Super spicy and I cannot WAIT for the next in the series. The Alpha Male every female character wants and a woman who isn't after his money. It was delicious in all the right ways.

This book follows a young woman discovering what she wants and what she finds important in her life after her husband cheats on her. While she’s working at a normal job again, trying to make ends meet this devilish man come in and she has a night she can’t forget. Before she knows it. She’s in a relationship. She can’t deny. I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

The book was good. I just didn't think the narrators voice matched the male on the cover. It just didn't work for me. But like I said the book was good and I enjoy the story.

Dear FBI man in my phone, please ignore the words I’m about to say. It’s just a book, please don’t take me seriously lol.
But I wanted more stalking. I wanted more butchering. I wanted more “I run this city and will make everyone remember that”
All she did was talk to her ex or about her ex and I wanted to explode. “Oh we’ve only been split up for a month” OKAY WE GET IT.
The smut was great don’t get me wrong. I just wanted more.

Also the female narrators male French accent hurt me deeply 😂 I love her voice but definitely should have tested her French accent before recording.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts are my own and are in no way influenced by early access to this title.

the narration on this was incredible. i loved the pacing and the story. not a big fan of where the story ended, it felt a little abrupt but overall, i will be reading more from penelope sky!

This was a fantastic read!!

Fluer is getting divorced. Her husband cheated and she just can’t work through that. In the meantime, she meets Bastien at work and they start to have a thing. Yeah this is where the 🌶️🌶️🌶️ starts to happen 😉. He’s determine stop make her his. So we shall see how far he gets!

This book was absolutely amazing! I’ve been wanting to read it for a while and it did not disappoint. The story line was good and the spice was spicing!

This is a start of a series where Fleur finds out her husband is cheating on her and she is done over wants a divorce and he wont leave her alone showing up to the apartment she started renting waiting inside for her... can you say creep? While shes working on night a talk dark man comes in and she has a 1 night stand which turns into more.

This was more smut then plot. It just based around them hooking up and fighting with her Ex. I will read book 2 cause I dont think Bastien (the new man) really showed his work and the "dark" of the series.

Thank you Netgalley for this Audio Arce in exchange for my honest thoughts.

The Butcher by Penelope Sky will capture and retain your interest from the very first chapter. The story's scary, engrossing blend of danger, obsession, and twisted romance kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. The Butcher maintains his likeability while being an antihero. Power struggles, vulnerability, and unexpected sympathy are all part of the strained relationship between him and the heroine. It was a great story. The voice performers brought the characters to life by sensitively expressing every emotion, peril, and scalding moment. I can't wait to start reading the next book in this series.

🎧 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 🎧

✽ 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀: Michael Ferraiuolo; Ramona Master

You’ll love this book if you like these tropes…♡

ꕤ 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀 ꕤ

❥ Dark Romance
✿ Underworld Secret Society
❥ Obsessive MMC
✿ My Woman
❥ Touch Her & Die Vibes
✿ Parisian Setting
❥ Organised Crime
✿ He Falls First
❥ Kink (Begging, Spanking)
✿ Unliving, Violence
❥ One Night Stand
✿ Jealous MMC
❥ Mafia Romance
✿ Alphahole
❥ MMC Billionaire

I have been a big fan of Penelope Sky for some time now, but it has been a while since I picked up one of her books so when I saw that The Butcher was up for early reviews on NetGalley I had to sign up for a copy and oh my god, I was not disappointed. This book. This freaking book had me bent out of shape. It had my head spinning a million miles an hour and had me on the edge of my seat.

Fluer was a bartender and recently found out that her husband of three years had been cheating on her. She was heartbroken. She thought everything was fine but behind her back, he was cheating like he meant nothing to her. Her whole life was a life and it would appear he didn’t know her husband as well as she thought she did. He wasn’t about to make it easy for her now she left him but she was determined to move on find someone new and be with someone who valued her. One day while at her job, she meets this extremely hot man Bastien sparks fly and she shouldn’t seem to escape him and ends up having a one-night stand. But she was the one that made it clear that she wanted it to be no strings attached…. But one taste of the beautiful Fluer and he was completely hooked, addicted and he needed to make her his. Bastien was a gift from god.



