What do you think?
Rate this book
A Bone in His Teeth
When a fall from the mast leaves Alba Marsh unable to sail, he finally has the chance to run away from his family debts in search of a better life. He hopes to reunite with his mother, Edythe, where they always promised to meet if things went awry, but finding the small, secluded, secretive town of Moon Harbor proves a greater challenge than Alba ever expected. Worse, upon arriving, no one seems to know anyone by the name Edythe Marsh at all.
Taking a job as the local lighthouse keeper while waiting for her to come, Alba attempts to find peace in his stolen freedom--but the sea has other plans. First come the shadows, then the voices, then watery trails left on the floor while he sleeps. He's inundated with erotic dreams of sirens calling out to him, and distant singing haunts his waking hours, all while the townspeople claim to hear nothing.
After a debtor catches up with him and he's forced to dispose of their body in the harbor, Alba is interrupted by Eridanys, the last merrow of Moon Harbor, who curses him from leaving until he can find out what happened to the other merrow that once filled those waters. Eridanys' demands, both mental and physical, are exhausting and endless--but as their relationship deepens, and Moon Harbor’s long-kept secrets are butterflied open to see, it becomes clear they may both be prey to the town in ways neither of them ever anticipated.
A BONE IN HIS TEETH is an adult, queer, trans/M dark fantasy/romance with horror elements. Coming May 17, 2024.
Taking a job as the local lighthouse keeper while waiting for her to come, Alba attempts to find peace in his stolen freedom--but the sea has other plans. First come the shadows, then the voices, then watery trails left on the floor while he sleeps. He's inundated with erotic dreams of sirens calling out to him, and distant singing haunts his waking hours, all while the townspeople claim to hear nothing.
After a debtor catches up with him and he's forced to dispose of their body in the harbor, Alba is interrupted by Eridanys, the last merrow of Moon Harbor, who curses him from leaving until he can find out what happened to the other merrow that once filled those waters. Eridanys' demands, both mental and physical, are exhausting and endless--but as their relationship deepens, and Moon Harbor’s long-kept secrets are butterflied open to see, it becomes clear they may both be prey to the town in ways neither of them ever anticipated.
A BONE IN HIS TEETH is an adult, queer, trans/M dark fantasy/romance with horror elements. Coming May 17, 2024.
1 pages, Audio CD
First published May 17, 2024
471 people are currently reading
6411 people want to read
About the author
Kellen Graves
6 books1,340 followersIndie/selfpub author currently living in the eastern edge of the PNW with my partner, two cats, and crystal collection.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 553 reviews
October 30, 2024
I loved absolutely everything about this book!!! A romance with a good dark mystery and incredible characters!! Alba is sensitive but he’s also strong and clever. Then there’s Eridanys who has a sharp tongue but can be so unbelievably sweet!! All the small simple moments with those two have my heart!! 😊 Underneath all of Eridanys rough scales he’s just lonely and has found himself falling completely in love with this mortal. The writing is beautiful and poetic, it can get a little confusing because of all the descriptive words it uses but nothing that makes the plot difficult to understand. There were a bunch of small details behind the world this story takes place in and I was living for all of them!! The author used Alba’s past and thoughts to tell us about these folk stories and why things in certain towns look the way they do or the purpose behind certain stuff, it was really well done. Have I even mentioned the cover? Because that is gorgeous too. It all fits together so well to create this treasure of a book with two detailed characters and spicy af smut scenes 👀👀.
September 16, 2024
This was a surprisingly freaky (😏) read. Came for the dark mermaid vibes and mystery, stayed for the monster fucking. A bit slow to start off but after the 30% mark it took off like a shot and continued to build tension and action to a surprisingly cinematic climax.
I admire a monster romance that not only doesn’t take the easy way out by having the monster be humanoid for spicy scenes, but goes even further as to let the monster keep his monster bits in his humanoid form (yes I said bits 🍆🍆).
I loved Alba and Eridanys’ little enemies to lovers dynamic and their chemistry really worked for me. My first, but definitely not my last, Kellen Graves book.
I admire a monster romance that not only doesn’t take the easy way out by having the monster be humanoid for spicy scenes, but goes even further as to let the monster keep his monster bits in his humanoid form (yes I said bits 🍆🍆).
I loved Alba and Eridanys’ little enemies to lovers dynamic and their chemistry really worked for me. My first, but definitely not my last, Kellen Graves book.
May 22, 2024
“Neptune save me, I will gut any man who ever lays a hand on what’s mine.”
Wow! I loved this so much 🥹
The scenery was so spooky and mysterious. I was hooked instantly. I needed to know;
What happened to all the merrow?
What happened to all the previous wickies?
Why is the town so sketchy and secretive?
Why was Eridany banned?
Where is Albas mother?!
The answers are heartbreaking and sick 💔
Reading Eridany and Alba learn to trust/depend on each other and fall in love was beautiful.
The silver streak in Albas hair that Eridany LOVED to kiss had me melting.
"pulling away to look at him before kissing the roots of Alba’s hair where the silver strands grew"
Eridany went from trying to kill Alba to-
“I want to be the only one—who ever says your name, inside of you, knowing you, Alba, Alba. My caller of the shore—Mine, only mine—”
Their spicy parts tickled my pickle.
Our merrow has 2, YES! 2 DICKS. And our mc is trans.
D.P. 🥵 IT WAS DELICIOUS!
The time they got freaky at Eugens.. HOTTT and the time Alba was a lil drunky. SHEEEWWW WEEEEE! TINGLYYYYY!
"I want you to cum for me, Albatross, my prince of the sea.”
The last 15ish percent I was SCARED IN TEARS! just knew something bad was going to happen.
The revenge for EVERYONE was perfect. Albas a lil badass.
“My sea prince,” the siren finally whispered hoarsely. “My caller of the shore. I thought just of you to keep my sanity.”
I would have loved a future epilogue, but that's just me being greedy.
BUT really, fingers crossed for one at some point. Alba talked of a bucket list for them. I would LOVE to read them doing one 🤞
No cheating.
No om.
Albas POV only.
Goofy smiling at the cover. They're so beautiful 🥹😭 peep that silver streak 🤭
Wow! I loved this so much 🥹
The scenery was so spooky and mysterious. I was hooked instantly. I needed to know;
What happened to all the merrow?
What happened to all the previous wickies?
Why is the town so sketchy and secretive?
Why was Eridany banned?
Where is Albas mother?!
The answers are heartbreaking and sick 💔
Reading Eridany and Alba learn to trust/depend on each other and fall in love was beautiful.
The silver streak in Albas hair that Eridany LOVED to kiss had me melting.
"pulling away to look at him before kissing the roots of Alba’s hair where the silver strands grew"
Eridany went from trying to kill Alba to-
“I want to be the only one—who ever says your name, inside of you, knowing you, Alba, Alba. My caller of the shore—Mine, only mine—”
Their spicy parts tickled my pickle.
Our merrow has 2, YES! 2 DICKS. And our mc is trans.
D.P. 🥵 IT WAS DELICIOUS!
The time they got freaky at Eugens.. HOTTT and the time Alba was a lil drunky. SHEEEWWW WEEEEE! TINGLYYYYY!
"I want you to cum for me, Albatross, my prince of the sea.”
The last 15ish percent I was SCARED IN TEARS! just knew something bad was going to happen.
The revenge for EVERYONE was perfect. Albas a lil badass.
“My sea prince,” the siren finally whispered hoarsely. “My caller of the shore. I thought just of you to keep my sanity.”
I would have loved a future epilogue, but that's just me being greedy.
BUT really, fingers crossed for one at some point. Alba talked of a bucket list for them. I would LOVE to read them doing one 🤞
No cheating.
No om.
Albas POV only.
Goofy smiling at the cover. They're so beautiful 🥹😭 peep that silver streak 🤭
June 9, 2024
So beautifully written! It describes a bleak and unkind world, where the humans prey on others and use their power to oppress. Selfishness and lack of empathy are the norm. It's a dark violent story, but there's also tenderness and softness hidden in small pockets of time. Alba is resilient and determined, Eridanys is ruthless and surprisingly caring. They will do anything to protect each other. Against a backdrop of people being wolves against other people, these two succeed in freeing themselves and clawing at their happiness, against all odds. And my dudes, we're the odds stacked against them.
I also appreciated the subtle 'eat the rich' moment...
It's dark and painful, but it's at its core it's such a beautiful story of survival and justice for the oppressed, I loved it even when it hurt.
I also appreciated the subtle 'eat the rich' moment...
It's dark and painful, but it's at its core it's such a beautiful story of survival and justice for the oppressed, I loved it even when it hurt.
April 20, 2024
arc review // my GOD. This is beautiful. It’s a piece of art the entire world needs to see.
- Trans mc x M siren/merrow in seaside horrors.
