Primal Urges by Bex Dawn

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5) | 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ (4/5)

Oh, Primal Urges, where primal instincts and questionable life choices collide in one big, messy, deliciously dark romance. This book is a ride, and not the smooth kind. Think more along the lines of being thrown onto a rollercoaster with no seatbelt while someone whispers dirty threats in your ear. Fun, right?

First off, let’s talk about how refreshing it is to have a Black female main character in a dark romance. I need more of this, because let’s be real, the genre is sorely lacking. And our girl? She’s got fire, attitude, and just the right amount of “I might stab you if you piss me off.” We love a heroine who doesn’t just roll over (unless, of course, she wants to).

Now, for the spice. It’s hot. It’s intense. It’s the kind of dirty that makes you glance around to make sure no one’s reading over your shoulder. Four out of five spicy chili peppers because my Kindle was sweating, but not completely on fire. There were a couple of moments where I thought, Okay, sir, let’s take it down a notch before someone files a police report.

🚨 TRIGGER WARNINGS 🚨

This book does not play around with the dark in dark romance. Expect:

• Dub/non-con elements (consent is very blurry here, folks)

• Kidnapping/forced proximity (because why use Tinder when you can just abduct your soulmate?)

• Extreme possessiveness (like, “I’ll ruin your life but also worship you” levels)

• Violence (both inside and outside the bedroom)

If those don’t scare you off (or if they secretly make you more interested, no judgment), then go for it.

So why the 3 ⭐️? As much as I love a good morally bankrupt love interest, sometimes this one felt a little too… unhinged. Like, sir, therapy is right there. Some parts dragged a little, and I wish we had more character depth instead of just violence + lust = love. But hey, if you’re here for the chaos, you’ll get exactly what you came for.

Would I recommend it? If you love your romances as messy as your search history, absolutely.

PRIMAL URGES

HERO /HEROINE:
Rayven is an excellent criminal defense attorney with anger issues. She has deep seeded issues with what she finds sexually pleasurable to the point she thinks she is broken.

Wolfe is a hacker and does business on the dark web. He uses the money he earns to fund research and medical trials for Alzheimer's disease.

REPRESENTATION: Black Heroine and Virgin Hero

OVERALL THOUGHTS: 
“She saw the monster, and she liked it.”

Rayven was torn up and emotional about her desires and it was spoken about often in her POV. It felt like for a lot of the book there was little progress. 

Rayven and Wolfe together were beautiful and connected.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: 
I skimmed a lot because I became bored. That third act breakup at 90% was uncalled for and unnecessary. He had done so much illegal and stalker shit, but she gets upset and betrayed when she recognizes she's seen him before? It seemed truly out of character for her to be upset at something like that, poor writing on the author's part.

FAVORITE QUOTES:
“Everyone likes praise. Even men. They’re basically just overgrown children waiting for you to put their drawings on the fridge.”

“I love him so much, I cry myself to sleep every night from missing him. I love him so much, I hope and pray that he breaks into my home and crawls into my bed to hold me while I mourn him.”

SAFETY

AGE:
Rayven is 34 and Wolfe is 28.

SEXUAL HISTORY:
Rayven hasn't slept with a man in over 4 years.
Wolfe is a virgin and practices while she sleeps.

“My mouth is literally inches from a pussy for the first time in my life. I need to practice while she sleeps. Need to make sure I’m perfect for her.”

CONDOMS:
Nope

TUMMY BUTTERFLIES: 
🦋 5/5 Wolfe knocked it out of the park for being a virgin. 

Kinks include: Degradation, slapping, praise, primal play, stalking, fluid play, spitting, biting, blood play, period play, somnophilia, CNC, Dub-con, knife/gun play, mask play, bondage, BDSM, power play, fear kink.

PUSH/PULL:
Yes from both.

SEPARATION:
He went away a lot for “work” and then in a third act break up they were separate for 3 weeks

CHEATING: 
No

OW (Other Woman)/OM (Other Man) drama:
OM - Wolfe became jealous and possessive many times through the story. He used Violence, mean hearted pranks and ended up killing a guy. 

“Make no mistake, Little Fox. You are mine. The next time you let someone else’s hands touch you, I will remove them and punish you. I’m a selfish bastard, Rayvn. I’m possessive with my things. No one touches my property.”

The guy who touched Rayven at the club ends up getting beat up by Wolfe and then he sets fire to the OM's hands and cums on him. 

“It takes less than a minute before I’m shooting hot ropes of my cum across the motherfuckers' burnt hands. He screams and my cock spurts out another shot at the sound.”

SEX SCENE WITH OW/OM:
OM - Heroine is sexually assaulted by the villain. (groping, penetration with fingers, while threatened at gunpoint, saved by hero before more could happen)

POSSIBLE PET PEEVES/TRIGGERS:
Stalking, OTT-Possessive Anti-Hero with Psycho Tendencies, Past Experience of Attempted Rape Recounted But Not Explicitly, Past Rape of Side Characters (Multiple Due to a Serial Rapist, Murder, Attempted Murder, Sexual Assault, Loss of Family Member, Alzheimer's/Parent, 

HEA/HFN:
HFN

No epilogue and it ended blunty right after making up from a third act breakup.