This book swept me off my feet, made me swoon and had me fanning myself all the through. I was addicted from beginning to end. I highly recommend giving this a read. You won’t be disappointed!

FOUR STARS
✰✰✰✰

I enjoyed parts of this book but did not enjoy how much time the heroines soon to be ex husband was in the plot. This was an instalust romance with a mafia twist. I don’t think I will continue with the series but I can see how others will like it. The hero and heroine were written well, I liked their romance.

I was so excited to see I got approved for this ALC this book has been on my tbr forever. This book is shorter than expected but I loved Bastian and Fleurs story so far and can’t wait to read the next book!

Maria romances are some of my favs and being that this is in Paris was so cool to me.

Penelope Sky has done it again. I am a sucker for a good mafia style romance. This one was well written and the narrators did a fantastic job keeping my attention. This was a first for me with Michael Ferraiuolo and Stacy Gonzalez, and I cant wait to check out more of their work. This one does leave you on a little cliffy, so if that isnt your vibe, maybe wait until the next book is out to start this one, Thank you so much to Netgalley and Dreamscape medis for the ALC!

A quick spicy read with dual narration to help bring the characters more fully to life! Set in Paris and slightly in the dark underworld of mafia type activities is a quick spicy romance. I wouldn't categorize this as a dark romance as other than some spanking it doesn't really reach dark levels, but it is a ton of spice held together with a bit of plot that is packed full of information and intrigue. She's recovering from a cheating ex and he's a sworn single, but together they are explosive. It was a fun, entertaining spicy listen and I am always up for a good audiobook. This is the first in the series so don't miss it as it definitely lays the foundation for whatever may come in the future books. I am definitely intrigued to see where the story goes and of course to enjoy more spice!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review. I came for the smut and it was delivered. I think she kept talking about her ex way too much for my liking though.

Fans of the dark romance genre may get what they’re looking-for: a quickly paced, spicy read . Readers of other genres may respond differently. Both the male and female audiobook readers did what they could with vaguely sketched characters (the heroine is a cipher, rarely thinking or discussing her past until halfway through the book), and the hero refers to having noble blood in an early chapter. Aristocratic family connections still mean something in French society even in the current century. If he’s from the upper classes, it would have been interesting to know a bit more about this early on -- a few more hints about why he became a crime boss instead of attending a “grande ecole”, or prestigious university, for example. The French upper class is still conservative enough that it would snub someone inked with as many tattoos as Bastien -- if that’s meant to indicate his renunciation of his aristocratic background, then that is good character development. However, the romance/relationship lacked depth without more female character development. Lots of sexual interaction, little indication of what kept them interested in each other beyond basic empathy and lots of admiration of their respective physical characteristics. There’s such a heavy emphasis on looks instead of attention to other personal qualities that it seemed likely that the fire would burn out before I got halfway through the book.
The story is set in Paris but there’s little sense of city or cultural atmosphere beyond names of streets and neighborhoods, which affected the sense of escapism. I did wonder why characters in the bar where Fleur works ordered drinks like an Old Fashioned and a Vodka Cranberry -- and it wasn’t a tourist bar in a touristy neighborhood. It would have strengthened the sense of a Parisian setting if the customers ordered drinks with French names. Both main characters are Parisian, but the audiobook readers do not use French accents for them; this didn’t bother me, as I think that both were good performers. At first, some of the American-style phrasing and colloquialisms made me wonder if the book was a translation (this is my first time reading Penelope Sky). When Fleur and her cheating, art thief husband see a marriage counselor, she is named Linda! Not to say that there aren’t any Lindas living in France, but the name was an unexpected choice.
Romance readers should be able to enjoy love scenes without harsh judgment of their reading choices. That said, the first two sex scenes seemed oddly lacking in female-centered pleasure. There’s a lot of attention paid to the size of Bastien’s member, his physical strength, and (SPOILER/trigger warning) his choking the heroine at least twice without asking her consent either time. This type of roughness may disturb some readers. As their relationship continues, the couple later touch each other more tenderly. Again, I’m not that familiar with the genre so perhaps this progression is common.

