Kill to Love

Hearts & Heathens #1

by Penny Sunday

Kill to Love is a dystopian dark rom-com featuring fated mates with a strong leaning toward enemies-to-lovers - and it is also UNHINGED and hilarious and incredibly spicy.

TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR KILL TO LOVE
- Detailed sex scenes which include incorrect ways of wearing sunglasses.
- Offence to the Flat Earth Community.
- Stalking and unsuccessful kidnapping.
- Villainous side characters who may commit cannibalism.
- Torture.
- Offence to those of the Gemini astrological sign.
- This book is not meant to be taken seriously.

And here is the storyline . . .

Delphine De Astor has never cried - and worse, she's never felt her heart pull toward a Soulmate. In a society where that emotional absence brands her as 'Soulless', Delphine is deemed evil, unlovable and disposable. Her sentence? A televised ten-day Execution Battle where the Soulless must fight to the death for public entertainment - complete with commercial breaks for stain remover.

Dropped into the chaos pantless and armed with nothing but sunscreen, Delphine faces cannibals, incestuous lovers, men who may just be psychopaths - or Geminis - and a madman in a pink sequinned crop top. But the most dangerous contender of all is Dig a notorious serial killer with dark hair, a relentless fixation on Delphine, and a habit of hiding his eyes behind heart-shaped sunglasses.

Dig once tried to kidnap her. Now he's hunting her through the Battle.

And when they finally meet, Delphine's heart does something it's never done before . . .

If you love Lights Out and Butcher & Blackbird, you will absolutely adore Kill to Love, a subversive, laugh-out-loud exploration of love, morality and identity, asking what it really means to be a monster. 

Genres: Dark Romance, Audiobook, Romance, Rom Com, Dark, Dystopia, Enemies To Lovers

Audible Audio

Published August 25, 2026

About the author

Penny Sunday is an Australian author who is obsessed with writing fun romance stories. When reading she loves dog-earing pages (and loves her actual dog), is seriously into peanut sauce, tiramisu, folding laundry and regularly stocks her go-bag for any possible impending apocalypse. She keeps all her dark-haired men in books, locked up in the cupboard right where they belong.

Reviews

[Ana]

This was absurd and chaotic, with a fun and unique concept. I was expecting to love it a lot more than I actually did..
There's nothing I love more than an unhinged book, but I didn't connect with Delphine, which lessened my enjoyment..

Everyone has a soulmate, but if you don't, you're Soulless, evil and unloved. They are imprisoned and once a year they battle to the death for ten days, cameras are filming and everything is allowed.. Delphine didn't found her soulmate, so she enters the game, but Dig Graves has been waiting seven years for her and he's not letting her escape this time.. She tries to run, he always finds her. There's a connection there and just maybe there's more to him than she though..

I really liked Dig, he was a great character, unhinged, with scars and struggles. I loved how obsessed he was and how he did everything to protect her. He might be a notorious killer, but he was so sweet.
Delphine was always different, she was unhinged and a little strange and she did have her moments, but I just couldn't connect to her.. I'm someone whose mood of the book heavily relies on the characters, so me not connecting with her impacted my enjoyment.. I really tried, but I kept being annoyed by her, instead of entertained..

I did enjoy the battles and we encountered some really strange characters, which was fun. Such a colourful bunch..
The spicy scenes were okay, a little underwhelming or maybe I was expecting more, I don't know. I did enjoy the sunglasses, though..
They were a good match, all things considered.

I think I generally expected more, more craziness, more fun, more emotional depth.. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't enough. I needed more.
The pace was a little inconsistent and dialogue a little clipped at times, which I personally didn't like. Also, while some scenes were funny, there were also some that simply didn't land for me.

I did love the final scene in the battle, that was a winner!!
That scene after the battle, I wasn't expecting it to take that specific turn, but I'm not surprised.. He got exactly what he deserved.

Overall, I think this was a great debut! I'll absolutely read more of her books.

*Thank you to Netgalley and to Victory Editing for providing me with an ARC.*

[❋ Booked Out Today ❋]

Kill to Love by Penny Sunday
★★★

Deemed Soulless, Delphine is thrown into a brutal, televised Execution Battle where she finally feels her heart beat upon meeting Dig Graves, the serial killer who once hunted her. Their encounter upends everything she’s been condemned to die for.

