Filthy Alpha

Dark Horse MC #1

by Hayley Faiman

One look. One kiss. One night.
One lifetime.

King Stanley is the vice president of an MC.
Shawn Cotton is the small-town bakery owner.
He’s not looking for more than one night.
Her bakery is failing–epically.
She’s the sweetest thing he’s ever laid eyes on.
He’s everything she doesn’t need.

Their stolen moment together was a distraction.
It wasn’t meant to last forever.
She could be the best thing that’s ever happened to him.
He could be everything she dreamed of and more.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Small Town Romance, Age Gap Romance, Found Family, Contemporary Romance, M F Romance

326 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 4, 2024

About the author

Hayley Faiman was born and raised in the Central Valley of California. She and her husband met when they were still in High School. They were married a few years later. They lived in Oregon while her husband was in the US Coast Guard. After living in Hill Country, Texas, for eight years and three years in East Texas, they now call North Carolina home and spend their time with their two teenage sons at all their events, screaming from the stands as they swim their hearts out!

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Reviews

[The Written · Rating 1 out of 5]

AGE CANYON - SEWAGE

This book has a 40 yo man pushing himself onto a 23 yo young woman. He doesn’t take no for an answer and disrespects her by introducing and validating interactions with strippers, having sex with other women, and encouraging her to show her trust by having her give him a BJ in front of the club at a party. He does this by playing on her insecurities so that she second guesses and/or questions her own ethics and morals just to be with him. This is plain and simple grooming. The female lead is still so young and impressionable that this is no different than the grooming done by any sexual predator. How is this garbage in romance? What is romantic about this? #hayleyfaiman is another trash writer perpetuating misogyny, abuse, sex shaming and pitting women against one another. #hayleyfaiman disrespects and degrades her female characters and readers. AND the writing is terrible.

[E Dom · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to DNF at 13%.. I know I should have waited but weak FMC and a MMC that still messes with girls from the club, after meeting the FMC is hard for me to swallow… if he’s interested, even for one night, I want him to be too enraptured to think about anyone else!! I know he is apart of an MC where sweet butts might be aplenty, but he shouldn’t want anyone but her. Good try, but no.

[Jac K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been on a motorcycle club kick lately and snatching up anything I come across on KU. I didn’t notice the author when I started this and have been critical of this author in the past. She tends to drop cheat-y/dicey stuff for shock value but frequently brushes over it without ever having the characters address it. And for someone who lives for the drama, it is SUPER frustrating, but this was pretty tame. And I’ll be honest after reading these two losers, Jackass 1 AND Jackass 2 … King was a nice change of pace.

King/Elvis is the VP of the Dark Horse MC. He's older, 38, and I didn’t find him particularly filthy or overly alpha in an obnoxious way. He wasn’t what I’d call nice by any means, but he doesn’t cheat on her and genuinely tries navigating a relationship when he has no clue how to be in one.

Shawn is young, 23 and has had a hard life with her abusive junkie mom. She’s a mix of clueless and tough. She feels like a dingbat at times especially when running her failing bakery and going along with King, but she also has the will of someone that’s waded through a sucky life.

The two meet and have an instant attraction, and King decides he wants to get in her pants. Little does he know what starts as a challenge will knock him on his ass.

Bottom Line- I thought this one took a bit to get going. The beginning was a smidge boring with some keg business. It felt sort of lame for a badass biker club but provided the meeting for the mcs. What I liked best was King learning to be a good partner. These guys are used to being dogs and so there’re growing pains like him stopping at the strip club for a lap dance, but what I loved is that he doesn’t act on it. Even when he’s confused and panicky with these new grown-up monogamous man feelings, he never strays. He said it best…

Even though she knows the score about clubwhores and all that shit, I know it would hurt her. And I don’t want to hurt her. Ever.

Now THAT is a couple that is believable unlike jackass 1 and jackass 2.

[Tina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm lost for words over all the five star reviews, I'm not trying to be mean but this seems really dishonest and think there must be a lot of ARC readers in between.

I struggled through the first 20% and simply have to throw in the towel. It's really bad that you'd think a teenager had written it. FMC (23) acts like a fourteen year old virgin and has no backbone at all. MC (38) was a clown to listen to and there was absolutely nothing sexy about him.

There were so many things that didn't make sense in this book.

