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lalauren04's review against another edition
5.0
5 stars - The Bones of Our Fathers was such an unexpected gem! This one very nearly passed me by, too, and I'm so glad that it didn't - I'm a History graduate and I worked in a Museum for a few years straight out of University, and so the blurb caught my eye and I was so intrigued, but also unsure of what to expect. It quickly became apparent that I had found a new favourite... I LOVED it.
From the very start, I fell head over heels for the writing, the characters, and the beautiful setting. From the moment they met, I fell in love with the interactions between Mal and Rob. Their connection felt so real, which is why I loved it so much. It wasn't all insta-love, crazy animal sex and uncontrollable passion. Instead, we got a much more wonderful, grown-up and realistic relationship. Rob was a delight because he wasn't perfect, and he was such a genuine "what you see is what you get" guy. He made me smile with his playful banter and his flirting, and the affection he felt for Mal was PERFECT. One of the characters describes Mal as "the best thing that's ever happened to Rob" and that totally squeezed my heart, because Rob's been trampled on a bit by life and his own family, yet he's still such an honestly wonderful man, and while Mal doesn't come along and wave a magic wand and fix everything in Rob's life, he is there for Rob, and that's what counts.
The setting for this story was very charming and I could picture it all so perfectly in my head. The town allowed for such an interesting array of secondary characters, and it was nice to meet so many different characters who really were fundamental to making this story so special. In particular, I loved Betty, Gary and Harvey. And Morris, of course! Plus I also come from a small town like this one where everyone knows everyone, and so I found it very entertaining to read because some of it I could really relate to, and it was also wonderful to see the whole "small communities coming together" side of things that I find so uplifting.
The main plot of the story - the archaeological find and the nature of it, and the (mild) dramas that ensue - were very interesting and kept me reading until the end. It was all very well done, and I suppose the subject matter could be a bit "boring" in other contexts for some readers, but I found it so well written and fascinating, which I'm convinced other readers will agree with.
I'll admit to not having read other work by Elin Gregory before. I'm genuinely baffled as to why not, because her writing was really very good and the story was just so well put together. At the end, all I wanted was to see Mal and Rob's future, to see them together maybe 5 or so years down the line, to see their HEA in all its glory.
I am certainly a sucker for a HEA, and I'm not sure if this one classes as a HEA but it is definitely a very strong HFN. The HEA is hanging there, so close, and I fully believe that Mal and Rob get the happiness they both deserve!
I've rated this one 5 stars, and it is much deserved. I've even added it to my "favourites" folder on the Kindle because I can absolutely see myself revisiting this one in the future.
***I was provided with an ARC of The Bones of Our Fathers from Signal Boost Promotions in exchange for an honest review.
From the very start, I fell head over heels for the writing, the characters, and the beautiful setting. From the moment they met, I fell in love with the interactions between Mal and Rob. Their connection felt so real, which is why I loved it so much. It wasn't all insta-love, crazy animal sex and uncontrollable passion. Instead, we got a much more wonderful, grown-up and realistic relationship. Rob was a delight because he wasn't perfect, and he was such a genuine "what you see is what you get" guy. He made me smile with his playful banter and his flirting, and the affection he felt for Mal was PERFECT. One of the characters describes Mal as "the best thing that's ever happened to Rob" and that totally squeezed my heart, because Rob's been trampled on a bit by life and his own family, yet he's still such an honestly wonderful man, and while Mal doesn't come along and wave a magic wand and fix everything in Rob's life, he is there for Rob, and that's what counts.
The setting for this story was very charming and I could picture it all so perfectly in my head. The town allowed for such an interesting array of secondary characters, and it was nice to meet so many different characters who really were fundamental to making this story so special. In particular, I loved Betty, Gary and Harvey. And Morris, of course! Plus I also come from a small town like this one where everyone knows everyone, and so I found it very entertaining to read because some of it I could really relate to, and it was also wonderful to see the whole "small communities coming together" side of things that I find so uplifting.
The main plot of the story - the archaeological find and the nature of it, and the (mild) dramas that ensue - were very interesting and kept me reading until the end. It was all very well done, and I suppose the subject matter could be a bit "boring" in other contexts for some readers, but I found it so well written and fascinating, which I'm convinced other readers will agree with.
I'll admit to not having read other work by Elin Gregory before. I'm genuinely baffled as to why not, because her writing was really very good and the story was just so well put together. At the end, all I wanted was to see Mal and Rob's future, to see them together maybe 5 or so years down the line, to see their HEA in all its glory.
