Origin of Butcher & Blackbird
Weaver was inspired by a TikTok creator sharing red and green romance flags, deciding as a creative challenge to combine all the creator's hated dark romance tropes with the friends-to-lovers trope.
B
Brynne Weaver
Brynne Weaver is a Canadian #1 New York Times bestselling author who has been writing since early childhood, completing full-length novels by hand as a teenager. In 2019, she committed to publishing, releasing her first nonfiction work under her real name. In 2021, she published her debut fantasy romance, The Diviner, and has since become known for her Seasons of Carnage trilogy blending dark romantic comedy and thrilling suspense.
Biographical details sourced from Penguin Random House.
On LuvemBooks, we've reviewed 2 of Brynne Weaver's books, including Butcher & Blackbird and Harvest Season.
2
Books ReviewedIn Brynne Weaver's own words
Author Brynne Weaver sits down on Off the Shelf to discuss her path to writing, the origins of Butcher & Blackbird, and her creative process.
Uploaded by Morgann Book and Bookish Media, 2025 · Watch on YouTube
Writing Butcher & Blackbird out of sequence
Weaver wrote the novel completely out of chronological order, jumping from the opening cage scene directly to the Texas chainsaw scene and later knitting disparate chapters together.
Philosophy on Butcher & Blackbird film adaptation
Weaver argues that an adaptation should not merely replicate the novel mechanically, but should allow the director and screenwriters creative freedom to interpret the story in a new medium.
Portraying dementia in fiction
Drawing on personal family experience and her professional background running Alzheimer's clinical trials, Weaver prioritized portraying the full personhood and multifaceted personality of an aging character with dementia.
Testing physical plausibility of scenes
To ensure a complex railing scene was physically feasible, Weaver and her husband rearranged furniture in their house to physically reenact the scene and test the logistics.
Chapters · from Morgann Book and Bookish Media
Introduction
Brynne and Hot Peppers
Archeaology to Neuroscience to Author
How Butcher and Blackbird was born
Sloane and Rowan
The Power of #BookTok
Butcher & Blackbird
4.3/5
reader rating · 76,754 ratingsButcher & Blackbird is the first book in Brynne Weaver's Ruinous Love Trilogy, a dark romantic comedy following rival serial killers Sloane and Rowan, whose chance encounter blossoms into a blood-soaked friendship — and something far more complicated. A #1 New York Times bestseller and viral sensation, it earns attention for its audacious genre blend of murder, dark humor, and friends-to-lovers tension.
Reviewed Aug 28, 2026
Harvest Season
4.4/5
reader rating · 2,186 ratingsHarvest Season is the instant #1 New York Times bestselling second novel in Brynne Weaver's Seasons of Carnage trilogy, a dark romantic comedy set in the quaint, corpse-riddled town of Cape Carnage, where protagonists Harper and Nolan are pulled deeper into a bloody scheme — and into each other. Published by Slowburn in June 2026, the book blends grumpy-meets-grumpy banter, forced proximity, and murderous intrigue into what Penguin Random House's coverage describes as a romance that readers "can't put down." This review draws on the book's contents and published reception, not hands-on use.
Reviewed Jul 25, 2026
Ask LuvemBooks about Brynne Weaver
Brynne Weaver has carved out a singular niche in dark romantic comedy, pairing serial killers and small-town bloodshed with banter and romance rather than conventional thrills. We've reviewed 2 of their books: Butcher & Blackbird, the #1 New York Times bestseller about rival serial killers Sloane and Rowan whose friendship turns complicated, holds a 4.3/5 reader rating from over 76,000 Amazon ratings, while the sequel Harvest Season sits at 4.4/5. Across both, the pattern is consistent — grumpy-meets-grumpy leads, forced proximity, and humor threaded through genuinely violent premises.
- Where should I start?
- Start with Butcher & Blackbird. It's the first book in the Ruinous Love Trilogy and the title that made Weaver a viral sensation, so it introduces their signature mix of dark humor and romance from the ground up. With a 4.3/5 reader rating from more than 76,000 Amazon ratings, it's also their most widely read and validated book.
- What's their writing style?
- Weaver's style is defined by contrast: genuinely dark subject matter — serial killers, corpse-riddled towns — played against comedy and romance. Their reviewed books lean on grumpy-meets-grumpy banter, forced proximity, and friends-to-lovers tension, so the tone stays playful even when the plot turns bloody. It's an audacious genre blend that treats murder as backdrop for chemistry rather than pure horror.
- Books we've reviewed
- We've reviewed 2 Brynne Weaver books. Butcher & Blackbird (4.3/5 reader rating from 76,754 Amazon ratings) is the Ruinous Love Trilogy opener about rival serial killers Sloane and Rowan. Harvest Season (4.4/5 from 2,186 ratings) is the second Seasons of Carnage novel, pulling Harper and Nolan deeper into a bloody scheme in Cape Carnage.
- How do their books compare?
- Both reviewed books are dark romantic comedies, but they differ in scale and setup. Butcher & Blackbird builds its romance on a rivalry between two serial killers, Sloane and Rowan, and has the far larger readership — over 76,000 Amazon ratings at 4.3/5. Harvest Season, the second Seasons of Carnage book, leans harder into small-town atmosphere with its corpse-riddled Cape Carnage setting and grumpy-meets-grumpy forced proximity between Harper and Nolan, and it holds a slightly higher 4.4/5 reader rating.
- What genre do they write?
- Brynne Weaver writes dark romantic comedy with suspense — romance where murder and mayhem share the page with banter and love stories. Both books we've reviewed are categorized as Romance, though Weaver's bio also notes their 2021 debut, The Diviner, was a fantasy romance. If you like your love stories with a body count, this is the niche.
- What should I read after Butcher & Blackbird?
- The natural next step among the books we've reviewed is Harvest Season, Weaver's instant #1 New York Times bestseller set in Cape Carnage. It trades the serial-killer rivalry for a grumpy-meets-grumpy, forced-proximity setup between Harper and Nolan, but keeps the same dark comedy and suspense blend. Since it's the second Seasons of Carnage novel, it's best enjoyed after that series' opening book.
Who is Brynne Weaver?
Where should I start?
What's their writing style?
Books we've reviewed
How do their books compare?
What genre do they write?
What should I read after Butcher & Blackbird?
Who is Brynne Weaver?
Brynne Weaver is a Canadian #1 New York Times bestselling author who has been writing since early childhood, completing full-length novels by hand as a teenager. After committing to publishing in 2019 — first with a nonfiction work under their real name — they released their debut fantasy romance, The Diviner, in 2021. They're now best known for the Seasons of Carnage trilogy and Butcher & Blackbird, which blend dark romantic comedy with thrilling suspense.
Follow up
What genres does Brynne Weaver write in?
What is Brynne Weaver best known for?
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