Only the Small Bones (Slow Burns & Tragic Beginnings #1)

William Mayes, founder of Freedom Fighters and a famed music composer, is called by the FBI to assist with human trafficking victims. After receiving a call one night, he travels to Manhattan Memorial, where he encounters a young man restrained to a gurney—non-verbal, fearful, and covered in blood. When William cannot get him to speak, he invites the young man to his home. The young man is angry, at times openly hateful, and non-verbal, giving him control over William's emotions. William begins to spiral from his own struggles with a tormented past. His nightmares return, sleep becomes impossible, and dark voices in his head intensify. In their isolated co-dependence, William's feelings evolve. Lines blur and are crossed as they move down a path filled with secrets and lies of omission. The only thing that can free them both is the truth—but some things may be better left buried. If William's ugliest parts are revealed, no one will be spared. Only the Small Bones is an MM romance and book 1 in the standalone series Slow Burns & Tragic Beginnings. The story features a non-verbal main character with touch aversion and mental health representation.