I am certainly a sucker for a HEA, and I'm not sure if this one classes as a HEA but it is definitely a very strong HFN. The HEA is hanging there, so close, and I fully believe that Mal and Rob get the happiness they both deserve!
I've rated this one 5 stars, and it is much deserved. I've even added it to my "favourites" folder on the Kindle because I can absolutely see myself revisiting this one in the future.
***I was provided with an ARC of The Bones of Our Fathers from Signal Boost Promotions in exchange for an honest review.
liza5326's review against another edition
4.0
This was a nice, cozy read for a stormy Friday night. The mystery was twisty enough to keep me engaged. The characters are warm and delightful. It just felt like sipping hot tea while reading to the raging storm.
tetiana's review against another edition
4.0
Such a lovely, calm, atmospheric book with a mature, understated romance, but focusing mainly on the community and what it means to be a part of one. Would’ve made a seriously good tv-series.
amethyst4ever's review against another edition
3.0
This was a decent story but the characters just weren’t as developed as I would have liked. All in all not bad but not really memorable either.
suze_1624's review against another edition
4.0
4.5*
Well, I think Kaje Harper's review pretty well sums this up.
As a British reader I loved the setting, the characterisation, the weather, the small town issues and closeness, the blustering from the bigwigs. It is low ansgt but rang true with what happens, liked the flu catching everyone, the car chase with Rob getting held up by zebra crossings while Mal chased him on his bike!
A great enjoyable read, one that is a warm hug on a cold day!
Well, I think Kaje Harper's review pretty well sums this up.
As a British reader I loved the setting, the characterisation, the weather, the small town issues and closeness, the blustering from the bigwigs. It is low ansgt but rang true with what happens, liked the flu catching everyone, the car chase with Rob getting held up by zebra crossings while Mal chased him on his bike!
A great enjoyable read, one that is a warm hug on a cold day!
alisonalisonalison's review against another edition
4.0
This is a lovely, well done story and I really enjoyed it. Elin Gregory's writing is full of charm and quiet humour and realism. The characters, plot, and setting are all superb. I loved how all the characters really came to life. This is a story about a small town and there's a large cast of secondary characters and they're all interesting, everyday people. The archaeology details were fascinating and I loved that Malcolm's interesting job was such a big part of the story. This is book is a delight.
kaje_harper's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars - This book is one of my favorite kinds of comfort reads - a realistic, lovely, gradually building romance about real people with flaws, in a setting with flavor, and some low-key drama. Mal is a PhD archaeologist who has moved to a small town to curate the local museum. He has only been there a couple of months, and has just noticed a very appealing, gay-and-out construction worker, when that man turns up an exciting historical find while doing a road excavation. The book follows the ups and downs of a relationship between two intelligent men who must learn to have more empathy, while the issues of local jurisdiction, small-town customs, ego, and historical preservation play out.
Rob is wonderful as Mal's foil - strong, sweet, and ardent about his heritage, quick to act, not always wisely. A man with friends and resources in this small town that Mal, as an outsider, doesn't have or understand. Also a man with difficult family he still cares about, and yet that doesn't ever swoop down into melodrama. Mal's slightly black-and-white views and his relative isolation (other than an excellent sister) make a good contrast.
I appreciated many of the ordinary touches, the mix of friends and other secondary characters, the low-key plot, the simplicity of how having the flu drops a stopper into the middle of life when you have no time for it. There are a couple of misunderstandings, but they come naturally from the plot and characters, not from relationship blindness. So while our guys could have talked to each other more, it felt plausible that they didn't. This was warm, fun, and an easy read. Not a book that punched me in the heart, in the way of my very favorites, but one I'll set aside for a comfort reread someday.
Rob is wonderful as Mal's foil - strong, sweet, and ardent about his heritage, quick to act, not always wisely. A man with friends and resources in this small town that Mal, as an outsider, doesn't have or understand. Also a man with difficult family he still cares about, and yet that doesn't ever swoop down into melodrama. Mal's slightly black-and-white views and his relative isolation (other than an excellent sister) make a good contrast.
I appreciated many of the ordinary touches, the mix of friends and other secondary characters, the low-key plot, the simplicity of how having the flu drops a stopper into the middle of life when you have no time for it. There are a couple of misunderstandings, but they come naturally from the plot and characters, not from relationship blindness. So while our guys could have talked to each other more, it felt plausible that they didn't. This was warm, fun, and an easy read. Not a book that punched me in the heart, in the way of my very favorites, but one I'll set aside for a comfort reread someday.
bfdbookblog's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars
This is my first time reading this author and the writing takes some getting used to. The story had a unhurried but steady pace once I got the hang of the style. There is nothing earth shattering here but it is a low angst slow, sweet story.
