginning setup had great potential…but never really followed through.

I liked Lauren and her friends/coworkers/roommates. One of them is non-binary, and I thought the use of they/them pronouns was handled really well. I’ve read books where that gets confusing, but this wasn’t one of them—probably because it’s written in first person.

Other than one scene set in a religious environment (which I’ve seen in a few other books), sadly nothing was particularly taboo or shocking.

Caught Up was fine, but it was missing the chaotic, sexy energy that made Lights Out so much fun.

“She made me feel alive. She made me want to fight to keep living, to not let the monsters and the darkness win, because it was so much better being surrounded by her light. And if her penchant for taser play had taught me anything, she could more than put me in my place if necessary. She was my match, my queen, and I would spend the rest of my life worshipping her like one if she let me.”

Likes:

I liked Junior.
He clearly fell first.
Good communication without stupid misunderstandings.
I loved her roommates.
A non-binary character done well.
Some fun scenes in public and almost-public, even if they didn’t live up to the kinkiness of the first book.
The Italian/Catholic church stuff. My husband’s family is just like this!

Dislikes:

Nothing really happened.
So many missed opportunities for great scenes and storytelling.
It lacked the unhinged, sexy fun that made the first book stand out.
It never made me giggle or even smile outside of 1-2 lines, unlike Lights Out.
I get that she’s a proud sex worker, and that’s great—but the message felt heavy-handed. Maybe I’m not the target audience for that messaging.

The Narration:

The narration was honestly the best part of the experience. Teddy Hamilton is always hot. Kasi Hollowell was new to me and did a fantastic job. Jason June voicing the non-binary character was a nice, thoughtful touch.

The Down & Dirty:

Caught Up by Navessa Allen didn’t come close to living up to Lights Out for me. Other than character crossovers, I’m surprised these two books are even in the same series. There was so much missed potential here. Barely any mafia content. He rides a motorcycle, but it’s hardly mentioned. Most of the story is just him supporting her, which is a sweet idea—but not overly exciting to read.

Will I read the third book in the series? I’m not sure. I think I’ll wait for some reviews.