This book deals with grief of a daughter and town. As well as some dark sexual primal play aspects that are depicted with care throughout.

I enjoyed this audiobook. It's just what I have been craving, and now I want to read more from Alta Hensley. I would gladly listen to the narrators again.

I received a gifted audiobook. This review is honest and voluntary.

If you’re looking for a quick read with a lot of dark smut, here you go. If you’re looking for a deep plot, this isn’t it.

Heathens is an easy read. An age gap “romance” (though there wasn't much swooning), Storee lives in a small town that’s known for high kinks amongst its rich population. And what better way to exploit that, than The Hunt.
Locke owns the towns kink club, and is also Storee’s dad’s bestfriend (aka uncle). And he swore to always protect Storee after her dad’s death.

Then Storee decides to participate in The Hunt, and they both are forced to face whatever feeling they may have for each other.

This definitely was intense during some scenes - though I have to question the sanity of some decisions, but there really wasn’t much to the plot.
However, the small shock at the end was totally unexpected. I wish the author would have built onto the base story more.

Narrators were amazing. 🤤

👺touch her and die
👺taboo
👺kink club owner
👺dads best friend
👺age gap
👺primal
👺masked stalker

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape audio for this ARC in return for my honest review.

Pub date: 05 March 2025

Boy did that miss the mark. Reading the description, I was expecting a hot dark romance, but I just got a hallmark dark romance. It was as if Vanilla wanted to try one night with jalapeno. This might be a good book for someone who had never read dark before. and why does Heathen Hallow/Hallow Heathen have to be in every "dark" book somewhere lol

Love the storyline until 85% the author just wrote the dumbest argument like seriously it wasn't necessary it could have been another issue. Ugh but it was so good and the spiced of the charts.
Locke is a billionaire and his best friend died and now he wants to take care of his daughter who is grown and has feeling for. So he stalk her and spy on her. When he find out she enter the hunt. He the man who gonna teach her a lesson a warning what he didn't expect that she will love being chase and being taken like an animal.
Storee is independent, caring and a painter but she work as a caterer and she clean fish gut. Her friend Fiona ask her to participate in the hunt. Where the man hunt you and have sex with you and they leave you a goody basket and money. But she nervous because of Locke her father best friend. Told her to stay away but she ignored him so the first night she turn on the red light announcing she going to participate so a masked man start chasing her and the excitement and thrill of the run get her off and she does this a couple of night until she has an accident on the third night.

The Hunt Ends Too Soon...

This book had so much potential, and I wanted to love it. It had all the right ingredients—forbidden romance, age gap, best friend’s daughter, and a possessive alpha—but it rushed through the most intriguing aspect: The Hunt.

Audiobook Performance:
The narrators were fantastic. They brought out the intensity of the story, making the audiobook an engaging listen. Their performances carried the tension well, even in moments where the pacing faltered.

Locke (Male MC):
Possessive, conflicted, and undeniably alpha. His internal struggle added depth, but his role in The Hunt could have been even more impactful.

The Female Main Character:
I wanted to like her, but her stubbornness made her frustrating at times. The emotional payoff of her journey felt a little forced—not because the premise wasn’t good, but because the build-up to her big moment wasn’t fully fleshed out.

Where The Book Could Have Been Stronger—The Hunt
-This is where the story had so much untapped potential. The chase aspect was intriguing, but it felt rushed instead of being drawn out in a way that would have made the final reveal hit harder.
-If The Hunt had played out just a little longer, the tension, mystery, and emotional impact would have been even stronger. As it stands, it was still good—but it could have been exceptional with just a bit more time to breathe.
-Because of that, some of the final emotional reactions felt predictable instead of deeply earned. The pieces were there, but the pacing didn’t quite allow them to settle in a way that would have made the betrayal, tension, and fallout feel organic rather than expected.

Final Thoughts:
This book delivers on dark, forbidden romance with a strong possessive hero, but it skims over what could have been its most compelling aspect. The audiobook performance is top-tier, making it an engaging listen, but if you’re looking for a slow-burn primal chase with deep tension, this one might feel a bit too fast-paced. Still, a solid recommendation for fans of age-gap, possessive heroes, and high-stakes romance.

3.5/5 Stars

I received this copy of the Audiobook in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley. All comments are my own and only held as suggestions for future works.

Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook arc. 5⭐️ from me. Highly recommend is you love dark romance with masked stalkers chasing their “prey” thru the words and a touch her and die vibes. Her father’s friend owns a club that pays highly for an event she short on cash and her friend talks her into participating in the event where women put a red light on their house notifying they’re up for the “chase”. Her “Uncle” finds out and decides to teach her a lesson, by becoming the masked stalker to chase her down. Definitely check the triggers before reading


🔹masked stalker
🔹touch her and die
🔹 chase scenes
🔹spicy

3.5 stars
If you’re into Primal/CNC, and are cool with little to no plot… look no further! This was a hot, quick read about dad’s best friend/ kink club owner/ yearly primal games.

I enjoyed it but I definitely would have loved if the plot was explored more. I would mark this down as just pure smut (which I love) but I think the plot would have still been so interesting to have gotten more time!

Thank you to NetGalley, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts are my own and are in no way influenced by early access to this title.