Hunger Games meets The Never King. I was so intrigued by the concept of this book. I will always say hell yeah to reading an unhinged book. But I felt like the writing style was letting down the reading experience. Especially during dialogue. Often it was one worded back and forth responses between Delphine and Dig Graves.

I did enjoy the second half the book more than the first half. The spicy scenes were elite. We finally saw some character development behind Dig which peaked m interest again.
I appreciate the risks taken to write a book that pushes boundaries and blurs the lines of romance. I felt a little disconnected from the character development while reading.

I’m sure the unhinged girls would love this, but it was a little too derailed for me.

◦: key tropes :◦
✧ Dark romantic satire
✧ Enemies to lovers
✧ Soulmates / Fated Mates

💭 Do you love Morally grey MMC’s?

Thank you @theberryagency for the opportunity to review this book.

✨BOOK1 OF 2026✨

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[Ymym]

3.5⭐️
Man, this book reminds me of the hunger games
I love it, i love the story it was so fun, love the characters and their chemistry
Was is best book i have ever read? No, but it was much needed book for fun read especially i was having a book slump
So yeah, i love it

[ohna]

people out here publishing first drafts

[⊹₊⟡⋆Mandy Darling⊹₊⟡⋆]

Well, never mind. I made it to the 13th chapter (about 31%) and had to call it quits. I don’t even know wtf I just read.

I was so excited for this book and have been waiting months to read it, so this review pains me deeply. I also hate throwing around AI accusations left and right, but there’s no way an actual person wrote this, right?

I was getting whiplash from the main characters constantly changing personalities. Everything felt disjointed and the pacing was weird. The FMC had way too many moments that felt cringey and juvenile. And the dialogue??? Nobody talks like that! 🙄

Of what I read, this feels like it had no clue what type of book it wanted to be. I thought the premise was super interesting, but unfortunately the execution fell flat. I disappointing 1 star from me.

[Ashley Andersen]

What a ride! I was cackling reading this book, stayed up till midnight to finish it because I could not put it down.
If you love rom-com-dark unaliver romances. If you loved Lights Out and Butcher & Blackbird kind of vibes, then I feel like you will enjoy this book.

He falls first and HARD! Literally unalives everyone for her. She says jump, he says how high, kind of vibes.

Also, the lore of this world was SO unique!
🌶️🌶️🌶️

[Darlene I read WAY to many books]

So I enjoyed it but i couldn't connect with Delp I tried to so hard but the way she was made me eh.. i didnt know if it was because she was "soulless" or something was truly wrong with her. So yeah that was my top i tried. Dig was a better character I felt he had more to bring to the table. And he truly believed he was soul mates with Delp no matter how much she didn't believe him. Like girl stabbed him did so many things to him. I felt sorry for the man.

But yeah glad its over with.


No ow/tinyish om drama, no cheating, Drama, sexy times, no virgins

Recommend-maybe
Cover-⭐️⭐️⭐️
Heat level-🌶🌶

Slowburnish
Push away from fmc
25fmc/idk his age
Murder
Violence
Mentions of rape
Mentions of paedophile
Incestuous relationship
Villainous side characters who commit necrophilia and cannibalism
Hea

[Alieke]

This was honestly so unhinged and I loved it. I cackled at Delphine's seemingly clueless/heartless encounters and sighed at Dig's obsessive deranged yet sweet gestures.

-1 star for Del constantly trying to get away from Dig while she 100% would have been safer with him. Stay with your psycho, girlllllllll

"I'm not everyone's cup of tea."
"Don't be tea." His lips pressed against my ear. "Be petrol. Set the world on fire."

[Sophia Menidis]

Sorry this just really wasn’t it for me. It felt like they literally threw everything at the wall and just hoped it stuck. And even if it didn’t stick they kept it in. The problem is this book did have a lot of potential for me. I think the plot is there. It just needed way more editing and needed to not feel like they were trying to make it sound scandalous by throwing in literally every shocking theme they could for basically no reason.

[litlindseyreads]

This book was just so dang funny. I've never read a Dark Rom Com before that was also a Dystopian Romance!

In this world everyone has a soulmate that they find before they are 25. If they haven't found one by then they are considered soul-less and sent to jail. In jail they are entered into Hunger Games-style televised fights to the death.

Delphine is probably the most unhinged FMC I've ever read. Her inner- and out-monologue are so funny and I can never guess what she's going to come up with next.

