Dark Romance AU

Because Canon Sucks

by Beth Christopher

Canon kept them apart. But I turned them into a male escort and a hit man, and gave them a dark romance happy ending.

I was sent to kill him, but I saved his life instead. Now we’re both in danger and we're stuck together until I can find a way out of this mess.

Rowan was supposed to be my mark, but I don’t harm innocents. He may be grumpy and work outside the law, but my gut tells me he’s not actually a bad guy. Me and my stupid morals, though. If I want to help him I have to find out who’s behind this. And if, while I’m helping him, he offers to thank me in a very physical way? That’s just a bonus. Except this overgrown male escort manages to work his way not only under my clothes but under my skin. Once I’ve committed myself to protecting him, stopping feels wrong. And once my heart gets involved, I refuse to let him go.

Dark Romance AU is an MM standalone in the multi-author series Because Cannon Sucks! It is a morally gray MM romance with a Very Large male escort who’s met his match in a mouthy, bratty hit man who he may or may not have shot intentionally. It contains bickering during smexy times, unaliving as a love language, and a bearded dragon named Iggy the Iguana (yes we know bearded dragons aren’t the same as iguanas, but Rowan didn’t at the time and the little guy answers to it now, so what can you do?).

Tags: M/M romance, “you almost f*ckin’ killed me” becomes true love match, male escort Rowan x hit man Milo, beware of hit men wearing lacy boxer briefs, guns, trapped under a dead body, breath play, minor on-page torture, dangerous situations, sex club, pet daddy (as in he has a pet that he loves like a child, not as in—just get your minds out of the gutter, perverts. Or keep it in there if you want, I’m not your momma), male escort/assassin, unaliving, , only one bed, humiliation kink, morally gray, enemies to lovers, loyal dog, he shoots him, forced proximity, he pays with his body, he'll kill for you, protector hero, "I know what's best for you."

An MM standalone novel in the multi-author series: Because Canon Sucks.

Genres: M M Romance, Dark Romance

Kindle Edition

Expected publication July 1, 2026

Reviews

[labibliofille]

Rtc!

[Puppets & Paperbacks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an ARC read

This is part of the Because Canon Sucks series. It’s not necessary to have read Canon or to have read the other stories in the series.

Make sure to check the TW in this story as it is a dark romance and has heavy themes in it. One character was groomed and put into an unhealthy sugar baby situation. There is also murder and lots of 🍆

If you did read Canon you will love the little nods to in here. Remember the pretzels, that makes it here and a few other things as well. It just tickled us!

We’re gonna say we did not see Rowan being the escort coming. We really though that would be Milo, so applaud this author for setting Milo up as the put together hit man. Well done!

We are also babies to the Dark Romance genre and we enjoyed this book a lot. We’re gonna say it’s. Baby dark romance because of the fact we could handle everything in here. The violence didn’t seem too graphic, there was consent and a little degradation talk, but it was wanted by Rowan.

The main story is Rowan is a hidden sugar baby and also an escort? He is now single and finds himself the target for some reason. He meets Milo when Milo breaks into his hotel room and kills his date? Things snowball from there. It becomes figuring out who ordered the hit on Rowan and trying to keep him safe at the same time.

The fun part is them falling in love with each other. There is also some banter and it helps make the dark parts of the romance light. There is 🍆like immediately, I mean, we do see Rowan tied up from the start so where did we think this was gonna go?!

Not sure if it’s a twist, but learning who put the hit on Rowan was fun to learn about and seeing what comes of them was also fun to read.

If you’re new to Dark Romance like we are this would be a good first book for that experience.

[Mikaela (risqué.romance) · Rating 5 out of 5]

‼️SPOILERS‼️

All I’m going to say is if you haven’t read any of Beth’s books, I highly recommend her books. Even thought there are some dark stuff going on, she still manages to make you laugh at some of the shenanigans that happens.

Rowan is an escort and Milo is an assassin and honestly if it wasn’t for Milo’s job, Rowan would probably be ten feet under or something even worse.

I love how immediately the source of income is Rowan’s body because what else could he offer him?

From the moment these two met, the only thought that runs through my head is how stubborn these two are when it comes to their feelings. I mean, what did you think would happen when Milo kept on saving Rowan’s life.

I about laughed when Milo answered PJ about them dating. Rowan internally was like what in the world is happening right now?

When we find out who it was that was trying to kill him, it did and it didn’t surprise me who was after him.

