DUST AND BONE
£3.59
A romantic detour becomes a descent into hell for Leo and Julian when they are captured by a clan of savage inbred mutants in the desert. Thrust into a nightmare settlement built on dust and bone, they are separated and forced to serve the grotesque chieftain, The Gila.
Leo is broken into a “living sculpture,” a public testament to suffering. Julian, for his artist’s eye, is made the clan’s “scribe,” forced to document their atrocities with his camera. Their love becomes both their tether and their torment. To survive, they must shed their humanity, forging themselves into weapons of rebellion from within.
Caught in a power struggle between the brutish Gila and his cunning lieutenant, Kael, they are offered a terrible choice: die in the pit, or use their skills to build a stronger fortress for their captors. DUST AND BONE is a brutal, unflinching MM dark romance and survival horror novel that explores the devastating lengths love will go to in the face of absolute evil. It’s a story about the cost of hope and the terrifying things we become to protect the one we love.
In the desert, there is no one to hear you scream.
Leo, a pragmatic architect, and Julian, his sensitive artist boyfriend, believe a scenic detour through the Red Dust Foothills is the perfect romantic escape. But when a wrong turn strands them on a forgotten road, their dream trip curdles into a savage nightmare.
Their world shatters in a storm of violence and broken glass. They are hunted, captured, and dragged into a hidden valley—a festering settlement where a clan of inbred, cannibalistic mutants, known as the Family, has carved out a kingdom from dust and decay. Their chieftain, the monstrous Gila, rules with the brute force of a primordial god.
Separated and broken, Leo and Julian are forced to endure their own unique hells. Leo is subjected to back-breaking labor and brutal torture, his body and spirit systematically broken to become a “living sculpture”—a public monument to despair. Julian, for his artist’s eye, is forced into a more insidious role: becoming The Gila’s “scribe.” He is made to document the Family’s atrocities with his camera, his art perverted into a tool for glorifying savagery. The price of his refusal is Leo’s agonizing suffering.
Their love becomes their only weapon and their greatest vulnerability. In this world of dust and bone, survival demands a terrible price. To live, they must shed their humanity, piece by piece. Leo must learn to harness the cold, calculating killer within. Julian must use his artistry not to capture beauty, but to weave a web of subtle sabotage and secret rebellion.
As they navigate this labyrinth of terror, they are caught between the decaying, brutish rule of The Gila and the rise of his cunning, intelligent lieutenant, Kael. Kael sees a different future for the Family, one of order and permanence, and he intends to use Leo’s architectural genius and Julian’s artist’s eye to build it. He offers them a gilded cage—a chance to survive by becoming the chief architects of their own prison.
DUST AND BONE is a relentless descent into survival horror and a dark, twisted love story. It is a visceral, unflinching exploration of what happens when love is the only thing left to cling to in the heart of absolute darkness. This is a story about the cost of hope, the architecture of despair, and the terrifying, beautiful things we become for the people we love.
Fans of the gritty survival terror of The Hills Have Eyes, the emotional intensity of M/M romance, and the psychological depth of The Ruins will find themselves utterly consumed by this harrowing tale.
5 reviews for DUST AND BONE
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Add to cartCrushing on My Father’s Best Friend: A Forbidden MM Romance
Leo’s lifelong crush on his father’s charismatic best friend, Gabriel, ignites into a forbidden passion when he moves to San Francisco. For Gabriel, the attraction he’s fought for years is a betrayal of his deepest friendship, but the pull toward Leo is a force he can no longer resist.
Their secret affair is a sanctuary of intense intimacy, but it’s built on a foundation of lies. When a devastating family secret from the past is revealed—a secret connecting Gabriel, Leo’s father, and Leo’s late mother—their hidden world shatters. The confrontation exiles them from the family they cherish, forcing them to face the brutal cost of their love.
This is a sweeping MM romance about the courage to be honest, the long road to forgiveness, and the fight to build a new family from the broken pieces of the old. “Crushing on My Father’s Best Friend” is a deeply emotional story for anyone who believes that the most powerful love is often the one that is hardest to win.
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Add to cartThe King’s Gambit Accepted: A Tragic and Romantic Gay Chess Love Story
Leo Vassar is America’s golden boy—world chess champion, handsome, successful, and adored. But behind the smile, he is drowning in a secret he has never dared speak. Alexei Volkov is his Russian rival: tall, beautiful, with diamond-sharp eyes and an icy demeanor that hides a similar truth. He is a prisoner of his country’s expectations.
When they meet for the World Championship, their rivalry ignites something neither expects—a forbidden, magnetic attraction that shatters their carefully constructed lives. What begins as stolen glances and secret analysis sessions erupts into a passionate, clandestine affair. But one leaked photograph destroys everything.
