The Bone King and the Starling

by Elizabeth Stephens, Benjamin Sands (Narrator), Blaire LeBlanc (Narrator)

They call him the bone king.

A massive beast of a male who worships the gods and is all too willing to provide them their sacrifices. Human sacrifices. He and his warriors have come to visit Winterbren, a poor little village on the outskirts of Wrath and my home.

I’ve never been more grateful to be a thrall, for my low status will ensure that I remain outside of his notice. But when he requests—nay, requires—a willing female to warm his furs for the duration of his stay, his selection falls to me. All I can do is pray to the gods that I survive the night…

And beg the bone king for mercy.

This book contains dark themes, including a Black woman in the position of thrall, graphic depictions of torture, non-con, and discussions of early childhood abuse. A full list of warnings can be found on my website.

Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Historical, Historical Romance, Dark Romance, Audiobook, Dark

Audible Audio

First published March 19, 2025

About the author

Top 10 USA Today Bestselling author Elizabeth Stephens writes books where beastly men—or sometimes just beasts—always get the girl.

A full-time hybrid indie and traditionally published author, Elizabeth is best known for her Supers in the City series (Montlake) and her indie works like The Bone King and the Starling and Dark City Omega. In all of her books, readers can expect diverse casts, epic world-building, quests with unexpected twists, and women of color being celebrated loudly, Black and biracial women in particular.

When she isn’t writing, you might find Elizabeth enjoying the outdoors of the Pacific Northwest or traveling and making adventures of her own with her husband, tiny humans, and doggo, King Louis.

Reviews

[Eleanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Get you a Viking man who will slaughter and condemn anyone who has ever hurt you, give you his virginity, and become utterly obsessed with you at first sight to the point he believes the gods have blessed him!

This is such a stellar historical romance! While not my typical genre, I was completely enthralled from the first sentence. The MMC was a complete dream and I loved how he handled his woman with so much gentle care and downright ferocity. The 200 pages just flew by and while I wish I could have read more, the book left me completely satisfied. 10/10 highly recommend!

[bree | breesbookmark ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

give 12 more of these books immediately!! these pages were definitely laced with something because i couldn't put it down after i picked it up 😮‍💨 it's steamy, it's fast-paced, it's bloody, it's dark! the perfect book tbh

[enqi ☾⋆˚*̣̩✩ · Rating 3 out of 5]

──⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡┊3 ★

A Viking warrior king who falls in love with you at first sight, gives you his virginity, swears up and down that you’re a holy gift from the gods, treats you like a queen yet brutally tortures your enemies, tries his best never to make mistakes with you, and would move mountains and go to the ends of the earth for you? I'm sat 🧎🏻‍♀️🧎🏻‍♀️ I downloaded this from KU on a whim after seeing someone else's glowing review and I wasn't disappointed.

"I will have you every day, for the tender, beautiful, strong, courageous, brilliant and bloodthirsty thing that you are. You are my queen and you have my heart.”

The Bone King is the perfect balance of fast-paced, steamy and yet also unflinchingly bloody. Think of it as the equivalent of reading an extra spicy, explicit, sped-up and simplified Game of Thrones. Characters were all well fleshed out despite it only being 198 pages; even my goldfish memory could remember everyone's names and traits perfectly. And Calai was an absolute dream – a brutal and ferocious king towards everyone else, but achingly gentle and tender with the woman he loves, afraid of scaring her away or losing her.

"Violent towards you or violent for you? There is a difference.”

The spicy scenes were satisfyingly looooong (I checked my kindle... one scene goes on for at least 35 pages!!) and definitely very spicy 🌶️🌶️🌶️ I enjoyed reading them even more knowing that our main characters were both virgins!

A more devout believer in the gods than he, I know better than to cross Ghabari, the god of matrimony and sacrifice. He is Raya’s cruel but loyal lover, just as I intend to be to my queen.

My only gripe is that the book was so short. I felt that the romance and worldbuilding had so much promise, and I wish that it had been a full length historical romance rather than a short, spicy one. I would read another 200 pages of Calai and Starling's story!

"I do not know where you came from, but if I had never found you, I would have missed you.”

"My little bird,” he breathes hard against my forehead and then slowly plants a kiss right between my eyes. It is searing. “I would not take you away from Winterbren as anything less than my queen.”

Please note the multiple trigger warnings such as graphic descriptions of torture, mention of 🍇/SA, a POC woman in a position of servitude, etc.

Overall, this was a promising book, and I'm definitely intrigued and more inclined to check out the rest of Elizabeth Stephens' work.

"As I’ve told you, I am a believer in the gods. And I fear Raya as I do Ghabari. When I say I marry once, I mean that in all ways. Our binding, should you accept, will be the only one I’ll ever have. And I do not fear disappointment. Because you are a warrior, I have seen it.”

