⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ (4/5 Stars)

Alta Hensley delivers a dark, primal, and intoxicating read in Heathens, the first book in the Heathens Hallow series. This book dives deep into a world where submission, danger, and obsession intertwine, creating an experience that is equal parts seductive and unsettling.

The premise is intense—Storee Brooks, navigating life after her father’s passing, finds herself in the grasp of Locke Hartwell, a man who embodies primal dominance. Their dynamic is a twisted dance of fear and desire, with The Hunt serving as a haunting metaphor for power, choice, and submission.

The audiobook narration by Marie Hawkins and Robin Blake truly enhances the experience. Marie Hawkins beautifully captured Storee’s raw emotions, bringing an immersive vulnerability to her character. But Robin Blake—wow. His voice was the perfect embodiment of Locke—dark, deep, and dripping with sinful temptation. His tone was commanding, smooth, and utterly hypnotic, adding an extra layer of intensity that made the story feel even more immersive.

What made this narration even more impressive was how flawlessly both narrators handled each other’s characters. When Marie Hawkins voiced Locke, she carried the same intensity and dominance that Robin Blake brought, making the transition between perspectives seamless. Likewise, Robin Blake’s portrayal of Storee was just as convincing and emotionally resonant. Both narrators were absolute perfection, bringing this dark, erotic, and tension-filled story to life in a way that few audiobooks manage to do.

The pacing is gripping, and the tension is thick with eroticism and suspense. The Greek mythology influences add an extra layer of intrigue. However, the ending felt a little rushed—I would have loved more time to sit in the aftermath of all that intensity.

If you love dark romance with an unhinged, morally grey MMC, primal play, and power dynamics, this one delivers. Just be warned—this book is NOT for the faint of heart. If you’re ready for a wild ride, Heathens will take you there.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author Alta Hensley, and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to review this book.

Okay! This was a good spicy book. I really enjoyed both narrators. They both added depth to the characters and made me want to continue reading this book. This book is more focused on the spicy than the overall plot but there wasn’t too much spicy percentage. If you want a good spicy darker romance (note I’d say it’s a 2 scale dark romance) I would give this a try. It has bdsm, sex club and dad’s best friend tropes in there. All in all this was a quick spicy read. 4 ⭐️ 3 🌶️

Heathens Hollow is a small coastal town where dark and depraved things happen. Schmex Clubs, hunting parties (where the hunted get utterly ravished by the hunter), and sketchy business dealings are just a few of the things to be expected upon visiting the town. Storee Brooks, however has grown up here and after her father’s death, she’s doing the best she can to make ends meet. Someone’s been watching her and signing up for The Hunt might’ve signed her up for more than she bargained for. After all, her father’s best friend Locke Hartwell warned her away for a reason.

This audiobook was so good, especially for the alternating pov narrator changes. The female narrator honestly did such a great job with the male voice in Storee’s chapters, and I think she might be a new favorite narrator of mine! The story itself was intriguing, hot, and a little dark dirty, which I absolutely loved! I loved the Greek Mythology aspects here and there and I think it fit the narrative very well and was a nice touch. The smut was GOOD, but I found myself wanting even more from them. Overall, I’d definitely recommend this book, and will be reading the next one in this series!

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Genre: Dark Romance/Primal Play
Author: Alta Hensley
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Vibes: Seductive, Unhinged Romance

Blurb: If you are looking for an unapologetically, unhinged good time, then this is for you. This toys the line of fear and desire, but also power and submission. It is NOT for the faint of heart but if you are a dark romance person, get ready to have some fun. The spice is top tier. The tension is tension-ing. The story was paced/timed very well except the ending felt a tiny but rushed to me (and I was kind of sad about it). Storee and Locke are ready to give you the hunt (or ride) of your life...if you're willing to face the hunt.

ARC AUDIO REVIEW 🎧

If you’re looking for a dark, seductive, and completely unhinged romance, Heathens DELIVERS. This book is a heady mix of danger, devotion, and a morally grey MMC who would burn the world down for his woman. It’s got that I-shouldn’t-like-this-but-I-absolutely-do energy that keeps you hooked. The tension? Immaculate. The spice? Top tier. The only reason I’m docking a star? The ending wrapped up a little too fast for my liking—While Heathens completely delivered on the dark, obsessive romance I was craving, the ending felt a bit rushed. After such an intense buildup, I wanted more time to breathe in the resolution—more fallout, more aftermath, more of them just existing together. Ya know?