And Iggy - his bearded dragon. I loved him so much. When Milo tried to leave Iggy and Rowan was like not without Iggy. He should have known better. I love that we also got some of the MC’s from the other books she wrote.

As usual, another amazing piece of work has been written by Beth.

I received a copy of this book and this is my honest review.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

**********Contains Spoilers**********

I’m new to Beth Christopher’s work and I’m looking forward to reading more. I enjoyed this book and thought that it was another good addition to the multi-authored Because Canon Sucks Series. This book is based on the short story Canon written by AM Rose for this series. In Canon, Milo and Rowan miss out on their happy ever after, so this series strives to give them one in every other universe. The authors notes during this book just make it a much more enjoyable read.

Rowan is an escort & Milo is a hit, who saves Rowan’s life when one of his clients is trying to kill him, even though Milo is there for the same reason he can just tell that someone is a bit suss with this job, as he has a code that he abides by that he doesn’t harm innocents. Rowan asks Milo to protect hi, while they get to the bottom of who’s after Rowan and I. Rowan bargains the only currency he has, his body. Milo knows that he’s been manipulated by Rowan but it doesn’t take him long to fold and agree to Rowan’s terms but it’s not going to stop him from killing Rowan if he find out that he’s guilty.

Man, Rowan & Milo are totally kidding themselves throughout this book when they pretend they don’t have feelings for each other/can keep things casual, Milo especially. I enjoyed that Milo was the more dominant one in their relationship as in the other AU’s so far Rowan is usually the more dominant, put together, organised one to Milo’s chaos gremlin ways. Even though there wasn’t much guessing involved of who put a hit out on Rowan it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of this book.

Rowan’s emotional support bearded dragon was an added bonus. I enjoyed meeting some of the characters from Beth’s Belle Argo Escorts Series which I haven’t read as yet but I’m definitely going to check it out soon. I’m looking forward to reading more from this series, as well as more books by Beth Christopher in the future. I’d recommend this book, series and author to others.

******I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. I would still happily review this book even if I purchased it myself. My thoughts and feelings about this book are completely unbiased******

[Aleja · Rating 4 out of 5]

MM romance | Dark romance | Hitman x Male Escort | Touch Him and Die | Forced proximity | Mild Degradation | Grumpy/Sunshine | Hurt/Comfort | Size difference | First time kinks | Vers MMCs


Definitivamente este libro fue una sorpresa para bien! En los últimos tomos de esta serie veníamos viendo a Rowan como el grumpy de la relación, ¡pero esta vez lo fue Milo y me encantó! Ese giro de tuerca fue justo lo que necesitaba, y saber que su relación es versátil me gustó aún más.

Creo que lo único que me desagradó un poco fue el hecho de que fuera tan corto 😂; tal vez un poquito más de desarrollo en la relación amorosa entre ambos hubiera sido genial.

En pocas palabras, me gustó muchísimo este libro. Las escenas de "acción" estuvieron bien llevadas, los momentos spicy también y me gustó mucho cómo su relación fue creciendo. Rowan se ganó completamente mi corazón y Milo, sin entender nada de lo que sentía y hacía, también 🤭.

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

This book was definitely a pleasant surprise! In the recent installments of this series, we’ve been seeing Rowan as the grumpy one in the relationship, but this time it was Milo, and I absolutely loved it! That switch was exactly what I needed, and knowing that their relationship is versatile made me love it even more.

I think the only thing that bothered me a little was the fact that it was so short 😂; maybe a bit more development in their romantic relationship would have been great.

In short, I really liked this book. The "action" scenes were well executed, the spicy moments were great too, and I loved watching their relationship grow. Rowan completely won my heart, and Milo—clueless about everything he was feeling and doing—did too 🤭.

[Denny · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC.
I liked the idea of this book, the story arc was questionable.
Milo is sent to kill Rowan, but when the moment comes he won't do it, because he is in a vulnerable position and chained to a bed by a Jon. Ok, I get that Milo can assess situation really fast, otherwise he would not be a good assassin. But would a real assassin not just seize the day and let Rowan be killed and be on his merry way?
I also did not like their dynamic as a dark romance coupling. I read a lot of dark romance, biiiig fan, but this book gave me more of an ick feeling than that of a true dark romance.
Also, I think I knew almost from the beginning that Rowans ex had arranged the assassination, who else should it have been? I mean, yes Rowan has a pimp, but there was no hint, that he serviced any mob or gangsters or corrupt politicians as a sex worker. So as a reader I did not even have anything to wonder about.
Also Rowans history is too unrealistic for me. As a 17 year ild he just becomes the biytoy of a welathy man, his parents do nothing really to get him back and after he leaves his sugar daddy gis only way to survive is to become a hooker? No trying to work in a diner or living on the street,, straight way to life as a sex worker? How? He lived isolated since he was 17 and knows nothing.... just...yeah. Not really something I could imagine or follow.
One thing I liked was, that the more secure and dominant character was Milo, this was different from the other AU versions I read.