1. The bakery changed its name for one chapter to the other. First it was called Filthy Sweet Treats and in the next chapter it is called Sweet Filthy Treats.

2. The whole situation with the Kegs was so laughable. It must be a club that doesn't make any money if you make such a big deal out of three kegs. Lol! What are we talking here, like 1000 bucks? They made it sound like it was 100,000.

3. The station with her brother was also very strange. if she felt that way about her brother she wouldn't ask him for help. And the way she threw him under the bus to King, didn't make any sense at all.

4. All the men in the book should go see the doctor, because there is seriously something wrong with their throat. Bc every time they had to talk, they clear their throats. It was on almost each page, several times!

5. There was a scene where he gives her a little kiss (he barely touches her lips.) and then we're supposed to believe her lips are swollen after that. Which he thinks is so hot. Lol!

I had to stop when we got to him trying to get her to sleep with him. That was the worst dirty talk I have ever read.

The author should get another team that can be honest with her!!

[bookish_and_boozy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the read. It was very much SOA vibes & I loved it. Spice was alright, but storyline was good. Kept me interested.

[Doris · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a Great Start

To say this is a great start to the new Dark Horse MC is an understatement because this author knows how to write some steamy alpha MC romances. This series proves to fall right in line with her MC books.

King is the VP of the Dark Horse MC and is every bit the alpha male that he needs to be in order to be second in charge. Then we have Shawn who is the struggling bakery shop owner trying to make it on her own but is having a hard go of it. Who would have thought two opposites could be made for each other and so hot together.

They both brought out other sides of each other not many others got to see with Shawn, the sweet little business owner, who could stand up to King when need be and King the all-male alpha who could show a softer side of himself to Shawn. Loved it.

I cannot wait to see what comes next in this series especially with the five-star rating I have for this first book.

[Anne in VA · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was in need of some editing. I was left totally confused at times. This review has spoilers.

First off, the dialog was awkward sometimes, almost like it was translated to English. And then there was a part near the beginning of the book where an old high-school boyfriend of Shawn's is mentioned. He's portrayed as a bad guy that still chases after teenagers---as if he likes to take advantage of virgins or something. But then later in the book, when Shawn needs help delivering cupcakes, she calls the old boyfriend and he's super sweet and helped and at that point in the book, Shawn is thinking about how he was such a good guy and how SHE was the reason they broke up. Wtf? How did no editor catch that big fuckup.

There's other weird things. Like it's never explained why Atomic didn't go after the Nomads to save Shawn. His reasoning was something vague about blowback. But let's forget about Shawn for a moment because the Nomad's literally tried to have King---their club's VP---killed! And that's not enough to attack the Nomads? So bizarre.

And WHY does Shawn bake vegan, but eats hamburgers???? She couldn't bake regular cupcakes too and try to make money when she realized nobody in that town liked vegan baked goods? Make it make sense.

And what about the public blowjob and almost fucking?! Seemed so out of character for Shawn. And what kind of dumbass has a guy cum in her 10 times before it even occurs to her she could get pregnant. STDs from the club whores apparently never crossed her mind either.

I kinda got the impression these biker guys were playing pretend with the whole motorcycle club thing. They seemed kinda like a group of dummies running around with their thumbs up their asses IMO.

[Ashley Carr, LSoR · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great way to start off a new series! King is the VP of the Dark Horse MC and is loathe to make a delivery to his parent’s bar. Come to find out they have been evicted, and in its place is a cutesy bakery. Shawn is the proprietor of said bakery, and when King and his tatted self walks in she about swoons. Shawn’s bakery is failing, she has no customers and is not going to be able to keep the doors open much longer. So King stumbling in is a godsend when he samples one of her cupcakes and hires her to cater an event for his MC. They end up having a one night stand, and Shawn thought that was all it was going to be, and King promised himself that was all it was going to be also, but he just couldn’t get her out of his system. They are so different from each other, but they make it work. When Shawn‘s family start to cause problems for King and his MC, will he be done with her?

[Лилия Кирилова · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok... I feel like most of the book was just to fill the pages... or maybe creativity has been exhausted in this genre... I still wonder how throughout almost all of the book the female mc didn't notice the guy wasn't using a condom.

[Nic D · Rating 3 out of 5]

So first, I will start out by saying read your trigger warnings if that kind of thing bothers you.

