Review--Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

 

The viral friends-to-lovers dark romantic comedy full of murder, chaos, and sizzling chemistry―unlike anything you’ve read before―now available in all bookstores

When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, they find something elusive―the friendship of two like-minded, pitch-black souls who just happen to enjoy killing other serial killers.

From small-town West Virginia to upscale California, and 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?

I picked up Brynne Weaver's Butcher & Blackbird randomly during a book sale somewhere down the line! It sounded edgy, dark and a little bit funny (from some of the reviews I read) and I am happy to say that all of these things were true! If the series Dexter was a rom-com, it would look something like this!

Rowan and Sloane meet by chance when he finds her locked in a cage in a basement with a serial killer dead on the outside. Turns out, Sloane and Rowan are both serial killer killers. So like Dexter, they decide to kill the truly depraved and evil who manage to stay under the law's radar. I love a good "revenge" styled novel, I think ever since I read The Count of Monte Cristo, I could not get enough of revenge stories! Lol. While the Count played a long game, Rowan and Slone are on a looser schedule.

Apparently, the serial killer killers' circle is pretty well known in the darkest parts, if you know where to look. Rowan has heard of Sloane, The Orb Weaver and Sloane has heard of Rowan, The Butcher. It's at a diner they decide to have their own sort of competition. They'll have a third party give them the name of the next ne'er-do-weller who needs to be taken out and it will become a race to see who can track them down and get the job done. And it becomes an annual thing over the years.

I wasn't really sure what to expect in this one. I was hoping for some bloody good times and we do get that. There was also some of the norm of what you'd expect from a romance novel, the who-falls-first vibe and the who-has-emotional-issues that need to be overcome situation. Both Sloane and Rowan have their dark pasts, it's why they do what they do. So in a sense, this book does have some very dark themes, more than you'd expect from a romance novel. It's not a light and fluffy happy story, that's for sure. But I am sure compared to other "dark romances" that I have not read, this one falls pretty low on that scale. That's just from what I gather over the whispers or this or that book. Honestly, couldn't even give you a title, because they don't hold the same kind of interest for me.

This one, I took a chance on. And oddly enough, it was just about my kind of read! Yes, some of the romance scenes were a little overdone a little too much of the time, but at least it took awhile for Rowan and Sloane to get to that moment with each other. Add in the fact, that the first part of the book spans about 4 years or so, so it took a really long while for any move to be made!

But at its heart, this is a romance story. A romance story for people who are a bit broken inside but come to find love anyway. I love that they worked through difficult issues and overcame their own personal demons as well. There's definitely something to waiting a series out because now I can pick up the next standalone installments of this series the next chance I get! Hoping to find them during the Indie Bookstore Day festivities this weekend, so I will have to turn to the TBR pile in the meantime! Lol.

If you're looking for that book with revenge, dark themes a la Dexter, but also with romance and some vague lightheartedness, Butcher & Blackbird might just be the read for you! It's definitely what you would call a dark romantic comedy and it was far better than I could've imagined and I cannot wait to read the rest of the trilogy!

Overall Rating 4/5 stars