I loved this book. I think the biggest appeal to me was the fact that these are characters knocking on the door of 40 and actually do have life experience. Everything isn’t and wasn’t easy and sunshine and rainbows. They were jaded about life and relationships.

We get much less of Lilah’s POV so she took me a bit to figure out. I figured early on there was clearly an illness and not to mention the title.

I adored Callum. I love that he and Lilah could question each other and talk things through (for the most part) it was just a breath of fresh air for these mature characters.

If you enjoy a heartbreaking love story with more mature characters, this may be right up your alley.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ 4/5

You guys! THIS 👏🏼 BOOK! 😍

Yes, there are relevant trigger warnings, but it’s not THAT bad… 😅

I am not a dark romance girlie, but this book has me rethinking things. Probably not completely, but you get the idea.

I listened to the audio of this book and I cannot say enough wonderful things. The narrators were PHENOMENAL! The way the humor ingrained in this novel came through made the stomach-churning parts easier to get through, that’s for sure. Plus, I am a total sucker for an Irish accent! This book was such a surprise! I never thought I’d be cheering for two serial killers to fall in love!

I became utterly obsessed with the tension between Rowan and Sloane. He has a total ‘TOUCH HER AND ☠️’ vibe and I am here 👏🏼 for 👏🏼 it! And THE SPICE. Y’ALL! 🥵🥵🥵

I really cannot recommend this book enough. I am GIDDY with anticipation for book two! I cannot wait to see what this author has in store for us next.

Thank you to Brynne Weaver, Zando, and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

Once I read the warnings at the beginning, I was pretty excited to read this dark story about serial killers of serial killers. I was hoping it would be more focused on the murders and have a side of romance, but it ended up being the other way around. For a story that spans over four years, I thought there might be more "victims" and was a bit disappointed when there were only a few.

I did root for the characters to get together and they fit pretty well, especially with their hobbies. I think we could have learned more about their pasts, but it was an entertaining read and easy to get lost in.

Butcher and Blackbird has a lot of hype surrounding it, so it's important to go in with a clear mind. You don't want to expect it to be the best book you've ever read OR the worst based on its popularity. It deserves to be read and enjoyed like any other book which is why I waited to start it - I wanted to make sure that I could read it without expectations.

I'm so glad I did! There are a lot of disturbing scenes in this book. It's about serial killers after all. There's also a lot of really sweet, moving scenes.

Sloane is closed off and paranoid. Rowan is open and reckless. He falls first, but they both fall hard. And guys...there is a BEAUTIFUL twist on the piercing front!! 😍😍

Butcher and Blackbird is a slow burn romance about two seriously screwed up people whose black little souls cry out for each other. There's a lot of emotional healing involved even during some of the more physically traumatic scenes. Be prepared to swoon amidst the carnage!

The plot twist at the end truly took me by surprise. I figured something would happen to threaten the couple but was NOT expecting that!! Well done!!

Thank you, Brynne Weaver, Zando, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4.75🌟!
Everything around them maybe messed up but their relationship was a thing of beauty.
So much understanding, pining, hesitation, mutual respect…. Ahhh so wholesome.
Add in some witty banter, good plot, unique characteristics and characters- you got a winner.

Give me a hero who knows his heart and isn’t shy to go after her and I’ll be your loyal friend.
Rowan- god, that man is something else. I loved him loved him loved him! Even though he is darkness personified for some people he had this child like innocence and deviousness for his close ones. Especially for his little blackbird Sloane.
Sloane is just too good. I loved her shy, socially awkward, lonesome side BUT her other side?….it’s lit like a firework!
There were so many poignant and wonderful moments between these two in the book that was just amazing.

All in all a superbly written book with a beautiful love story between two serial killers who deserve the world.
-reverse grumpy x sunshine, friends to lovers.
-dangerous games, kinda slow burn.
-smitten hero, he is a fan!
-touch him/her and die!
-quirky and colourful secondary characters.
-TW (with double capital letters ), KU and recommended.

This book was right up my alley with tropes! It’s a great dark romance and I really enjoyed it from beginning to end!

I have seen the hype for this book and decided to get on the hype train and let me tell you I was not disappointed. This book is about two serial killer hunters who compete and fall in love. This was such a unique fun book that was adventurous, funny, and gory. Weaver was a fantastic storyteller writing a wonderful story about two people who live such different lives. There were many conflicts in this book and such descriptive, weird scenes that will leave you thinking 'what the heck did I just read?'. I loved the setting of different places and the pacing was perfect for this story. This book is told from dual povs of both Sloane and Rowan.