King is the VP of a local mc. He is very rough around the edges, having a very hindered relationship with his family. So much so that he hasn’t spoken to his mother and step father in decades. King is very honest and protective, but truthfully, he has a sweet side that he reserves for Shawn. Before meeting her he never found himself wanting to have anything to connect to aside from his brotherhood as part of the MC.

Shawn as a young baker, who has found herself failing at the one thing that’s always made her happy. She also had a very strained relationship with her family, and did everything in her power to grow up early so she could get out. She opened her own bakery and has found herself falling into a sort of depression, because she feels like she may have to close down.

I love the chemistry between them, because it was almost an Insta love. He knew from the moment that he met her he was going to have her. Though there were moments that he messed up. He was always there, lifting her up and telling her not to quit. Neither of them realized just how much they cared until something happened to other one and they couldn’t be there to save each other.

The book definitely had a dark element to it that balanced romance and dark. I loved the two of them and wished that I could have gotten more because i would have loved to have seen king with a tiny thing running around.

The book was a little weird at the beginning I noticed a lot of repetitiveness, but then about a third of the way through that stops. It felt like the author finally got into the groove of it. That is the only reason I rated it where it was. Because even though I think that the book should get lots of love, there may be some people who won’t read it because of the beginning. But I’m telling you to do it.

I do hope we get a book for some of the other characters too

3.5 out of 5

🌶️🌶️out of 5.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Teresa Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Filthy Alpha (Dark Horse MC Book 1) by Hayley Faiman is about King (Elvis)Dark Horse MC Vice President and a vegan baker, Shawn. Shawn meets King when he delivers three beer kegs to what he thought was his parent's bar, only to find out it is now a bakery. The storyline involves parents who lead miserable lives and how they impact the main characters, yet each rose above the negativity to make something of their lives. King is 13 years older than Shawn, but their attraction to each other makes that a non-consequential tidbit. Things are never as they seem, even when it comes to petty jealousy between a club party girl who wants to be an old lady and family still coming around to cause problems. The action appeared stilted at times but flowed for most of the story. Not much background information was given about the MC's life, as it is left up to the reader to have that knowledge. Filthy Alpha, a dark MC romance, is the first book written by Haley Faiman that I have read.

[Lita Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filthy Alpha (Dark Horse MC#1) by Hailey Fairman is the first book in the series about Elvis, aka King vice president of Dark Horse MC. When making a drop at a bar, he not only discovers that the bar is gone, but a bakery now exists. Shawn has saved and scrimped to open her vegan and gluten-free bakery. Business is non-existent until a good-looking biker comes into her shop and turns her life upside down. This is a cute story of two people who have a strong physical attraction to each other. King thinks it is just an itch that needs to be scratched, and Shawn hasn't had her itch scratched in a while. What starts outs as a casual affair turned into so much more. I really liked this story as well as King and Shawn. There was a twist in the story that had me wondering why, but other than that, I am interested in seeing where the author plans on taking the series. Yes, I will be reading the next book in the series. I give this story 4 stars.

[Sarah_A6210 · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

First book from this author and unless something drastic changes with the writing it will be my last. I DNF’d at 90 pages, I kept trying but the writing style was just not for me. So much filler, so many repeated sentences, there was a whole paragraph about her getting water from the fridge, a glass, filled the glass, drank the water…. I’m sure that could have been one sentence not 5.

The idea for the main characters was good, the FMC Shawn is running her own bakery and it’s failing miserably, the MMC King is a biker who stumbles on her and takes a liking, he’s 14 years older, he’s not a relationship guy but everything is so cringe.

There is multiple and I mean like 6/7 times she mentions the fact that the bakery is failing, in almost every chapter, the random description of all the bakes she’s going to make each day and flavours, my god if it mentions everything being vegan or GF one more time.

Just not for me

[Seems · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weak spineless fmc. She let's pretty much everyone walk all over all, from the mmc to her family. She beats the ow, which was nice. But where was her spine with everyone else?

Manwhore asshole mmc. He did have some redeeming qualities, unfortunately sex was substituted for intimacy. So everytime they had a problem, instead of talking, they had sex. It was frustrating.

She realizes after sleeping with him for weeks that they haven't been using protection. He had been sleeping with countless women days before. They never have a talk about safe sex.

