Butcher and Blackbird

Blurb from the cover:

A friends-to-lovers dark romantic comedy full of murder, chaos, and spice, unlike anything you’ve heard before.

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 show more just their newfound love.

Can Rowan and Sloane dig themselves out of a game of graves?

Or have they finally met their match?

My review:

First I have to say, if you have trigger warnings, heed them for this book. There is quite the list at the beginning, and they are accurate.

This book drew me in at the start because of the dark humor in it. I appreciate a book that is not concerned with appearances, and allows itself to be what it is with no worries of what others may think. I also enjoyed the two points of views that the book flips through (the two main characters). It allowed me to connect with each of them separately and not just through the eyes of the others.

One of the main critiques I had seen about this book is how large the time jumps are, and I must say, they did seem unnecessary to me as well. The book spans over three years, but the gaps are just casual mentions between paragraphs. I understand why the author wanted to span that time, but I think the same effect could have been made without jumping a year here or a year there.

Oh my, is this book funny though (if you have the same dark sense of humor that I do). Also, if you are an ice cream lover, and cookies and cream is your all time favorite, you may want to skip this book, or find a new favorite.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book. Any book that can make me laugh, squirm a bit from some more grotesque scenes, and put me on the edge of my seat with a bit of smut, is a winner in my book. I am looking forward to the second book in the series to come out and see how the story evolves. show less

Here we go — sharpening the knives *and* the feels for you 😈🖤

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# 🖤🔪 **Butcher & Blackbird — Brynne Weaver**

**⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 / 5**

**“Serial killers, but make it *rom-com*.”**

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### 📖 What It’s About

When a chance meeting sparks an unlikely friendship between **two rival serial killers who hunt other serial killers**, Sloane and Rowan discover something far more dangerous than their targets — **feelings.**

Their connection grows through an annual game of blood, chaos, and morally questionable hobbies across the country… but as their playful rivalry turns into something tender, the ghosts of their past (and present) aren’t exactly rooting for their happily-ever-after.

💀 Friendship
💀 show more Flirting
💀 Falling in love while committing vigilante murder

**Love language: murder.**
**Relationship status: emotionally devastating but cute.**

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### 🧲 Tropes That Had Me Hooked

* 🐕 **Golden retriever x black cat**
* 💘 **He falls first**
* 🔥 **Touch her and die**
* 🫂 **Friends to lovers**
* 🛏 **One bed**
* 🏠 **Forced proximity**

This book basically walked into my life and said,
*"Here, have emotional damage but make it cozy."*

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### 💭 My Thoughts

I went in expecting *gruesome*…
What I got instead was **slow-burn, soul-deep, emotionally rich romance with dark undertones that felt more *Lights Out* than *Texas Chainsaw*.**

And honestly?
**I ate. This. Up.**

The slow build of their connection had me clutching my chest, whisper-screaming at my Kindle, and falling for Rowan right alongside Sloane. The chemistry? **Chef’s kiss.** The tension? Delicious. The payoff? **Worth every page.**

🛒 My FAVORITE scene — Rowan sending Sloane groceries and staying on the phone while teaching her how to cook???
EXCUSE ME?? That was so intimate, tender, and unexpectedly domestic that I had to take a lap.

**Murder husband but also “did you preheat the oven?” energy.**
We love a man with range.

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### ⚠️ The “Gruesome” Warning (Aka: The Overreaction)

Yes — people warned me.
No — I was not emotionally prepared for how *not* gruesome this actually was.

There *is* murder (duh), but it’s not graphic or gross for the sake of being gross.
The only moment that made me flinch was a **very brief maggot mention** — and it was gone so fast I barely had time to clutch my pearls.

If you’ve read darker thrillers like **The Ritual**, this will feel *lightweight* by comparison.

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### 🖤 Final Verdict

**Butcher & Blackbird** is:

* Dark but cozy
* Twisted but tender
* Morally gray but emotionally golden

It’s a **slow-burn, serial-killer rom-com with actual heart**, and I will be recommending this to everyone who wants their romance served with danger, devotion, and domestic flirting.

**Highly recommend.**
Would read again.
Would marry Rowan.
Would also probably help hide the bodies. 😌🖤 show less

I have been wanting to read this book since I heard about it. In addition to the fact that after reading Marrow, I needed to read more books by this author. I am here to tell you that it did not disappoint. It is so bloody good!

Can I say that Sloane and Rowan had a very memorable "meet cute". Yes, s#rial k!llers can have meet cutes too. Loved the idea of these two battling it out to see who would be victorious with their skill sets. I was so invested in them that there was a moment when Rowan hurt Sloane. I felt so angry that I wanted to reach into the pages of the book and "una!ive" Rowan myself.