TROPES:
💀 Dark Romance
💀 Mafia
💀 Obsessive MMC
💀 Touch her and die
💀 Mask play
💀 Dad’s best friend

📖 Genre: Dark Romance / Primal Play / Suspense

🖋 Author: Alta Hensley

⭐️ Rating: 4/5 Stars

🦌 Vibes: Sinister. Erotic. Unapologetically dark.


If you're looking for a book that's all about power, submission, and the line between fear and desire, Heathens is ready to drag you into the darkness. This isn't your typical romance, it's raw, primal, and not for the faint of heart…..

Storee steps into a world she doesn’t fully understand. A world where men don stag masks and hunt their prey through the woods. But this isn’t a game for the weak. Because when you enter The Hunt, there's only one rule: run.
And when Locke sets his sights on her? There’s no escape.


Storee isn't naive. She knows exactly what she’s signing up for. She’s been watching from the sidelines, drawn to the darkness, craving the thrill. So when she finally steps into The Hunt, she thinks she’s ready.

But she has no idea who’s waiting for her.

Locke – A shadow in the trees. A beast in human form. The predator behind the bone stag mask. He doesn’t just play the game—he owns it. And he’s been watching her. Stalking her. Waiting. He is also her dad’s best friend… which makes their love forbidden from the beginning.

When he catches her, she belongs to him. But Locke isn’t here to play fair. He’s here to claim. To push Storee past every limit, to see if she really understands what she signed up for.

And if she doesn’t? Too bad. Because once the game begins, there’s no backing out.

Characters: A Battle of Power & Submission

Storee – She thought she understood the rules of The Hunt. Thought she could handle it. But Locke is unlike anything she imagined. He’s dangerous, possessive, and completely in control. As the game continues, Storee starts questioning everything—her own desires, her limits, and whether she’s truly ready for the darkness she craved.

Locke – The predator. The monster in the woods. He doesn’t just hunt—he consumes. Storee is his, and he has no intention of letting her go. But underneath his ruthless dominance, there’s something more. A battle between instinct and protection. Is he truly the beast Storee fears, or something far more complex?

What I Loved

✔️ Primal Play & Unfiltered Darkness – If you love the chase, the surrender, and the intensity of power dynamics, this book delivers hard. The tension between Storee and Locke is electrifying, filled with dominance, resistance, and undeniable chemistry.

✔️ Atmosphere That Drags You In – The forest setting, the masks, the mystery—everything about The Hunt feels otherworldly. It’s eerie, seductive, and almost ritualistic.

✔️ Locke’s Unapologetic Possessiveness – He’s the kind of hero (if we can even call him that) who doesn’t ask for permission—he takes. If morally grey, dominant men are your thing, Locke is IT.

✔️ High-Stakes Suspense – This isn’t just about spice (though there’s plenty of that). There’s an underlying thrill, a danger, that keeps the tension at its peak. Storee might have entered The Hunt willingly, but she soon realises she may have made a mistake. And mistakes in this world? They come at a cost.


Warning: Not for Everyone – If you’re looking for soft romance, fluffy love confessions, or gentle heroes... turn back now. Heathens is dark, with no apologies for its themes. It’s about power, submission, and surrender—and not everyone will be comfortable with how far it goes.


Final Verdict: Read This If You Love…

✔️ Primal Play & Dark Romance – If you enjoy books with chasing, dominance, and high-stakes submission, this one will have you hooked.
✔️ Sinister, Ritualistic Vibes – The stag mask, the eerie setting, the primal hunt—it all makes Heathens feel intense and almost cult-like.
✔️ Possessive, Morally Gray Love Interests – Locke is not your typical hero. If you’re into predators, stalkers, and dominant men who take what they want, he’s got your name written all over him.
✔️ Books Like Haunting Adeline or The Ritual – If you enjoyed those dark, obsessive romances, Heathens will be right up your alley.

Thank you @NetGalley and @Dreamscape_media for this Advanced Listener Copy 🫶 I am so happy to be a party of the #NetGalleyReviewer Team

🎧Audiobook Review:

Forbidden Love - Pagan Rituals - Masked Men - Forrest/Cabin Setting - Touch Her & 💀 ‘Heathens’ by @atlahensley has ALL THAT & MORE!

