Songbird in the Gallows: A Novel

by Alta Hensley

From the bestselling author of He Sees You When You’re Sleeping comes a dark romance about a murder-sober retired serial killer and his murder-curious protégé. Perfect for fans of Brynne Weaver, this twisted romance inspired by the Bluebeard folktale is filled with dark humor, sizzling chemistry, and spice.

Murder is their love language…

Five years ago, Saylor Mitchell’s father was brutally murdered in front of her, shattering her world. Now his killers have tracked her down to finish the job. She is unexpectedly saved by her father’s closest friend, the enigmatic Blue. Saylor's savior—and captor— is a reformed, murder-sober assassin struggling to escape the clutches of his own violent history.

Blue’s gothic mansion, perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking a stormy sea in the town of Grimlock, is a labyrinth of secrets. And so is Grimlock, a small town whose residents all seem to have a penchant for murder that they’ve managed—mostly— to overcome.

Saylor soon realizes that Blue holds the key to avenging her father’s murder at the hands of the Crow, a gang of amoral contract killers. Only problem? Saylor has never killed before. Good thing those who can’t kill…teach.

Blue finds Saylor an apt pupil and the attraction between them morphs into a dangerous obsession. Can their love conquer Blue’s final, darkest secret?



Morally grey leadsTouch her and dieDad’s best friendPossessivenessGothic mansionMurder mysteryForbidden loveAge gapForced proximityAnti-heroDark romanceGothic romanceFairytale retelling

Genres: Dark Romance, Romance, Forced Proximity, Audiobook, Dark, Gothic, Contemporary Romance

1 pages, MP3 CD

Published June 30, 2026

About the author

Alta Hensley is a NYT & USA Today bestselling author of dark romance where the villain always gets the happily ever after.

Twisted, clever, and occasionally unhinged, her books deliver morally gray anti-heroes, sharp-tongued heroines, and happily ever afters that taste even sweeter after a little ruin. With a signature blend of grit, wit, and heat, Alta’s stories prove one thing: Villains deserve love too.

Alta lives on the foggy coast of Oregon with her husband, two daughters, and a pair of dogs who think they’re in charge. When she’s not writing redemption for the irredeemable, she’s walking the coastline or sipping craft beer in eccentric little bars that feel like they belong in her books.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AltaHensleyA...
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Reviews

[Hades ( Disney's version )]

5🌟


A huge thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books, and Harper Voyager for an ARC of Songbird in the Gallows by Alta Hensley.

This isn't my first Hensley rodeo, but it was by FAR the best one I've attended thus far!! This was the book that took me from a casual reader to a full-blown fan! There's everything dark romantasy readers go feral for and SO much more!

Personally, I'm a reader who doesn't mind a lot of smut if there's also a good story to go along with it. Basically, I can't read smut that's written just for the sake of smut and has no substance. One thing an Alta Hensley book always has is substance, and I really appreciate that!

Those of you who have been dealing with my rants for a while know I LOVE when an author intertwines history into their writing, so that was obviously an aspect I really enjoyed here!

A retired killer apprenticing a baddie who's out to avenge her father's killers, and it turns out they have more friction than brake pads?!!? OH... and we get a great story too!?! YES PLEASE!

 Not to mention, the physical book itself is BEAUTIFUL! And I will be adding it to my book-trophy collection 


Until next time,
Hades
 🩵

[Anouk]

When I heard there was a dark romance based on the Bluebeard folktale by an author I already know and love - and then received an early copy - I was thrilled.

Unfortunately, while the story started out strong and pulled me in fairly quickly, somewhere along the way it lost its merit. The pacing felt off, and neither the plot nor the characters were fully fleshed out, which was a shame since the premise had so much potential 🪓

Blue and Saylor's love story didn't work for me either, as they got together almost instantly 🫠 Considering he's her late father's best-friend, there's a certain taboo to their relationship. Frustratingly enough, we don't see it getting explored.

The same goes for the gothic small-town of Grimlock, where the story is set - it has its moments, but I would've loved to see more depth in both the setting and its residents.

2 ⭐️ ARC Review

[BookishKB]

🎶🩸 Songbird in the Gallows 🩸🎶

📖 Bookish Thoughts

One of my most anticipated releases of the year! I’ll be sharing my full review closer to publication date.