In regard to cookies and cream ice cream, I am not turned off but just may take a second look at the ingredients next time I get ice cream.

I show more am so excited to read book two and that it will be Lark and Lachlan's story. The first moment I met Lark, and she called thought Rowan was being "Keanu-mantic", I knew we would be friends. Rowan's brother, Lachlan is a hoot. The snarky comments that would come out of his mouth had me chucking. show less

When Sloane and Rowan first meet, it's three days after Sloane has killed Albert Briscoe and accidentally gotten herself locked in the cage Briscoe used to keep his victims in. Rowan reveals himself to be the serial killer known as the Boston Butcher. Sloane, in the hope that he'll help her get out of the cage, reluctantly reveals that she's the serial killer known as the Orb Weaver. Both of them exclusively target other serial killers.

It's pretty much love at first sight for Rowan, who finds himself desperate for an excuse to keep Sloane from slipping out of his life and disappearing forever. He's the one who proposes that they play a game. Every year at around the same time, they'll both travel to a location picked by Sloane's show more brother Lachlan, who'll use his connections as a contract killer to find likely serial killers for them to target. The first person to find and kill the killer wins.

They both enjoy the companionship as well as the game, finally getting to meet someone else on the same wavelength. Rowan has lots of friends, but the only people who know him as he really is are his brothers. Sloane only has one close friend. As Sloane and Rowan get to know each other, they both find themselves wanting more but are reluctant to admit it. Rowan is afraid of scaring Sloane off, knowing that she's shy, skittish, and doesn't trust easily. Sloane is attracted to Rowan but has no idea how to do relationships.

I approached this with lots of trepidation, so it was a pleasant surprise, to put it mildly, when I found myself really enjoying it. It helped, I think, that both Sloane and Rowan were killers and that they both exclusively targeted other killers - there was an appeal there similar to Jeff Lindsay's Dexter Morgan series. Sloane and Rowan opened up to each other maybe a little more quickly than was believable, and I couldn't help but think that the FBI of their world must be filled with idiots considering all the evidence they probably left lying around, despite Sloane's efforts to clean up. Also, I had some difficulty believing in Lachlan's skills at locating hidden serial killers. Maybe the fact that certain aspects weren't quite believable also contributed to how well this worked for me.

Anyway, this turned out to be pretty fun. Rowan oozed charisma, and I generally loved his and Sloane's scenes together. The author put a lot more time and effort into building the relationship between the two of them than I expected - I thought for sure there would be sex scenes fairly early on, but in reality Rowan and Sloane spent a few years playing their game and dancing around each other before anything like that happened. In another book, both of them would have been giant red flags, engaging in occasional stalkerish behavior. In this book, it somehow worked. I loved Sloane's initial visit to Rowan's restaurant, and Rowan's attempt to get her to talk to him again afterward.

There was only one moment that I didn't really like and that kind of crossed a line for me - the way Rowan acted near the end of their first competition, when he briefly behaved threateningly towards Sloane and then beat their target to death. Although he never had another moment quite like it in the book, it still bothered me.

The sex scenes, when they started up, were frequent and not really my cup of tea, but I enjoyed the prior relationship buildup enough that it wasn't too much of an issue. I plan on reading the next book in the trilogy, although I'm not convinced it'll work as well for me as this one did. I guess I'll find out.

Extras:

Includes QR codes for Apple Music and Spotify playlists.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

4.25/5

this had no right being as fun as it was.

is this a groundbreaking work of literary genius? I’m not sure. but is this exactly what it sets out to be while also exceeding expectations and somehow making me forget the cute banter and spicy romance is between two absolute psychopaths to the point where i just about tear up during the most ridiculously gnarly proposal ever? a thousand times yes

Uniquely disturbing, yet darkly romantic. The narration, especially the Irish accent was outstanding and sexy. I adored the snappy and snarky repartee and their relationships with their loved ones. The vulnerability and stunted relationship skills seem asynchronous to their confident vigilantism but their traumas left them emotionally immature. I adore how over the top Rowan is and it's still a huge shocker how slow and drawn out his wooing is but I'm glad for all the time skips. It's completely unhinged but I love this story and the characters and can't wait to read Lachlan and Lark's story.

Two serial killers, who both kill only other serial killers, bump into one another while…working and strike up a tenuous friendship that slowly builds into something more over the course of several years, as they play an annual game of Who Can Find and Kill the Killer First. Dark and gruesome and snarky and spicy and oddly adorable. I loved it.