Sloane is introduced as a bada** killer at night but a shy, introverted data analyst (?). She was such a relatable character at times, I loved her. She had such a strong character development and I loved seeing her connection with Rowan. Rowan is also a hunter but a chef during the day. He's such a sweetheart that I was surprised he wasn't written as a broody MMC. He was still an amazing cinnamon roll man perfect for Sloane. There are many side characters in this book and my favorite being Slaone's bff who I can't wait to see more of in the next book. The romance is he falls first, slow burn, and friends to lovers with some steamy scenes.

The ending was cute and I really enjoyed reading Sloane's and Rowan's story. It's not a book I was expecting to love so much but honestly, it was a great story. I recommend checking it out but I recommend reading trigger warnings. I can't wait to see what book 2 has in store for us.

*this e-arc was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*

Having the love interest say "you'll love me someday" sent me into a spiral I didn't know I was capable of. Everything about this book was so utterly enjoyable, there was very little to not appreciate. The storyline/concept was unique, our love interests were both so much fun to be with whether they were together or apart and their BANTER? top tier. It was wonderful.

TW should definitely be skimmed through if you're easily triggered but otherwise this was exactly right. I SEE NOTHING WRONG WITH WHAT ROWAN AND SLOAN ARE DOING. I felt the exact same way when I read the Mindfuck series except this is very much a lighter read.... if you could believe it.

I really LOVED this book! There were parts in this book that made me cringe (check the trigger warnings- one is cannibalism). This gave me all the excitement I definitively did not know I needed.

There were a quite a few grammatical errors and the formatting drove me nuts (hence the 4 stars) but man I just LOVED this book and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series to see what fun they can stir up!

Thank you to the author, Netgalley, and the publisher for allowing me to read this lovely piece of art! I was not paid for my review and this is my honest review.

Wow. This was a ride in a half. I hadn't read any part of this group before, so this was new to me. New in so many ways! It was spice, it was heat, it was ALL OF THE FEELS. Really wow.
I'm still kind of reeling from everything because there was so much to go through.
Was it a bit much in some places, YUP, but I am here for it because it was a journey that I didn't expect (many of the times) and feelings I didn't know I would get hit with, so I was there for the ride.
It's going to stick with me. Solid 4.7.

Dark Rom-Com? How does that work? It just freaking does! I laughed, I cried, and I got nauseous a couple times. Butcher & Blackbird was just so different from anything I’ve read recently, and it was so refreshing!

Rowan and Sloane are both serial killers who befriend each other with a friendly annual competition. Their chemistry is explosive and the banter is off the charts! If you enjoyed reading the Mindf*ck series, you gotta check this one out!

**seriously check the trigger warnings! It’s a dark one even though it’s quite funny at times!

Thanks to Netgalley and Brynne for giving me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to Zando for providing me with a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review!

Wow, I knew going into this book it was going to be a wild one but I didn’t expect it to get THAT wild!

I, as most people, was extremely intrigued about this book once I heard about the trigger warnings. Accidental AND non-accidental cannibalism but it’s in a romance book? My mind couldn’t process that until I read it and wow, it did not disappoint. The romance and heartbreak in this book made me tear up multiple times, the suspense had my heart pounding, and the gore had me feeling queasy. Everything I could possibly want in a book and more and I cannot tell you how excited I am to read the next one.

This is the best dark romance I’ve ever read! Fast paced, amazing banter, and slow burn! Perfect for fans of thrillers who are looking for a romance. The characters are loveable and fun, each with a dark side that compliments the other. 100% would recommend :)

A very well done dark comedy romance! I loved Rowan and Sloane instantly, and I also appreciate the setup for the next couple in the trilogy, Lachlan and Lark. Writing was smooth and skillful - Weaver managed to make such a dark premise feel almost like a cozy romance. I also enjoyed the twist!

A really enjoyable read about serial killers hunting down and killing worse serial killers. I found it so interesting as I have always questioned this logic, I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it but I would also say chech TW as this book is definitely not for everyone

You had me at “every serial killer needs a friend!”

If you are a fan of Dexter or Hannibal - this book is for you! But in all seriousness please read the trigger warnings (which are also spelled out very well in the audiobook - and the best was to read this is absolutely the audio!) I was elated with all the warnings because I know this book would be right up my alley! **PS Rowan’s Irish accent is worth the listen alone**

Rowan and Sloane are two serial killers themselves, but they only hunt down and kill other truly bad serial killers (cue Dexter). On one fateful day they meet and Rowan falls head over heels for Sloane - the butcher is in love with the blackbird (or the orb weaver - how she’s more commonly known).
A friendly competition is set between them and our book begins. Their competition is a highlight for both of them. They get themselves into some whacky situations that dance the line between grotesque and hilarious. I loved those moments but over the years they grow a little bit closer and start to take steps to interact outside the competition, and those were among my favorites. Rowan really does go all out for her and is so patient and understanding of what she needs. The man is not afraid to put in the work! We didn’t see much of Sloane’s day job (data scientist) but Rowan is a chef and owns a restaurant and we saw a lot of his job because it was more relevant to the story - plus, cooking for her is his love language and that made me so happy because that is my love language too!