Rob and Mal seem to complement each other and were pretty sweet together. I found their flirtations and banter cute. The supporting cast is great as well. I always like small town settings where everyone knows everything about everyone else.
If you’re in the mood for a low key, entertaining read this is for you.
This is my first time reading this author and the writing takes some getting used to. The story had a unhurried but steady pace once I got the hang of the style. There is nothing earth shattering here but it is a low angst slow, sweet story.
Rob and Mal seem to complement each other and were pretty sweet together. I found their flirtations and banter cute. The supporting cast is great as well. I always like small town settings where everyone knows everything about everyone else.
If you’re in the mood for a low key, entertaining read this is for you.
the_novel_approach's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Stars
I enjoy books which take place in small towns where everyone knows everyone and is all up in each other business, and Bones of our Fathers definitely delivers that with all kinds of shenanigans and a variety of interesting characters with the charm I have come to expect in stories with this particular setting.
This was a low-key, slow and steady paced romance involving Mal, a newbie Museum curator and hired archeology consultant, and Dirty Rob, the construction worker. During a new development Rob stumbles upon a Bronze Age cist, which then becomes the center of attention as the town gets swept up in what it means for them, and struggles to keep the find.
The relationship is leisurely paced with low heat level. It progresses naturally with flirting, dating and getting to know one another. They have little misunderstandings and differences of opinions (mostly because Mal is so new he doesn’t fully understand the significance of family and friends in a small village, and how it all operates—where everyone is connected to everyone else), and eventually the two find love. It was all done charmingly, and both MCs complement each other in behavior. Rob is an extrovert with strong feelings about heritage. He is a little rash in his decisions, acting without always thinking first, but his actions are based on the best intentions and often in defense of someone he cares about. All in all, Rob follows his heart, first and foremost, and I love characters that mess up, but it comes from a genuine place. Mal is more logical in thinking; he thinks things through, analyzes situations and outcomes, his head oftentimes fueling his decisions. It balances each other out.
For my fully Californian self, it did take me a while to get into the writing style because it’s full-on English, and many of the terms and dialogue were a little rough for me to understand. Which is also why I am not positive where the village is located, since the connections seem to be both English and Welsh and it was confusing for me. Granted, I have read enough English-based books that I had at least some comprehension of what was happening, but other times it wasn’t the easiest thing for me to follow, and more than likely some of the subtler humor went right over my head.
Most of this story is character driven, so there are a lot of secondary characters with little quirks and interactions. It’s one of my favorite things about stories in small town settings, the people in the village and their connections drive the story more so than the archeological dig; though the cist and its excavation adds a little bit of angst and a dash of mystery, it wasn’t the focal point. I adore the setting, and the author did a fabulous job of creating a charmingly dysfunctional group of family and friends whose interactions kept me engaged.
At the end I felt a little let down though, and I’ll do my best to explain. Mal being the newcomer is sort of on the outside but is learning how it all operates, and while somewhat being accepted. I love reading a character learning to navigate his new life, watching them fall in love with the town and become part of those connections, eventually finding they are home. Generally, in this trope, the people pull through in the end, showing the newcomer what it truly means to belong, and I love it. I’ve also come to expect it, which is why I was let down. I didn’t feel it really happened that way here, IMO. Even though he was liked by the people, it was clear Mal wasn’t really one of them. Since everyone is in everyone else’s business, pretty much the whole population knows when Mal and Rob’s relationship hits a stumbling block—one that the people of Pemberland helped create once the pieces all come together. Unfortunately for Mal, the town takes Rob’s side. What sucks more is that it seems they do so, probably without even knowing Rob’s side of what happened, or bothering to even figure out Mal’s perspective. All they see is Rob upset and they flock to his defense. Poor Mal gets the lectures, and the “tough love” speeches, and is treated somewhat crappily, if you ask me. Was Mal perfect? No. But, I personally understood where Mal was coming from, and since I am very much like Mal, IMO his actions were more-or-less justified based on what he knew and what was going on around him. I would have had a similar reaction, but no one tries to look at anything from his standpoint, leaving him feeling as though he screwed up. They backed up their own, and Mal clearly wasn’t one of them—at least not yet. That left me with a bit of a sour taste, to be honest.
