Bare Bones by Aline de Chevigny is a story of loss and the realization that love knows no bounds in the search to be reunited.

Joanna and Christian have been friends for twenty years or more, close friends and confidants. On Christian’s birthday and also Halloween he and Joanna had a fight on the phone. The argument was about him not being in attendance at her Halloween party, the one event she went all out for every year.

During the spat on the phone Joanna is arguing with Christian when she hears a growl and fighting and the phone goes dead.

Christian has been missing for a year now and Joanna has returned to the forest where he worked as a forest ranger and also where he went missing. She intends to find out what happened to him.

Christian sees Joanna enter his woods, as he follows her, all his feelings return to the forefront but he knows he must stay away from her to protect her from the beast he has become.

The Bare Bones is really what you get with this story; your imagination is required to flesh out the plot. Christian is protective of Joanna and that flows well, his character was well thought out. Joanna was a bit more difficult for me to follow; she was a bit childish in her words and actions, however she was courageous enough to begin her hunt for Christian. I liked the premise of the story but I will try one of Ms. de Chevigny’s longer books in the future.

Reviewed by: Dana P.