Disclaimer: This book is a participant in the Indie Ink Awards 2025 and I read it as a judge. My personal rating does not reflect its score for the contest.

I’d known from the moment I set foot on this path that it would demand pieces of me I never meant to give. That I’d have to become the villain if I wanted to tear the Bone Men down from the inside. I was no hero. But I was the only one willing to gamble their quiet life staring down a dark god, knowing I wouldn’t walk away unscathed.

For a book with such dark themes, where a corpse-stealing cult is trying to summon the god of suffering, it was surprisingly cozy. Two men find reprieve in each other from fearing for their lives while infiltrating a covert cult.

I’ve never been a fan of age gaps, and in this case, it’s amplified with the younger character being naïve, reckless, petty, and hot-headed, in contrast with the older one being wise and composed. The gap isn’t huge, but it’s at a point in their lives that it’s still troublesome, with Kit being thirty and Penny “freshly twenty-two”. The inexperience of both, and Kit’s stuntedness as a result of his sequestered lifestyle, level the playing field.

That’s not to say Kit’s a perfect man; far from it. Both characters’ POVs reveal them as fully-fledged people, and I found them both likeable. We learn about what makes them tick and watch them grow while battling with the leash trauma holds over them.

On the other hand, I had a gripe with how women are portrayed. They are all side characters, and either in search of a suitor (even while married) or are left under the protection of their sons once widowed.

I also found the villain a bit cartoonish. We are told more than shown how respectable and authoritative he is, when he is just a sad little man who somehow found himself in a position of power.

It’s a great start to a series, but that’s all it is, leaving the overarching plot unresolved. I found the writing polished in its simplicity, and the story is quite absorbing. The authors maintain the flow by not wasting words on fluff. I might continue the series, in the hope that there are more fantastic elements and that it gets more intriguing.

Perfect for fans of grumpy/sunshine and a slow-burn queer romance.