[That One Romance Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

*ARC Review* Thank you for the copy!

Intro:
This book is an MM romance between Milo, a hired killer and Rowan, who finds himself in Milo's sights as his target


Tropes/Highlights:
-MM
-Open Door
-Hitman/Target
-Lace Underwear
-Forced Proximity
-Slight Degradation
-Grumpy/Slightly Less Grumpy
-Hurt/Comfort
-HEA


Likes:
-Meet-disaster
-Unconventional roles
-Rowan's pet
-Spicy scenes
-Side Characters
-Banter/humor
-Internal monologue


Quotes:
-"should I be relieved or terrified that the man sent to kill me runs on vibes?"
-"Don't forget I killed a man for you. Those few hours are like, a decade in murder years"
-"I don't bottom often, but if I'm going to cave on my morals, I'm sure as hell riding that rocket into the sunset"
-"This place is a very pretty viper den"
-"I think a little murder would do you good"



I am loving all the different versions of Rowan and Milo's story and I especially love this one because I am a fan of dark romance. I love Rowan's vulnerability and how there is a good plot to the story in addition to the spice. Both of them seem to be grumps, but they are so endearing and are trying their best in a bad situation. I love Beth's take on these two and I am excited to read more of her work as I haven't read any of Beth's books before. If you love books with a morally grey hitman who has little self control pertaining to a shy, inexperienced man discovering new things about himself while out running death, then you will love this book!

[GiveMeBooksOrGiveMeDeath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Killing in the name of… Love?

In this AU Ronan is a young naïve sex worker who gets inadvertently saved by his would be assassin Milo. Ronan desperately just wants to be loved and wanted, but Milo pretends he isn’t interested in his supposed mark. Unfortunately, for him he just can’t resist the big horny puppy that is Ronan and against his better judgment, seems to keep having a lot of feelings toward him no matter how hard he tries not to. Between all the running and hiding and killing of bad guys they both end up falling pretty hard for each other, but Milo is definitely the most reluctant to admit this. However, having copious amounts of hot sex does not seem to make these feelings go away it only confirms what’s happening between them is a lot more than just heat at the moment. Until Ronan met Milo, it was just him and his lizard against the world, but now his assassin turned protector is hopefully here to stay. If you like danger, hot sex, and emotional support lizards than this one is for you. As a sidenote, I really enjoyed the funny Florida references being that I am a Florida native was quite funny.
I’d like to thank the author for letting me read this in advance and I hope to enjoy more of their books in the future.

Tropes: Assassin x Sex Worker, Size Difference, First Time Kinks, Touch Him and Die, Hold My Lizard,
“what a good whore” in a loving way

Story 4.5
Spice 4

[angie_bookrecs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Escort Rowan x Hitman Milo?
Immediate yes!!

This book opens with one of the funniest author notes, and then proceeds to give us murder attempts, possessive dirty talk, accidental feelings, emotional damage, and somehow one of the sweetest love stories hidden inside complete chaos.

Rowan and Milo were SO much fun together.

Milo spends the first half acting like he absolutely isn't emotionally attached while repeatedly saving Rowan's life and acting possessive every chance he gets.

Sir.
Please be serious 😩

Meanwhile Rowan just rolls with increasingly absurd situations like: "Oh, my assassin didn't kill me and now we're sleeping together? Makes complete sense."

Their chemistry was ridiculously good. The banter worked. The emotional moments worked. The spice was spicing. The degradation alone had me sweating 🥵

And then suddenly they're catching feelings and saying things they definitely weren't supposed to say and I'm over here losing my mind.

Also shoutout to Iggy because apparently every great romance needs a tiny scaly side character.

Was this as dark as I expected? No.
Was it fun, addictive, funny, possessive, and weirdly sweet? Absolutely.