- Dark fantasy romance
- Standalone
- Spicey scenes
Kellens writing has always been one my favourites and this did no disappoint, I could not put it down and I don’t think I’ll stop thinking about it for months on end. Everything was perfect from the characters to the plot to the world building I have nothing bad to say.
If you want a book that is full of hauntingly beautiful settings and lore while also having hot steamy scenes this is perfect. I honestly can’t put into words how much I loved this book.
This book was so good at building a great atmosphere that I booked a 4 day holiday to old seaside fishing town just on vibes alone.
- Trans mc x M siren/merrow in seaside horrors.
- Dark fantasy romance
- Standalone
- Spicey scenes
Kellens writing has always been one my favourites and this did no disappoint, I could not put it down and I don’t think I’ll stop thinking about it for months on end. Everything was perfect from the characters to the plot to the world building I have nothing bad to say.
If you want a book that is full of hauntingly beautiful settings and lore while also having hot steamy scenes this is perfect. I honestly can’t put into words how much I loved this book.
This book was so good at building a great atmosphere that I booked a 4 day holiday to old seaside fishing town just on vibes alone.
June 25, 2025
I read this primarily on a cruise in Alaska and might I just say the vibes were immaculate for the setting I read it in. i was hooked on this book. the setting and the characters were great and really immersive. the relationship dynamic was really well written, I do wish it had progressed slightly slower or with a little bit more reluctance, but I still thought it was good. this book was also really gorey and gruesome at parts which I really enjoyed. I lovedddd alba, he was the real star of this book. this was definitely a right time right place book for me 💙💙💙
July 22, 2024
DNFd after three chapters and some skipping that failed to change my impression.
In a transparent attempt at bamboozling semi-literate readers, this book tries too hard to strike an elevated tone, which it reaches at the cost of wooden syntax full of infelicities, non-sequiturs and logical quagmires, and degenerates into verbosity while blurring the edges of both story and characters in frustrating fashion.
Graves is truly a master of run-in sentences cut at the least logical place because of an obvious lack of familiarity with the elaboration of completive and relative clauses. In the face of such crabbed sentences as the following, one is hard-pressed to understand the praise lavished by most other GR reviewers on this book: "You’ll always find safe harbor under the moon. He ruminated on those words endlessly while staring at the ceiling where he slept, while his hands busied with grimy work, while standing on the cold workhouse roof at midnight when the ache in his hip made it impossible to sleep. Cigarette smoke filling his lungs, staring at the bright moon in the sky instead of allowing himself to think how easy it would be to jump and hit the dirt at the bottom. Knowing it might not actually be high enough, considering how being mastheaded only left him limping on land." ~ "The knife in Alba’s hand, morning and night, would continue to tempt him even when splattered with viscera from the day’s catch, speckled with scales and splintered shells, reminiscent of all the times he stood on the edge of a ship deck gutting the same offerings while the sea tore beneath his feet, only a rope around his waist keeping him upright. Whispering apologies with every stripped spine tossed back into her, knowing it wasn’t what she wanted, knowing why she rolled with such a bitter rage. Water that was always clear and blue so far from shore, muddy and brown with blood and vomit and rot in the shallows where Warren ships docked in comparison. Where men returned to land either on their feet or carried on their backs." (another paragraph similarly written follows on water).
Instances of bad taste in the part I read are too numerous to sample here. Shall it suffice to say that we are faced with someone for whom one can"compel" death to stay away while being injured ("nearly drowned, stabbed, robbed in a port town—how many times had Alba lied there beneath a gloved hand, knife sharp and prodding at his belly, staring at the sky, compelling death to keep its distance because he wasn’t ready to go") and who was not even bothered to make it clear what the grammatical subject of some sentences of his is, or rather ought to be (in "They did not give him a cane to aid in walking, even when it became clear Alba’s hip might never heal enough that he’d be able to wander without a limp. Some days were better than others, some days the injury felt more like a dull ache while others hurt as badly as the first time he hit the deck from the height of the mast. He could usually count on it by the chill in the morning, the sight of storm clouds coming on the horizon, the groaning chorus of fellow once-sailors made redundant by similar injuries or age or other circumstances as the sun rose and the work bell rang", it takes an effort to supply all at once an explanation for the cryptic pronoun "it" (in "count on it"), the weird qualification "by the chill in the morning" (and why a "by"?), and the baffling clause "the groaning chorus... or other circumstances" whose link to the narrator's injury faring better, or worse, in the morning is to all instances and purposes wholly inept).
All that crabbed writing could be merely distracting in a story whose flow, from what I read of it, is all wrong, of fits and starts instead of an harmonious process, unfortunately, it also affects the word and character building, making them far fuzzier and silly than they have any right to be at this book's level of ostentatious ambition. Just take the following paragraph:
"Welkin was where families lived while their husbands, fathers, brothers, sons worked on ships set out to sea; built in the trees a two-hour wagon ride from Belmar on the shore, which smelled of rotting fish, seaweed melting to slime on the seawall where barnacles grew, tangled with decaying flesh of anything unfortunate enough to be caught there rather than in a net. The fish and crab Alba gutted morning to night behind the counter of Maggie’s stall were lucky, he thought. Reminded with every slice of the knife through wriggling undersides.)
Neither Belmar nor Maggie were previously introduced beforehand, yet their names are casually lobbed at the reader as if they made any sense. What would a decent writer do then? Put them into context, of course; not here, for the book prefers to fling as us completely idle chatter in a string of sentences that hardly cohere together and make for disjointed reading.
Now how on God's green earth may one parse the incipit of this novel?
" Alba never knew the name of the town where his mother came from ; he did, however, know that should he ever return to an empty house in Welkin, he could go there to find her. She’d said as much, every time they had to hug goodbye after another single night he was allowed to visit between long stretches at sea. Should you ever return to an empty home, don’t believe anything they tell you. You’ll always find safe harbor under the moon."
As underlined, the first sentence is self contradictory and wholly illogical. The same goes with the third and fourth sentences, who ill-relate together (and the fatuous "under the moon" comes ouf of the blue!) and make no sense when brought to bear of the previous ones. This I cannot call anything less than messy and careless writing.
In a transparent attempt at bamboozling semi-literate readers, this book tries too hard to strike an elevated tone, which it reaches at the cost of wooden syntax full of infelicities, non-sequiturs and logical quagmires, and degenerates into verbosity while blurring the edges of both story and characters in frustrating fashion.
Graves is truly a master of run-in sentences cut at the least logical place because of an obvious lack of familiarity with the elaboration of completive and relative clauses. In the face of such crabbed sentences as the following, one is hard-pressed to understand the praise lavished by most other GR reviewers on this book: "You’ll always find safe harbor under the moon. He ruminated on those words endlessly while staring at the ceiling where he slept, while his hands busied with grimy work, while standing on the cold workhouse roof at midnight when the ache in his hip made it impossible to sleep. Cigarette smoke filling his lungs, staring at the bright moon in the sky instead of allowing himself to think how easy it would be to jump and hit the dirt at the bottom. Knowing it might not actually be high enough, considering how being mastheaded only left him limping on land." ~ "The knife in Alba’s hand, morning and night, would continue to tempt him even when splattered with viscera from the day’s catch, speckled with scales and splintered shells, reminiscent of all the times he stood on the edge of a ship deck gutting the same offerings while the sea tore beneath his feet, only a rope around his waist keeping him upright. Whispering apologies with every stripped spine tossed back into her, knowing it wasn’t what she wanted, knowing why she rolled with such a bitter rage. Water that was always clear and blue so far from shore, muddy and brown with blood and vomit and rot in the shallows where Warren ships docked in comparison. Where men returned to land either on their feet or carried on their backs." (another paragraph similarly written follows on water).
Instances of bad taste in the part I read are too numerous to sample here. Shall it suffice to say that we are faced with someone for whom one can"compel" death to stay away while being injured ("nearly drowned, stabbed, robbed in a port town—how many times had Alba lied there beneath a gloved hand, knife sharp and prodding at his belly, staring at the sky, compelling death to keep its distance because he wasn’t ready to go") and who was not even bothered to make it clear what the grammatical subject of some sentences of his is, or rather ought to be (in "They did not give him a cane to aid in walking, even when it became clear Alba’s hip might never heal enough that he’d be able to wander without a limp. Some days were better than others, some days the injury felt more like a dull ache while others hurt as badly as the first time he hit the deck from the height of the mast. He could usually count on it by the chill in the morning, the sight of storm clouds coming on the horizon, the groaning chorus of fellow once-sailors made redundant by similar injuries or age or other circumstances as the sun rose and the work bell rang", it takes an effort to supply all at once an explanation for the cryptic pronoun "it" (in "count on it"), the weird qualification "by the chill in the morning" (and why a "by"?), and the baffling clause "the groaning chorus... or other circumstances" whose link to the narrator's injury faring better, or worse, in the morning is to all instances and purposes wholly inept).