🖤 What to Expect
• Morally Gray MCs
• Dad's Best Friend
• Age Gap
• Touch Her and Die
• Forced Proximity
• Gothic Mansion
• Murder Mystery
• Anti-hero
• Dark romance
_ _ _ _

📅 Pub Date: June 30, 2026
📝 Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

[Rebecca]

4 stars

rtc

[Darlene I read WAY to many books]

3.5 ⭐️

Saylor is hiding in town singing her heart out trying to stay hidden from a group who killed her father. She meets Blue who she doesnt know anything about they have some fun. And thats that. Until Blue finds out she's his dead friends daughter the one he has to protect. He had a plan kidnap her and relocate her to a place he can watch over her.
But he's late when shes kidnapped so he saves her without killing because he atop killing.

So now Saylor lives with him in his big house in a wired town. And she ask him to teach her to kill so she can take revenge against the group. So Blue is her mentor without getting his hands bloody.
Lots of tension and kills and throwing up lol.
And secrets unfolding. The spice was pretty good also. Not as spicy as I thought it would be.

Saftey-it is rumored he had partners but never shown. It was town gossip. On his life.


Low angst, no ow/om, no cheating, drama, sexy times, no virgins

Recommend-yes
Cover-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Heat level-🌶🌶.5



Slowburn
Age gap
23fmc/43MMC
Murder
Serial killer
Kidnapping via antique luggage
Fire, blood, and gore
Corpses repurposed as floral arrangements Romance conducted in rooms with decomposing audiences
Death of loved ones and grief trauma
decomposition
Stabbing and blood . . vomit
Consensual breath play
Hea
Epilogue

[Cdoc's Library]

This book just wasn't for me. There were elements that were lovely, like the Gothic small town of Grimlock and its impeccably charming residents. Unfortunately as a whole the book fell flat, which I am super sad about because I thought I was really going to love this one. 

🐦‍⬛ Dark "Romcom"
🐦 Morally Grey Leads
🐦‍⬛ Touch Her & Die 
🐦 Gothic Small Town
🐦‍⬛ Dad's Best Friend
🐦 Age Gap (20 years)
🐦‍⬛ Retired K*ller in Therapy

Without getting into it too much, I just didn't feel a connection to the two main characters really at all. So obviously, when they started getting together, it just didn't interest me. 

I really wanted to root for Saylor because I love seeing an FMC transform and really become a power house... but her transformation didn't sell me. Frankly Blue didn't teach her much of anything. I thought he was going to be giving her full lessons, not just "oh here's a body, stab it!"??? Like she was learning nothing other than she's squeamish of blood. I wanted him to teach her self defense, how to hold her own, how to track down these men, and really teach her how to be a killer. Instead he did basically everything for her, and she would just accidentally fumble her way through. It was just a terrible character arc for her.

And Blue was fine. I loved his therapy sessions (Dr. Jay gets 5⭐'s all day long!), and I loved his relationship with Hans and Wren, but other than that I just didn't feel a huge connection to him.

I will say the town of Grimlock, is a gem! The world building was great and hopefully this is the start of a series that includes some of these other really vibrant characters (Hans, Wren, Dr. Jay Finch, etc.) So many of them had such intriguing and mysterious backgrounds. There is potential! Hopefully it was just this particular pairing of Saylor and Blue that just wasn't right for me and not the author as a whole. 

The side characters are where the book shinned... and ultimately where I got really angry in the end 🫣. I won't say what happens, but something happens towards the end that for me went from me feeling nothing, to being inexplicably angry. And it's also the reason I wouldn't consider this to be a "romcom". Yes there is a little humor in the dialogue, but this is for me a dark romance (sans the comedy). 

Overall, this again just wasn't for me. I feel like we spent almost too much time building the world, and describing the town than we did actually building a convincing connection between Saylor and Blue. I just didn't connect to either of them, and I really tried to! I ended up skimming a bit of this, and if it wasn't an ARC I don't know if I would have finished it. With that being said, I won't completely turn away from this author quite yet, because I do think there is potential in the future. I always like to give authors a few shots before saying they aren't for me, so if the author is planning on continuing the series I would be intrigued to see who from the town the author would focus on next. 