[Chelsea · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wtf did I just read

Amazon count your mfing days....don't ever in your life recommend such garbage to me. This book is for the insecure girlies with a shame fetish. If that's your style then step right up. I'll be the first to admit I enjoy a good guilty pleasure read here and there. However this shit? Absolute TRASH.

[Kennedi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would’ve set King on fire. This was some dumb storytelling.

[Maria Arroyo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not something I’d really recommend. The writing feels mediocre and the plot is kind of dumb. Just a very okay book overall.

[Michelle M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wicked and filthy

This is a great start to a new MC series. So many intense and filthy scenes in this book. Sweet and quiet meet alpha VP. That’s what this biker needed in his life. Age gap but not too much and of course horrible family members taking advantage of anything they can.

[Marta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately not her best

🔹MC 🔹h is a baker🔹kidnapping🔹no cheating/no sharing 🔹OW drama 🔹age gap

Not great. Weak plot. Forgettable, or should I say, stereotypical characters.
I will check the book 2 though 😉

[Brandi-Lynn Weiser · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS was SO GOOD! Hayley definitely knows how to write MC’s. She totally brings it. This was an amazing start to a new series and I cannot wait for more. Filthy Alpha had everything you want an MC romance to have, the big sexy biker who swears he is completely happy with drinking, the club and clubw*ores- until he’s knocked off his feet by a woman! It had action, drama, some ow drama (but King never even looked at ow once he set his eyes on Shawn), this book had some hot sex scenes, and a few jaw dropping revelations! But I’m left with a few questions that I can’t wait for the answers to! I want to see Atomic and Ryan’s story and I want to know what she needed protection from that had Atomic telling his former old lady no. I’m really curious about why his hands were tied and he couldn’t rush in to save Shawn. Ooohhh I can’t wait! I need book 2 now!

[Catheryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I never liked King by the end of it. Shawn had body betrayal syndrome almost the entire book. She would be honest with her feelings and concern and then he would tell her that it was how the club was. She didn't like the club wh*res and infidelity but he told that it was just club rules. She just had to deal. Once they got together, he never actually cheated on her, but he also didn't reassure of it until the end. I don't see how they developed any true feelings for each other. Apart from paying her rent for a few months, he didn't actually help her bakery at all. She made it sound like he really helped her.

Overall, I found everyone in this story very unlikable (except for her high school ex. 😆). Even the prez, Atomic, didn't seem very bright for being in charge. He seemed like he was scrambling to get the club more money and coming up with bad ideas.

[gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was perfection.

I love love love MC romance and this was really good. I would've liked a little more OW drama, but you get what you get and I'm not upset 😊.

[Alecia (The Staircase Reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filthy Alpha is the first book in the Dark Horse MC Series by Hayley Faiman. This also happens to be the first book I have had the chance to read from this new-to-me author and it has to be said, I had a hell of a time putting this one down. There haven’t been many times lately where I find myself reading into the early hours of the morning. Everytime I felt like I was at a safe place to stop and call it a night, something else monumental would happen, sparking the interest trigger in my brain. I had to know what happened next! I love experiencing new-to-me authors for the first time. There is no better feeling than finding another new author to add to my list of potential future reads.

Anywho… with all that being said, let’s get to what Filthy Alpha is all about. King and Shawn’s story is a bad boy/good girl romance with a hint of suspense and a load of spice. Be prepared for some seriously spicy sexy time moments!

Shawn Cotton had a vision for what she wanted in life. At fourteen years old, she worked her fingers to the bone in order to be able to escape the life of drugs and sex that her mother was interested in. You see, Shawn has bigger dreams. And those dreams consist of owning and running her own gluten free, all organic bakery. But she’s about to learn that owning something isn’t all rainbows and butterflies. Especially when it all starts to come tumbling down around her… All of that is about to change, when one man walks into her life…

Elvis “King” Stanley, Vice President of the Dark Horse Motorcycle Club, is a no-nonsense, calls it like he sees it man. He lives his life with no attachments and a body to warm his bed every night. This is a man who wants for nothing, but will do anything and everything for his club and his brotherhood. Which leads him on a delivery trip to a bar that is no longer a bar. In its place stands a bakery and a sweet as sin woman he can’t seem to erase from his mind. When King finds something he wants, he does what any alphamale would do, he chases it until she can’t resist.