All that crabbed writing could be merely distracting in a story whose flow, from what I read of it, is all wrong, of fits and starts instead of an harmonious process, unfortunately, it also affects the word and character building, making them far fuzzier and silly than they have any right to be at this book's level of ostentatious ambition. Just take the following paragraph:
"Welkin was where families lived while their husbands, fathers, brothers, sons worked on ships set out to sea; built in the trees a two-hour wagon ride from Belmar on the shore, which smelled of rotting fish, seaweed melting to slime on the seawall where barnacles grew, tangled with decaying flesh of anything unfortunate enough to be caught there rather than in a net. The fish and crab Alba gutted morning to night behind the counter of Maggie’s stall were lucky, he thought. Reminded with every slice of the knife through wriggling undersides.)
Neither Belmar nor Maggie were previously introduced beforehand, yet their names are casually lobbed at the reader as if they made any sense. What would a decent writer do then? Put them into context, of course; not here, for the book prefers to fling as us completely idle chatter in a string of sentences that hardly cohere together and make for disjointed reading.
Now how on God's green earth may one parse the incipit of this novel?
" Alba never knew the name of the town where his mother came from ; he did, however, know that should he ever return to an empty house in Welkin, he could go there to find her. She’d said as much, every time they had to hug goodbye after another single night he was allowed to visit between long stretches at sea. Should you ever return to an empty home, don’t believe anything they tell you. You’ll always find safe harbor under the moon."
As underlined, the first sentence is self contradictory and wholly illogical. The same goes with the third and fourth sentences, who ill-relate together (and the fatuous "under the moon" comes ouf of the blue!) and make no sense when brought to bear of the previous ones. This I cannot call anything less than messy and careless writing.
April 16, 2025
4.75
This was freaking gorgeous.
By far one of my favourite reads of 2025!
"A Bone in His Teeth" was intense and gruesome, and so viciously unfair and gut-wrenchingly painful at times I had to take a breather. It was also packed with so much, SO MUCH, hope and sweetness and my god, the romance! It stole my fucking heart.
Alba and Eri had me in a chokehold the moment I met them: both of them with barbed wires a mile high around their hearts, both of them having been dealt with a horrible hand in life, but both of them so full of life, of love, of devotion, they made me CRY.
I loved their slow-burn romance, I loved seeing the slowly learn to trust one another, and I loved how devoted they became to one another; both of them ready to main and slaughter just to keep the other one safe. UGH! My favourite kind of dynamic.
Also, a very special mention to the steam: HOW THE FUCK AM I MEANT TO GO BACK TO BORING, REGULAR STEAM NOW? I don't think it's possible. Kellen Graves has set the bar impossibly high. I don't know if I should thank them or curse them, because I can feel a huge reading slump coming on.
Anyway.
I loved the story; it broke my fucking heart, but it was also sooooooo addictive. This very chunky book flew by, once I managed to get used to the slightly convoluted writing style. The story made me so, so angry for both Alba and Eri, but thankfully that ending was both HIGHLY satisfying and very, very vengeful. I stood up and clapped.
And the setting? Chilling and claustrophobic and so, so, so vivid. I felt like I was there with both our MCs, which wasn't always the best because whew: I'm not very good with horror, and well, let me tell you, it got gruesome.
Finally, trans rep. You should read this story for that alone. Alba is the freaking best 🩷
I highly recommend this story. It was a great introduction to Kellen Graves's books: I cannot wait to jump into more of their books now, especially now that I'm on a fantasy roll. I'm so pleased I gave this a go!
TWs/CWs: child labour and child abuse (past), injury, cannibalism, toxic relationship (includes sexual assault, coercive control; past), toxic family dynamics (includes victim blaming), death of family members, grief, torture, organ/body parts harvesting, kidnapping, violence, murder.
This was freaking gorgeous.
By far one of my favourite reads of 2025!
"A Bone in His Teeth" was intense and gruesome, and so viciously unfair and gut-wrenchingly painful at times I had to take a breather. It was also packed with so much, SO MUCH, hope and sweetness and my god, the romance! It stole my fucking heart.
Alba and Eri had me in a chokehold the moment I met them: both of them with barbed wires a mile high around their hearts, both of them having been dealt with a horrible hand in life, but both of them so full of life, of love, of devotion, they made me CRY.
I loved their slow-burn romance, I loved seeing the slowly learn to trust one another, and I loved how devoted they became to one another; both of them ready to main and slaughter just to keep the other one safe. UGH! My favourite kind of dynamic.
Also, a very special mention to the steam: HOW THE FUCK AM I MEANT TO GO BACK TO BORING, REGULAR STEAM NOW? I don't think it's possible. Kellen Graves has set the bar impossibly high. I don't know if I should thank them or curse them, because I can feel a huge reading slump coming on.
Anyway.
I loved the story; it broke my fucking heart, but it was also sooooooo addictive. This very chunky book flew by, once I managed to get used to the slightly convoluted writing style. The story made me so, so angry for both Alba and Eri, but thankfully that ending was both HIGHLY satisfying and very, very vengeful. I stood up and clapped.
And the setting? Chilling and claustrophobic and so, so, so vivid. I felt like I was there with both our MCs, which wasn't always the best because whew: I'm not very good with horror, and well, let me tell you, it got gruesome.
Finally, trans rep. You should read this story for that alone. Alba is the freaking best 🩷
I highly recommend this story. It was a great introduction to Kellen Graves's books: I cannot wait to jump into more of their books now, especially now that I'm on a fantasy roll. I'm so pleased I gave this a go!
TWs/CWs: child labour and child abuse (past), injury, cannibalism, toxic relationship (includes sexual assault, coercive control; past), toxic family dynamics (includes victim blaming), death of family members, grief, torture, organ/body parts harvesting, kidnapping, violence, murder.
December 30, 2024
First, I would like to thank Kellen Graves for an arc. This made my whole year.
I was beginning to believe all I loved about eerie coastal stories was the atmosphere and nothing else.
Of course, one of my favorite authors ever proved me wrong.
This had everything I could ever hope for: an eerie atmosphere, dreary yet captivating scenery, and a beautiful writing style I can never get enough of.
The plot progression was immaculate, and the pacing well timed.
I never lost interest, and I never once attempted to put this book down or even got to pace myself with it.
The romance was *chef's kiss* perfect as always.
If I loved this less, I could probably write this review for a bit more, but alas, I can not.
I can not wait for the official release and inevitably own a physical copy to join the others soon.
Five stars.
I was beginning to believe all I loved about eerie coastal stories was the atmosphere and nothing else.
Of course, one of my favorite authors ever proved me wrong.
This had everything I could ever hope for: an eerie atmosphere, dreary yet captivating scenery, and a beautiful writing style I can never get enough of.
The plot progression was immaculate, and the pacing well timed.
I never lost interest, and I never once attempted to put this book down or even got to pace myself with it.
The romance was *chef's kiss* perfect as always.
If I loved this less, I could probably write this review for a bit more, but alas, I can not.
I can not wait for the official release and inevitably own a physical copy to join the others soon.
Five stars.
August 11, 2024
This book was hauntingly beautiful; creepy, gory, mysterious and full of merfolk with sharp teeth. Set in an isolated seaside town, with an almost inaccessible lighthouse and woods full of whispers, this story had me on the edge of my seat the whole time!
Alba Marsh is a sailor, forced into working on the sea by a predatory shipping company since he was 13 in order to pay off his father’s debts. After breaking his hip falling from a masthead, Alba has returned home to find his mother missing, with only a riddle on a telegram leading him to her childhood home - Moon Harbour. Running from the shipping company, Alba takes a job as the lighthouse keeper in Moon Harbour after a string of missing keepers has left the position empty.
Moon Harbour and the lighthouse are full of mysteries; voices in the wind, mysterious rotten creatures under the sea’s surface, tales of merrow and sirens in the waters. When Alba comes face to face with one of the merrow he is terrified, but Eridanys is in need for help and thinks that Alba could be the one he has been waiting for. I loved the merrow lore in this book and the cult-like strangeness of the town.
This book, although predominantly horror, is perfect for fans of monster romance as Eridanys the merrow has some interesting ✨anatomy✨ and there are some very spicy scenes throughout. Alba is FTM trans, something which he has hidden his whole life (his mother gave him magic to allow him to develop outwardly as male) and I liked how this is just completely accepted without question by Eridanys, who is totally focussed on possessing his new mate in any way he can 🥵
Read A Bone In His Teeth for:
✨ Horror paranormal romance
✨ Merfolk (merrow/siren) x human
✨ Monster anatomy (merfolk)
✨ FTM trans representation (human)
✨ Chronic pain representation (human)
✨ Touch him and die
✨ Possessive mate, merfolk mating lore
✨ A creepy seaside town with secrets
Alba Marsh is a sailor, forced into working on the sea by a predatory shipping company since he was 13 in order to pay off his father’s debts. After breaking his hip falling from a masthead, Alba has returned home to find his mother missing, with only a riddle on a telegram leading him to her childhood home - Moon Harbour. Running from the shipping company, Alba takes a job as the lighthouse keeper in Moon Harbour after a string of missing keepers has left the position empty.