[Twilight · Rating 3 out of 5]

𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫

𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: 3/5 ⭐️ 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: 4/5 🌶️

𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝑻𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉: 📱 —> ARC Read

𝑭𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑸𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔: “It’s warmth and worry. I don’t need to protect Rowan because we made a deal. I want to. That’s a dangerous fucking feeling.”

𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘: Firstly, I want to thank the author for allowing me to ARC Read, with that being said all my opinion are my own.
I have to say this was the first book in the series I was somewhat disappointed with. Now, don’t get me wrong I don’t think this book is terrible or anything, it’s fine. But I also feel like the actual book itself just seemed a little rushed. It really just felt like such a basic dark romance story, I feel like it all the potential to be a really really good read, however I just found it a bit lackluckster and very predictable.
I think if someone is very very new into the dark romance world they would actually enjoy this story because it’s very light.
I just think it was hard for me to take the book a bit seriously because of the way some of the characters acted throughout the story.
I am still quite excited to read the rest of the stories with Milo and Rowan though.

[Shrike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for dark romance, especially of the morally grey variety, so of course I started with this AU right after finishing Canon. I ate this one right up, especially after meeting Edgy!Milo and discovering that the reversed power dynamic makes Rowan infinitely more adorable. AND THERE'S A BEARDED DRAGON. I didn't realize that was the magic Canon was missing but now I wonder what more I could possibly want.

I had fun with how this AU plays on specific moments of the Canon. It feels like finding little Easter eggs sprinkled through and really fits the fanfic format. This AU solidified the sandwich sharing scene as a favorite Canon reference. The author's notes are ridiculous in the best way - brief and silly bursts of levity that I looked forward to every chapter. As a certified Florida Man, I approve of Florida AUthor's shenanigans.

Thanks so much for the chance to check out this ARC! I'm leaving this review of my own accord.

[Cara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Romance Au is part of the Because Canon Sucks series.

Since it's structured like fanfiction, there are author's notes before each chapter. I laughed so hard, because it's a common theme in these stories: whenever the author takes a long time to post a chapter, something always comes up.

This time, Rowan is an escort; he hasn’t been on the job long, but there’s already a price on his head. He discovers this when he’s with a client , who tries to kill him, and Milo, a professional hitman, shows up and saves him, even though he’s been hired to kill him.

This marks the beginning of a long quest to protect Rowan, to find out who has put a price on his head, and to make Milo(who always denies having any feelings for him)realize the truth.

Characters from the author’s other books make an appearance, but I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting them yet, so I’m making a note.

I’m really enjoying this series.

[EvermoreReadsandReviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this so much!! I love how Beth includes animal friends and Iggy is my favorite of those I think. I loved how attached Rowan was to him and how Milo had a soft spot for him as well. This book had me laughing out loud at multiple points which is hard to get me to do when reading at all ..let alone multiple times. I just found the way Milo talked hilarious. I loved how we got to see Rowan come to the realization about his past relationship as it was happening. We got to see him process what that relationship actually was and how harmful it was to him. I had no idea I would be seeing any characters from The B.A.E. series either and was so excited about that. If you're looking for a MM romance with banter, morally grey characters,amazing spice, mystery, and some suspense I would definitely recommend this one!!

[Marion · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a new to me author and I really enjoyed the book. This is the story of Rowan and Milo. Rowan is a hitman and Milo is an Escort. The first time they meet, Milo is tied to a hotel bed and is about to be murdered by his client. Luckily Rowan is there to kill him so he dispatches the client. Then he explains that he was hired to kill Milo. Milo immediately takes off and leaves Rowan with the body. There situation only gets more complicated from there. This is their story. I enjoyed the dialog between Rowan and Milo. I liked watching how their relationship evolved. I received a complementary advanced review copy of this book from the author and I am voluntarily leaving a review. The book is well written and easy to read. A fun surprise.

[Ashley H · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 ⭐️ 4 🌶️

ARC read 😏

So once again enjoyed another Rowan&Milo story.
This one was not disappointing thats for sure.
Hitman x Escort. Hitman Milo only takes hits for people who are guilty of an actual crime. Someones put the hit out on Rowan (escort) the sweetest lil bean with his bearded dragon iggy 🥹 & hitman Milo is the one that supposed to do it.. but duhh ends up falling for Rowan while trying to find out who wants this sweet innocent man dead. Plenty of things happen between these two, definitely lots of murder haha, but also the hot moments between them 😮‍💨🫠

Overall FOR ME it was a good read I enjoyed it

[Kitm0nster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rowan and Milo are back and on the run! I love the twist on these characters from previous AUs - with Rowan being naive and younger than Milo a hardened hitman! The story is interesting and fast paced - but if you're looking for a Dark Romance, you're not finding it here. They're both sweet to each other, and while there is some degradation, it doesn't hit that mark for me.
That said you should read it because it's good and fun!