I listened to the audiobook and I highly recommend it. The narrators did such a great job it felt like I was really there - and Annabelle Tudor's comedic timing was just *chef's kiss*

The title says this is book one - I need to know if the story of these characters will continue or if it will be a series of interconnected standalones. I will definitely be keeping a lookout for more information!

[Danielle Carley]

✨ARC REVIEW✨

THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN. Now listen, this is not going to be everyone's liking - it's trashy, bat shit insane, reads like a wattpad fan fic and has stupid humour!! But luckily for me that's my exact taste in books.

RIP Aunty Beatrice 😂

[Naile C]

🎧Audiobook🎧

Herkes işini gücünü bıraksın ve bu kitabı okusun, daha doğrusu dinlesin çünkü sesli kitabı da
HA-Rİ-KAY-DI!!! 💯🤩

En son ne zaman bi kitabı dinlerken bu kadar güldüm ve eğlendim hatırlamıyorum, daha kitap bitmeden yazarın başka kitaplarına bakmaya başladım ama bu ilk kitabıymış birde 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Şimdi kitabımız bir AU-Soulmates yani herkesin bir ruh eşi var bu dünyada ve en geç 25 yaşına kadar bulmak zorundasın ruh eşini yoksa devlet seni yok ediyor 😅 Yani onlar öldürmüyorda hapse atıyorlar ve düzenlenen 'ruhsuzlar' turnuvasında birbirlerini öldürüyor bu ruh eşini bulamayanlar.
Esas kızımız aslında bu sistemin tepesindeki çok zengin bir ailenin kızı, bir gece odasına kalp şeklindeki kırmızı güneş gözlükleriyle bi adam giriyor gizlice ve ona diyorki senin ruh eşin benim, ama kızın kalbinde belirmesi gereken işaret belirmediği için adama diyorki sen yalan söylüyorsun ve adamı hapse attırıyor (ölüme yolluyor kısacası çünkü o turnuvalardan sağ çıkmak nerdeyse imkansız)

Aradan yıllar geçiyor, kızımız 3 güne 25 olucak ama ne yaptıysa, nerelere gittiyse ruh eşini bulamıyor ve abisinden yardım istiyor (abisi de güçlü bir politikacı). Abisi tabiki yardım ederim diyor ama daha edemeden kız kendini önce hapiste sonrada turnuvada buluyor...

Yıllar önce hapse yolladığı adam da orda tabi, her yıl turnuvadan sağ çıkmayı başarmış.

Ve olaylar başlıyor... Buraya kadar kitabın sadece başlangıç kısmıydı 😅

Ben bu kitapta en çok kadına bayıldım, kadın sosyopat, tam olarak bir harley quinn hayal edebilirsiniz. İyi biri olmaya çalışıyor ama içinden geldiği için değil, empatisi yok. Sadece ne iyi ne kötü bildiği için bir moral code a göre hareket ediyor yani. Adam ise lights out daki josh un nerdeyse aynısı şeklinde yazılmış o yüzden orda pek bi orjinallik yoktu. Komikti yani adamda 🤭

Overall bu kitap bu yıl okuduğum en güzel 5 kitap arasında rahat girer, bayıldımm 🫶🏻

[✨Wendy✨| downtherabbitholes]

I haven’t laughed this hard listening to an audiobook in a long time. It’s non-stop entertainment and quirkiness. The banter and antics were chef’s kiss. It’s a DARK romcom so keep that in mind, but it’s hard to take any of it seriously when you’re laughing so hard. This was exactly what I needed.

Performed in duet by, Jacob Morgan, Annabelle Tudor, and Dominic Gruenewald. Let’s just say, they understood the assignment

[Savannah (chapters_of_mayhem)]

Holy sh*t balls I freaking loved this book.

I genuinely messaged all my group chats talking about the unhinged masterpiece I was reading and absolutely BRAGGING about the fact it was an arc and they were missing out.

Was it a perfect literary masterpiece? No. WAS IT A GREAT TIME?! Absolutely. I snort laughed, out loud! A lot!

My absolute favourite thing about this book was the dialogue. The prim, proper vernacular paired with the most despicable acts and depraved humans was chefs kiss.

Also, CONSENT IS SO HOT!!! The way consent was approached throughout the story was both hilarious and comforting.

I genuinely fear I will never read another dark rom-com that satisfied me in the way this did. I will be chasing this high for the rest of my life.

Thank you to the Berry Agency for the arc of this book and to Penny Sunday for whatever exists in her brain that created this.

