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.