Moon Harbour and the lighthouse are full of mysteries; voices in the wind, mysterious rotten creatures under the sea’s surface, tales of merrow and sirens in the waters. When Alba comes face to face with one of the merrow he is terrified, but Eridanys is in need for help and thinks that Alba could be the one he has been waiting for. I loved the merrow lore in this book and the cult-like strangeness of the town.
This book, although predominantly horror, is perfect for fans of monster romance as Eridanys the merrow has some interesting ✨anatomy✨ and there are some very spicy scenes throughout. Alba is FTM trans, something which he has hidden his whole life (his mother gave him magic to allow him to develop outwardly as male) and I liked how this is just completely accepted without question by Eridanys, who is totally focussed on possessing his new mate in any way he can 🥵
Read A Bone In His Teeth for:
✨ Horror paranormal romance
✨ Merfolk (merrow/siren) x human
✨ Monster anatomy (merfolk)
✨ FTM trans representation (human)
✨ Chronic pain representation (human)
✨ Touch him and die
✨ Possessive mate, merfolk mating lore
✨ A creepy seaside town with secrets
March 29, 2025
absolutely devoured this in one sitting. this was so hauntingly devastating & romantic
(monster romances hit EVERYYYYY TIME)
(monster romances hit EVERYYYYY TIME)
January 9, 2025
Dark Fantasy/Horror Romance
Human (FTM Trans)/Merrow (M)
Small Town Mystery(s)
Grumpy x Grumpy
Black Cat Energy
Touch Him & Die
Special MerPeen
This is such an atmospheric book. The writing was so lush and rich... you feel like you can smell the ocean and taste the salt in the air. Just beautiful writing.
Alba is a feisty guy that gives off the cutest little black cat energy. Couple that with a merman that has a sarcastic attitude and prone to temper tantrums, and you have the makings of a fun, banter filled pairing. This was sorta enemies to lovers... and very much a slow burn relationship that was so satisfying to see unfold. Through the most haunting of stories, you can just see the slow progression of these two working with one another, earning trust and then total devotion.
I never one time got bored or drifted while reading. Aside from the wonderful romance of the book, the action and mystery completely drew me in. Just fantastic. And one of the things I loved so much was that the author didn’t try to explain the how’s of the merrow or the magic… it just existed. I loved that.
Human (FTM Trans)/Merrow (M)
Small Town Mystery(s)
Grumpy x Grumpy
Black Cat Energy
Touch Him & Die
Special MerPeen
This is such an atmospheric book. The writing was so lush and rich... you feel like you can smell the ocean and taste the salt in the air. Just beautiful writing.
Alba is a feisty guy that gives off the cutest little black cat energy. Couple that with a merman that has a sarcastic attitude and prone to temper tantrums, and you have the makings of a fun, banter filled pairing. This was sorta enemies to lovers... and very much a slow burn relationship that was so satisfying to see unfold. Through the most haunting of stories, you can just see the slow progression of these two working with one another, earning trust and then total devotion.
I never one time got bored or drifted while reading. Aside from the wonderful romance of the book, the action and mystery completely drew me in. Just fantastic. And one of the things I loved so much was that the author didn’t try to explain the how’s of the merrow or the magic… it just existed. I loved that.
July 19, 2025
Safety info, content warnings and tropes down below.
This story is so beautiful, fantastical and melancholy. Everything played out in my mind like I was there, and I swear I could hear and smell the sea at times. Although it also made me feel like I was drowning when they were underwater for a long time, lol.
Although it took me a long time to finish this book, I’m not sure I could tell you why. I never disliked it or had a bad time, it was just slow in a slightly trippy way. The second half was definitely my favorite tho, when the plot itself picked up and the intensity was turned up to the max.
I didn’t know what to think of Eridanys at the start, but he ended up being an amazing character. He was also surprisingly funny, and their interactions were so fitting and natural, and with just the right amount of banter, if you can even call it that.
Most of what I’ve heard about this book was that it’s very sad, so I had very high expectations. Although it did make me cry once *it* finally happened, it wasn’t as sad as I feared. It was just right.
I *loved* how gritty and violent this was. If an author writes good and gory violence with creepy vibes, they’ll have my heart forever.
An amazing story that makes me want to read more from this author.
Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️
⚠️ Tropes & content tags ⚠️
Fantasy romance
Horror elements
Trans rep
Siren X human
Disability rep
Shapeshifting
Ex sailor
Seaside horrors
Touch him and die
Double peener
Small town
⚠️ Spice menu ⚠️
Cockpocket
Double penetration
Non-human cocks
Double dicked siren
First times
Losing his v-card on a rocky shore
Underwater oral
Rough sex
Knotting
⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
Mention of cannibalism (past)
Mention of death of parent (past)
Suicidal ideation
Self harm ideation
Graphic violence
Injured MC
References to past abuse and assault (MC, no graphic details)
Alcohol consumption
Smoking cigarettes
Details of financial insecurity and debt
On-page murder
Graphic gore
MC (siren) eating a human off page
Explicit sexual content
Knotting
Vomiting
Extreme emotional distress
Merrow being sacrificed and butchered on page (unknown characters)
Unnamed characters held captive
Grief
Death of parent (recent, off page, graphic corpse details)
Gun violence
MC severely injured on page
MC using ‘cunt’ referring to his genitals during sex
MC abused by ex (implied)
Endangered by fire
⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: No
Other person drama: No
Breakup: No
POV: 3rd person, single
Genre: Dark fantasy, romance
Pairing: M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Strict roles
Main characters’ age: Not specified
Series: Standalone
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Pages: 398
Happy ending: Yes
Eridanys looked at Alba like he thought he was something made just to be insufferable.
“A ‘thank you’ would’ve been nice, but I see even that might be too much for a miserable creature like you. But you know what? The disdain you hold for the thought of me helpin’ you is sweet. The next time you do somethin’ stupid and need me to hold your hand and walk you out, I’ll even do it again. Bastard.”
“Don’t you dare drown me,” he threatened into Eridanys’ ear. “I’ll haunt you for every day you’re still alive.” “Promise?”
As faceless and rotten and inhuman as Alba had become since first stolen off the road, just a sailor, just a body, just two arms to heave nets from the sea—only just realizing he had a face to be seen at all when Eridanys held it gentler than he ever deserved.
Alba never expected to sleep so easily right alongside someone like Eridanys, let alone wrapped in his arms, held by that siren who’d been so rough and demanding and delicious only hours prior. Whose arm draping over him soon twitched and shifted as the siren himself drifted off, eventually traveling up to cup around the front of Alba’s throat in a possessive, protective sort of way, like even fast asleep in that bed far from the sea, he still worried the tide might sweep in and take him.
You can find most of my reviews on Instagram as well: https://www.instagram.com/booksafety?...
This story is so beautiful, fantastical and melancholy. Everything played out in my mind like I was there, and I swear I could hear and smell the sea at times. Although it also made me feel like I was drowning when they were underwater for a long time, lol.
Although it took me a long time to finish this book, I’m not sure I could tell you why. I never disliked it or had a bad time, it was just slow in a slightly trippy way. The second half was definitely my favorite tho, when the plot itself picked up and the intensity was turned up to the max.
I didn’t know what to think of Eridanys at the start, but he ended up being an amazing character. He was also surprisingly funny, and their interactions were so fitting and natural, and with just the right amount of banter, if you can even call it that.
Most of what I’ve heard about this book was that it’s very sad, so I had very high expectations. Although it did make me cry once *it* finally happened, it wasn’t as sad as I feared. It was just right.
I *loved* how gritty and violent this was. If an author writes good and gory violence with creepy vibes, they’ll have my heart forever.
An amazing story that makes me want to read more from this author.
Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️
⚠️ Tropes & content tags ⚠️
Fantasy romance
Horror elements
Trans rep
Siren X human
Disability rep
Shapeshifting
Ex sailor
Seaside horrors
Touch him and die
Double peener
Small town
⚠️ Spice menu ⚠️
Cockpocket
Double penetration
Non-human cocks
Double dicked siren
First times
Losing his v-card on a rocky shore
Underwater oral
Rough sex
Knotting
⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
Mention of cannibalism (past)
Mention of death of parent (past)
Suicidal ideation
Self harm ideation
Graphic violence
Injured MC
References to past abuse and assault (MC, no graphic details)
Alcohol consumption
Smoking cigarettes
Details of financial insecurity and debt
On-page murder
Graphic gore
MC (siren) eating a human off page
Explicit sexual content
Knotting
Vomiting
Extreme emotional distress
Merrow being sacrificed and butchered on page (unknown characters)
Unnamed characters held captive
Grief
Death of parent (recent, off page, graphic corpse details)
Gun violence
MC severely injured on page
MC using ‘cunt’ referring to his genitals during sex
MC abused by ex (implied)
Endangered by fire
⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: No
Other person drama: No
Breakup: No
POV: 3rd person, single
Genre: Dark fantasy, romance
Pairing: M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Strict roles
Main characters’ age: Not specified
Series: Standalone
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Pages: 398
Happy ending: Yes
Eridanys looked at Alba like he thought he was something made just to be insufferable.
