This is hot, hot, hot. Love the concept, definitely intense. 10/10, thank you for making this exist.

Oh. My. God. Allie I already loved the novella to bits, but I loved Extra Girthy Willing Prey dare I say more?

Divorced and drowning in student loan debt Claire finds herself signing a spicy contract with her ex-husband’s boss. He gets her as his prey for 30 days, and in return she gets $30,000.

Shane is a lawyer who has tried “hunting” with other women ever since he heard about it from Claire’s ex-husband at a Christmas party, but something was missing.

I love Shane and Clair so much, and didn’t want their story to end. Shane struggles with showing his emotions, but he’s different in the woods. Both developing feelings, but neither talk about what happens when the 30 days are up.

If you enjoy spicy books with a child free HEA this is a great read! I can not wait to get my hands on a physical copy.

Tropes:
Primal play
Child free HEA
K!nk awakening
CNC
Main characters 30+
He falls first
Light stalking

I was excited to read this book when I saw what tropes were listed and even then, I was blown away by how delightful it was to read. Our two MC's not being in their twenties was an automatic bonus for me. I loved seeing how their life experience informed their relationship with kink and each other. It also made their growth more relatable. It was also nice to de-stigmatize getting into kink later in life and learning about yourself beyond your 20's. I loved how the spice was throughout the book and yet Allie still kept the emotional tension so strong. I am preordering it and will be harassing all the girlies who like spicey romance to do the same.

(I have never been so heartbroken an author doesn't have a backlist. I will be waiting, oh so impatiently, for her next book.)

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

This is a good book! I liked the characters, it’s fast paced. The scenes are detailed. A must read!

Ohhhh, I thought this was a shifter romance. Um. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPE. I'm not mad about it AT ALL, though. This was so hot, and somehow incredibly sweet. Waiting eagerly for more from Allie Oleander, for SURE.

Claire Collins agrees to spend 30 days as sexual prey to earn $30,000 and pay off her college loans. A partner at her ex-husband's firm wants to hunt her through his woodlands. It's better than waiting tables but as the game begins she must balance between her desire to be caught and keeping the game interesting so she can earn the full amount.

Why I started this book: Stuck on an airplane, I wanted something that could hold my attention.

Why I finished it: This romance book is written backwards, and it was fascinating how the author started with the smut and then worked towards the love. It's a titillating read, that like the hero is light on the aftercare until the very end when he learns what is needed and expected.

I'll preface my thoughts by saying that I don't normally read erotica or kink romance, or however one would categorize this book. So, I don't really have an accurate compass for the standard, but I enjoyed it well enough. Was there a plot? Not much, just enough to be adequate. Was it hot? Yeah, I thought so. Would I read it again? No, probably not.

I appreciated the extensiveness of the content warning page; there were no unpleasant surprises and it made the romance more digestible for me. Would recommend.

HOW I LOVED THIS! I enjoyed every single part of this novel. The characters were great, the steam was AMAZING, and I loved the plot. Overall, I'm obsessed. I think that so far this is my favorite read of 2025. I cannot wait for whatever is coming next from the author, hopefully a novel with Margot and Caine!

Willing Prey is dark, intense, and completely addictive. Allie Oleander builds so much tension while still keeping the characters complex and human. It's the kind of story that pulls you in right away and keeps you hooked until the very last page. Perfect if you like thrillers with a sharp emotional edge.

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book was decent. It started out really good but kind of became repetitive towards the end for me. I also wound up skimming a lot of the spicy scenes simply because there were sooooooo many. I enjoyed meeting some of the side characters, but I felt like this book was more focused on the smut and kink then on character development. The plot was the kink/romance essentially, so I guess it technically had a plot. Just felt like this could have been better but I didn't hate it.

This book is far more than just an exploration of kink; it’s about rediscovery, pushing boundaries, and finding something unexpected in a place where you thought you could just let go. I love how Claire isn’t just submissive in this relationship; she owns her power too. There’s this balance between vulnerability and strength that makes the romance so much more than just the heat of the moment. It’s a must-read for anyone who loves intense, layered romance with a side of wild energy.

Willing Prey by Allie Oleander is an intense and captivating story that explores themes of trust, resilience, and transformation. The story's dual POV adds depth to the fiery dynamic between Claire and Shane, as they navigate the line between predator and partner. Oleander's vivid writing and unconventional premise make this a standout in the romance genre. Perfect for fans of primal, emotionally resonant stories.