[~*~Princess Nya Vasiliev~*~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Thrall, known as Slavery or the station of a slave in the Viking culture back in the day, according to this story, was difficult to witness. The truth is not always pretty. So how Starling and those who looked like her, were treated here, was very difficult for me to witness. Seeing as me being a woman of color, the stark reality of had I been born in this time, this too would have been my lot in life. So it drove home some very real and heartbreaking, even angry truths for me.

It took just only reading the prologue and some of chap 1, before this story had me enthralled.. I was completely intrigued by the Bone King, (King Calai) and the young woman, Starling, that he was determined to make his bride.. King Calai is a surprise. A pleasant one..
You'll see. 🤭🥵💦🖤🤭

Starling, 🥺 you just feel for her. If you don't, then you have no soul. All you want is for her to be released from this existence and for her to be loved, protected and respected.💯

Make no mistake as brief as this book is, it is brutal. Giving us in living color what things looked, tasted, and smelled like in this time of history. The demise of the people you will grow to despise here, was so satisfying to see unfold. Calai, I'm giving you babies just for this alone.🤭🤭

I was in-🧡-like with this book. There are two things that kinda fell short for me and also upset me a bit, so I could not give it 5 stars..

But this was an entertaining quick, (198)pg read that I would recommend..😇

#TheBoneKing
#Starling
#VikingsAreAlwaysHot

[amarachireads · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 ⭐️

I loved this book, it’s definitely one of my fave historicals this year. I liked the way its written and fast paced and a the world building which wasn’t too much but I got everything. The mmc is a Viking king and he comes to the fmc city/town because he and the gods have chosen her for him. The fmc was great she is a servant thrall that is being mistreated by her madam. She is one of the only dark skinned person and gets chosen and has to spend a night with the mmc. This was a very steamy read and had the virgin fmc trope in it. The mmc is obsessed and will do anything for her and I loved watching the relationship grow and her choose him. Overall a great read, I can’t wait to read more by this author.

[Jen ♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first Viking story, so I had no idea what to expect. But I would say it was good. I wasn't a fan of the writing style, but that's probably because I don't read much historical romance. Maybe with more exposure to this genre, I will eventually come to appreciate this style and storytelling.

I didn't realize at first that this was a novella. I just read the blurb and found it intriguing, so I decided to borrow it. Since this book is pretty short, everything moved quickly, and I didn’t quite get how the MCs fell for each other. 🫣

All I know is that Calai (the bone king) received a message from the gods hinting that he will finally find his wife. They traveled to this small remote island, and that's where he saw Starling, who’s also one of the slaves in that town.

At first, she was really scared of him because everyone talked about how ruthless and merciless he was. But after just two days of him being kind-ish to her, she started to see that maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

Kind-ish because this is a dark historical romance, and Calai's insistence on Starling being his female companion while he was there was actually forced. He made her think she had a choice and could turn him down. But since he knew she was the wife the gods had promised him. He finally made it clear that she's going to be his, whether she likes it or not.

So there was some CNC during their first night. 😶 But he was really careful and protective of Starling. He was never violent towards her, and he kept reassuring her that he would never hurt her.

However, with a childhood filled with abusive people, she was hesitant to believe him. Also, having a front-row seat to his aggression towards those who crossed him only deepens her fear that the day might come when he turns that violence on her. But of course, that'll never happen.

As I said, this was a novella-length story, and I think the story takes place over just under a week. Obviously, they got their happy ending, but I really would have loved an epilogue to see them years down the line.

Anyway, there were some dark themes in this book, so readers, please check the TW list of the author.


Book info:
- Dark Viking romance
- King x Slave
- Age gap (20/35??)
- Abuse (Physical, Emotional)
- Attempted SA
- CNC
- Domestic abuse (past)
- Parents death (murd3r & su1c1d3)
- Violence, torture, gore, and death
- No cheating, OM/OW, or separation
- Open door spice
- Dual V! ✨
- HEA (married)

[Kimberlylovesreadingbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want a feral Viking who'll be a gentle giant for me 😭♥️🎀

[Stacie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved. The Bone King was a complete savage. Unapologetically brutal. At one point, I thought, "Okay, this is too much." But then Starling was there to give the book some softness and, quite frankly, a conscience. King Calai was a complete gonner for his "Little Bird." And dare I say a romantic. I thought this story was perfectly executed. So very good. I'm obsessed, actually. Happy reading!

PS- Do check the trigger warning.

[readabookonce · Rating 3 out of 5]

for a moment there, i thought there was going to be some anti-bush propaganda present but i was HAPPILY mistaken !

