Love and Other Killers is a short adult story by Brynne Weaver, published in English by Amazon Original Stories. It returns to Sloane and her murderous family for an annual hunt. Choose it when you want a concentrated visit to this fictional world; start with Butcher & Blackbird when your priority is discovering how its central relationships begin. The Brazilian publisher describes the story as readable independently and as a bridge between two trilogies. Those are compatible invitations, but they serve different readers.
The English title also appears as Love & Other Killers, especially in the audiobook listing. Neither spelling identifies another novel. In Brazilian Portuguese, the verified published title is O amor e outras formas de matar. A French edition retains Love and Other Killers. Matching the author, language and format will do more to identify the correct item than matching the word “Love” on a cover.
This is a discovery guide based on publisher records and the author’s public information, rather than a review claiming a complete reading. It separates the advertised premise from suggested reading routes. In particular, the short format, the familial setting and the connection to a larger world should shape your expectations before a catchy title does.
The book behind the title
The Amazon Original Stories entry on NetGalley identifies Weaver as the author, gives an English publication date of August 12, 2025, and records the ebook ISBN 9781662535895. It categorizes the work as adult fiction, short fiction and romance. That makes this a novella or short story to distinguish from a full-length fourth Ruinous Love novel.
The difference matters if you arrive from a recommendation list that simply puts every related title in one column. Three novels and a brief return visit are different commitments. A novella can focus attention on a particular outing without repeating the introductions, courtship and extensive development a new novel might offer. That is a reason to choose the format, provided that concentrated visit is what you want.
Likewise, a short work can be complete in its own terms while deriving extra pleasure from people you already know. “Can I understand the immediate situation?” and “Will I recognize why these people together are entertaining?” are separate questions. The first concerns accessibility; the second concerns accumulated attachment. Readers do not need to answer both the same way.
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What the hunt promises
The publisher’s premise follows Sloane and a family of vigilante serial killers pursuing Allan Munster, a churchgoing chicken farmer who is also a killer. The hunters divide into teams and compete. An additional possibility complicates their confidence: somebody may be watching them. Those are the advertised starting conditions, without revealing who that observer might be or what happens to the target.
Two features distinguish this from a conventional detective setup. The protagonists undertake the hunt themselves, rather than assisting an investigation governed by legal institutions. They also turn their pursuit into a family competition. If you want procedural evidence handling or an investigator struggling to bring a suspect to court, that is a different reading request from the one this description answers.
The family element changes the attraction of the premise. The interesting question becomes how an established group conducts a dangerous shared activity: cooperation alongside rivalry, familiar people comparing methods, and private loyalties operating inside a contest. Those are possibilities created by the setup, not a report of individual scenes. They explain why existing readers may be drawn to a group return even without the promise of another courtship.
The watcher adds a second direction to the tension. The group’s attention is concentrated on its chosen target, while the description invites readers to consider who is noticing the hunters. If that reversal appeals to you, the suspense may be part of the draw alongside the reunion. It does not establish a particular twist, villain identity or ending, and none is needed to make the initial decision.
Independent reading or a return after the trilogy?
In the publisher description supplied by Arqueiro to Apple Books, O amor e outras formas de matar can be read independently and connects the end of the Morrendo de Amor trilogy with the beginning of Temporadas de Massacre. That is stronger evidence for its intended function than an unofficial decimal number attached to the title.
For someone who already knows the three Ruinous Love couples, the natural route is to finish Scythe & Sparrow and then consider this short return. That recommendation protects the experience of discovering the couples in their novels. It does not assert that every page of the novella contains spoilers or that a new reader will be unable to follow the hunt.
For a newcomer, independent reading is a genuine publisher-supported option. It may suit you if you prefer a small commitment before trying a longer series and are comfortable meeting a social circle after it has formed. The tradeoff is meeting characters in a group context before you know the relationship story that made them familiar to returning readers.
If romantic development is your chief reason for reading, beginning with the first novel gives you the clearer promise. If the immediate appeal is the outrageous family activity, the shorter work offers another entry. A good choice depends on whether you want to watch attachment develop or spend a brief time around an attachment whose history you have not yet explored.
The three novels provide different relationship foundations
The publisher’s Ruinous Love trilogy description names the core novels in order: Butcher & Blackbird, Leather & Lark, and Scythe & Sparrow. It also identifies their central pairs. This establishes what “after the trilogy” means without treating the novella as a replacement for one of those books.
Butcher & Blackbird centres Sloane and Rowan, whose encounter leads to a murderous competition. It is the most direct background route for a reader attracted to Sloane’s name in the novella description. The separate Butcher & Blackbird guide explores that initial relationship. Here, its relevance is orientation: you can meet Sloane in her own principal story before joining the later group outing.
Leather & Lark follows Lark, an indie singer-songwriter, and contract killer Lachlan through a fake marriage. A formal arrangement between reluctant partners provides a different romantic starting point from recognizing somebody through a shared competition. Reading it adds another couple’s history to the group. It is less useful to describe it merely as more of the same, because the bargain is part of what makes its relationship distinct.
Scythe & Sparrow pairs circus performer Rose with small-town doctor Fionn, who treats her injuries. That caregiving premise supplies another contrast: care, proximity and an injured person’s circumstances rather than a marriage bargain. The title’s position as the third main novel explains why readers interested in preserving first introductions might reach for it before the novella.
These differences are also a way to assess your expectations. You may chiefly want Sloane and Rowan, enjoy the wider collection of couples, or prefer one particular romantic mechanism. The short family hunt should not be assumed to supply a fresh, equally developed version of all three. Read the novels for those individual foundations; investigate the novella for what attracts you about seeing an established circle together.