** Thank you to Avon & NetGalley for the eARC of this in exchange for my honest review 🫶🏼

Overall: 2.5 ⭐'s

[✨️ Jessica's Bookshelf ✨️]

3.5 stars

This was an entertaining read. It wasn't slow at any point but yet it also seemed to lack at times.

[Jen Sheldon]

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Tropes:
* Morally grey leads
* Touch her and die
* Dad’s best friend
* Possessiveness
* Gothic mansion
* Murder mystery
* Forbidden love
* Age gap
* Forced proximity
* Anti-hero
* Dark romance
* Gothic romance
* Fairytale retelling
* “MINE”

Thank you to NetGalley, Alta Hensley, and Avon and Harper Voyager for this eARC!

This book has the vibes of Beauty and the Beast along with the folklore of Bluebeard, and the age gap trope especially piqued my interest to go along with those vibes. It’s a modern and sexy take on two tales I really love, so I was immediately drawn into this book.

Blue definitely falls first, accepting Saylor fully as she shows more of herself to him. As they both reveal more of themselves, she accepts his darkness more just as he accepts her light. I thought this was smart pacing and allowed them not to necessarily change, but grow together.

And he gets gruesome, but this book isn’t overly gory for the most part (depends on your level of squeamish). Which I appreciated! But it is darkly steamy and readers beware of the TW’s because those are the moments that were a little bonkers! The setting has a haunting, hidden small town vibe that matches the book well. There’s also some good twists and surprises, so this was a good, dark romance read with a satisfying ending.

[Dozelina 666]

I have to admit, the phrase "murder-sober retired serial killer" made me laugh before I even started the book.

Come on, Blue...

This is a loose Bluebeard retelling wrapped in a dark romance full of murder, revenge, spice and enough chaos to keep things entertaining.

As the blurb says, Saylor has one goal: revenge. Five years after witnessing her father's murder, the people responsible are back to finish the job. Luckily, or maybe unluckily, depending on how you look at it, she's rescued by Blue, her father's closest friend.

Well... before either of them realizes exactly who the other is, things get a little... steamy.

Oopsie daisy!

Once Blue discovers she's his friend's daughter, things become understandably awkward for about five minutes before the story fully embraces the "dad's best friend" trope. Blue takes Saylor back to his gothic mansion overlooking the cliffs in Grimlock, and from there the real story begins.

One thing I genuinely appreciated was Saylor's journey.

She wants revenge, but unlike so many heroines in similar books, she doesn't magically become an expert killer overnight. She makes mistakes, struggles and has to figure out what she's actually capable of. I found that much more believable than watching someone suddenly transform into a flawless assassin after one training montage.

Blue... well... Blue is exactly what you'd expect. He's morally gray, trying very hard to leave his violent past behind, and it's clear that Saylor's father played a huge role in helping him become someone better. That internal struggle made him more interesting than if he'd simply embraced the chaos.

Speaking of chaos...

The ending definitely earns that description. Things become wonderfully messy, secrets start flying everywhere, and the final stretch feels like complete mayhem, in a mostly entertaining way (and sometimes frustrating).

Overall, this was an easy, fast-paced read with plenty of spice, revenge, murder, crime, gothic vibes and a fun Bluebeard-inspired twist. Maybe it wasn't perfect, but I had a good time with it.

⭐️ 3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read and review this book.

https://turnthepagewithana.blogspot.c...

[Lisa Nicole]

I went into Songbird in the Gallows expecting something a little different, largely because the blurb described it as a dark rom-com and drew comparisons to Brynne Weaver. Unfortunately, neither of those descriptions quite matched my experience with the book.

The story had an intriguing setup and grabbed my attention early on, but that momentum gradually faded. Blue, Saylor’s late father’s best friend, is a retired assassin who takes on the task of training Saylor after her father’s death, preparing her to seek revenge against the people responsible. It’s a dark premise with plenty of potential, and there were certainly moments that delivered on the intensity, but I ultimately found myself struggling to become fully invested in either the characters or their relationship. The romance was there, but I never quite felt the emotional connection I was hoping for, and the pacing made it difficult to stay engaged as the story progressed.