MAIN CHARACTER NAMES AND AGES
Starling (20) | Calai (35)

FEATURES
∘ viking romance (allegedly)
∘ royalty / thrall
∘ dubcon
∘ age gap
∘ dual virgins

REVIEW
To be honest, I didn’t really get much of a Viking vibe from this. I suppose the mentions of raids and the violence of some actions could be attributed to that, but that seems like a shallow representation. Admittedly, my knowledge of Viking culture is non-existent, so maybe I missed some aspects.

Starling deserved so much more than what she received. The portrayal of suffering here was borderline exploitative. I don’t feel we had enough time with her to see her fully process everything she’s been through. For a majority for the novel(la), Starling was traumatized and abused. The romance felt shallow because it was honestly just Calai “rescuing” her from being a thrall just for her to become his indentured wife. Although Calai was kinder (and tender, even in his roughness), Starling didn’t have the agency to make her own choices.

I do want to mention that there the was a scene where Starling and Calai groom each other (horrible choice of words) that I LOVED. It was so intimate and affectionate, even more than the sex scenes—and those were plenty intimate and affectionate. Domestic scenes like that always enrich a romance.

Now that I know what I’m in for, I’d love to see this become a series featuring the king’s warriors. I just hope the next one (if there is one) is a little longer to allow both the characters and the romance to develop more.

OW/OM DRAMA not really OM — OM is harassing Starling and bought her virginity before Calai arrives in the town
CHEATING none
THIRD ACT BREAKUP yes — quickly reconciled
ENDING HEA — no epilogue but ends in couple happily married with mentions of having a large family

POV dual; occasional extra pov from side characters / first person
SPICE LEVEL 4 / 5
RATING 3.5 / 5

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look Elizabeth Stephen's can do no wrong in my eyes 😅 this was brutal and fantastic

[Audrey ✨ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m wondering if Viking romances aren’t for me or if this author isn’t for me. Regardless, this was a can of bounce that ass.

The mmc immediately wanting to enact violence onto the fmc whenever he thinks of her was odd. He did ultimately progress past this thought, but I was so bored at the end I couldn’t give a damn about this. Also, the prose wasn’t anything to rave over.

Also, I’m supposed to believe a Viking knows how to detangle 4c hair?

[Katie’s Bookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️

"Trouble me, little bird. I desire it."

Ya'll I LOVED this. I was looking for a book with viking vibes and this really hit the spot. Only complaint that it wasn't longer

[Sybrenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

STOPP, 4⭐️ i actually ate this up! I knew from the blurb that i would be SAT for this book and when i started reading, it seriously did not disappoint. This was spicy, yet romantic, and at times brutal, but I LOVED both main characters. I just wish this was longer because I would have kept reading and reading and reading😭 ughhhh, i need recs similar to this IMMEDIATELY.

[Cristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading some raving reviews, I may have overhyped this book. It was enjoyable but not a 5-star either.

[Cydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

March 31 Audio Listen: YUP, still 5 ⭐️🙂‍↕️

Not only is this my first Viking fantasy/historical romance book, this is my first time reading anything by Elizabeth Stephens and I am completely plugged in omg????

Not only was Calai a MAN, he was also very soft and loving when he needed to be. There's something about a man who believes with his entire being that the gods created him to be with you! Starling started off as a weak, scared woman who came into her own, finding her voice and her strength over the course of the novel. Honestly I could have read this book for 400 more pages; I'm dying for a sequel that highlights their life together in his homeland.

I also have never read a fantasy romance where people get the brutality they deserve as punishment for living dishonorable lives, and this book was graphic and gory but boy was it glorious! Get them again, Calai!!

I loved, loved, loved this.

Thank you so much to the author for providing me with an ARC!

5 ⭐️s
4 🌶️

[Ahren McNamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in one sitting. I literally stayed awake until 2am to finish it because I couldn’t put it down. It’s dark, it’s unhinged, it’s spicy and it’s no longer a secret 😂 Ya’ll are going to simply perish while reading this one. It’s a one handed read if you know what I’m sayin 😏 and if you don’t, you’re not reading the right books lol. Make sure to check your trigger warnings (as always) because there are some darker themes in this one and buckle up because The Bone King and the Starling is one hell of a ride!

[Audrey S · Rating 5 out of 5]

my one complaint? WHY WAS THIS OVER SO SOON - IT'S SO GOOD. Perfect balance of holy shit this man is fucked up, but damn does he love his woman.

I need more and will be pillaging Stephens's backlist asap <3

[suonnahbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow 😩👏🏾

[Averie]

was totally obsessed with this!!

[Inna · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This was a pretty decent listen overall. I especially liked that both MCs are virgins - that just makes any book significantly more enjoyable for me. I actually rounded up based on that fact alone.