Leo loses his sponsors, his reputation, and the woman he loved. Alexei faces something far worse: exile, disownment, and the terrifying wrath of the Russian system. Stripped of their titles and forced into hiding, they must fight not only for their future but for their very survival. As Alexei sinks into a devastating depression, Leo must summon the courage to save the man he loves.
The King’s Gambit Accepted is an epic gay romance of sacrifice, identity, and hard-won hope. Perfect for fans of Call Me By Your Name and The Queen’s Gambit, this MM romance will captivate you with its emotional depth, intense passion, and unforgettable love story.
18+ for adult content.
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Gilded Lies
£3.59Add to cartArthur Pendelton, a lonely billionaire trapped in a gilded cage, finds passion and connection with Leo, a beautiful art student. Drawn into Leo’s glamorous world, Arthur is seduced by a visionary crypto investment promising freedom and staggering returns. But the dream is a sophisticated fraud. The romance is a con, the returns are phantom, and Arthur is the mark in a ruthless “Honeypot Protocol” scam.
When Arthur tries to escape, he finds himself financially and emotionally trapped. To survive, he must turn double agent from within the snake’s nest, leading to a violent confrontation that costs him everything. Shattered and haunted, Arthur must use the painful truth to rebuild. He channels his grief into creating a foundation for vulnerable youth and a watchdog to fight the very scams that destroyed him.
Gilded Lies is a gripping psychological thriller and a tragic romance about the price of freedom, the masks we wear, and the devastating power of the lies we tell ourselves. It’s a story of betrayal, loss, and the long, hard road to redemption.
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Code Name: Sapphire
£3.59Add to cartA reckless MI6 agent. A disciplined CIA operative. A forbidden love that becomes their most dangerous mission.
Jack Taylor (MI6) is chaos in a leather jacket. Mario Rossi (CIA) is control in a tailored suit. Forced to partner to stop a ghost-like trafficker of secrets known as The Broker, their clash is instant and explosive. Professional contempt ignites into a secret, passionate affair—a catastrophic liability in their world of lies.
As The Broker’s schemes turn lethal, targeting one of their own, Jack and Mario must bridge the gap between Jack’s impulsive genius and Mario’s rigid precision to have any hope of success. But when a rival agent from Mario’s past threatens their fragile trust, and The Broker discovers their secret, they are framed as traitors. Hunted by the very agencies they swore to protect, they have only each other.
To survive and expose the truth, they must do the impossible: infiltrate The Broker’s lair. It will take every ounce of their skill, trust, and newfound love to win. But can a relationship born in shadow survive the glaring light of day?
Code Name: Sapphire is a pulse-pounding M/M romantic thriller full of electric tension, steamy encounters, and heart-stopping action. It’s an enemies-to-lovers story about finding your equal in the most unlikely place, and fighting for a future when every rule says you shouldn’t have one.
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admin –
Name: Marcus Thorne
Email: mthornegrimread@gmail.com
Rating: ★★★★★
Title: A Harrowing Masterpiece of Horror and Heart
Review:
I consider myself a connoisseur of extreme horror, but rarely does a book hit me with such visceral force while also delivering a profound emotional payload. “DUST AND BONE” is a masterpiece. The setting is a character in itself—a sun-bleached, toxic hellscape so vividly rendered I could taste the dust and smell the decay. The mutants of the Family are not just mindless monsters; they have a twisted culture and hierarchy that makes their brutality even more terrifying. Leo and Julian’s relationship is the brilliant, beating heart of this nightmare. Their love isn’t a sanitized plot point; it’s raw, desperate, and tested in the most grueling ways imaginable. Leo’s transformation from protector to primal survivor is chilling and brilliantly executed. Julian’s arc, using his art as a weapon, is equally compelling. The psychological warfare waged by Kael is some of the most tense and unsettling prose I’ve ever read. This book is not for the faint of heart—it’s brutal, graphic, and unflinching. But if you have the stomach for a story that will claw its way into your psyche and refuse to let go, a story about the literal and metaphorical price of love and survival, then you must read this. An unforgettable experience.
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Name: Sarah Jenkins
Email: sjenkins.books@outlook.com
Rating: ★★★★★
Title: I Couldn’t Look Away
Review:
I finished “DUST AND BONE” two days ago and I’m still thinking about it. This book is an emotional sledgehammer. As a fan of dark romance, I was drawn to the MM premise, but what I got was so much more than a romance novel. It’s a full-throttle survival horror story where the central relationship is the only flicker of light in an overwhelming darkness. The author does not shy away from the grotesque and the terrifying, but it never feels gratuitous. Every horror serves the story and the character development. The dual torment they endure—Leo’s physical breaking and Julian’s psychological unraveling—is heartbreaking. The scene where Julian is forced to photograph Leo’s humiliation will be burned into my memory forever. The cleverness of their rebellion, using their specific skills to sabotage the Family from within, had me on the edge of my seat. The final act is a cathartic, bloody, and perfectly executed climax. This is a story about how love can be a source of incredible strength, but also a devastating weakness in the wrong hands. Be warned, you will need a strong stomach, but the journey is worth every moment of anguish. Highly, highly recommended.