“A ‘thank you’ would’ve been nice, but I see even that might be too much for a miserable creature like you. But you know what? The disdain you hold for the thought of me helpin’ you is sweet. The next time you do somethin’ stupid and need me to hold your hand and walk you out, I’ll even do it again. Bastard.”
“Don’t you dare drown me,” he threatened into Eridanys’ ear. “I’ll haunt you for every day you’re still alive.” “Promise?”
As faceless and rotten and inhuman as Alba had become since first stolen off the road, just a sailor, just a body, just two arms to heave nets from the sea—only just realizing he had a face to be seen at all when Eridanys held it gentler than he ever deserved.
Alba never expected to sleep so easily right alongside someone like Eridanys, let alone wrapped in his arms, held by that siren who’d been so rough and demanding and delicious only hours prior. Whose arm draping over him soon twitched and shifted as the siren himself drifted off, eventually traveling up to cup around the front of Alba’s throat in a possessive, protective sort of way, like even fast asleep in that bed far from the sea, he still worried the tide might sweep in and take him.
You can find most of my reviews on Instagram as well: https://www.instagram.com/booksafety?...
May 21, 2024
3,5*
“Always in such a hurry. Take a bone from your teeth. Good things come to those who wait.
(DEUTSCH WEITER UNTEN)
I love the worlds Kellen Graves takes us to each time and the characters we get to know.
Here, too, I enjoyed the society and environment portrayed; I could literally smell and hear the world through Graves‘ marvellous (and somewhat dark) writing style.
As with its predecessors, „A Bone in His Teeth“ is a wonderful and somehow melancholy book that depicts structures of oppression and exploitation.
I liked the story itself, but somehow, I don’t know, did I expect more? Or something slightly different? I can’t even describe it - maybe I just imagined it to be a little darker. Less Romantasy-esque.
I can’t say for sure and that doesn’t mean the book was bad. I really liked it, but I left the book feeling slightly unsatisfied.
I found the approach towards the trans topic and how it was realised in this universe incredibly exciting. I would have liked to have learnt more about it, but somehow I also like the fact that we didn’t get so many explanations. Magic is and remains magic.
By the way, the sex scenes were really great and I enjoyed how the physical limitations of the characters were addressed.
A great book, even if I somehow don’t quite know what to do with it for now.
(DEUTSCH)
Ich liebe die Welten, in die Kellen Graves uns jedes Mal entführt und auch die Charaktere, die wir kennenlernen dürfen.
Auch hier habe ich die gezeichnete Gesellschaft und Umwelt genossen; konnte durch Graves wundervollen (gerne auch etwas düsteren) Schreibstil die Welt förmlich riechen und hören.
Wie auch bei den Vorgängern handelt es sich bei „A Bone in His Teeth“ um ein wundervolles und irgendwie schwermütiges Buch, welches Strukturen der Unterdrückung und Ausbeutung darstellt.
Die Geschichte selbst mochte ich, aber irgendwie, ich weiß auch nicht, habe ich mehr erwartet? Oder etwas leicht anderes? Ich kann es gar nicht beschreiben – vielleicht habe ich es mir einfach noch ein wenig düsterer vorgestellt. Weniger Romantasy-esk.
Ich kann es gar nicht genau sagen und dies heißt auch nicht, dass das Buch schlecht war. Ich mochte es wirklich gern, gehe aber eben mit einem leicht unbefriedigten Gefühl aus dem Buch raus.
Die Behandlung der Trans-Thematik und wie dies in diesem Universum umgesetzt wurde, fand ich unglaublich spannend. An sich hätte ich gern mehr darüber erfahren, aber irgendwie mag ich es auch, dass wir gar nicht so viele Erklärungen bekommen haben. Magie ist und bleibt halt Magie.
Ach ja, die Sex-Szenen waren übrigens wirklich toll und ich habe es genossen, wie auch dort auf körperliche Einschränkungen von Charakteren eingegangen wurde.
Ein tolles Buch, auch wenn ich irgendwie nicht ganz weiß, wo ich jetzt damit bleibe.
“Always in such a hurry. Take a bone from your teeth. Good things come to those who wait.
(DEUTSCH WEITER UNTEN)
I love the worlds Kellen Graves takes us to each time and the characters we get to know.
Here, too, I enjoyed the society and environment portrayed; I could literally smell and hear the world through Graves‘ marvellous (and somewhat dark) writing style.
As with its predecessors, „A Bone in His Teeth“ is a wonderful and somehow melancholy book that depicts structures of oppression and exploitation.
I liked the story itself, but somehow, I don’t know, did I expect more? Or something slightly different? I can’t even describe it - maybe I just imagined it to be a little darker. Less Romantasy-esque.
I can’t say for sure and that doesn’t mean the book was bad. I really liked it, but I left the book feeling slightly unsatisfied.
I found the approach towards the trans topic and how it was realised in this universe incredibly exciting. I would have liked to have learnt more about it, but somehow I also like the fact that we didn’t get so many explanations. Magic is and remains magic.
By the way, the sex scenes were really great and I enjoyed how the physical limitations of the characters were addressed.
A great book, even if I somehow don’t quite know what to do with it for now.
(DEUTSCH)
Ich liebe die Welten, in die Kellen Graves uns jedes Mal entführt und auch die Charaktere, die wir kennenlernen dürfen.
Auch hier habe ich die gezeichnete Gesellschaft und Umwelt genossen; konnte durch Graves wundervollen (gerne auch etwas düsteren) Schreibstil die Welt förmlich riechen und hören.
Wie auch bei den Vorgängern handelt es sich bei „A Bone in His Teeth“ um ein wundervolles und irgendwie schwermütiges Buch, welches Strukturen der Unterdrückung und Ausbeutung darstellt.
Die Geschichte selbst mochte ich, aber irgendwie, ich weiß auch nicht, habe ich mehr erwartet? Oder etwas leicht anderes? Ich kann es gar nicht beschreiben – vielleicht habe ich es mir einfach noch ein wenig düsterer vorgestellt. Weniger Romantasy-esk.
Ich kann es gar nicht genau sagen und dies heißt auch nicht, dass das Buch schlecht war. Ich mochte es wirklich gern, gehe aber eben mit einem leicht unbefriedigten Gefühl aus dem Buch raus.
Die Behandlung der Trans-Thematik und wie dies in diesem Universum umgesetzt wurde, fand ich unglaublich spannend. An sich hätte ich gern mehr darüber erfahren, aber irgendwie mag ich es auch, dass wir gar nicht so viele Erklärungen bekommen haben. Magie ist und bleibt halt Magie.
Ach ja, die Sex-Szenen waren übrigens wirklich toll und ich habe es genossen, wie auch dort auf körperliche Einschränkungen von Charakteren eingegangen wurde.
Ein tolles Buch, auch wenn ich irgendwie nicht ganz weiß, wo ich jetzt damit bleibe.
September 11, 2024
One for your Monster Fucktober tbr.
THE PREMISE: a siren and an indentured sailor team up to try and find out what happened to their two families in a creepy, seaside town.
TROPES & VIBES:
- MM monster romance
- Horror and gore
- Mating bond
- Trans and disability rep
- Mysteries and secrets
- 2x 🍆🧜🏻♂️
4⭐️ 3-3.5🌶️ (check TWs)
THE PREMISE: a siren and an indentured sailor team up to try and find out what happened to their two families in a creepy, seaside town.
TROPES & VIBES:
- MM monster romance
- Horror and gore
- Mating bond
- Trans and disability rep
- Mysteries and secrets
- 2x 🍆🧜🏻♂️
4⭐️ 3-3.5🌶️ (check TWs)
July 1, 2024
The characters in this book, especially Alba, were so well fleshed out and complex. He had a tragic backstory and a difficult journey to make on his own in a world that only had one ray of hope: his mother. I loved the claws out beginning of Alba and Eridanys’ relationship and the minuscule bits of progress they made with learning to trust one another. Eridanys was basically the mer-person equivalent of a cat (thanks Lia for this extremely apt description), with his overinflated ego, reluctant affections, and tendency to he easily offended. Also like a kitty, he was in tune with his partner’s needs and devoted to his person.
I’m also gonna take a moment to be openly envious of Alba’s mom. She actively helped Alba live authentically and was obviously a safe person to be queer around. Can I steal her?