“This man had reached out and grabbed a hold of my barely beating heart and made me feel alive, made me feel like I could do anything.”

I was so excited for the approval of this ALC as I have been trying to dip my toes into the dark romance genre 🖤😉 BUT WOW it looks like I took a page out of our FMC Storee’s book and damn near jumped into the DR ocean 😅

This book was incredible spicy & endlessly entertaining! Its fast paced nature and amazing Dual POV narration made it an easy 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The modern coastal forrest setting paired with ritualistic pagan practices made for a rich, dark, & enticing reading experience. Our MMC Locke was intensely charismatic & his infatuation with FMC Storee was thrilling!

Heathens is a solid dads best friend dark primal play romance. Story sets herself to be part of the Hunt, then somehow seems surprised when she gets exactly what she asks for. Locke is one of the leaders of the Hunt and her dads best friend. Locke also runs a sex club that he has never allowed Story to go to. This book was pretty much what you expect when you think of short erotica novell. Was it mind blowing? Nah, but it kept me entertained. And the spice? Gimme more please lol. Not sure how I feel about the end though, it felt very rushed and jumbled. Hoping it gets cleared up in the next installment. The narrators did a great job with the dual POV and kept me in the story. Planning to check out more of Alta's books ASAP

3.5⭐️ | 3.5🌶️

This was a reread for me, and I had just as much fun this time around as I did the first time!

Listen… is this a literary masterpiece? Absolutely not. But does it deliver on the vibes, the spice, and pure entertainment? 100%. Sometimes, I just want a book that’s easy to sink into, one that doesn’t take itself too seriously but still keeps me hooked—and this one does exactly that.

I really enjoy the premise and found myself invested in the characters all over again. There’s something about the way the story unfolds that makes it such a fun escape. Plus, knowing there’s a book two on the horizon has me lowkey excited to see where things go next!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the author for the ALC—I had a blast revisiting this book!

I am clearly trying to push my boundries these days with these reads...

First and foremost, it's giving age gap. It's possisive. It's stalker. It's daddy's best friend, dubious consent, and real big, girly that camera was not left by the previous owners, energy.

Straightforward as they come, this read gave me anxiety. By the end my anxiety for the characters certainly felt like Hensley's intention and I can be open to that. Overall, my interest is peaked and intent was clear. To me, that's what is important for an exploratory read.

Heathens- Alta Hensley
Narrated by Marie Hawkins and Robin Blake

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Narration 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧

I really liked the first like 80% of the book, but the ending kind of fell apart for me. It seemed rushed but slow at the same time. I honestly thought Story knew that Locke was her stalker/hunter. I also felt at the beginning that I was missing backstory that was kind of important. Like not vital to get this story, but that would have helped paint a fuller picture had I gotten it. The spice was ✨spoicy✨

Marie and Robin did fantastic in this dual narration. They honestly made this book for me. I’m not sure I would have been quite as interested if they didn’t do such a great job narrating.

Right so the synopsis for this book gives little away and I was in the mood for a dark romance but a shorter read. However it soon became a problematic book for me, not due to the primal play, but how negative connotations and steriotypes were used! We follow Storee and Locke. Locke was her dads best friend before he died and is now her guardian (shes an adult but he promised to take care of her)! He has feelings for her and is battling them (well trying lol). He watches her from the shadows, obsessed with keeping her safe. Storee has been in love with Locke since she was 18, but like Locke wont admit it out loud. Even though Locke is a millionaire who wants to look after her she refuses and works odd jobs for money much to his annoyance.
The small town is not quite normal 😂 Lots of criminal activity, danger, sex parties and Locke owns The Vault, a kink based sex club. After the harvest moon each year there is The Hunt! Woman have the option to take part, if you decide its for you then you change your porch bulb to red. Then comes the Primal Play! The men wear animal skull masks and hunt a woman through the woods, if he catches her he can do as he pleases. Both sides know what they are agreeing too, there are rules and everyones vetted for diseases. The following day the woman are left a basket of VERY expensive gifts on the porch (not sure how I feel about that, many do it for the money) and it's anonymous, so the woman don't know who they f*cked.
You can guess where this is going right!? Storee is against it but......Then I DNFd the book sadly!
As a Pagan myself one thing that did bother me about this book is the constant referral to the parties and hunt as....'its a pagan like THING', 'people will be dressed all pagan and shit'.....like this is pagan behaviour on any level! Primal Play is a sex kink, not related to the path of paganism but based on the primal instincts of humans when they were more connected to their animal/primal urges (think cave man). The more these out dated beliefs, incorrect statements and negative connotations towards people's spiritual beliefs were made, the more I was losing interest in this author.
If you have read Lights Out the very end has a Primal Play scene in the woods done very well!
I don't normally review a DNF but in this case it wasn't just a book not for me, I was offended. Done well I think this book could have been great but I found the author uneducated in the terms she was using and statements she was making. Paganism is a recognised religion in many countries, this is feeding into incorrect negative and outdated connotations/stereotypes. Making out their 'debauchery' (Locke's own words) is based on pagan beliefs or activities.