My Thoughts:

I’ve been sitting here at my computer trying to put my thoughts onto paper. Let me start by saying, it’s been a very long time since I last stayed up a whole night because I couldn’t put a book down. It’s been a long time since I last snuck away and locked myself in a room just to read ‘one more chapter’. Hayley Faiman came across my recommended books in kindle unlimited. I was drawn in by the cover for Filthy Alpha, and if I’m being completely honest, the title also had me intrigued. I’m so happy I made the decision to add this book to my kindle unlimited library. And I’m even more glad I decided to give this one a read. I loved Shawn and King’s story. Everything from the age gap trope to the suspense-filled vibes, and down to the spicy sexy time scenes had me falling for this novel. I couldn’t get enough, and I actually dreaded the moment I would turn the next page in my kindle and the story would be over. I never wanted this romance to end.

What I loved about this novel. Let’s first start with Shawn Cotton. Shawn is fearfully independent and I loved this trait about her the most. She lived her life with a mother who liked nothing more than drugs and men. Shawn decided at the young age of fourteen, she would work her ass off to earn money so as soon as she turned eighteen she could leave this life with her mother behind and actually make something of herself. I loved her determination throughout this novel. She was determined to not be a statistic and end up like her mother. And with a dream in mind, she set out to achieve success. The one thing I loved about this novel the most was the hardships Shawn went through with owning her own business. Sometimes dreams don’t happen right away and it takes blood, sweat, and many tears before they are achieved. My heart broke endlessly for Shawn at the beginning of this novel. But there was something real about her character that I connected with.

And then we have Elvis “King” Stanley, vice president of the Dark Horse MC. King’s character came off as a bit egotistical and all alphamale throughout this novel. And honestly, I wasn’t disappointed. I loved the fact that he saw what he wanted and went for it. This man loves the game of cat and mouse. He loves the chase that comes with the game, and currently he has his eyes on the sweet baker with a heart of gold. I loved that he was the dark to her light. He was hard to her soft, and the storm to her calm. These two were a match made in heaven if ever there was one.

My heart loved Shawn and King’s story and I was going to give this book a five star rating, until I started writing this review. There was one point of interest I wanted more from. I would have loved to see more dates and more one on one time, outside of the bedroom, between King and Shawn. That is the reason why I dropped ½ a star on my rating. I’m being overly picky, however, I felt the connection between the two and I feel if the two shared more depth that connection would have been greater! And now, I want even more from the two.

Overall, I loved Filthy Alpha and given that this is the novel that introduced me to Hayley Faiman’s writing style, I think I’m off to a good start! If you like age gap romances with suspense and strong MC vibes, don’t hesitate to pick this one up. I hope you enjoy it just as much as I have.

I can’t wait to read the next book in the Dark Horse MC Series, Filthy Secret!! I need Atomic and Ryan’s book NOW! I can’t wait!!

_________



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[Dawnmarie Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 1st book in the Dark Horse MC series featuring the exciting steamy age-gap, MC, possessive alpha male,small-town romance between King/Elvis and Shawn. What an amazing kickoff to the new MC series this book grabbed my attention from the beginning through some twists that I didn't see coming and then until the end that I didn't want to come the story is that good. I wanted more King and Shawn which I hope that we'll get in future books. Shawn has worked her butt off to make something of herself to be better than her mother and her brother. She comes from a dysfunctional family who treat her horribly so she scrimped and saved to have her dream of opening her own bakery. Shawn works really hard in the bakery but unfortunately she doesn't have any customers and she might be forced to close soon. King is the VP of the Dark Horse MC and he hates going into town but one of the ways that the club makes money is with liquor deliveries including to his family's bar. He knows that he has no choice about going to town and his family's bar when they have to deliver kegs and collect money. Except that when he walks in to what's supposed to be his family's bar he walks into Shawn's bakery and he was quite rude. He also had no idea how seeing Shawn would effect the rest of his life. They were both attracted to each other and their chemistry was explosive and what they thought would be a 1-night stand turned into a lot more. However they have some obstacles in the way of their HEA and betrayal is right in front of their eyes if they knew to look. I don't want to say anymore and ruin it for anyone else with spoilers. You really need to read this exciting, steamy, age-gap, MC, possessive alpha male,small-town romance to see what happens. I would recommend reading this book and I'm looking forward to the next book in this fantastic series!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really gave an extra star cause this author FINALLY GAVE US A FL THAT IS NOT A TOTAL DOORMAT OR TSTL.

