The Bone Collector

The Watch, Book 1

By: Onley James

Narrated by: Liam DiCosimo

Park Chen has spent most of his life as a killer—a deadly, deep cover operative known as the Bone Collector. Now, he’s been benched. Reassigned as an instructor at Project Watchtower, he’s tasked with training a school of psychopathic assassins while trying to keep a promise to his friends.

Gift Ayutthaya isn’t treated like a gift at all. If anything, his parents treat him as a burden, though a spoiled one. After an attempt on his life, they pass that burden onto someone else. Park. The man Gift’s been fantasizing about for years. A man who sees him as an adorable but incompetent distraction.

It’s no secret that Gift doesn’t belong at the Watch, but Park’s made a vow to keep him safe. Gift has made a vow, too. He’s going to use every weapon in his arsenal to find a way to seduce Park and make him love him, once and for all. Or die trying.

Loving Gift was never the issue—Park’s already there. But assignments at the Watch aren’t optional. To stay, Gift has to prove himself, something Park just can’t allow. Can Gift get Park to see that, when it comes to murder, Gift is aptly named? Or will he be relegated to the sidelines in both school and in love?

The Bone Collector is an action packed, smoking hot, age gap romance with an HEA and no cliffhangers. It features a rule-following assassin turned reluctant teacher of psychopaths and an adorable, off-limits, fumbling student who just can’t seem to stay away from each other. Prepare yourself for gratuitous violence, very dark humor, more blood than an ‘80s horror movie, and enough heat to fog up a window factory. This is book one in The Watch series. Each book follows a different couple.

©2023 Onley James (P)2024 Onley James

Not My Favorite by James

I adore this author and devoured her Necessary Evils series. I also LOVE Jericho's Boys, but this just didn't hit the mark for me. It wasn't bad, just meh. I couldn't get invested in these characters. I will continue the series though because even a not-so-great Onley James book is more entertaining than many others. Her books are about "dark" characters and subjects but presented in a light way, if that makes any sense. The overall feeling of them is light, not heavy or depressing. I'm also not a fan of super slow burn romances or tons of angst. Her books are comfort reads to me. I was not a fan of Liam Dicasamo until I discovered James's audiobooks. He does a brilliant job. If you're a fan of this author like I am, I'm sure you won't regret listening to this.

LOVE

Onley is the queen of psychos. I’m hooked, completely in love, cannot wait for more, thinking about them all day, this was spectacular!
We get more and more involved in the Necessary Evils universe and what a wonderful universe it is.
Do you need to read the NE series before this? No. But will doing so enhance the impact of this book by 1000? Absolutely yes!
Park and Gift were perfect for one another. The chemistry and caring as so adorable and cute. And the sexy times? HOLY MOTHER OF GOD! Scorching, squirm-inducing, sexy, crazy hot, FIRE!
Meeting all the assets and they handlers was great and I’m really really looking forward to more from this little pod of assassins.
Boone… can’t wait for you to fall.

Good but not great

I was really excited when I saw this was a spinoff of the Necessary Evils series, and Onley James books are usually pretty exciting. However this one I feel fell flat. The plot was interesting, but I feel like the book dragged… then finally got exciting at the end. The characters weren’t well developed, and with how childlike Gift was described it was difficult to see him as an adult. We also learn next to nothing about Park’s past. Overall I feel there wasn’t much deep thought put into this, which is disappointing. The next book is supposed to follow Payton and I’m hoping his book is better. Narration was 10/10 though!

4 🌶️’s