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Name: Ben Carter
Email: bcarter.horrorfan@yahoo.com
Rating: ★★★★★
Title: The Hills Have Eyes Meets a Heartbreaking Love Story
Review:
If you took the inbred family terror from “The Hills Have Eyes,” combined it with the grim character focus of “The Road,” and added a central, gut-wrenching gay love story, you’d get “DUST AND BONE.” This book is intense. The opening chapters masterfully build a sense of dread that escalates into full-blown terror. The initial attack is chaotic and horrifying. The world-building within the settlement is fantastic; it feels like a functioning, albeit grotesque, society. The Gila is a terrifying figure, but it’s Kael, the intelligent and manipulative successor, who truly chilled me to the bone. The dynamic between him, Leo, and Julian is a psychological chess match. Leo’s descent into a kind of feral pragmatism is both terrifying and awe-inspiring. The author makes you feel every ounce of his pain and every difficult, monstrous choice he has to make. Julian’s strength is of a different, quieter kind, and his resilience is just as compelling. The ending is not a simple “happily ever after,” but something far more complex, realistic, and haunting. It’s the only ending that could have done this brutal story justice. A new favorite in the horror genre.
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Name: Felix Desanto
Email: felix.reads.mm@gmail.com
Rating: ★★★★★
Title: Brutal, Beautiful, and Utterly Consuming
Review:
I’m a dedicated reader of MM romance, and I often seek out the darker, grittier side of the genre. “DUST AND BONE” is now the bar against which I will measure all others. This is not a romance with a side of conflict; this is a survival story where the romance is the core of the protagonists’ will to live. The connection between Leo and Julian is tested in fire and blood, and it emerges not just intact, but transformed into something harder, sharper, and more powerful. The horror elements are top-tier. It’s visceral and frightening without relying on jump scares, building a pervasive sense of dread that lasts the entire novel. The way the author uses Leo’s skills as an architect and Julian’s as an artist to fight back is genius. It makes their intelligence their greatest weapon. Some of the scenes are almost unbearably tense, especially as they play their dangerous game of deceit under Kael’s watchful eye. This book is a testament to the idea that love isn’t always soft and gentle; sometimes, in the face of pure evil, it’s fierce, desperate, and willing to become a monster to destroy other monsters. A stunning, powerful, and unforgettable read.
Review 5
Name: Chloe Reid
Email: c.reid.bookblogger@outlook.com
Rating: ★★★★★
Title: A Relentless and Smart Psychological Thriller
Review:
“DUST AND BONE” is one of the most gripping and intelligent thrillers I’ve read this year. While it’s firmly rooted in horror, the true terror is psychological. The manipulation, the strategic thinking from both the captors and the captives, and the slow, careful planning of the rebellion had me utterly captivated. The character of Kael is a fantastic villain—calm, calculating, and all the more terrifying for it. He doesn’t just want to break Leo and Julian; he wants to use them, to assimilate them into his vision, and that is a far more interesting and horrifying concept. The chapters are perfectly paced, each one ending with a reason to immediately start the next. The alternating perspectives between Leo and Julian are essential, giving us a full view of the different layers of hell they are enduring. The writing is sharp, evocative, and often poetic, even when describing the most horrific events. This contrast is breathtaking. This isn’t just a story about escaping physical captivity; it’s about escaping the psychological boxes your captors build around your mind. A brilliant, five-star read that deserves a wide audience. Just be prepared to lose some sleep.
admin –
Name: Chloe Reid
Email: c.reid.bookblogger@outlook.com
Rating: ★★★★★
Title: A Relentless and Smart Psychological Thriller
Review:
“DUST AND BONE” is one of the most gripping and intelligent thrillers I’ve read this year. While it’s firmly rooted in horror, the true terror is psychological. The manipulation, the strategic thinking from both the captors and the captives, and the slow, careful planning of the rebellion had me utterly captivated. The character of Kael is a fantastic villain—calm, calculating, and all the more terrifying for it. He doesn’t just want to break Leo and Julian; he wants to use them, to assimilate them into his vision, and that is a far more interesting and horrifying concept. The chapters are perfectly paced, each one ending with a reason to immediately start the next. The alternating perspectives between Leo and Julian are essential, giving us a full view of the different layers of hell they are enduring. The writing is sharp, evocative, and often poetic, even when describing the most horrific events. This contrast is breathtaking. This isn’t just a story about escaping physical captivity; it’s about escaping the psychological boxes your captors build around your mind. A brilliant, five-star read that deserves a wide audience. Just be prepared to lose some sleep.