Nell Gallows is the sole survivor of an elite dark forces squad, Riøt, after a detrimental attack two years ago. Unsurprisingly, she’s being put up as the top candidate for the special ops team: Malum. The squad that goes where no one else will or can. There’s only one problem: Malum blames their one casualty from the Patagonia mission on the Riøt squad.
Leave Me Behind
So what is she to do when she finds herself on a plane to California and on her way to a sure death sentence? A one-night stand. At least, that’s all it was supposed to be—one last night to be free. Only, she finds out too late that the dark and mysterious man she solely wanted as a fling is not only her new comrade but also the one she dreaded meeting most—her immediate superior and untouchable devil in the field. Bones.
He’s hell on earth—cruel and unforgiving, but most of all, he hates her, and he makes sure she knows it. And yet, she finds herself unwilling to leave his side when he’s unable to get to the evac point when their mission goes awry.
She stays behind with the devil and the secrets he keeps. They only have one another to trust when no faith is left.
Enemies, Secrets, and One Dangerous Attraction
The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙💛❤️🖤
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪🧪
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏
Character development: 😋😀😍😎
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration type: Dual Narration
Main Characters and Plot Overview
Nell Gallows is the sole survivor of Riøt, an elite dark forces squad wiped out during a mission in Patagonia two years earlier. She is a highly trained sniper, but surviving when everyone else died has left her carrying plenty of guilt and trauma. When she is selected for Malum, an even more ruthless special ops team, she walks into a unit that already blames Riøt for the death of one of their own. I immediately felt for Nell because she isn’t simply trying to prove she belongs. She is walking into a group that has already decided she is responsible for something she may not even fully understand.
Then there is Bones, her new commanding officer, who is cold, intimidating, and absolutely determined to make Nell’s life miserable. The complication is that Nell has already met him. Before she joins Malum, she has a one-night stand with a mysterious man named Bradshaw, she met him and his twin Eren, on the plane the day before, only to discover afterward that he is Bones. That revelation made their first interactions even more uncomfortable because there is already attraction underneath all the hostility.
The story really takes off when a mission goes horribly wrong and Bones is unable to reach the evacuation point. Nell has every reason to leave him behind, especially considering how he has treated her, but she refuses to abandon him. They end up trapped together in hostile territory, forced to rely on each other while secrets surrounding their pasts and the military operation begin coming to light. I liked that Nell’s choice to stay wasn’t simply romantic. It was a very deliberate moment that showed how much loyalty still mattered to her despite everything she had endured.
Highlights and Limitations
The enemies-to-lovers tension between Nell and Bones was easily my favorite part. These two are both damaged, dangerous people, and neither is particularly good at being vulnerable. Bones spends so much time treating Nell like an enemy that the moments when his protective side slips through have considerably more impact. I especially enjoyed getting glimpses of his softer side when it came to his brother because they showed that the ruthless commander wasn’t quite as emotionless as he wanted everyone to believe.
Nell was another major strength for me. She doesn’t suddenly become helpless just because Bones is around. Her skills as a sniper and her willingness to fight back remain important throughout the story. There are also some brutal scenes that show just how far this story is willing to go, so I definitely recommend checking the content warnings before starting.
My biggest hesitation was that some of the darker material pushed the story into uncomfortable territory for me. I also found myself frustrated by some of Nell’s decisions, particularly when her emotions seemed to override the survival instincts that made her such an impressive operative. Still, I couldn’t deny that those choices made sense within the trauma and complicated relationship the story had built.
Narration
Isabelle Turner and Walker Williams were a strong pairing for this audiobook. I liked having distinct performances for Nell and Bones because their personalities are so different. Turner captured Nell’s toughness while still allowing the fear, exhaustion, and vulnerability underneath it to come through. Williams gave Bones the deep, intimidating presence I expected from a character who has earned the nickname “the devil.”
The dual narration worked particularly well during the tense scenes between them because the attraction and hostility could come through from both perspectives. The audiobook runs just over eleven and a half hours, and I thought the performances helped maintain the tension through the darker and more action-heavy sections.
Final Thoughts
I went into Leave Me Behind expecting a dark military romance, but I was surprised by how invested I became in Nell and Bones once they were forced to depend on each other. Their relationship is messy, volatile, and definitely not healthy in the conventional romance sense, but that was part of what kept me listening.
What stuck with me most was Nell choosing to stay with Bones when she could have walked away. After everything he had put her through, that decision said more about her character than any declaration of love could have. I also appreciated that the story didn’t make either of them perfectly healed or uncomplicated just because they developed feelings.
This is definitely a dark romance, and some of the subject matter is genuinely disturbing, so it won’t be for everyone. For me, though, the combination of dangerous special ops missions, secrets, brutal circumstances, and the combustible relationship between Nell and Bones made this an audiobook I had a hard time putting down.