[Julia]

Well, friends, I hasten to inform you that the collection of objects that modern literature has decided to shove into women has just gained another item. This time, heart-shaped sunglasses were the unfortunate victims…

Other than that, the book was kind of meh. Funny in some places, cringe in others, and very, very cringe in some (too many incest jokes for my liking). But if you do decide to read it, I highly recommend going with the audiobook. Sneezing Jacob Morgan is absolutely hilarious 😂 And Annabelle Tudor is amazing too!

[Cooper]

2 ⭐️ This one hurts because I was so ready for a dark romcom, but alas… this one was just not it. Honestly, this read more like a parody of a dark romcom and not in a good way. This “dark romcom” was very much lacking the com in romcom (and truly, the rom wasn’t very romantic either). The book was short, which was both good and bad. At one point, I saw how much I had left and ended up finishing the book just so I could mark it as “read.”

[Shes _Crafty_reader]

Dark Romcom ! MUST LISTEN!

♾️🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟♾️
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
🌶️🌶️.5

This audiobook was insanely funny, unhinged, chaotic,and had great spice! I LOVED THIS! ❤️😍
Definitely a new FAVORITE of the year!!

Jacob Morgan, Annabelle Tudor, and Dominic Gruenewald narrated it phenomenally. One of the funniest audiobooks I’ve ever listened to!
I NEED MORE!

Fated mates
Serial killer MMC
Laugh out loud banter
Touch her and die
Eccentric smut

[Kristie "onkristiesbookshelf"]

I honestly cannot tell you a thing about this book except it was a wild ride i did not want to get off of. I have never laughed so much, I was full cackling at some points at just the audacity of these characters. Delphine and Digs are brilliant and I want to live in this world forever.

[Bella]

This book was so outrageously funny, and it felt like such a quick read because I literally could not put it down! Delphine was a hilarious main character with some amazing one-liners that had me laughing out loud, and her banter with Dig was even more funny. Speaking of, the name Dig Graves was peak comedy, along with his sister Glorious Pain and their brother Slash Artery. As funny as his name and a lot of his dialogue were, he was still exceedingly hot, and there were moments where I teared up because of how sweet and romantic he was towards Delphine. He was the perfect Soulmate for her, a fact that he was certain of from the beginning! I also absolutely loved the general plot and setting of the Execution Battle, a perfectly dystopian concept, and at times, scarily realistic (I'm mainly talking about the dancing inmates who were sponsored to advertise companies as they danced in front of the cameras, a situation I totally see happening should our society ever become like the one in this book). I highly recommend this for anyone who wants a good, fun read that is slightly on the darker side, and I agree wholly with the description that it is perfect for fans of Lights Out or Butcher and Blackbird!

[☆ Allanah • Cosmic's Library ☆]

✨️ARC REVIEW✨️
Spice - 🌶🌶🌶
Insanty - 🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪

"Morals have aesthetic criteria. You kill a cockroach, you're a hero. You kill a butterfly, you're evil. Your version of 'good' is different to others. And to me Princess? You're fucking perfect."

Thankyou Book Sirens & Penny Sunday for this ARC opportunity! 🫶🏻

This book looked at the trigger warnings, winked, then cannonballed straight into the deep end.💥 If you treat it like a polite, well behaved romance, you will have a bad time. If you strap in and let the chaos drive, it becomes an absolute fever dream in the best way. It was Fated Mates colliding headfirst with The Purge and I was here for it. 😝

Does the story flow smoothly? Not even a little. Does that matter? Weirdly, no. The unhinged pacing actually becomes part of the charm. 😌 It feels like the book is vibrating at a slightly different frequency than reality. Penny really swung for the fences with this one and I respect the boldness so much.🙌🏻

👠 Delphine is such a bizarre, fascinating FMC. Her whole emotionless, slightly offbeat vibe should not work and yet I adored her. She had me laughing more than once, and honestly, her detached energy felt a little too relatable at times.

🔪 Dig Graves. He is psychotic but soft in all the right ways. Full golden retriever energy but could also slit your throat. Loved the sunglasses and the way he cares for Delphine was genuinely sweet, especially in a story that otherwise feels like it is foaming at the mouth.

