{"id":422,"date":"2026-03-18T13:47:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T13:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/2026\/03\/18\/booktok-sensation-navessa-allens-explosive-game-on-is-almost-here-read-an-excerpt-exclusive\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T13:47:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T13:47:47","slug":"booktok-sensation-navessa-allens-explosive-game-on-is-almost-here-read-an-excerpt-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/2026\/03\/18\/booktok-sensation-navessa-allens-explosive-game-on-is-almost-here-read-an-excerpt-exclusive\/","title":{"rendered":"Booktok Sensation Navessa Allen&#8217;s Explosive \u201cGame On\u201d Is Almost Here \u2014 Read an Excerpt! (Exclusive)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The scorching finale to the smash hit Into Darkness Series follows &#8216;Lights Out&#8217; and &#8216;Caught Up&#8217; with plenty of enemies-to-lover banter and scorching hot play<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/F1Gw_2cABe0mI1YYv-Os9fP9bBE=\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)\/Navessa-Allen-game-on-31726-7a1aaf15f87b4c089d68c46f570e7f8f.jpg\" alt=\"Navessa Allen and her new book 'Game On'Credit: Navessa Allen; Zando\" title=\"Navessa Allen, Game On\" \/><figcaption><i>Navessa Allen and her new book &#8216;Game On&#8217;<br \/>Credit: Navessa Allen; Zando<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>NEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Navessa Allen&#8217;s <em>Game On<\/em>, the third book in her <em>Into the Darkness<\/em> series, comes out March 31 via Slowburn<\/li>\n<li>The enemies-to-lovers dark rom-com follows the revenge-seeking Tyler Neumann and his complicated relationship with tattoo artist Stella McCormick<\/li>\n<li>Read an exclusive excerpt from <em>Game On<\/em>, below<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The wait is almost over, <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/navessa-allen-christina-lauren-new-valentine-collection-11872755\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\">Navessa Allen<\/a> fans.<\/p>\n<p>After the record-smashing success of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.awin1.com\/cread.php?awinmid=92005&amp;awinaffid=272513&amp;clickref=11928334%7C%7C%7C%7Csyndication%7C&amp;p=https%3A%2F%2Fbookshop.org%2Fa%2F114093%2F9781638932239\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noskim\"><em>Lights Out<\/em><\/a><em> <\/em>and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.awin1.com\/cread.php?awinmid=92005&amp;awinaffid=272513&amp;clickref=11928334%7C%7C%7C%7Csyndication%7C&amp;p=https%3A%2F%2Fbookshop.org%2Fa%2F114093%2F9781638932253\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"2\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noskim\"><em>Caught Up<\/em><\/a>, the third book in her morally gray rom-com <em>Into the Darkness<\/em> series, <a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=58287X1516331&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fzandoprojects.com%2Fbooks%2Fgame-on-paperback&amp;xcust=11928334%7C%7C%7C%7Csyndication\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"3\" rel=\"nofollow nocaes\"><em>Game On<\/em><\/a> is headed to shelves on March 31 from Zando imprint Slowburn.<\/p>\n<p>It follows Tyler Neumann, who has spent years looking for his father so he can exact his revenge and destroy the man. Even if that means manipulating Stella McCormick, who&#8217;s &#8220;everything Tyler hates,&#8221; the book&#8217;s official synopsis explains. &#8220;Her wealth and privilege have protected her for her entire life, and Tyler thinks it&#8217;s time she finally paid the price. Whether she\u2019s ready to or not.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For her part, Stella &#8220;might not believe in love at first sight, but loathing at first sight \u2014 no question,&#8221; the synopsis continues. &#8220;From the moment she sets eyes on Tyler in her tattoo parlor, she knows he\u2019s the devil planning to make her life hell.&#8221; After she&#8217;s forced to pretend to be his girlfriend, Stella quickly clocks Tyler&#8217;s ulterior motives. But you know what they say: &#8220;love and hate are two sides of the same coin.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Soon she doesn\u2019t know which is worse: being blackmailed by a man who wants to ruin her, or that they can\u2019t seem to keep their hands off each other,&#8221; the synopsis adds.<\/p>\n<p>Readers can expect more of Allen&#8217;s signature banter in this enemies-to-lovers saga, lots of will-they, won&#8217;t-they and, of course scorching scenes. Read on for an exclusive excerpt from <em>Game On<\/em>.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/sIRbotFlr8QCwnfzmTxMQR1orzI=\/fit-in\/640x480\/game-on-31726-d0ec03b5a7b647499e1a09eb37b7033f.jpg\" alt=\"'Game On' by Navessa AllenCredit: Zando\" title=\"Game On\" \/><figcaption><i>&#8216;Game On&#8217; by Navessa Allen<br \/>Credit: Zando<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>One million dollars. That\u2019s what I could make tonight if\u00a0 the party keeps up like this.