The disability rep was seriously so perfect. As much as those of us with disabilities wish they didn’t impact every aspect of our lives, they do. It takes extra effort to do many things, but that doesn’t mean a person with a disability isn’t a valuable partner and person. Alba had to take his disability into account even during times when it felt embarrassing for him to have to do so. I also loved that existing with a disability wasn’t something that everyone praised. It felt so genuine.
This book was dark AF and had horror themes galore. I cried a few times and was grossed out several times. The plot twists were awesome.
Spice: 4/5
SPOILERS IN TRIGGER WARNINGS
Triggers: graphic descriptions of violence, gore, death, specifically including gun violence, descriptions of human decomposition as well as desecrating the dead, cannibalism, themes of mental, physical, emotional abuse, and trauma surrounding them, language used in a sexual context to describe the anatomy of a FTM trans man which may be dysphoric to some readers, brief themes of SA described in a character's past (no actions described in detail on page), alcohol use, smoking, rough but consensual explicit sex, descriptions of the grief of losing a loved one, PTSD flashbacks, drowning, human sacrifice
I’m also gonna take a moment to be openly envious of Alba’s mom. She actively helped Alba live authentically and was obviously a safe person to be queer around. Can I steal her?
The disability rep was seriously so perfect. As much as those of us with disabilities wish they didn’t impact every aspect of our lives, they do. It takes extra effort to do many things, but that doesn’t mean a person with a disability isn’t a valuable partner and person. Alba had to take his disability into account even during times when it felt embarrassing for him to have to do so. I also loved that existing with a disability wasn’t something that everyone praised. It felt so genuine.
This book was dark AF and had horror themes galore. I cried a few times and was grossed out several times. The plot twists were awesome.
Spice: 4/5
SPOILERS IN TRIGGER WARNINGS
Triggers: graphic descriptions of violence, gore, death, specifically including gun violence, descriptions of human decomposition as well as desecrating the dead, cannibalism, themes of mental, physical, emotional abuse, and trauma surrounding them, language used in a sexual context to describe the anatomy of a FTM trans man which may be dysphoric to some readers, brief themes of SA described in a character's past (no actions described in detail on page), alcohol use, smoking, rough but consensual explicit sex, descriptions of the grief of losing a loved one, PTSD flashbacks, drowning, human sacrifice
April 23, 2024
Sorry everyone else but MerMay belongs to Kellen Graves this year. A huge thank you to Kellen for allowing me to read an E-Arc of this novel, I am incredibly grateful. A Bone in His Teeth is both haunting and beautiful. Alba was a wonderful character to have as the narrator, his struggles with being trans and his disability due to a past injury were handled with so much care. I don’t often find myself rooting for characters to ruin the people that treated them terribly but I was cheering Alba on the entire time. Eridany was an interesting character as well, his trauma, the way he cared for Alba and his beauty, he’s hard not to like. The banter between Alba and Eridany’s was amazing, they are both rough and not used to others being kind to them and I loved them both trying to figure out the right things to say. It took a moment for any smut to take place but once it did, it was so good. From the first scene on the beach to Alba getting Eribany on his back, it was all amazing.
I have read the first two books in the Rowan Blood series by Kellen Graves and I enjoyed them both so much but I really feel like this was even better than those. I can’t wait to continue reading on in that series and anything else that Kellen publishes.
I have read the first two books in the Rowan Blood series by Kellen Graves and I enjoyed them both so much but I really feel like this was even better than those. I can’t wait to continue reading on in that series and anything else that Kellen publishes.
June 13, 2025
3.75 stars
I am in the mood for trans romantasy right now, so I was absolutely thrilled to stumble over a mermaid one featuring a disabled trans man protagonist in my search, and this did not disappoint!
Content warnings include: graphic sex on-page (including rough sex), murder, violence & gore, abduction, child abuse, chronic pain after hip injury, ritualistic killing. Mentions of: coerced marriage/mating (not between main couple), sexual harrassment and blackmail (not between main couple).
This is definitely on the darker end of the romantasy spectrum, as it does not shy away from its fair share of violence, murder, and other horrific happenings, and includes quite a few horror elements as well. There is a lot of focus on isolation, abadonement and loneliness in the plot and surrounding the characters, and these themes are very prominent throughout the entire book, and even the happy moments (including the ending) don't take away from that.
Sailor Alba (short for Albatross) returns home after a serious hip injury that leaves him with a limp and a lot of pain, just to find his mother missing. The need to find his mother finally overrides the fear that held him in his debtors grasp, and he flees, following the breadcrumbs his mother left. They lead him to the run-down and mysterious fishing town of Moon Harbor, where he becomes the latest in a long line of lighthouse keepers that never seem to stay for longer than a month. But strange things are happening around the lighthouse, and the town, leading him to meet Eridanys, a stand-offish mer-man who is also looking for someone.
I really enjoyed the first half of the book. The plot was sort of meandering in the background, sort of peetering out once Alba reaches Moon Harbor and doesn't quite know what to do next to find more information. I did not mind that, instead enjoying the slower pace and the dynamic between Alba and Eridanys developing slowly.
I also very much enjoyed the writing. It was very mysterious, especially in the beginning, as this has a writing style that trusts the reader a lot to read between the lines and gather context clues. We stay in Alba's POV the entire time, and he, of course, already knows all the in-world terms, meaning they are not explained to the reader. I had a great time with this, at least initially.
Around the two thirds mark, the plot picks back up again, and while I was still enjoying myself, I also found there to be quite a few plot holes, and inconsistencies that bothered me while reading. There were so many times when really important details were just forgotten about, and only mentioned chapters/days later when they seemed way too pressing to just forget for so long. I found that very irritating, and it also made me anxious to read because I could not tell if these things were done deliberately, as in the characters forgetting about it and it coming back to punish them later, or if that was a writing quirk.
I also felt that some of the plot points were underutilized, as a lot of things turned out to play not nearly as big of a role as their setup made them out to be. This also extended to the lore and worldbuilding. Not much was explained, and as so many things lead to nothing, it made the world outside of the immediate vicinity of the plot feel very empty, which was a bit sad.
I don't usually care much for sex scenes in books, but I had some gripes with them in this book. Not the scenes themselves, or what happens in them - though for how rough these two are with each other, a bit more negotiation before the fact would have been nice, particularly given Alba's lack of experience. Instead, I found the mysterious writing I mentioned above to be really annoying here. The sex scenes were explicit, and graphic, so why did it feel like soooo many times the writing was skirting around what was happening?? There were plenty of mentions of cock and clit, etc., so why not just plainly write the fucking? There thankfully were no awkward synonyms, but I did find myself strangely frustrated with how the whole "trusting the reader to read between the lines" kind of writing extended to an already graphic sex scene, if that makes sense. Like either commit to it or don't.
That said, this is a very nitpicky criticism, it just stood out to me as I don't usually think much about these scenes one way or the other. That said, I liked that this veered into monsterfucking territory, given Eridanys is a merman and not always has a human form during the sex-scenes.
I enjoyed Alba as a protagonist. He was both strong and vulnerable, and, despite Eridanys being the much stronger and ruthless character, does quite a bit of killing himself.
His being trans was not a big issue at all, though I wish there would have been any sort of hint about how being trans and gender expression in general works in this world. Alba seems to pass almost perfectly, and his transitions seems to be mainly facilitated by magic, but how this magic works, or even where it comes from, was left completely unexplained (also, how it still seems to work despite him loosing access to it before the book even starts.) That said, I did really like that him being trans was not a big deal. Reading a book where the protagonist just happens to be trans, while experiencing the same drama and romance etc. that any cis romantasy protagonist would experience, was exactly what I wanted, so I am not complaining too much. This was just one of the many ways in which the worldbuilding was very surface level.
The romance between Alba and Eridanys was fine. I would not call this enemies-to-lovers, though the two certainly start out in an antagonistic fashion. Their dynamic had many great parts, but some of transitionary periods, like switching from antagonistic to allies, or from allies to lovers to being in-love, where very awkward. Some scenes also had a strange silliness about them, but those were rare. I also sort of missed the moments of genuine on-page falling-in-love between them. The intense sense of wanting-to-care-for-each-other sort of came out of nowhere for me. Still, I enjoyed them for the most part.
Overall, I had a good time with this, despite my gripes with the worldbuilding and some parts of the plot and writing. The book has a happy ending in terms of the romance, though as I mentioned above, the themes of loneliness and isolation remain.
I am in the mood for trans romantasy right now, so I was absolutely thrilled to stumble over a mermaid one featuring a disabled trans man protagonist in my search, and this did not disappoint!
Content warnings include: graphic sex on-page (including rough sex), murder, violence & gore, abduction, child abuse, chronic pain after hip injury, ritualistic killing. Mentions of: coerced marriage/mating (not between main couple), sexual harrassment and blackmail (not between main couple).