This book introduces a new series. This one is about King (real name Elvis - just NO) VP of the Dark Horse MC and Shawn, the owner of a small bakery. Their story held my interest, as did the club intrique; however, as usual w/this author's books, there's always issues. Some typos, grammatical errors, etc, shouldn't still be happening, but at least not as bad as some other books. The drama w/the ow was allowed to go too stupidly far, and the club prez's (Atomic) handling of it and a kidnapping (of course, isn't there always a kidnapping ugh), was beyond eye rolling. What's up w/Atomic? He made little sense & seemed to be a rather weak leader, but it appears he may be the ML in the next book of this series, so maybe we'll get a better character when he's fully fleshed out, but right now he acted idiotically & weak with no real reason given. And I must ask: why does everyone bite their lips so much - they must all have bloody & chapped lips! And what's with the FLs all whispering? Constant whispering! Do they all have sore throats? Maybe from all the lip biting. {shrug}

What I really like is that we didn't have another doormat for a FL and except for a couple of instances, when she froze or stood frozen (ugh again), Shawn stood her ground and didn't take too much b.s. from either King or anyone else, without being a rude as fuck moron with a death wish. King was an alpha asshole of course, but he turned out ok and I liked him well enough. Lots of smex (sometimes too much cause - get on with the story!!!), some interesting club issues, and a likeable couple, athough not much description of either one, but that's ok because at least she wasn't described as "curvy" or so short she came up to the ML's belt (triple UGH).

[Erin Under_Covers_Smut_Lover · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would rate this a 4.5⭐️
Spice 3🌶

This is a great start to the Dark House MC series. There is no slow burn, angst waiting on this couple to get together. The author draws you right in with spicy scenes between the VP of the Dark Horses MC, King and the sweet owner of a vegan cupcake shop Filthy Sweet Treats, Shawn.

What starts as King looking for his mother's bar, that he didn't know shut down. Lead him walking into the tempting little bakers shop. Shawn is struggling to hold onto her dream of the cupcake shop when King places an order of her cupcakes to be delivered to the MC compound for a party. King can't get the basket of his mind, and the more he sees how he own family treats her, the more he wants to protect her. They both come from struggling backgrounds, and they both want to make it and prove to themselves that they can.

I love that these two are so different from each other, even if they both come from those struggling backgrounds. Yet their chemistry is so strong towards each other. King is an alpha and manly man (as Shawn puts it) is everything that is described. Yet you see the softer side of him when it comes to his feelings and relationship with Shawn. She is soft and sweet but will stand up to King when need be. These two balance each other out perfectly, even if Shawn is delt more crap than anyone deserves. That family of hers is crap in itself, and I'm glad she has King.

The author does a great job at taking you into their minds and describing the way they feel and think, especially Shawn. It did have a twist in it that left me wondering why a little bit, but I can't wait to see where this series goes.

I received this as an ARC and this is my honest opinion.

[Rebel Devlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filthy Alpha is the 1st book in the new Dark Horse MC series by Hayley Faiman. It's an age-gap alpha-hole romance with strong emotions and secrets to be revealed. This book is a great start to a new MC series. We got to learn who the characters were and some of the club's dynamics. All the things I've come to look for in Hayley's MC books are there. It's raw, dark, and she does not mince words.
King is the VP of the Dark Horse MC and when he goes to make a delivery to his deadbeat parent's bar he realizes it's not there anymore. Instead, it's a bakery now and he meets the owner Shawn who he's immediately attracted to even if he tells himself she is too young for him. Shawn has been dreaming of having a bakery and saving for it since she was a teenager as a way to escape her dysfunctional home with her abusive and drug-addicted mother. Her bakery is struggling and while trying to figure out how to make it thrive she meets King who turns her world upside down. She's never known a man like him and can't help but be drawn to him. Unfortunately, there are things they both don't know about Shawn and some don't want them together or him to claim her. It comes down to a battle of life or death to be able to be together.
I gave this a 4-star rating and a 4-spicy rating. The determination in Shawn drew me in and although I didn't like King all that much in the beginning he turned out to be a good guy for her to be with. It was nice to see such a young naive woman like Shawn turn into a confident strong woman just by having someone to support and believe in her. Exactly what every woman wants and needs in their life. I can't wait to check out the next in the series Filthy Secret.
*I received this book for free. I voluntarily gave an honest review.*