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I still couldn\u2019t believe I\u2019d pulled it off. Weeks of planning, tens of\u00a0thousands in costs and untold laws broken \u2014 all to host a private, high-stakes gambling night onboard an abandoned freight ship that sat decaying in the old port. It was the absolute last place anyone would\u00a0 think to look for an ultra-exclusive party for the city\u2019s elite, which is\u00a0 why it was perfect.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>A raucous cheer erupted from the crowd. Everyone wore masks to\u00a0protect their anonymity, including the staff, but, as the master of ceremonies, I knew who they were. I turned to see a blond woman in a\u00a0 scarlet ball gown jump in celebration. She must have hit it big, which\u00a0was good for both her <\/em>and<em> me.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>As the bookie hosting this little soiree, my take-home was 10 percent of all winnings. And while, yes, a million dollars might <\/em>seem<em> like a\u00a0lot of cash, after all the bribes and payouts, I\u2019d be lucky to net a third\u00a0 of it, most of which would get reinvested into my next game night.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>But it was worth it. The real money was in interest, anyway. If any\u00a0of our players ran out of funds, we, the house, helpfully supplied them\u00a0 with the means to keep playing. For a fee, of course. It was small enough\u00a0 to be appealing, a fisherman\u2019s hook to ensnare the unsuspecting. Only\u00a0after people took the bait did they realize how much that fee stacked up\u00a0if they didn\u2019t pay us back on time.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Take PEOPLE with you!\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/deeplink?id=93xLBvPhAeE&amp;mid=1154&amp;murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.magazines.com%2Fpeople-magazine.html%3Futm_source%3Dpeople.com%26utm_medium%3Downed%26utm_campaign%3Deditorialarticlemention&amp;u1=11928334%7C%7C%7C%7Csyndication%7C\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noskim\"><strong>Subscribe to PEOPLE magazine<\/strong><\/a><strong>\u00a0to get the latest details on celebrity news, exclusive royal updates, how-it-happened true crime stories and more \u2014 right to your mailbox.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>My gaze swept over the rest of the room, a cavernous chamber that\u00a0was formerly a cargo bay. Now, over two dozen tables filled the space, some draped in white linens holding platters of gourmet dishes, others\u00a0surrounded by gamblers in designer dresses and suits. A bar was set up\u00a0along the far wall, and waitstaff made their way to and from it, delivering top-shelf cocktails to the crowd. Soft light filtered down from\u00a0chandeliers, glinting off jewels and champagne flutes in a way that lent a dreamlike quality to the scene.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I sighed, thinking of the war of one-upmanship I was fighting with\u00a0myself. Tonight was a triumph, a party to end all parties. But next time, I\u2019d have to come up with something even better, even more unexpected\u00a0and exciting. My parties had to remain the most elusive and sought after entertainment in this city. The wealthy, I\u2019d learned, were a lot like\u00a0spoiled children, easily distracted by the latest shiny object, and it took a lot to keep them clamoring for a spot at my tables.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>And to think, all this started in my college dorm room. I\u2019d been a\u00a0broke-as-shit double major in finance and business, looking to make\u00a0some tuition money on the side so I wouldn\u2019t have to drop out. I\u2019d\u00a0 always been good with numbers and pattern recognition, so cards were\u00a0 easy for me. My brain inherently knew which ones were left in a deck\u00a0 without having to consciously count them.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/8IThetnXPMqT7D6GhC6ZNAsskDE=\/fit-in\/640x480\/Navessa-Allen-31726-3fe71971ee5a4279a282da512cee4df8.jpg\" alt=\"Credit: Navessa Allen\" title=\"Navessa Allen\" \/><figcaption><i>Credit: Navessa Allen<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>At first, my poker nights were small, just me and whoever I convinced to play. Most didn\u2019t stick around after repeatedly losing to me, and I thought I\u2019d been cooked because of it, my money-making scheme\u00a0over before it even began. But then rumors started circulating that I was\u00a0unbeatable, and soon every wannabe poker pro and math genius was\u00a0clamoring to get in on the games, making me enough cash to stave off financial panic.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>A class about entrepreneurship planted the seed that there might be\u00a0more stable money behind the table, running the games like a business.\u00a0I opened it up to all levels of gamblers, from experienced players to\u00a0rookies trying their luck for the first time. Then two things happened at\u00a0once: People at school found out that my best friend, Josh, was the son\u00a0of a notorious serial killer, and the faculty caught wind of my games. So we moved to the city to start over. I transferred schools, but Josh\u00a0dropped out to become a professional hacker because he was a better\u00a0programmer than any of his professors, and there was nothing left for them to teach him.