Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver review: Just a little too much going on

If you're in the mood for a steamy book, Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver certainly has its moments. It also has a lot of action happening. Possibly a little too much going on.

There are some books that you need to go into knowing a little of what to expect. Butcher & Blackbird is one of them. Keep in mind that this is supposed to be a comedy. It’s dark romance as well, but it is a comedy. There are a lot of things that happen that make you think “well, that wouldn’t actually happen in real life,” but you can suspend your beliefs.

The problem for me wasn’t the moments that just wouldn’t have happened. There was just too much happening in a short space of time. I would have loved for this book to be pulled out into three books. After all, I saw three distinct storylines that could have been expanded into books.

What is Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver about?

The story follows two serial killers. It’s the first in The Ruinous Trilogy of books, with the other two books set to arrive this year and follow the brothers of one of the serial killers.

Sloane accidentally gets herself locked in a cage while killing a killer. Rowan comes across her and decides to let her out. And so starts their journey toward love. If that’s what you can call two serial killers together. They think they love each other, but do psychopaths have the ability to love?

They decide to set up a competition. Each year, they will go after the same killer out there in the world and the first one to kill the person wins. Of course, there are some steamy moments as it goes on. Don’t skip over that trigger list because yes, everything is included!

Too much in a short space of time

The story was fun. Yes, I had to suspend belief at times, but it was a great journey and I enjoyed seeing some of the vulnerabilities of Sloane and Rowen. I felt Sloane was a little more fleshed out than Rowan, but I enjoyed learning about both of them.

My issue was just how much was going on. I feel like some of the build up with the competition was cut short. There could have been more time spent in between the years of the competitions. I would have loved to really understand why Rowan and Sloane were so connected to each other so quickly. We were just forced into accepting them.

There were three distinct events that happened. I won’t describe what they were to avoid spoilers, but there were three specific storylines that connected to the pasts of the two leads or were part of the competition that could have been expanded on. This would allowed for three books just on these two serial killers alone. It felt like Weaver knew she wanted the next book to be about two different characters that she rushed to fit everything into one book, and it just felt a little lacking.

I want more of Sloane and Rowan. I want to learn more about them in the year between meeting each other and that first competition. Give me a reason to actually root for the two of them to be together in the end.

Stars: 3 out of 5.

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver is now available on Amazon. Get it with free shipping with Amazon Prime.