This book was impossible to stop listening to and I binged it in less than 24 hrs! Now of course the worst part is waiting for the next book

🔪 Spoiler Free ARC Review 🔪

#3 of 2024
Butcher & Blackbird (The Ruinous Love Trilogy) by Brynne Weaver
#Butcher&Blackbird #ButcherBlackbird

Thank you #netgalley , #zandoprojects and #brynne_weaver for granting me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This has been published already months ago but for some reason on Netgalley, it said that pub date was yesterday? But, it’s out in the world now including the audiobook. So, I’ve listened to the audiobook and read it as well on my kindle.

The audiobook narration was so fun to listen too and it’s the same narrator as the guy from Ravenhood Joe Arden so at the first few part of the audiobook I felt like it was the character from Ravenhood talking but the more I listened to it the more Joe was able to switch it to Rowan.

It’s a story about two damaged, dark souled individuals who were clearly meant to be from the get go and how they both hunted for the most dangerous monsters in the country. This book reminded me so much of one of my favorite serial killer series of all time, the mindfuck series by st abby. This is just a bit lighter compared to that series.

This was such a fun read, it’s cute and such a laugh out loud mixture of thriller, suspense and romance all wrapped up into one entertaining story. I felt like it was lust at first sight for the two of them but it was a matter of when they were gonna reveal it to each other. Lots of flirting here and there blended into their serial killer adventures.

I enjoyed the fast paced suspense and the banter between Sloan and Rowan. They were a little bit all over each other to my liking though but that’s just me. I’m just so used to the brooding, slow burn men in my fantasy books that when a guy is too into a girl it becomes too much for me but who knows this preference of mine might change in the future, we all know how our taste evolves depending on our mood. That’s just one of the reasons why I’m not fully obsessed about it - but again, it’s my preference.

Highly recommend this if you’re a fan of dark romance but would still want to laugh out loud throughout the book.

PS: I love how the author indicated songs to listen to for every chapter of the book! 🍪

Butcher & Blackbird was a story I requested on Netgalley simply due to the hype I had seen about it on bookstagram. When I started the story, I was slightly unimpressed as I felt that it was super slow and not something I might want to continue. But I am so glad I powered through the first few chapters because once I was hooked, I was hooked (just like the eyeballs on the fishing line). I really enjoyed the story building throughout the years of Sloane and Rowan coming together for their serial killer stalking contest. I am really looking forward to reading the rest of the series to see what happens with the other characters!
Thank you to Zando publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

I wanted to love this book so much. When I read the synopsis I thought, this is the book for me. It screams my name…. And then… well I struggled with it. If a book takes me 6 weeks to finish then I can safely say it wasn’t love. Maybe it was my fault, maybe I expected more in the vain of “Born Darkly”.
I even doubted about DNF’ing the book. Because the first part of the book was in my opinion pretty juvenile. The writing is pretty basic and the fact that we are reading about serial killers is handled like running joke instead of a slow decent into madness. I think that is it, I missed the madness in this story. I was so distracted by all the juvenile jokes (ha-ha, ice cream with semen, ha-ha salad with human meat…)
Also the huge time lapses didn’t really work out well for the this book. It is pretty hard to follow characters when you only see them 2 weeks a year and then on to the next year.
And don’t get me talking about the plot. The villain in this book was just so ridiculous, I don’t want to talk about it.
Even while writing this review this pains me. Because…. Serial killer romans is my thing. And I had such high anticipations for this book. Is it a bad read? By no means, but it isn’t a good read either. And that is such a shame.

Butcher & Blackbird follows two serial killers that meet up once every year and do a competition to see who can to hunt and kill their target first!

Okay WOW! This book was absolutely incredible!
I ate up every single part of this book. I laughed out loud so many times while reading. I also don't read a lot of books with serial killers but the premise of this book was great, I loved the banter between Sloane and Rowan, and the fact that he falls first just melts my heart.
The chemistry between Sloane and Rowan was also off the charts so hot. This is definitely a slow burn kind of love story but once it burns it's sooooo worth it. Overall this book was thrilling, sexy and SO fun! I truly think everyone needs to read this book.