The storyline was ok, but did get frustrating towards the end. The hero falls for the heroine at first sight, but she doesn’t really feel the same, although she has some major body betraying syndrome when he touches her. And of course the good sex makes her feel some feels back. The problem I mostly had with this story is that it’s based on poor communication - which does make some sense since they only knew each other for a few days. Still, I’m not a fan of that trope, and the heroine acted like a complete moron with a capital M near the end of the story, which just really irritated me.

Overall, it’s a decent story and worth a listen.

Safety:
Dual virgins
No real OW drama besides OW showing interest in him which he doesn’t reciprocate at all
Some OM drama from a man who wants the heroine, she has essentially been sold to him before the hero comes along, heroine does not have any interest in him
No cheating, no scenes with OM/OW

[Disgusted Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are looking for a rags to riches insta-love story then this is the book for you.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

What!😀

[b.andherbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

the audio narrators made some CHOICES (especially the man) but overall i found this fun, if very very violent, and compelling. Listening was also a good choice, i think it helped overcome some of the clunky exposition but overall Stephens is a storyteller i'm interested to keep following as she hones her craft!



spoilers!

i wasn't expecting some of the little twists (him being a virgin for one lol) and who wouldn't want a man to do a little golden targareayan (spelling??) justice to someone who wrong you?

author provides good content notes at the beginning of the story and on their website if needed.

[riley ☠︎︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars✨

❣️ historical romance
✨ Black fmc
👑 viking king

“I do not know where you came from, but if I had never found you, I would have missed you.”

I’m obsessed with how obsessed Calai is with Starling. She truly deserves all the love and care in the world and Calai will give it to her. He’s batshit crazy but he’s so soft for Starling. He would kill for her. Which he did. It was creative, I’ll give him that. I love how insane yet good he can be as a king tbh.

To be honest, I thought this was gonna be a lot darker but I really enjoyed how not dark (in my opinion) it was. I couldn’t have handled it if anything worse happened to Starling.

[GoldenEyeOfHorus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed how gentle and sweet the MMC was to the FMC and how brutally cruel he was to anyone that harmed her. The bond between the MCs was very romantic.

However, meek, extremely low self esteem FMCs aren't really my jam. I like all kinds of FMCs but what I don't like is a woman that is always like, "Me? He couldn't possibly want me. I'm just a lowly slave/thrall. I'm worthless, he should pick somebody better." Ma'am! 😮‍💨😣

[Hot Mess Sommelière ~ Caro · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @75%

The MMC is a dumbass who makes the heroine's life difficult but also where is the worldbuilding three quarters of the way through?

I really loved ES Population series and her Voraxia series has some truly unique peak moments but this was not it (for me)

If you are into the dumdum caveman claims his woman and then burns everything down thing, this is for you!

[Stacey Reads It All · Rating 4 out of 5]

My best description for this gem is “smutty palate cleanser”. I liked it very much and it was so easy to read. I loved how protective the MMC was and while I would have been a thousand times more vengeful about the comeuppance than the FMC was, I still found her endearing. This was a steamy and fun story.

[Matthew Cross · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book , some of the thinks that happened to starling really hit me , made me sad to think that people were treated like that , I was hooked the whole way through the book , I'm looking forward to reading more books like this

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I DEVOURED THIS BOOK IN TWO HOURS!

😩
Thats it. That’s the review.

[Eunoia]

The book is well-written actually. A good read definitely. The story was going well, until the ending was kinda rushed so I feel like I am cliffhanged in a way. I hope we can see a glimpse of years later.

20h/35H
thrall h (Scandinavian serf or slave during the Viking age) / King H
He fell first and harder
He became possessive of her at first glance and even thank their God for blessing him with her (aww 🤧🥹🫠) He is cruel to others and is only soft towards the fmc.
FMC is innocent and hates violence given what happens to her past so she ran away almost by the end of the book but resolved within one chapter.

please be responsible and read the content warnings before reading: the fmc was physically abused as a child (beaten up) by her father. And later, at the present, the thralls are being whipped and beaten up by the Chief of their land and his wife. (idk what to call them but they are the ones who oversee the territory)


Safety:

Both V leads - FMC has never even been touched nor kissed; MMC - not detailed nor mentioned any specific details aside from he is a V. I hoped it was equally mentioned though because I definitely hate half-assed V MMC so much. :<
No OW nor real OM drama but there is this guy named Tori who she is promised to as his reward something like that. he kinda makes some scenes
There is only like one long ass chapter of smut but nothing more (tbh, it was a well-written one)

HFN: married

I hoped it was like five or ten chapters longer. :<