The crime story elements, surprisingly, didn’t seem to shape the plot as much as expected. The framework of an underground world is present. It is intriguing that Bastien warns the instigator of a failed robbery of the bar where Fleur works about frightening a woman in her workplace! It’s always enjoyable to read novels with alpha heroes that actively oppose misogyny and common sexism. It made me wish that the novel contained more dialogue and story elements related to that. It’s an angle that the author could have had fun exploring.
Other reviewers have mentioned the cliffhanger ending; not surprising in a series, and readers that feel invested in the couple’s fate may enjoy this short novel.

The Butcher by Penelope Sky

📖 - 4.5 ⭐
🎙️ - 4.5 ⭐
🌶️ - 3.5 🔥

Format: Audiobook - Dual Style
Narrators: Stacy Gonzalez and Michael Ferraiuolo
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Non Spoiler Review:
This is book one in the Fifth Republic series and ends on a cliff hanger (not a bad one) but Fleur and Sebastian’s story is only just beginning. I swear, I am in some kind of cliffhanger purgatory. The last few books I've finished have all ended with some sort of cliffhanger BUT it's my fault... and most of the time I am aware, however I did not know this series was a continuation with the same couple (again, my fault). That being said, I really enjoyed this book, and this was such a good audiobook. Both narrators were new to me, but I enjoyed listening to them very much and I was entertained from start to finish.

Fleur’s husband of three years cheated on her with his secretary - this is NOT a spoiler. Being a powerful and wealthy man, he blocks the attempts and tries to win her back. During this time, she meets Sebastian. And holy Jeez-Zus, he is the perfect man to get over her POS husband.
Gorgeous. Powerful. Dangerous. Fleur wants to keep things casual with a sex only arrangement- no serious relationships, but soon Sebastian demands more and wants her for himself (insert swoon). Personal experiences had me losing myself to this story. I felt like I could relate to Fleur and her thought process. The way she would be fine one moment then depressed. The story and experiences felt very real to me, and I can appreciate that in a audiobook.

Thank you, Dreamscape Media and Net Galley for the ALC!

Perfect for a palette cleanser.

This bad boy is short and smutty! So if you are looking for a good smutty read to cleanse that palette then look no further!!!
Now don’t go into this looking for a plot cause yea no there isn’t one of them 😂😂 but I mean it was good for what it was…

I do have to add that anytime the MMC comments about how big his…. is it gives me the ick and then one did that so he lost a little brownie points there… but other than that he did what he needed to 😂😂😏 iykyk!

I gave this one 3 stars because I do enjoy a smutty read but I also need a little plot mixed in as well…

This book was just OK for me. It felt repetitive for the first few chapters, but progressively got more interesting. I listened to the audiobook and these narrators were not my favorite. The wording of some of the more intimate scenes felt a little silly (“forklift of a d***”, “a d*** that could support an Olympic medal around its base”,”invade my lands like they’d never been claimed by anyone else” ) I am curious to find out what happens in the rest of this series, but I don’t feel that urgency of not being able to wait to read the next book. Penelope Sky is a new author for me and I will be seeking out more of her work and adding the rest of this series to my TBR.
Thank you so much NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to listen to an ARC copy of this book.

I wanted to love this but I am beginning to think maybe this author's writing just isn't for me. I am not even sure why this is called The Butcher. Maybe that will take place in another book. I think a better title for this would the The Rebound.

Fleur (I listened to audio so hopefully I spelled the name right) is recently divorced, scraping by on a pitiful bartender salary after living the high life with her husband Adrien. She is trying to file for divorce after she was informed of Adrien's infidelity but he is refusing to let that happen.

Bastian just happens to visit the bar Fleur works at. Sparks fly. They hook up. Many times. That's the plot. Fleur insists she doesn't want anything serious since she's trying to get divorced. There is a plot here, buried beneath it all, some family drama with Bastian. Bastian leads an organization called Fifth Republic, which sounds like an unofficial government that polices things like human trafficking. If this was focused on more, I might have enjoyed the book but the focus was really on Fleur and Bastian's hook ups.

I might end up reading the next book to see if the trafficking plot is picked up. Penelope Sky is one of those authors where I love her plot ideas, I just haven't enjoyed the execution.