ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED AND IN LOVE WITH BUTCHER & BLACKBIRD BY BRYNNE WEAVER! Like, let me just get that out of the way. Yes, 100% absolutely recommend this book, especially for fans of the Mindf*ck series. I wasn’t sure how this would be a serial killer dark romcom but it absolutely was and I think that might be my new favorite genre.
The spice? Fantastic. Love it. Amazing. Hot. Great. A million other adjectives. It was great and actually broke the boring mold of other dark romances that say spice and think that just means a bit of strangling. This went harder and I mean, considering it is a romance between two serial killers, it had to.
The romance? Perfect, perfect, perfect. It unfurls slowly and over time. Yes, it is a matter of telling us time has passed but it wouldn’t work to show four years of time passing. That would break the tension and turn into a procedural crime novel instead of romcom. We see instalust but have the pleasure of watching that turn into friendship turn into like turn into love. It is built step by step instead of just throwing characters and readers into an unrealistic romance. There’s respect, healthy boundaries, and tough conversations. It is actually one of the healthiest dark romances I’ve read in a while, which is wild considering again, serial killers in love.
Now, my favorite part – the characters! Rowan is absolutely the epitome of golden retriever energy. He is so wonderful and fun and the brevity he brings is refreshing. Yes, Rowan has a darkness in him, of course he does. But it isn’t his sole defining feature or flaw. Sloan is exactly as she calls herself, a skittish blackbird. We get hints of the horror she’s endured in her past, of what molded her into the killer, and woman, she is.
Meeting Rowan brings her to a crossroad where Sloan has to decide if she is going to keep shying away in fear from anything real or stand still enough to test the waters. He falls first and falls hard but recognizes Sloan isn’t there yet, may never be there, and doesn’t burden her with his feelings and wants. Rowan has a life outside of Sloan, outside of murder. He has a family, friends, a business. Sloan has a career, a best friend, a cat. They aren’t simply murder and lust but well-rounded characters.
I 100% recommend Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver for anyone interested in dark romance and cannot WAIT for the other two books in the series.