If you like dark romance this one is for you!
The age gap and mafia/ secret society trope they had going on in the book was addictive and I enjoyed the ride

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 Stars – Dark, Primal, and Deliciously Sinful

Heathens by Alta Hensley is a seductive plunge into the depths of primal desire, where the line between hunter and prey blurs in the most tantalizing ways. From the moment the chase begins, the intensity never lets up, delivering a dark and twisted game of submission that is as thrilling as it is sinful.

The spice in this book is off the charts—raw, uninhibited, and dripping with tension. The dynamic between the characters is electric, filled with an undeniable chemistry that kept me eagerly turning the pages. The masked hunt, the possessive edge, and the unrelenting passion all came together in a way that made this story impossible to put down.

While I loved the intensity, I did find myself wanting just a bit more depth in the emotional connection between the characters outside of the primal play. A little more exploration of their relationship beyond the chase would have made this a five-star read for me.

That being said, Heathens delivers exactly what it promises—a dark, intoxicating, and wildly erotic experience. If you’re in the mood for something primal, possessive, and unapologetically steamy, this one absolutely delivers.

The narrators are definitely what made this book, they did an amazing job!

Okay I didn’t absolutely love it, but I didn’t hate it either. I just had a really hard time connecting to the characters and felt like everything was kind of drawn out. Like I was waiting for something really big to happen…then it didn’t. Felt like we were missing some details that would be importantly to Story and Locks relationship,

Please check your trigger warnings before getting into this book.

Forbidden
Age gap
Dad's best friend
Primal Hunter/ prey

this book was very intriguing to me, I was hooked with the tropes cause age gap with dads best friend yes please sign me up 😅

if your looking for a book with a solid plot keep scrolling. This book does lack in the plot department but the spice be spicing.

The summary book was very interesting to me, I just felt there wasn't a lot going on between the spicy scenes.

All in all it was a good listen, the narrator was great
Thank-you dreamscape and netgalley she the ALC in exchange for an honest review

The narrators were great and easy to listen to. The story was interesting with a good bit of spice, and definitely a lil dark and twisted at times. Overall, it was fast paced and enjoyable if you like dark romance.

This was a pretty good read. The book features the FMC Storee who signs up to be in a hunt to make extra money. She also happens to have a thing for her dad's overbearing best friend. The hunt seemed to unlock something in her she didn't know she wanted. The story and audiobook was enjoyable if not a little predictable. The fmc is VERY stubborn but not quite unlikeable and the Mmc is extremely protective.

First off I’d like to thank NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

This audiobook is SPICY! If you like dads best friend, cat and mouse, masked men, CNC and more then this is for you! But PLEASE check trigger ❌warnings before you start! This book has little plot but lots of spice and is a quick and easy read!

I honestly loved the plot and would love to learn more about it! This was my first book by this author but will not be my last! I’m obsessed with The FMC Storee and MMC Locke and wish I could have learned more about them. I love a fast-paced super spicy book that leaves me wanting more!🩷

Of this sounds like it’s up your alley then I absolutely recommend reading this book!

This book wasn’t for me. I wish there was more plot or I should say that the plot was explored more than it was. I was left wanting more of the plot. I would still recommend this to my readers as I think it’s still something a lot of dark romance readers would enjoy.