Their banter? Fantastic. The chemistry is this wild mix of prim and proper colliding with absolute derangement, and somehow it works.❤️‍🔥 I loved the underlying story of the world with the Soulmates and the Soulless. Beneath all the madness there is a genuinely interesting concept, some shocking twists, and a message that actually lands. 👏🏻

This book is the kind of ride that makes you say “I want to get off” while actively tightening your seatbelt. You will question everything, including your own taste, but you will not be bored for a single second. I truly do not think there is another romance out there doing whatever this book just did. ❤️❤️

[•mikaela• :)]

✨ARC Review✨

This was HILARIOUS. 💀😂

A dark romcom, and I mean dark.
There's lots of murder, mayhem, and questionable cooking choices. A fight to survive in a death game. But in a funny way. This had me laughing out loud whilst reading it.

If you like humour with your dark books, and aren't afraid or a little blood and gore, this is the book for you! 🔪

[Persephone]

I received an ARC copy of this book from the author and I'm leaving a written review because more people NEED to read this book is bloody brilliant and a good time!!

Kill To Love is a twisted dystopian dark comedy romance with many laugh out loud moments as well as spice and romance!

[Ella]

Thank you Netgalley for an early copy of this book!

I was originally going to dnf this book (I was in a slump) but I’m glad I kept going because it was exactly the book I needed. It was fun, chaotic and just such a great time! The battle royale aspect of this book had me hooked, I couldn’t not get enough of it!

If you enjoyed Lights Out then you’ll love this!

[Anita - The.Bookish_Baker]

This was so much fun to listen to how unhinged all the characters were. I had a great time, and it was the perfect palette cleanser.

Is this a masterpiece? No. But I vibed with it and it made me laugh out loud with the craziness. I love a good duet narration too.

[Lauren Timmons]

Giving this 5⭐️ because I laughed the entire time I was reading it!!!

[maise]

“fuck soulmates. i want you on purpose” 😳🥰

also someone said dig was just josh’s younger brother and i whole heartedly agree (jacob morgan coming in clutch once again)

[Emily]

4.5

This was super fun, took me a tiny bit to get into as the writing style is very ... Idk, staccato? Short, sharp sentences. But I realised quickly that this was very intentional and absolutely perfect for the character.

Everyone in this is completely unhinged and I ate it up 🤣 can't wait for more!

[Laura]

This was utterly ridiculous and I loved every dark, twisted, funny, polite, and unhinged moment of it.

[Teia]

3.5 ⭐️

​I don't think I laughed this much reading a book like I did with this one. And honestly I didn't think I'd like it as much. The characters were likable and the humor style fit so much with me and I was laughing a lot reading it. Is it a
Literary mastepiece? No. But it was a much needed fun quick book to get me out of this massive reading slump, and it did the job.
Also did I defend this hot killer? Maybe, we'll never know.

[Bella]

This book is by far everything I’ve ever wanted in a dark rom com. The banter was absolutely hilarious and the dialogue between Delphine and every other character was to die for. She was so strong willed and completely oblivious to everything that was going on, and everytime I read a “my sweet Aunty Beatrice just died” line I was done for. The way that was her strategy and plan to avoid practically everything was way too funny.

Dig is such an amazing, supportive character for his princess too. I love that he always asked her for consent, knowing it’s a big thing because of what his father did to several other women. Dig is so innocent throughout this entire book and you can tell that all he wants is to be loved after being abandoned his whole life. Yes he is a psychotic killer, but everyone needs a hobby. (I thought this scene was also hilarious). His love for Delph and his persistence for 7 years, and the way he speaks about her shows his undeniable love for her.

I also loved the concept of Soulless and Soulmates and how both Dig and Delphine proved that at the end of the day they’re all just people and showed how there were so many other innocent people out there who needed to be loved but had a Soulless label slapped on them. The fact that Delphine despite being labelled “Soulless” at the time could also see the amount of poor behaviour being acted on such innocent souls shows that despite being labelled “Soulless” she still could differentiate between the good and the bad. Similarly to the line of “aunty Beatrice just died” and then the person bringing harm would feel remorse because they’d all known family who had died at some point. Overall, the book showed the message that not everyone is Soulless and many of the innocent people did deserve to find love.

I’ve never really had a thing for dark rom coms but this book hit every point perfectly. Hilarious banter and dark satire. Check. A plot where I had no idea what was going to happen next. Check. A strong FMC who could hold her own ground. Check. And a MMC who had so much love for her and still understood consent. Check.
This wasn’t a literary masterpiece but it hit every nail on the head for me that I expect in a dark rom com, and this is definitely one of the best I’ve read.

Thankyou Berryagency for giving me the opportunity to review this book!
And I hope to read more amazing books to come by Penny Sunday!!