Every serial killer needs a friend.
Every game must have a winner.

When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, the two find something elusive—the friendship of a like-minded, pitch-black soul. From small town West Virginia to upscale California, from downtown Boston to rural Texas, the two hunters collide in an annual game of blood and suffering, one that pits them against the most dangerous monsters in the country. But as their friendship develops into something more, the restless ghosts left in their wake are only a few steps behind, ready to claim more than just their newfound love. Can Rowan and Sloane dig themselves out of a game of graves? Or have they finally met their match?

Butcher & Blackbird is the first book in the Ruinous Love Dark Romance trilogy of interconnected stand-alone dark romantic comedies. This dual POV novel ends on a HEA.

Content Warning: gore, killing, accidental cannibalism, torture, voyeurism, body horror

Well, I finally read this book and wow yes it is dark as advertised and I’ll remind you to read all the trigger warnings for it before you go into it. I didn’t cover it all in my content warning above, but it is in the book.

I was so curious how I would find this one because my fascination with true crime and serial killers. But there is such a clever twist where these serial killers actually hunt and kill actual bad guy serial killers! And yes there is romance thrown into the gory mess of the killing happening in this story. Was a bit too gory for me yes but there is humor and romance to help balance things out!

Speaking of the romance, it happens actually over a few years, which I thought was interesting and I don’t know if that worked for me because they will meet once then it will be months before they interact again. They met up for these competition games between one another to see who would get the serial killer first. They do a lot of texting but I did love how Rowan was patient about it all. Once they get together though it gets very spicy and kind of sweet with how these two serial killers fall for one another.

I enjoyed seeing how this concept came together in the story though and found it very unique but again, it was a bit too gory for me.

My Final Thoughts:

If you like gore, serial killers, crime stories, spice, humor and romance, then definitely give this one a chance.

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