A bridge toward Tourist Season
The author’s official biography distinguishes Ruinous Love from the Seasons of Carnage series, which began with Tourist Season. Arqueiro’s bridge description places the novella between those two reading worlds. That makes it useful to know the next series’ actual premise, instead of assuming it is simply another numbered Ruinous Love romance.
Hachette’s Tourist Season page introduces Harper Starling, a gardener protecting Cape Carnage, and Nolan Rhodes, who initially has Harper among his revenge targets. An amateur true-crime investigator’s arrival leads to an uneasy truce. The publisher frames their relationship as enemies to lovers within dark romantic comedy and suspense.
The distinction is between a family’s competitive outing and an antagonistic partnership connected to protecting a town. A bridge can help you move between fictional contexts without making the two stories identical in scale or relationship structure. If you are most interested in discovering a new pair and setting, Tourist Season deserves consideration on its own advertised terms.
You do not need to turn every related story into compulsory preparation. One reader may enjoy the novella as a farewell visit before a new series; another may move directly to Harper and Nolan and return later. The source supports a connection, not a requirement that you complete an exhaustive checklist. Let the relationship question you want next determine which door you open.
English, Portuguese and French editions
For the English ebook, the useful identifiers are Brynne Weaver, Amazon Original Stories, the August 2025 publication record and ISBN 9781662535895. The separate audiobook record uses Love & Other Killers, lists Brilliance Publishing and credits Samantha Brentmoor and Eric Nolan as narrators. It records an unabridged audiobook with ISBN 9781511379410. An ampersand therefore should not be mistaken for evidence of a sequel.
For Brazilian Portuguese, look for O amor e outras formas de matar, subtitled Um conto da Trilogia Morrendo de Amor, from Arqueiro. Its publisher-supplied Apple Books record gives June 5, 2026, and identifies the language as Portuguese. This is an actual localized edition name, rather than a translation invented for this guide. It is particularly helpful if an English recommendation sent you searching in a Brazilian catalog.
The French Verso record on Apple Books keeps the English title and identifies the language as French, with October 17, 2025, as the edition’s release date. Its subtitle is Nouvelle inédite gratuite. Treat that wording as part of the edition record; confirm the current offer in your own store before relying on a price or access condition.
These records also show why page totals are poor identity checks for digital editions. The English review listing and French and Portuguese retail records display different lengths. Translation, packaging and reading-system conventions make a single universal page count unhelpful. Compare language, author, publisher and format together. This guide does not certify Spanish, Italian or German editions, and retaining the original title does not mean a translation is unavailable.
Short fiction, audio and the experience you want
Choose text if you enjoy pausing to orient yourself among names or returning to an earlier exchange. Choose audio if a narrated return to familiar characters is your main pleasure, after trying the correct edition’s sample. The named narrators establish who performs the English recording; their credits alone do not establish how every character is voiced or whether the production matches a different book you have heard.
The short format is especially relevant to your expectations of romance. A reader seeking an entire new couple’s introduction, obstacles and development should inspect the premise carefully: the published invitation emphasizes a family hunt. Someone seeking an additional outing may consider that concentration an advantage. Brevity is not an objective measure of either emotional impact or value, but it does change what you are choosing.
Avoid interpreting a brief story as a gentle story. The publisher foregrounds serial killing, competitive violence and adult romance. On the other hand, do not import a detailed list of acts from another Weaver title. The author’s content-warning page has individual entries, and the version checked did not have a dedicated entry for this novella. That gap cannot establish what the novella contains or excludes.
For a particular boundary, inspect this edition’s front matter or request information about this title specifically. Keeping that question narrow is useful: material involving animals, for example, is a different question from general violence, even when a farmer appears in the synopsis. The advertised occupation does not answer how any animal is treated in the story. Knowing precisely what you need confirmed protects both your reading experience and your freedom to avoid broader spoilers.
Love Antidote is a different short story
If a search for Weaver’s short fiction brings up Love Antidote, do not treat it as a renamed edition of this novella. Brilliance Publishing’s own record identifies a separate work published September 15, 2026. Its premise concerns assassin and pastry chef Isla Castillon, who accidentally poisons fellow contract killer Mateo Rocha and saves him before they agree to pursue a target together. The shared author and compact format do not make the stories interchangeable.
That comparison supplies a useful choice rather than another title to collect. Love and Other Killers advertises Sloane’s family activity and competitive teams; Love Antidote advertises an encounter between two hired killers and their subsequent cooperation. The former is the clearer lead for somebody seeking a return to the Ruinous Love circle. The latter warrants investigation if you want a different named pair whose initial connection is part of the advertised action.
Even narrator credits can partly overlap: the publisher lists Samantha Brentmoor with Robert Hatchet for Love Antidote. Check both the title and the other credits before choosing a recording. This distinction is particularly useful when a retailer recommends several short works together or a search result foregrounds the author more prominently than the synopsis. It lets you select the premise you meant to select without guessing from duration or cover style.
Choosing your next step
If you have completed the trilogy and miss its social world, this is the most straightforward reason to investigate Love and Other Killers. If you are new and want relationship foundations, begin with Butcher & Blackbird. If your main interest is the new hostile alliance in Cape Carnage, compare Tourist Season directly rather than treating the short story as an entrance fee.
Readers who want to leave this world while preserving some of its appeal can use the separate books like Butcher & Blackbird guide. It compares other reading routes by humour, danger and relationship structure. That is a different decision from identifying this particular novella. Mixing the two searches can leave you with a long list while still not knowing which edition you were trying to find.
For a broader change of author or atmosphere, browse Alisson Bento’s romance catalog. Its standalone books are separate choices, with their own premises; a criminal setting alone does not promise Weaver’s comic tone. Keep the feature you actually want—group familiarity, a new courtship, a short commitment or a different source of suspense—at the centre of the decision, and the correct next book becomes easier to recognize.
