My Switch & Burn (Royal Bastards MC: Idaho Springs Chapter) Book Review - No Spoilers
Plot Summary
"Switch & Burn" by Bink Cummings is a gritty M/M romance set inside the dark, violent world of the Royal Bastards MC, Idaho Springs Chapter. This story is told from the perspective of two deeply wounded men: Switch, a young survivor of horrifying abuse and trafficking, and Burn, the club's vice president, scarred inside and out from years in the MC world and brutal torture at the hands of enemies. The club’s members are no strangers to pain—many of them carry visible and invisible scars, earning their place and peace through underground fighting. Switch is brought to the club after his rescue, full of bottled rage and barely able to speak. Burn takes him in, determined to offer a safe haven. As the days pass, what starts as pure survival turns into a slow, charged bond between two men who never expected to feel hope again. Their connection grows through silent understanding, the shared language of trauma, and the struggle to trust in a love that doesn’t fit any familiar shape. The novella is short, tight, and is often brutally honest about healing, pain, and chosen family.
Why I Love This Book
I love how this book never sugarcoats its characters or their pain. Switch and Burn are both raw, real, and sometimes hard to watch—and that makes every small moment of trust between them feel earned. I’m drawn to stories about broken people finding love that doesn’t come with neat fixes or tidy redemption. The connection here is slow-burn, awkward, sometimes barely understood even by the characters themselves, but it explodes with real passion when they finally let their guard down. I appreciate the way the author refuses to pretty up their trauma—all the darkness, anger, self-hate, and need is left out in the open.
I’m always hooked by found family stories, especially in MC settings where loyalty means everything. The fight club setting, the damaged brothers, and the moments of grim humor pulled me right in. I loved how both men learn to communicate in new ways, building something messy but strong out of all their old wounds. There’s a lot of sexiness woven throughout, but what really stuck with me was the sense that love is possible even in the darkest places, with zero interest in stereotype or easy endings. This book left me with a serious book hangover—and maybe a little more faith in broken hearts finding their match.
Who Will Like This Book
If you like MC romance with heavy grit, trauma, and healing, you’ll be hooked. This is perfect for readers who want queer romance at the center of the action, especially slow-burn M/M with equal doses of pain, anger, and hope. If you crave found family, flawed anti-heroes, or stories about survivors finding their way forward, you’ll see yourself in these pages. Those who want explicit heat, scarred alphas, or a raw, unsanitized look at survival will appreciate this novella. It’s not for those looking for light, fluffy romance or fade-to-black love scenes—this is all in, all scars, all heart.
Tagged As
MC romance, M/M romance, queer romance, biker romance, trauma recovery, found family, underground fighting, slow burn, enemies to lovers, anti-hero, broken hero, protector hero, scarred hero, grumpy hero, open-door romance, explicit, spicy romance, novella, quick read, emotional, healing, hurt/comfort, dark romance, series starter, gritty, brotherhood, club life, revenge
Steam Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️| Explicit
