Our Thing by Nicci Harris is a dark Australian mafia romance and the first book in the Kids of the District series. It follows Cassidy Slater, a dedicated young ballerina, and Max Butcher, the tattooed, dangerous son of a Sicilian mafia family operating in the District. Cassidy has harboured a quiet obsession with Max since childhood, but when he finally notices her, he is intent on keeping her innocent and out of his world, even as he can't stop himself from pulling her deeper into it.
The story blends a good-girl-meets-bad-boy dynamic with possessive, protective hero energy, first-love tension, and the brutal realities of organised crime in Australia. Readers consistently praise its balance of dark atmosphere, humour, and emotional intensity, with a morally complex hero whose cold exterior conceals a broken boy worth fighting for.
