Butcher & Blackbird

Butcher & Blackbird
by Brynne Weaver by The Ruinous Love Trilogy #1

Sloane and Rowan have an unusual hobby in common: they’re both serial killers who hunt other serial killers. When a chance encounter brings the rival murderers together, an unexpected friendship forms between two people who finally understand each other’s darkest sides. Soon they’re meeting every year for a deadly competition, hunting monsters across the country while trying very hard not to fall for each other. Friendship turns into attraction, attraction becomes something much more dangerous, and their bloody pasts aren’t about to leave them alone. 

✨ Expect:

Dark Romantic Comedy
Serial Killer Romance
Morally Gray MCs
Murder & Mayhem
Dark Humor
Friends to Lovers
Slow-Burn Romance
Dual POV
He Falls First
18+ Romance

📚 Top Enchantments (Tropes):

Serial Killer × Serial Killer
Friends to Lovers
Golden Retriever × Black Cat
He Falls First
Touch Her and Die
Touch Him and Die
Forced Proximity
One Bed
Morally Gray Couple
Annual Competition
Mutual Obsession
Found Your Person

Those core tropes, golden retriever × black cat, he falls first, touch him/her and die, friends to lovers, forced proximity, and one bed, are specifically listed by the publisher. 

🔥 Spice Level: 4 / 5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Explicit/open door. There are multiple detailed sex scenes and kink elements, but the book still has a substantial murder-romcom plot rather than functioning primarily as erotica. 

⚠️ Content Note: This one needs the check-the-trigger-warnings-first label. The darker material includes graphic murder, blood and gore, torture, body horror, stalking, cannibalism, vomiting, and explicit sexual content, among other potentially sensitive themes. 

📖 Series Note: Book 1 of The Ruinous Love Trilogy, followed by Leather & Lark and Scythe & Sparrow.