Heathens

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice : 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Tropes : Age Gap, Father's Best Friend, Taboo

About the Book : A year after the untimely death of her father, the only person Storee has looking out for her is Locke Hartwell, her father's best friend. She's struggling through day to day to life with multiple jobs and it's not until her best friend convinces her that the payout from partaking in the annual small-town ritual known as "The Hunt" that she feels any hope of getting ahead. And it's not until "The Hunt" that Locke realizes his friendship with Storee's father isn't the only reason he's been looking after her.

*** REVIEW CONTAINS POTENTIAL SPOILERS ***

First, a massive thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook arc in exchange for my honest review.

This audiobook was SPICY & I'm thanking the smut gods for amazing narrators. The performance and the choice of voice actors was *chef's kiss*

Now onto the plot, or... should I say the lack of one?? This started off as what I thought would be a five star banger, but despite the ramp up on the spice, the storyline fizzled out a bit after Locke "claimed" Storee. The suspense, the tension and the angst disappeared once the first hunt was over and we were slapped in the face by a slush of stereotypical alpha bull with a sprinkle of the stereotypical female resistance to being cared for. Honestly, Storee had more chemistry with Locke when she didn't realize he was Locke than she did when they were laying in bed next to each other.

All in all, it was enjoyable for the quick and easy listen that it was, but it fell a little flat. I don't really know what I was expecting, all I know, is that this had the potential of being so much more.

I was intrigued by the story from the start. Storee Brooks (bit of a strange name) and deceased father's best friend Locke Hartwell have been pining after each other for years. He has committed to keeping an eye and protecting her after her father was murdered. She drives him crazy because she won't let him take care of her.

He nearly loses his mind when she decides to sign up for "the hunt" and he decides to take matters into his own hands. It's not until she gets injured one night that they finally confess their feelings for one another.

Age gap
Fathers best friend
Primal Play

Story's father was murdered a year ago and her father's best friend has sworn to look after her and protect her. Locke has wanted Story since she has been of age, but feels as if he will never have her the way he truly wants. When a yearly ritual called the Hunt occurs, Story has decided to join. She turns on the red porch light and waits for a man to come and chase her through the woods and have his way with her. When Locke finds out his decides to take matters into his own hands to teach her a lesson in how dangerous joining the Hunt can be.

This is an age gap, "mine" mentality, and rough sex dark romance. It is a quick read and can't wait to read the sequel Primal.

Overall: 3.5 ⭐️

If you want a taboo romance with a dad’s best friend trope this is the book for you! I was able to finish it in one sitting. Usually age gap romances are a hit or miss for me but I enjoyed this one. The story starts off with Storee and Locke at her dad’s funeral. And after that it’s about the relationship they formed after his death.

Now for the reasons I didn’t rate this higher. The spice was good throughout but every time “his seed” was mentioned I was lost 😬 The fmc was also really childish and Locke “punishing” her came out of nowhere. There also wasn’t much plot but the little there was, was covered in the last couple of chapters. The small twist also shocked me because it was completely unexpected. The audiobook was dual pov and the narrators did a really good job portraying the characters.

Dark romance
Age gap
Dads best friend
Primal play

Storee is a young and independent women hell bent on making her own way. She is working multiple jobs and painting at night. A friend convinces her to partake in the yearly “hunt”. Storee wants to feel alive to be a risk taker. She had had a crush on her dad’s best friend since she was a teenager but nothing has ever happened.

Lock is a local business man, billionaire who owns the local sec club and helps run “the hunt”. He is also obsessed with Storee. He stalks her and watches her. He wants to protect her to keep his promise to her father. He shouldn’t want her.

This was a fun dark romance listen. Narrated very well. I enjoyed the voices very much. Would recommend for any dark romance lover.

A fiercely independent young woman makes the choice to submit to consensual non-consent in Heathens by Alta Hensley. The young woman, Storee, lost her father a year ago and is spending her days working jobs that she doesn’t like so that she can focus on her art in the evenings. Her father’s best friend, Lock, came into her life at eighteen and she immediately developed a crush that she has harbored since. Lock belongs to a dark and dangerous world and he has made it his mission to keep Storee out that life. When Storee’s best friend convinces her that their island home’s tradition of The Hunt, she unknowingly enters Lock’s world and there is no turning back. This book is filled with taboos including age gap, consensual non-consent, exhibitionism, voyeurism, stalking and more. Hensley weaves the story in a way that these topics are not only palatable but endearing and sexy.

The audiobook narrators were a great fit. The gruff voice of Lock really drove home the age gap for me while the voice of Storee was obviously that of a younger woman but not a child. I was immediately drawn into the book by the narrators and found it hard to stop listening to. I appreciated the pauses between chapters, though they felt a little longer than necessary. Overall, the narration was solid and did the characters justice.

Storee Brooks? Her name was so distracting! Of all the names you basically put storybook?

This book is 50 shades meets the Devil's night series and all the cringe you would expect from that combo. Except make it a young 20 something and her fathers best friend. Why would a grown @$$ man think it was okay to punish an adult woman that he has no relation to with a bare butt spanking? Gross.

I'm all for an age gap relationship and I think the story had potential but it felt like a bad fan fic. It felt like 'I want to write a BDSM book but not actually have knowledge of BDSM'. You know, like 50 shades did.

I received an audio copy of this book. There was both a female and male narrator but when they did the other sides voice it was so bad. Storee is supposed to be a strong independent woman and the male narrators voice for her was very meek little girl. If they had done a duet instead of duel narration it wouldn't have pulled you out of the story as much. Individually I did like the narrator's voices and they were easy to follow at an increased speed.

If you are looking for a quick easy smutty book with decent spicy scenes this serves its purpose.