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Best of · Serial killer romance

Serial killer romance booksHeroes who kill, and sometimes heroines who help, ranked

Here the body count is part of the courtship. Sometimes he kills. Sometimes she does. Sometimes they make a game of it. The tone swings hard, from gallows-humour romps to books that read like true crime, so the darkness score matters more on this shelf than anywhere else.

If you want the mask on as well, the masked killer list is the closer fit.

How this list works: these are the 12 most-rated books on Goodreads among our library's serial killer romance shelf, scored dark (3 of 5) or darker, with a cap per author and series so one name does not take over. Spice and darkness are our scores out of 5. Every blurb sticks to what our book pages say.

The serial killer romance books, ranked

  1. 1.Butcher & Blackbird

    Brynne Weaver

    Spice 4/5 · Darkness 4/5 · Trigger warnings

    Serial killer romance with stalker romance, morally grey heroes and dark romcom on top. Explicit spice, darkness 4 of 5 (pitch): bleak on purpose. Comfort is not the job. Book 1 of The Ruinous Love Trilogy. Ends on an HEA. Graphic on the page: breath play, sexual assault and gore. The most-rated book on this list.

  2. 2.The Risk

    S.T. Abby

    Spice 3/5 · Darkness 4/5 · Trigger warnings

    Also on the shelf as romantic suspense and revenge romance. Darkness 4 of 5 (pitch), spice 3 of 5 (hot). Book 1 of Mindf*ck. Shelf-level flags, not yet verified for this book: graphic torture, sexual assault and gore.

  3. 3.Tourist Season

    Brynne Weaver

    Spice 4/5 · Darkness 4/5 · Trigger warnings

    Serial killer romance with stalker romance, morally grey heroes and dark romcom on top. Spice: explicit. Darkness: pitch. Book 1 of The Seasons of Carnage Trilogy. Shelf-level flags, not yet verified for this book: graphic torture, sexual assault and gore.

  4. 4.Love & Other Killers

    Brynne Weaver

    Spice 4/5 · Darkness 4/5 · Trigger warnings

    Also on the shelf as stalker romance, morally grey heroes and dark romcom. Explicit spice, darkness 4 of 5 (pitch): bleak on purpose. Comfort is not the job. A standalone. Shelf-level flags, not yet verified for this book: graphic gore.

  5. 5.Sick Fux

    Tillie Cole

    Spice 4/5 · Darkness 5/5 · Trigger warnings

    Serial killer romance with motorcycle club romance, captive romance and morally grey heroes on top. Darkness 5 of 5 (no light), spice 4 of 5 (explicit). Graphic on the page: torture, knife play and sexual assault.

  6. 6.Empathy

    Ker Dukey

    Spice 4/5 · Darkness 5/5 · Trigger warnings

    Also on the shelf as captive romance, gothic romance and morally grey heroes. Spice: explicit. Darkness: no light. Book 1 of Empathy. Shelf-level flags, not yet verified for this book: moderate violence, captivity and murder.

  7. 7.Butcher of the Bay

    J. Bree

    Spice 3/5 · Darkness 3/5 · Trigger warnings

    Serial killer romance with why choose / reverse harem, mafia dark romance and bully romance on top. Hot spice, darkness 3 of 5 (dark): harm is part of the romance, not a footnote. Book 1 of Mounts Bay Saga. Shelf-level flags, not yet verified for this book: moderate violence and bullying.

  8. 8.Pretty Lost Dolls

    Ker Dukey

    Spice 4/5 · Darkness 5/5 · Trigger warnings

    Also on the shelf as captive romance, gothic romance and morally grey heroes. Darkness 5 of 5 (no light), spice 4 of 5 (explicit). Book 2 of Pretty Little Dolls. Shelf-level flags, not yet verified for this book: moderate violence, captivity and murder.

  9. 9.Share Me

    Ker Dukey

    Spice 4/5 · Darkness 5/5 · Trigger warnings

    Serial killer romance with captive romance, gothic romance and morally grey heroes on top. Spice: explicit. Darkness: no light. A standalone. Shelf-level flags, not yet verified for this book: moderate violence, captivity and murder.

  10. 10.Butcher

    Celia Aaron

    Spice 4/5 · Darkness 4/5 · Trigger warnings

    Also on the shelf as captive romance, mafia dark romance and possessive heroes. Explicit spice, darkness 4 of 5 (pitch): bleak on purpose. Comfort is not the job. Book 3 of Dark Protector. Shelf-level flags, not yet verified for this book: graphic dubious consent.

  11. 11.Black Sheep

    Skye Warren

    Spice 4/5 · Darkness 4/5 · Trigger warnings

    Serial killer romance with stalker romance, morally grey heroes and dark romcom on top. Darkness 4 of 5 (pitch), spice 4 of 5 (explicit). A standalone. Shelf-level flags, not yet verified for this book: graphic gore.

  12. 12.A History of Violence

    Mallory Fox

    Spice 4/5 · Darkness 4/5 · Trigger warnings

    Also on the shelf as why choose / reverse harem, bully romance and enemies to lovers. Spice: explicit. Darkness: pitch. Shelf-level flags, not yet verified for this book: moderate murder, violence and bullying.

More serial killer romance books

Read the warnings first

Every pick links to its own warning page, and the trigger warnings A to Z explains every flag we use. Browse the whole serial killer romance shelf for everything we have tagged, or filter the library by spice and darkness.

Questions readers actually ask

What is the best serial killer romance book?

On this list Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver comes first: it is the most-rated serial killer romance book in our library, at spice 4/5 and darkness 4/5. The Risk and Tourist Season come next.

What is the spiciest serial killer romance book here?

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver, at spice 4/5 (explicit). Tourist Season and Love & Other Killers sit at the same level.

Is there a less dark serial killer romance book?

Butcher of the Bay by J. Bree is the lightest here at darkness 3/5 (dark): harm is part of the romance, not a footnote.

Do these serial killer romance books have trigger warnings?

Yes. 7 of the 12 carry at least one graphic-level flag on their book pages, most often gore and sexual assault. Every pick links to its own warning page, which says whether the flags are verified from the author's notes or still shelf-level. Check the author's own list as well.

How is this list ranked?

By how many readers have rated each book on Goodreads, among the books in our library tagged serial killer romance. We cap how many books one author or series gets so the list is not one name. Spice and darkness are our own scores out of 5.

Questions

What is serial killer romance?

Romance where one lead kills, or both do. The love story runs alongside the killing instead of ending it.

What's a good first serial killer romance?

Most readers come in through Brynne Weaver's Butcher & Blackbird. Dark, but funny with it, and 4 of 5 for darkness here.

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