This is definitely on the darker end of the romantasy spectrum, as it does not shy away from its fair share of violence, murder, and other horrific happenings, and includes quite a few horror elements as well. There is a lot of focus on isolation, abadonement and loneliness in the plot and surrounding the characters, and these themes are very prominent throughout the entire book, and even the happy moments (including the ending) don't take away from that.
Sailor Alba (short for Albatross) returns home after a serious hip injury that leaves him with a limp and a lot of pain, just to find his mother missing. The need to find his mother finally overrides the fear that held him in his debtors grasp, and he flees, following the breadcrumbs his mother left. They lead him to the run-down and mysterious fishing town of Moon Harbor, where he becomes the latest in a long line of lighthouse keepers that never seem to stay for longer than a month. But strange things are happening around the lighthouse, and the town, leading him to meet Eridanys, a stand-offish mer-man who is also looking for someone.
I really enjoyed the first half of the book. The plot was sort of meandering in the background, sort of peetering out once Alba reaches Moon Harbor and doesn't quite know what to do next to find more information. I did not mind that, instead enjoying the slower pace and the dynamic between Alba and Eridanys developing slowly.
I also very much enjoyed the writing. It was very mysterious, especially in the beginning, as this has a writing style that trusts the reader a lot to read between the lines and gather context clues. We stay in Alba's POV the entire time, and he, of course, already knows all the in-world terms, meaning they are not explained to the reader. I had a great time with this, at least initially.
Around the two thirds mark, the plot picks back up again, and while I was still enjoying myself, I also found there to be quite a few plot holes, and inconsistencies that bothered me while reading. There were so many times when really important details were just forgotten about, and only mentioned chapters/days later when they seemed way too pressing to just forget for so long. I found that very irritating, and it also made me anxious to read because I could not tell if these things were done deliberately, as in the characters forgetting about it and it coming back to punish them later, or if that was a writing quirk.
I also felt that some of the plot points were underutilized, as a lot of things turned out to play not nearly as big of a role as their setup made them out to be. This also extended to the lore and worldbuilding. Not much was explained, and as so many things lead to nothing, it made the world outside of the immediate vicinity of the plot feel very empty, which was a bit sad.
I don't usually care much for sex scenes in books, but I had some gripes with them in this book. Not the scenes themselves, or what happens in them - though for how rough these two are with each other, a bit more negotiation before the fact would have been nice, particularly given Alba's lack of experience. Instead, I found the mysterious writing I mentioned above to be really annoying here. The sex scenes were explicit, and graphic, so why did it feel like soooo many times the writing was skirting around what was happening?? There were plenty of mentions of cock and clit, etc., so why not just plainly write the fucking? There thankfully were no awkward synonyms, but I did find myself strangely frustrated with how the whole "trusting the reader to read between the lines" kind of writing extended to an already graphic sex scene, if that makes sense. Like either commit to it or don't.
That said, this is a very nitpicky criticism, it just stood out to me as I don't usually think much about these scenes one way or the other. That said, I liked that this veered into monsterfucking territory, given Eridanys is a merman and not always has a human form during the sex-scenes.
I enjoyed Alba as a protagonist. He was both strong and vulnerable, and, despite Eridanys being the much stronger and ruthless character, does quite a bit of killing himself.
His being trans was not a big issue at all, though I wish there would have been any sort of hint about how being trans and gender expression in general works in this world. Alba seems to pass almost perfectly, and his transitions seems to be mainly facilitated by magic, but how this magic works, or even where it comes from, was left completely unexplained (also, how it still seems to work despite him loosing access to it before the book even starts.) That said, I did really like that him being trans was not a big deal. Reading a book where the protagonist just happens to be trans, while experiencing the same drama and romance etc. that any cis romantasy protagonist would experience, was exactly what I wanted, so I am not complaining too much. This was just one of the many ways in which the worldbuilding was very surface level.
The romance between Alba and Eridanys was fine. I would not call this enemies-to-lovers, though the two certainly start out in an antagonistic fashion. Their dynamic had many great parts, but some of transitionary periods, like switching from antagonistic to allies, or from allies to lovers to being in-love, where very awkward. Some scenes also had a strange silliness about them, but those were rare. I also sort of missed the moments of genuine on-page falling-in-love between them. The intense sense of wanting-to-care-for-each-other sort of came out of nowhere for me. Still, I enjoyed them for the most part.
Overall, I had a good time with this, despite my gripes with the worldbuilding and some parts of the plot and writing. The book has a happy ending in terms of the romance, though as I mentioned above, the themes of loneliness and isolation remain.
dnf
November 28, 2025DNF at pg 27.
Somehow this is such a chore to read, I got sleepy every time I tried to read it.
Somehow this is such a chore to read, I got sleepy every time I tried to read it.
February 6, 2025
Absolutely Fantastic!
This was fantastic! This was a first for me by Kellen Graves and what an introduction!
This book is so mysterious, spooky, intriguing, heartbreaking and liberating. The story is so good! I guarantee you might think you know what’s going on…but you don’t. I had to force myself to put this book down to sleep.
I really don’t want to say anymore because I don’t want to give anything away. Just read this! Now!
This was fantastic! This was a first for me by Kellen Graves and what an introduction!
This book is so mysterious, spooky, intriguing, heartbreaking and liberating. The story is so good! I guarantee you might think you know what’s going on…but you don’t. I had to force myself to put this book down to sleep.
I really don’t want to say anymore because I don’t want to give anything away. Just read this! Now!
May 17, 2024
Easily one of my favourite books in 2024 - Kellen’s writing is immersive and enchanting and hauntingly beautiful all at once. I savoured the heck out of this book because the writing is just exquisite!! I cannot wait to get my mitts on a trophy for my shelf.
This book feels chunky - it’s only ~400 pages but there’s so many layers and twists and OMG WTF moments as well as the romance between Alba (a transmasc disabled lighthousekeeper who is on the run from debt collectors and searching for his mom in a creepy AF remote fishing village) and Eridanys (a merrow aka the bitey kind of merman who is trying to both stay alive and find out what happened to his kin).
It really feels like a modern fairytale but it’s important to remember how bloody and grim fairytales can be. This has more than a few moments of pitch black darkness so mind those TWs.
This is dark romantasy at its finest. 🖤
“Don’t you dare drown me,” he threatened into Eridanys’ ear. “I’ll haunt you for every day you’re still alive.”
“Promise?”
This book feels chunky - it’s only ~400 pages but there’s so many layers and twists and OMG WTF moments as well as the romance between Alba (a transmasc disabled lighthousekeeper who is on the run from debt collectors and searching for his mom in a creepy AF remote fishing village) and Eridanys (a merrow aka the bitey kind of merman who is trying to both stay alive and find out what happened to his kin).
It really feels like a modern fairytale but it’s important to remember how bloody and grim fairytales can be. This has more than a few moments of pitch black darkness so mind those TWs.
This is dark romantasy at its finest. 🖤
“Don’t you dare drown me,” he threatened into Eridanys’ ear. “I’ll haunt you for every day you’re still alive.”
“Promise?”
May 17, 2024
I am utterly blown away by how beautiful this book was!!
The setting of a creepy seaside town with dark secrets, Alba's journey in discovering what those secrets are and learning about the truth of his own past along the way, gahh!! Kellen is a master when it comes to writing mystery and intrigue in their books, and this one is no exception. I was hooked, wanting to learn more about merrow and all the lore surrounding this world.
And yes, this had some absolutely delicious (double)mer-cock. Y'all know I need me a hot dominating merman who fucks in his mer-form, and this book DELIVERED 👏👏
The setting of a creepy seaside town with dark secrets, Alba's journey in discovering what those secrets are and learning about the truth of his own past along the way, gahh!! Kellen is a master when it comes to writing mystery and intrigue in their books, and this one is no exception. I was hooked, wanting to learn more about merrow and all the lore surrounding this world.
And yes, this had some absolutely delicious (double)mer-cock. Y'all know I need me a hot dominating merman who fucks in his mer-form, and this book DELIVERED 👏👏
September 13, 2024
3 stars
Two grumpy characters done dirty by the world trying to reconnect with lost family? Horny-mermaid-siren-man? This could have become a new romantasy favorite but the pacing really killed it for me. When it dragged, god did it drag. The last third of the book felt tedious to finish and I lost interest by the end. So although I really enjoyed Alba and Eridanys dynamic, the flow of the story took me out of it.
Two grumpy characters done dirty by the world trying to reconnect with lost family? Horny-mermaid-siren-man? This could have become a new romantasy favorite but the pacing really killed it for me. When it dragged, god did it drag. The last third of the book felt tedious to finish and I lost interest by the end. So although I really enjoyed Alba and Eridanys dynamic, the flow of the story took me out of it.
May 22, 2024
this could have been really good but unfortunately the editing was incredibly sloppy, the world-building and narration were overly vague, and the plot could have been better executed. I wanted to DNF from like 5% onward based on some of the bewildering grammatical errors/phrasing decisions and although I did enjoy some of this book, I wish I hadn’t stuck with it :/
April 13, 2025
Don't know what to think. Was it good? Yes. Was it... Fully enjoyable? No. I would give this a very low rating right now. But instead I’ll wait and ruminate because the last 40% was incredible.