Yes if: Serious Milo is a fun twist on the other AUs
No if: You want darker themes & dynamics

Hitman x Sex Worker
Naive Rowan
Serious Milo
On the run
Bearded Dragon
Florida

[Tia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Romance AU is a multi-author series about Rowan and Milo, and now they finally get their HEA. In this story, Milo is a hitman who has been hired to eliminate Rowan, but he doesn't hurt innocent people.

I hadn't read fanfic in such a long time that reading this made feel like I was back in my teens. I loved the unhinged author's notes. This was a really good dark romance, and I liked the characters.

This was a classic Beth book, set in the same world as the Belle Argo Escorts series, it was nice to see the characters from that series make cameos.

-------------------------------
I received an ARC of this book, and this is my honest review

[Chasary Mendez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Advance copy review from the author

Because cannon sucks!!
We are back with Rowan and Milo this one is great to unalive someone to keep them alive.

Rowan and Milo a hit man and escort.
Rowan is a target who’s assigned to take him ou that’s right Milo! But he doesn’t hurt innocents.
I just love their banter hey why not add some spice pet names Yes Daddy and a smex club to the mix for one epic cute love story!

Rowan and Milo where will we meet again!
Beth Christopher I enjoyed Rowan and Milo so much in this book. Beth knows how to write some spice banter and a cute love story

[Aisling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was trusted with this lovely dark little romance as an arc and it didn’t disappoint!

While classified as a dark romance the innocence of Ronan is beautiful for all the wrong reasons. Which makes the ‘honourable’ contract killer the perfect person to look out for.

From the most unexpected place love can bloom and to see them both everything they ever wanted is gp4geous - even if some typical narcissists try and get in their way!

As always remember to read all TW to ensure this book is for you xx

[Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fun interpretation of Rowan and Milo. I loved Rowan as being a gentle giant sub, and Milo as being a chaotic hitman running the show in control.

The dark edge was really good and worked really well.

I adored the softness and vulnerability of Rowan, and him having his little pet Iggy. The internal monologues were absolutely on point and the author notes made me giggle

This was a shorter read compared to other books in the series, but there was plenty of plot going on and a great story and the spice was on point!

[bookygirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still absolutely loving this whole series! Dark Romance AU is a bit different from Dragon/Robot - for the first time we get to see Milo as the older/more dominant of the two (still a chaos demon though ;) Loved the dynamic shift between him and Rowan relative to the other AUs. And for anyone who likes Mafia-esque, grey/dark romances, this one was great! My first Beth Christopher book but for sure will not be my last.

[Bianca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rowan and Milo story brings us in a gray situation where an assassin and an escort faces danger and adrenaline in an adventure with unexpected developments and happiness at the end of it.
They treat their relationship as casual and try to fight their feelings until truth is revealed and a life and death situation put everything into perspective.

[Lois · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, that was violent, and steamy, and the notes at the beginning of every chapter were daft AF.

This story felt a little like a role reversal for Milo and Rowan, but it was good fun in a murdery way and I liked their dynamic. It was chaotic, slightly unhinged, didn't make sense in places. In other words, perfect fanfic. 4.75*

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Milo and Rowan reimagining. The dark romance passes the vibe check in this book and the spice is spicing from pretty much the beginning. I can never go passed an animal side character and loved Iggy! I'm off to read more of the authors books, can't believe I haven't read any yet.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A soft and spicy read with a dark setting! This was so fluffy and spicy, like damn, there was a lot of spicy spice! I loved Milo as a sassasin (sassy assassin) and Rowan as a big hunk of sex worker. They worked really well together in this AU as well as the others in the series!

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong characters who know what they want.
They make themselves vulnerable and tease each other.

💞Thank you to the Author for the opportunity to read and review this ARC💖

[Bear_reads_romance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great addition in this series! I love a sweet big guy and Milo is kind of unhinged which I love.

[Demi Goddess Solis · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 Words to Describe Dark Romance AU-

Unhinged
Chaotic
Spicy
Tender
Fanfiction-core