What is the title of your latest release?
WILLING PREY
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Things turn feral when a broody lawyer experiencing a midlife kink-awakening hires a competitive PE teacher to be his sexual prey for thirty days.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Since so much of the story happens in the woods, I had to pick a location with terrain that allows for the kind of antics Claire and Shane enjoy. I also wanted somewhere with pleasant-enough summer temperatures that the idea of running around in the woods wasn’t immediately off-putting. Maine was the perfect place!
Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
I would definitely hang out with both Claire and Shane. Claire and I would be hiking buddies; I would be asking Shane for Excel tips.
What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Claire: competitive beyond reason
Shane: secretly a sweetheart
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
When something isn’t working, set the manuscript down, and circle back in a little bit—don’t try to write through it. Every scene that made it into the finished book I had a fantastic time writing. Ones that I struggled with ended up being cut by the time all was said and done.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
It depends. I feel like I’m more efficient when I wait until I’m completely done to edit, but the revision stage is my favorite part, so sometimes I start early because I can’t resist. This means my early drafts are often pure chaos: with some very nice, polished chapters and some disaster chapters.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Dark chocolate.
Describe your writing space/office!
My writing space is constantly changing! I move from couch to porch to desk to hammock to walking pad depending on my mood.
Who is an author you admire?
Oh holy moly, I could fill pages answering this one (single-spaced!). There are so many fantastic authors I look up to, whether it’s for their craft abilities, how they run their business, or because they’re a genuinely kind person. I really admire Harley LaRoux for their storytelling, as well as all the good they do in the bookish community. I also admire Nenia Campbell’s gorgeous prose and how she consistently lifts up fellow authors.
Is there a book that changed your life?
I read White Oleander in my teens, and it made me fall in love with words on a line-to-line level. My view of prose was very utilitarian up until that point. Sentences existed solely for the purpose of telling an interesting story. That book is when it “clicked” for me that a sentence could be its own tiny masterpiece while still driving the story.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
When I learned Berkley would be publishing Willing Prey, my brain short-circuited from delight. I walked downstairs, looked at my husband, and kept muttering “How is this real?” I think I smiled for three days straight afterward.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
Romance, always romance, but my preferred subgenre varies. Lately, I’ve been all about sci-fi romance.
What’s your favorite movie?
The Descent—I adore scary movies and have a love/fear relationship with caves. I want to explore them, but all of the worst-case scenarios my brain comes up with means I’m on edge the whole time. The idea of encountering creatures inside a cave gives me that stomach in my throat shivery feeling, which is exactly what I want while watching horror.
What is your favorite season?
Fall. Give me haunted houses, pumpkin flavored everything, and mosquitoes returning to whatever circle of hell they hibernate in during the cooler months.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Lounging in a hammock in the woods with a new book and a cold drink.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I just finished Evelyn Leigh’s dark romcom Shadowed Obsession, and it was incredible.
Read it in one night—I was giggling and kicking my feet the whole time.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Probably Italian, but I enjoy most food.
What do you do when you have free time?
Read, write, or poke around the woods.
What can readers expect from you next?
I am currently writing a standalone high-heat romance novel in the same universe as WILLING PREY. As soon as I can share, I’ll be shouting about it on social media; I am beyond excited for this story!
WILLING PREY by Allie Oleander
An exhilarating, primal summer fling reveals an intensely sexy, edgy romance, where anything goes in the woods—just remember your safe word.
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.
Romance Erotica Sensual | Romance Dark [Berkley, On Sale: October 7, 2025, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9798217187294 / eISBN: 9798217187300]
Buy WILLING PREY: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Ripped Bodice | Walmart.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Allie Oleander
Allie loves dogs, flannel, and thinks every book is better with a good chase scene (or three).
You can find her wandering in the woods, admiring mushrooms, and hoping for a meet-cute with Bigfoot.
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