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I left the games behind, finished out my senior year, and went into\u00a0corporate finance after graduation. But it only took me a year to realize\u00a0I hated it. Hated dressing up in a suit to go work with a bunch of shitheads who treated <\/em>The Wolf of Wall Street<em> like an instruction manual.\u00a0Hated my entry-level salary that barely covered cost of living, because I knew there were better (and easier) ways to make money. Also, it was\u00a0boring as shit. Unchallenging. And my boss was a f&#8212;ing idiot, landing\u00a0his role via nepotism, not merit \u2014 another reminder of why I\u2019d always\u00a0 hated the rich.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Quitting let me get back to my old ways. I started another poker\u00a0night, building it back up from scratch. This time around, I let myself think bigger. I wasn\u2019t just in it to make money. I had an objective: revenge. A target to pursue. Every game advanced my agenda, but\u00a0tonight, in particular, was a massive move forward in bringing me one\u00a0 step closer to <\/em>him<em>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Another cheer sounded from a nearby blackjack game. This time it\u00a0was an art dealer who\u2019d won. To his left, a hedge fund manager looked on with envy. To his right, a crime boss gave him a congratulatory slap\u00a0on the back.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I pulled my gaze away and adjusted my mask. It was black, accented\u00a0with green jewels and molded to look like a devil, complete with glaring\u00a0 eye holes and twisted horns. Maybe it was overkill, but seeing as how\u00a0I\u2019d been described as the devil incarnate more than once in my life, I\u00a0figured the symbolism would serve as a good reminder to my clients\u00a0that it wasn\u2019t smart to f&#8212; with me.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I settled the mask back in place and headed toward a trio of poker\u00a0tables near the ship\u2019s boiler. Seated at the center one, with his back to\u00a0 me, was a 20-year-old man-child who had no business being here.\u00a0He was an heir to one of the largest fortunes in the city. I\u2019d seated\u00a0him with the best poker players in attendance, and if all was going to\u00a0plan, he was being overserved by the bartenders. I\u2019d also instructed his\u00a0 dealer to inform Blake that if he overextended and ran out of money,\u00a0the house would happily lend him more.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The dealer and I locked eyes, and the man sent me a subtle nod of\u00a0confirmation.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/people-news-daily-newsletter-sign-up-8692701\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\"><strong> PEOPLE&#8217;s free daily newsletter<\/strong><\/a><strong> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>I grinned. The kid was already running up a debt, and the night was\u00a0still young. Who knew how much he might owe me by the time it was\u00a0 over? Half a million? More? Whatever the amount, it was a debt I fully\u00a0 planned to exploit.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Because Blake had an older sister who would do absolutely anything\u00a0to protect him, and she was going to be my way in. My means to an\u00a0 end. She was going to lead me straight to him. My father. The man I moved to this city to find. The man I moved to this city to ruin.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>See you soon, Stella, <em>I thought, smiling to myself as another round of\u00a0cheers rose from the crowd.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Excerpted from <em>Game On<\/em>\u00a0by Navessa Allen.\u00a0\u00a9 2026 by Navessa Allen. Used with permission of the publisher, Slowburn, an imprint of Zando, LLC.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.awin1.com\/cread.php?awinmid=92005&amp;awinaffid=272513&amp;clickref=11928334%7C%7C%7C%7Csyndication%7C&amp;p=https%3A%2F%2Fbookshop.org%2Fa%2F114093%2F9781638932277\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noskim\"><em>Game On<\/em><\/a> by Navessa Allen hits shelves on March 31 and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.<\/p>\n<p><em>We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The scorching finale to the smash hit Into Darkness Series follows &#8216;Lights Out&#8217; and &#8216;Caught Up&#8217; with plenty of enemies-to-lover banter and scorching hot play Navessa Allen and her new book &#8216;Game On&#8217;Credit: Navessa Allen; Zando NEED TO KNOW Navessa Allen&#8217;s Game On, the third book in her Into the Darkness series, comes out March [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-everything-else"],"wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","cvmm-medium":"","cvmm-medium-plus":"","cvmm-portrait":"","cvmm-medium-square":"","cvmm-large":"","cvmm-small":"","full":""},"categories_names":{"1":{"name":"Everything Else","link":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/category\/everything-else\/"}},"tags_names":[],"comments_number":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}