Despite my negative reaction towards how it all gets resolved, and the actions of the townspeople, most of the story was that feel-good, lowkey comfort read which kept me engaged. If you love fully fleshed out, character driven stories set in small town, complete with cute banter, sweet MCs, and an interesting backstory, give this one a shot.
Reviewed by Lindsey for The Novel Approach
I enjoy books which take place in small towns where everyone knows everyone and is all up in each other business, and Bones of our Fathers definitely delivers that with all kinds of shenanigans and a variety of interesting characters with the charm I have come to expect in stories with this particular setting.
This was a low-key, slow and steady paced romance involving Mal, a newbie Museum curator and hired archeology consultant, and Dirty Rob, the construction worker. During a new development Rob stumbles upon a Bronze Age cist, which then becomes the center of attention as the town gets swept up in what it means for them, and struggles to keep the find.
The relationship is leisurely paced with low heat level. It progresses naturally with flirting, dating and getting to know one another. They have little misunderstandings and differences of opinions (mostly because Mal is so new he doesn’t fully understand the significance of family and friends in a small village, and how it all operates—where everyone is connected to everyone else), and eventually the two find love. It was all done charmingly, and both MCs complement each other in behavior. Rob is an extrovert with strong feelings about heritage. He is a little rash in his decisions, acting without always thinking first, but his actions are based on the best intentions and often in defense of someone he cares about. All in all, Rob follows his heart, first and foremost, and I love characters that mess up, but it comes from a genuine place. Mal is more logical in thinking; he thinks things through, analyzes situations and outcomes, his head oftentimes fueling his decisions. It balances each other out.
For my fully Californian self, it did take me a while to get into the writing style because it’s full-on English, and many of the terms and dialogue were a little rough for me to understand. Which is also why I am not positive where the village is located, since the connections seem to be both English and Welsh and it was confusing for me. Granted, I have read enough English-based books that I had at least some comprehension of what was happening, but other times it wasn’t the easiest thing for me to follow, and more than likely some of the subtler humor went right over my head.
Most of this story is character driven, so there are a lot of secondary characters with little quirks and interactions. It’s one of my favorite things about stories in small town settings, the people in the village and their connections drive the story more so than the archeological dig; though the cist and its excavation adds a little bit of angst and a dash of mystery, it wasn’t the focal point. I adore the setting, and the author did a fabulous job of creating a charmingly dysfunctional group of family and friends whose interactions kept me engaged.
At the end I felt a little let down though, and I’ll do my best to explain. Mal being the newcomer is sort of on the outside but is learning how it all operates, and while somewhat being accepted. I love reading a character learning to navigate his new life, watching them fall in love with the town and become part of those connections, eventually finding they are home. Generally, in this trope, the people pull through in the end, showing the newcomer what it truly means to belong, and I love it. I’ve also come to expect it, which is why I was let down. I didn’t feel it really happened that way here, IMO. Even though he was liked by the people, it was clear Mal wasn’t really one of them. Since everyone is in everyone else’s business, pretty much the whole population knows when Mal and Rob’s relationship hits a stumbling block—one that the people of Pemberland helped create once the pieces all come together. Unfortunately for Mal, the town takes Rob’s side. What sucks more is that it seems they do so, probably without even knowing Rob’s side of what happened, or bothering to even figure out Mal’s perspective. All they see is Rob upset and they flock to his defense. Poor Mal gets the lectures, and the “tough love” speeches, and is treated somewhat crappily, if you ask me. Was Mal perfect? No. But, I personally understood where Mal was coming from, and since I am very much like Mal, IMO his actions were more-or-less justified based on what he knew and what was going on around him. I would have had a similar reaction, but no one tries to look at anything from his standpoint, leaving him feeling as though he screwed up. They backed up their own, and Mal clearly wasn’t one of them—at least not yet. That left me with a bit of a sour taste, to be honest.
Despite my negative reaction towards how it all gets resolved, and the actions of the townspeople, most of the story was that feel-good, lowkey comfort read which kept me engaged. If you love fully fleshed out, character driven stories set in small town, complete with cute banter, sweet MCs, and an interesting backstory, give this one a shot.
Reviewed by Lindsey for The Novel Approach
aprillen's review against another edition
5.0
Wonderful, engaging real-people romance set in a small town on the Welsh-English border, between a museum curator and a heavy machine operator, with archaeology and themes of heritage and place and lgbtq history, and about how the big centralised museums go around appropriating all the local finds. I loved this and couldn't put it down.