My partner bought me a Christmas themed book to read for December, called “He Sees You When You’re Sleeping” by Alta Hensley. If you were a fan of “Lights Out” by Navessa Allen, then there is a really good chance that you will enjoy this book, and the sequel that goes with it “He Knows When You’re Awake”. It was a nice way to bring 2025 to an end, especially for this Christmas season!

As always, some spoilers are present, so continue on at your own risk!

“He Sees You When Your Sleeping” follows Chloe, an online jewellery influencer with a major case of the “scrooge” for the Christmas holidays, which is fair enough considering her parents died in the same accident she survived on Christmas a couple of years previously. However, she has a dark side that is only ever revealed on a site called “Dark Secrets” where she explores her darkest sexual fantasies with her subscribers, but if anyone found out she would lose her job, her reputation and her livelihood. Then there’s the stalker love interest, Jack, a firefighter who helped save Chloe in the accident and has kept a very close eye on her ever since, but naturally she doesn’t remember him. Jack manages to keep his distance until he was passing by one morning to see Chloe trying to pick up her elderly neighbour from the slippery pathway, this was his chance to get to know her and he took it, but that didn’t stop his stalking escapades.

It was these escapades that led his discovery of Chloe’s alter ego online, he instantly became a subscriber and Chloe found herself falling in love with who she thought were two completely different people, and it was tearing her up inside! It wouldn’t be a dark romance without another stalker whose intentions are far less noble and absolutely freak poor little Chloe out. Of course, Chloe finds out the whole truth about Jack eventually and I have to say, she had a rather healthy and way more believable reaction to it than other authors have penned for these rather important revelations in these dark romances.

As far as the story goes, I found the development of the plot pretty good although it seemed eerily similar to “Lights out”. It held the same notes of stalking, invasion of privacy and the need to protect the subject of the stalking as well as explore dark sexual fantasies with them. The real differences, however, is what makes this book good. The stalker has dark fantasies but has never acted on them, while the stalkee explores their fantasies online via an alter ego, and then you have a believable development of a romantic connection that spans both the lighter half of Chloe and her darker alter ego, not to mention the much more believable reaction to her finding out the truth about Jack. Oh, and the true panic when her two worlds begin crashing together and the threat of her employer finding out about her not so perfect identity online.

I’m sure everyone will be happy to know that there is a HEA set up for the end, which is preferable in these dark fantasies, especially since this is a Christmas themed book! Not to mention the steamy scenes that we all know is why we read these books in the first place!

It was a fun read and a definite change of pace for the holiday season!

Anyways, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Don’t get into too much trouble before 2026!