Shane and Claire are PERFECTION!

Told in first person dual POV, this debut extended rerelease is everything AND MORE!!! Filled with he falls first, primal play, begging, mature MCs, chasing, CNC, “good little deer, and a child-free HEA—Allie Oleander delivered a top read of 2025 with this extra girthy version!

After Claire parts ways from her crappy ex and is saddled with debt, her boss takes the opportunity to take his chance. He’s been observing and waiting and with the means to offer her $30k for a 30 day contract to be his prey, now is the perfect time. Allie has no clue that he’s using this as his time to shine, and he has some leaning to do… but learn he does.

I loved it so much and I’m SOOO excited for what’s to come!!!

What I thought was going to be mostly just spice turned out to be spice with a good story! I feel like this one is definitely going to make the rounds on BookTok. There are some many awful spicy Romances out there and this is refreshingly not. The characters are great, their chemistry is hot and the spice is well written. Can’t wait to see where the author goes with the secondary characters, which she has already set up for a possible next book.

4.5 stars

Did I think about calling out of work to finish reading this? .....Maybe (if you are my boss you didn't see this)

I think this has the same addictive, humorous and deliciously sinful vibe that the book Lights Out or Butcher & Blackbird gave and I think people wanting to start slow in spicy/dark romance will find a great read with this!

This story is one of primal play that really goes hard and does not hold back but in a strangely gentle way - that is the best way I can describe it and it fits weirdly. If you aren't familiar with the kink, you might have to get use to the fact that the goal is to evade 'capture' until you win or are captured, and I MEAN EVADE IN ANY WAY, like headbutt that hot bastard and almost break his nose in the spirit of the kink.
However it is all worth it, so I recommend getting your head around it and enjoying a new reading kink - like me!

Willing Prey makes this primal play fun and enticing, we have such great chemistry between Shane & Claire; in the bedroom & emotionally.
The switch up of 'prey' toward the end of the book was such a great power move for the story and for my enjoyment. We love a couple that can make each other beg, whimper and cry (the good kind).

The ending felt a little rushed but for the mostly part, I think it was because I actually didn't want it to end.
I see potential for this book to maybe have another book with new characters ... maybe some figured in the book ... *wink wink*

This was... wildly good. I was not expecting to enjoy this as much as I did, but Shane and Claire were so much fun to read about! I really enjoyed that outside of their... arrangement, their characters were fleshed out and they felt like real people.

Claire was a great female main character, super smart and funny, and I loved it when she outsmarted Shane (more than once). Shane being completely in awe of her at all times was pretty great too.

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc!

oh i ate this up (no pun intended haha) this was so much fun, i could not put it down from the first page and the spice/plot were 10/10!!! i genuinely cannot wait to read more from her!!!

I wanted to love this book so much more than I did unfortunately. The first 50% was genuinely so entertaining — fun and fresh and different to everything else we see saturating the market right now and Ali Hazelwood is my favourite romance author, so her blurb for this book really sold me. It seemed right up my alley; exploring kinks in a healthy way (especially in today's puritanism culture), is something I will always welcome and in fact I do think this book tackled it in a decent way. It's just that this book felt too long for the substance it had and it started feeling very repetitive (same sex scenes again and again, same conflict — Shane can't express himself correctly or something with her ex husband etc) and hardly any real character development that felt meaningful (to me, personally). Also, again this is a personal preference, but I did not like the switch of Claire hunting and chasing Shane and then "taking control" in the bedroom and making him beg and whine..... yeah, It was just not for me I'm afraid.

I will say those slight problems I had are more towards the end of the book and in general the book only started falling off for me around 50%, so I think maybe it being a novella first made sense. I will still be seeing what Oleander does next, because I can definitely see potential. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkely for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So pleasantly surprised by this book! It was such a perfect little read. 4.5


The structure of this story is really what marked it as a winner for me. Its paced so well and starts at a point that leaves readers wanting more but not waiting for action and spice. Oleander seamlessly balanced unique spice and character development so well. She walks the line of dark romance and contemporary romance expertly and creates a story that's as interesting as it is spicy.

I can't wait to have this in store I think it's going to do so well and be a true stand out in a world of repetitive romance.