This story takes place in a fictional land not unlike the just barely "settled" prairie west of the United States around the 1800s, though with a paranormal twist: all of the natives of the land who were killed turned themselves into invisible wraiths to take their revenge upon the invading settlers at night. Aren, an Easterner looking to reinvent himself from the shame of being a "kept boy" gets a job as a bookkeeper on a ranch in the west. He had thought the tales of wraiths were fiction only to discover their reality. 
 Aren has to learn to overcome the memories and shame of his past while learning how to deal with ranch life, fighting off not only the wraiths, but the possibility of other ranch hands, maids, and the eligible daughters. He finally befriends the ranch's foreman, Deacon, and they keep each other from being lonely. Deacon can't associate with the hands because they have to see him as their boss, and he doesn't associate with the owner's sons or their wives. That leaves only Aren. Aren slowly comes to depend on the time he spends with Deacon, just as Deacon does. 
 Deacon also has to learn how to deal with his past, and figure out how Aren and the ranch fit into his future. Deacon leans on Aren's strength at the end of the day, tired of being strong for everyone else. Aren revels in the freedom to be that strength, that need, for someone else for once. 
 They have a beautiful dynamic between them, weak when the other is strong. Each gives the other a release of some fashion. And once they finally realize what they can be to each other, it explodes in wonderful ways. I was very glad to see that any "mental angst" (as in, in their own heads) was NOT drawn out for unnecessary length. 
 I enjoyed this story a lot for what it is, but it didn't whack me over the head with OMGWOW! Not sure why not, though. I'm not sure what it lacks for me for that fifth star at this point. It's somewhere between 4 and 4.5 for me. I will definitely read any sequels in this universe.