A dark romantic comedy between a golden retriever serial killer and a black cat good girl.

All Wes wants is to make sure his brother stays safe while they carry out their dark hobby: eliminating the worst men alive—something they started doing after their family’s murder a decade ago.

He also bakes a killer award-winning apple pie.

Done with her family’s criminal enterprise and her marriage to a husband who hates her, all Callie needs is the divorce papers signed and her late mother’s emerald ring returned. When her soon-to-be ex vanishes instead, she does the only logical thing—hires another criminal to help find him.

But Callie chickens out before meeting Wes in person…and then panic follows him to his isolated Maine cabin. In her defense, she didn’t consider that she might find herself drugged and zip-tied in front of a warm, cozy fire facing a gorgeous, tattooed, masked man offering her hot chocolate.

Wes is used to scaring women away. So when he agrees to help Callie find her husband, he’s sure she’ll keep him at a distance. But when danger closes in and Wes’s protective instincts turn obsessive, Callie finds herself falling for a man she should probably, definitely stay away from. Can Callie choose love without losing herself? And can Wes accept that loving her might mean letting her go?

TROPES:

• Dark romcom

• Masked stalker romance

• Black cat x golden retriever

• Morally gray MMC

• Touch her and die

• Serial killer romance

• Forced proximity

CONTENT/ TRIGGER WARNINGS:

• Poison pies / poisoning

• Restraint by zip ties

• Restraint by ropes

• Stalking

• On page murder (of bad guys)

• Stabbing

• Outrageous male entitlement

• Explicit consensual sexual content

• Murder of MMC’s parents and teenage sister (off-page, in the past)

• Kidnapping

• On page sexual assault (not by or between MCs, from a distance, and the guy dies right after)

• Off page sexual assault (mentioned briefly, not by or between MCs, no details, and the guy dies shortly after)

• Spousal gaslighting, physical, and emotional abuse (not between or by the MCs)

• Divorce

• Swearing