Review: Willing Prey by Allie Oleander

Willing Prey
Feral Love #1
Allie Oleander
Publisher: Berkley Romance
Genre: Erotic Romance

Post-divorce and buried in student loan debt, Claire Collins eagerly enters a spicy business agreement with an acquaintance who wants to explore his primal desires. The deal is simple—thirty days as his sexual prey, $30,000 in her bank account. All she has to do is give Shane Underwood the hunt of his life.

Claire’s a physical education teacher and perfectly happy to spend her summer having wild, kinky sex instead of working her usual serving job. But once they cross the tree line, she realizes how little she knows about the corporate lawyer paying her to be his prey.

Shane is different in the woods. Brutal. Devastating. Feral.

That’s okay with Claire—she is, too. And she’s sinking her teeth a little deeper into Shane’s heart every time he catches her.

 

 

 My thoughts…

This story starts off as if we know what’s going on, but the author catches you up quick. There’s no backstory to Claire’s life. No introduction to her and the man whose house she’s walking up to. You just pop right into the story as she is walking up to a man’s house with the knowledge that she signed a contract for 30-days stating that she will be this man’s sexual “prey” for a month. That’s it. As Claire gets a feel for the place, she reflects on what led her here, and since we get both hers and Shane’s POV, you are caught up quickly on the who, what, and why of it all.

This quick intro was really nice. It’s as if the author knows they got about 50 pages to snag the reader or suffer the fate of a DNF. Let’s be honest, nothing is more boring than an info dump right when you crack open a book. So, the fact that the author just plops you right into the story as if you were privy to the lead-up, was a nice change of pace. Plus, like I said, the author catches you up quickly without a drawn out explanation.

I will be honest, I’ve read a lot of romances, but this “hunting” kink is a new one for me. So, I liked that this story felt fresh and new with the stage that has been set. The fact that Claire would get a head start and was always strategizing how to beat him at the game and not be found was interesting to witness. Between hiding up in trees, and using a river to hide her tracks, it was very playful and fun. At no point did this feel stalker or like there was a line between consensual and serial killer.

I liked that we got a few side characters added into the mix. It’s obvious that they will have their own book, so them being there is kind of a set up for their book, but I still liked that it wasn’t JUST Claire and Shane the entire time. It allowed the reader to see a more down-to-earth side of Shane.

With that said, I look forward to reading the next book in the series.