————
Came back to rate (4/13/25)
3.5 rounded up because the imagery was just to pretty to forget.
————
Came back to rate (4/13/25)
3.5 rounded up because the imagery was just to pretty to forget.
September 2, 2024
I can’t believe I haven’t picked up a book by Kellen Graves before... I really enjoyed A Bone in His Teeth. The fantasy and thrill aspect was divine. It almost felt like it could be classified as horror too especially with all the suspense, deaths and gore. I LOVE mermaids and I think this might just be the best and possibly most memorable mm mermaid romance I’ve read thus far (Isabel Murray’s Catch and Release is right up there but they're such different vibes). I really came to love Eridynas. The way he grew to like and then adore Alba was really sweet, even if he was still somewhat grumpy and standoffish. Also the cover art is just soooo beautiful… after reading the afterword I went and scoured both Kellen and Mo’s instagrams and I totally recommend doing so. The art is gorgeous and you get to see more of Alba and Eri!!!
October 7, 2024
“You’re exactly the type of man most creatures would love to play with.”
“With such a hypnotizing voice in his ear, Alba thought he wouldn’t grieve his own death if it was at the pale hands of the moon.”
——————
We have a clever and resilient trans masc human MC, a vengeful and wild merman (aka merrow) LI with 2 ding dongs tucked away in his cloaca, and a dark romance that began with both shedding one another’s blood.
Set in an unsettling reclusive town with rituals and dangerous secrets, our MC arrives and takes on a job at a haunted lighthouse that seems to drive the MC and all workers prior either to insanity or quitting.
Amidst his new job as a wickie, MC is on the run and hiding due to unjust debt from a brutal employer, and trying to stay alive in this strange town while searching for clues about his missing mother.
This was fantastic, a spooky MM romance to kick off October. It’s plot-heavy and starts slow; he doesn’t start his new lighthouse job until 10% 33 pages in, his first encounter with LI occurs at 16% at page 63, and the first spice occurs after 40%.
I really enjoyed the pacing of the relationship; they start as genuine enemies after all. And while I sometimes find romances light on plot overly long, I could’ve kept reading more of this and it clocked in at 400 pages.
However, I do wish the start trimmed off maybe 4-5%; I’m sure plenty of people will give up on the book by 50-60 pages before that first thrilling encounter with the merman.
Note: there is quite a bit of violence in this book and it is a fantasy dark romance, but there are no issues with consent between the MC and LI, there is no sexual assault on page though it’s implied that LI defended himself in the past from the threat of it when working as a sailor, and there are zero issues of misgendering, transphobia, or homophobia.
——————
If you’re on the fence, here’s a couple more quotes that might catch your eye:
“Despite his hands lacking their claws, his ears their webbing and his spine the sharp fins, Eridanys still consumed Alba like a starving beast on the rocks.”
“his entire being into the bed, pinned by something that would have torn him apart had it not had use for him.”
“A part of Alba wasn’t sure he would decline if asked—there was something erotic about knowing his blood coated the tongue of something so sharp and strong and deadly, who craved it so badly, so much that he would resist simply because the temptation was exciting enough.”
——————
“I will wait for you in the house while you’re away. Until sunset. I won’t argue about it.”
“Alright.”
“And I’ll do as I please while I’m in there.”
Alba narrowed his eyes. “You will not.”
“I’ll do as I please,” Eridanys snapped. “I’ll crawl out of the sea and rip your head clean from your shoulders if I wish to!”
…His jaw clenched tight when he turned back again. “In the general store, if you find something called ‘licorice,’ bring it for me.”
“With such a hypnotizing voice in his ear, Alba thought he wouldn’t grieve his own death if it was at the pale hands of the moon.”
——————
We have a clever and resilient trans masc human MC, a vengeful and wild merman (aka merrow) LI with 2 ding dongs tucked away in his cloaca, and a dark romance that began with both shedding one another’s blood.
Set in an unsettling reclusive town with rituals and dangerous secrets, our MC arrives and takes on a job at a haunted lighthouse that seems to drive the MC and all workers prior either to insanity or quitting.
Amidst his new job as a wickie, MC is on the run and hiding due to unjust debt from a brutal employer, and trying to stay alive in this strange town while searching for clues about his missing mother.
This was fantastic, a spooky MM romance to kick off October. It’s plot-heavy and starts slow; he doesn’t start his new lighthouse job until 10% 33 pages in, his first encounter with LI occurs at 16% at page 63, and the first spice occurs after 40%.
I really enjoyed the pacing of the relationship; they start as genuine enemies after all. And while I sometimes find romances light on plot overly long, I could’ve kept reading more of this and it clocked in at 400 pages.
However, I do wish the start trimmed off maybe 4-5%; I’m sure plenty of people will give up on the book by 50-60 pages before that first thrilling encounter with the merman.
Note: there is quite a bit of violence in this book and it is a fantasy dark romance, but there are no issues with consent between the MC and LI, there is no sexual assault on page though it’s implied that LI defended himself in the past from the threat of it when working as a sailor, and there are zero issues of misgendering, transphobia, or homophobia.
——————
If you’re on the fence, here’s a couple more quotes that might catch your eye:
“Despite his hands lacking their claws, his ears their webbing and his spine the sharp fins, Eridanys still consumed Alba like a starving beast on the rocks.”
“his entire being into the bed, pinned by something that would have torn him apart had it not had use for him.”
“A part of Alba wasn’t sure he would decline if asked—there was something erotic about knowing his blood coated the tongue of something so sharp and strong and deadly, who craved it so badly, so much that he would resist simply because the temptation was exciting enough.”
——————
“I will wait for you in the house while you’re away. Until sunset. I won’t argue about it.”
“Alright.”
“And I’ll do as I please while I’m in there.”
Alba narrowed his eyes. “You will not.”
“I’ll do as I please,” Eridanys snapped. “I’ll crawl out of the sea and rip your head clean from your shoulders if I wish to!”
…His jaw clenched tight when he turned back again. “In the general store, if you find something called ‘licorice,’ bring it for me.”
May 14, 2024
I’ll give a full review later, but I need all my queer monster lovers to add this to the top of their TBR. Kellen Graves stays one of my absolute favorite authors!!!
January 19, 2025
Rating 4/5⭐️
Beautiful and haunting. Overall, the romance is gripping, the horror elements absolutely delightful.
Alba is a transmasc, disabled MC, and his story intrigued me greatly. He is on the run from debt collectors and searching for his mom in a creepy, mysterious remote fishing village.
Eridanys a merrow aka siren, aka merman (with two d**ks 🥵) who is trying to both stay alive and find out what happened to his kin.
Great story, unexpected twists, wonderful romance, steamy love scenes. This book was stunning. Highly recommend!
Beautiful and haunting. Overall, the romance is gripping, the horror elements absolutely delightful.
Alba is a transmasc, disabled MC, and his story intrigued me greatly. He is on the run from debt collectors and searching for his mom in a creepy, mysterious remote fishing village.
Eridanys a merrow aka siren, aka merman (with two d**ks 🥵) who is trying to both stay alive and find out what happened to his kin.
Great story, unexpected twists, wonderful romance, steamy love scenes. This book was stunning. Highly recommend!
October 20, 2024
A Bone in His Teeth is an enchanting, spooky read that hooks you right from the start with its seductive writing.
Set in the mysterious (and very sinister) town of Moon Harbour, this book follows the story of Alba, a young man torn from his family by the greed of those around him. He soon meets the captivating but vicious Eridanys, the last merrow of Moon Harbour.
Although the book starts slow, once things pick up at the 20% mark, it’s full steam ahead. The plot is engaging and the characters even more so. I couldn’t quite nail down the time period but Kellen Graves definitely nailed the eerie vibes. There was some mention about dollars but other than that I felt as though I was in a fantasy world.
Bonus points for trans rep that featured a trans character just existing without misgendering or having their sexuality driving the conflict.
This couldn’t have been more perfect.
BR with Christine✨
Set in the mysterious (and very sinister) town of Moon Harbour, this book follows the story of Alba, a young man torn from his family by the greed of those around him. He soon meets the captivating but vicious Eridanys, the last merrow of Moon Harbour.
Although the book starts slow, once things pick up at the 20% mark, it’s full steam ahead. The plot is engaging and the characters even more so. I couldn’t quite nail down the time period but Kellen Graves definitely nailed the eerie vibes. There was some mention about dollars but other than that I felt as though I was in a fantasy world.
Bonus points for trans rep that featured a trans character just existing without misgendering or having their sexuality driving the conflict.
This couldn’t have been more perfect.
BR with Christine✨
Displaying 1 - 30 of 553 reviews