[Ana Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

And let's start a new book, a new series and to top it all it's an MC book and from an author I freaking love.
Hayley Faiman is the bomb and her books... Oh, guys, her books are to die for.
One book was all it took for me to become addicted.
Her mind is a scary place to be. Lol
Filthy Alpha is her latest release and it's the first book from the MC series.
This book explores the lives of Shawn and King.
Shawn has taken all her savings to open up her bakery, but sales aren't helping and she's thinking of closing doors.
When a hunk of a man enters her bakery...
King is the vice president of the Dark Horse MC.
He's not someone you would like to cross, ever.
He's moody and not a friendly guy, not at first sight.
When he's in charge of making a delivery...
I'm so in love that I'm mad at the same time.
Mad because I wanted to keep reading and the book was over... Not funny, and in love because these characters stole my heart.
Amazing plot, well well-written, engaging, and super hot... Dayum...
The characters, despite all the adversity, work perfectly with each other and the chemistry between them is off the charts.
The way the story progressed left me wanting to keep reading and reading and I couldn't stop.
One minute I thought things were going one way and the next they didn't.
Some of the scenes left me on edge... And the hot factor was super high.
It was the perfect beginning to what I know is going to be an amazing series.
Amazing book Hayley, now give me the second one and I hope I'd Atomic because you have some explaining to do.

[Ela (Mouse333) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was fine, but nothing exciting; there was insta-love, and dramatic events at the end that seemed to come out of nowhere.

King goes to his mother’s bar and finds Shawn’s bakery there instead. At first, he’s angry because of the pointless trip he made, but then he decides that Shawn is attractive, but too innocent. He tries to forget her with other women (which wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t as bad as in some other books since nothing is shown explicitly), and then decides that he has to have her and it’s basically insta-love. Shawn’s bakery is failing and at first, she doesn’t want to explore anything with King because she wants a relationship, which he doesn’t, but she ends up agreeing anyway since she wants something good in her life.

King and Shawn were fine, but as mentioned, there wasn’t much relationship development. King admits that he’s never been in a real relationship, so he makes several mistakes, which they talk through. He also helps Shawn with the bakery, giving her ideas of what she could do.

The conflict at the end was dramatic and the people involved in it seemed to come out of nowhere. Suddenly Shawn’s father (who she hasn’t seen for 20 years) comes to find her and kidnaps her because he’s not happy that she’s involved with a member of Dark Horse because he’s the president of a different club. Then it turns out that Poison is Shawn’s sister.

I don’t care to continue the series because there weren’t many developed side characters, so I don’t care about their stories.

[Grinning Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cat’s Stats
MMC/FMC- King and Shawn
POV- 1st person dual
Genre- MC Romance (semi-lite)
Heat- 🌋🌋🌋🌋☄️ (1🌋=2☄️). The letter C does not stand only for Cupcakes in this book.
Series? Y
Safety? No cheating or s. violence, but there is OW drama. A certain type of s. act is performed on him by the OW before he gets together with the heroine.
Triggers- The Biker’s Trifecta (Language, Violence, Explicit Erotic Content), Substance Addiction (of minor characters), Mention/Threat of Trafficking.
Tropes- Dysfunctional Families FTW, Instalust, Small Town Bakery, Age Gap, MINE, Touch Her and Unalive Vibes. Almost Instalove. Meet Cute (Workplace).
Mewsings
I loved this book. King is officially in my harem of Book Boyfriends. He’s the kind of Romance Novel biker who’s swoonworthy. He’s tough, Alpha, good in the sack, protective, and deeply loving. And Shawn is a complex heroine, with dreams and determination despite her fears, hangups, and history. The zexytime was totally hawt, but for me, it was about the main characters.
Though I loved this book, it was not without issues. The main problem that I had was the thin reason that a certain thing didn’t happen (so that the drama was greater). I felt that Atomic went against what is an essential part of the basic code of fictional MCs, plus he acted out of what seemed to be his character (darn it, so hard not to give spoilers). It seemed contrived, and I can’t help but think that there would have been a better way to create suspense and drama in the story. Forgiveness and trust were too easily restored, as well. This could easily have been a five star book, but I can’t with these inconsistencies.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.