In Make Your Bones by L.D. Bloodworth, Wren Bouchard was once a promising student until Aiden Luciano walked into her father's bar. Now years later, she is the obedient, bruised and compliant girlfriend of Mafia hitman Aiden, torn from her family with no possible escape. After one sadistic beating, the ball of rage that Wren has tried to ignore for so long suddenly explodes, causing a chain of events that change her life forever. Wren is now on the run with a new identity. Believing Aiden to be in prison, she tries to rebuild her life in the mountain town of Valley Spring, Colorado, where she meets rugged and charming Croy. Although she tries to resist her feelings for him, Croy manages to heal her emotional scars and together they look forward to the future. But out of prison and intent on revenge, Aiden is closer than Wren thinks. As he watches from a distance, he revels in how he will make Wren suffer.

Make Your Bones by L.D. Bloodworth is a fast-moving story that will send shivers down your spine. Some of the scenes of sadistic brutality were uncomfortable to read because they were so realistic. What I thought most impressive about this novel was how the author can reach inside your soul and ignite fear, dread and terror. All of the characters were created with absolute care and detail, even the minor ones. I loved the twists in the plot, and every time you let your guard down, the psychological game of cat and mouse returns. The development of the characters was also superb. Wren and Croy rescue one another emotionally, and slowly glue the broken pieces of their souls back together again. Finding each other has given each of them courage to put old ghosts to bed and fight for their chance of happiness. The ending was explosive and set my heart racing. I would recommend this to anyone who loves a psychological thriller with multi-layered story lines.

Make Your Bones is a work of romantic thriller fiction penned by author L.D. Bloodworth. This suspenseful work of female drama focuses on the life and mistakes of Wren Bouchard, a woman who fell in love as a teenager and sparked a relationship that would change the course of her whole life. When she breaks ties with her mafia boyfriend Aidan Luciano, Wren becomes the catalyst that sees him locked away. But Aidan has plenty of connections, and they chase Wren all over the country as she attempts to lie low and live normally. When she meets the mysterious stranger Croy, however, she realises that normal is something she can never be again.

Author L.D. Bloodworth has a superb knack for creating tense and suspenseful moments in fiction. Wren’s set-up is done beautifully to indicate the extreme threats of violence and death that may befall her if she lands in Aidan’s clutches again, and that shadow of threat follows us as we read through her journey together. Strong in both presentation of character and plot, the slow-burning romantic elements of the tale are wonderful to see developing, all the while coated in suspicion. The dialogue was well written, direct and realistic, whilst the prose focused on bringing the characters into life more than the settings. I also found the plot and its conclusion very satisfying, having been waiting for it the whole read. Overall, Make Your Bones is an edge of your seat read that all adult fans of romance and thrillers will devour.