Review: The Bones of Our Fathers by Elin Gregory

Malcolm Bright, brand new museum curator in a small Welsh Border town, is a little lonely until – acting as emergency archaeological consultant on a new housing development – he crosses the path of Rob Escley, aka Dirty Rob, who makes Mal’s earth move in more ways than one.

Then Rob discovers something wonderful, and together they must combat greedy developers and a treasure hunter determined to get his hands on the find. Are desperate measures justified to save the bones of our fathers? Will Dirty Rob live up to his reputation? Do museum curators really do it meticulously?

Answers must be found for the sake of Mal’s future, his happiness and his heart.

Cozy!

This little story will probably only appeal to some. It's very British which creates a great sense of place but I also found some of the lingo challenging.

However, it hit my opposites attract sweet spot with Rob being a burly construction worker to Mal's geeky museum curator. Rob's also cheeky and saucy which cracked me up; some of his innuendos were so cheesy they left me chortling. From the moment he sets eyes on Mal there is never any doubt that he'd like to show Mal his power tools. Mal is quite likable in his own rite. He's not as gregarious as Rob but he's passionate and genuinely a good person who's loyal to his friends and committed to his field.

The plot is straightforward and the story sort of meanders to a conclusion with some shenanigans along the way to add to the overall genial quality of the story. The Bones of Our Fathers is a slice of life with a cast of characters that lend to the coziness that is Pemberland. This story and these characters have charisma!

Pemberland is a quaint little town where everyone knows everyone and all their business because they've all lived there forever. Even though Mal is a newb he's welcomed into the fold and is soon knocking around the same haunts like a local, though his blossoming relationship with Rob probably greased those wheels a bit.

Rob and Mal have chemistry and while there are some sexy times they're not explicit with most being alluded to or fade to black. Their relationship evolves naturally with minimal but realistic conflicts that both men use their words to work through. Generally speaking, they fall easily into a committed relationship, have fun together and seem to be on their way to an HEA.

This is my first experience with this author and even though there weren't a lot of bells and whistles that I typically enjoy in my reads what I realized somewhere along the way was a growing familiarity with these characters that snuck up on me. It's a quiet story that packs a punch, a sneaky, ninja punch, but still.

Recommend to romance readers who enjoy low angst, cozy reads with humorous secondary characters.

A review copy was provided.