The audiobook, however, was a definite bright spot and helped elevate my overall experience. Rock Engle gave Blue a strong, commanding presence, capturing both his dangerous nature and the conflict beneath the surface. Jillian Macie brought a nice balance of vulnerability and determination to Saylor, making her character easy to listen to even when I struggled to connect with her on the page. Their performances worked well together and added another layer to the chemistry and darker atmosphere of the story.

Ultimately, Songbird in the Gallows had an interesting concept and some compelling moments, but it never completely came together for me. While the narration made the experience more enjoyable, the pacing, character connection, and lack of the darkly humorous tone I expected kept this from being a standout read. An okay read, but not quite what I was hoping for.

[Jessica]

Just finished reading an advanced copy of a book that was just released called, Songbird in the Gallows. This is about Saylor, after seeing her father killed in front of her five years ago she's been living a life in hiding, but now the men who killed her father have found her and plan to do the same to her. When she is saved by Blue, her father's best friend, the last thing she expects is to be taken to his mansion so she can be kept safe while he handles the men that are after her. But Saylor is tired of hiding, she wants revenge for her father's death. And Blue is murder-sober, trying to be a better person and change his ways. So they come up with a plan, since Blue doesn't want to kill anymore and Saylor has never killed before but wants her revenge, Blue will teach Saylor. And while they are avenging her father, their attraction for each other grows, but so does the curiosity Saylor has about who Blue is, his past, and the secrets he's keeping from her.
This was such a good dark romance! I loved the folklore vibes and the quirky small town feel of this book. The storyline of a murder-sober killer teaching someone who has never killed before was so unique and entertaining! I loved the tension between Saylor and Blue, he's wanting to keep her safe but she's wanting to dive right into the action without knowing what she's doing. And their chemistry was absolutely undeniable! I had so much fun with this story and I would really love more stories set in this world! I didn't want this book to end! 🩵📚

Thank you to Alta Hensley, Avon Books, and Netgalley for this physical ARC and eARC of Songbird in the Gallows, in exchange for an honest review.

[Mybookish.odyssey]

I LOVE THIS unhinged dark RomCom.
This dark romance about a murder-sober retired serial killer and his murder-curious protégé. It’s a twisted romance inspired by the Bluebeard folktale is filled with dark humor, sizzling chemistry, and spice.

Please read the trigger warnings before reading!!!

Sara Mitchell “Saylor” is truly an exceptional FMC. Trying to make a life after ex experiencing such a traumatizing event; only to once again have her life turn upside down.

Blue (MMC) had an alluring mystery to him when Saylor laid eyes on him! After their first encounter… Let’s just say it’s a wild ride.

I enjoyed how Saylor embraced her dark side so effortlessly; although she did have the perfect teacher😜.

Another element I loved in the book is Grimlock; thePacific coast town , Blue calls home. I enjoyed how each resident had a story and a purpose; a sort of unconventional family.

The banter through out the book had me laughing in public 🤣; and there are some emotional tear jerking moments as well!
This book is a definite for those that enjoy …
Morally grey MMC( with a body count), gothic vibes, touch her and ☠️, Age gap( Dads best friend), forced proximity, spice , and crazy banter …. Then add this to your TBR!
Thank you NetGalley, Alta Hensley, Avon and Harper Voyager publishing for this advance reader copy!

[Read.and.Blossom]

4.5 ⭐️

If you are looking for something with similar vibes as butcher and blackbird with gothic vibes this is a good one!

This was such a good read. I got really hooked into the arc and enjoyed my time with it!

The backstory for our characters and how they became as a result of them was very interesting to read about.

Our fmcs father is murdered while she was in the room,unknown to the killers. The MMC is the father’s friend!! Plot twist

There’s some serious tension 🤭 between our MCs. It was hilarious how he “saved” her

The town of Grimlock is an odd location. The townspeople have secrets and pasts that has brought them to Grimlock

This has to be my favorite book by this author and so glad I was able to get the arc! Definitely will be needing a physical copy and will be waiting for the next book!!

[Shelly | VixenReads]

I loved the concept of this story but that’s kind of where it ends.
The story didn’t seem fully developed and I didn’t feel any type of connection or chemistry between the main characters.
I listened to this on audio and I have to say I was not a fan at all of either narrator (dual narration). In fact, I considered DNFing early on because it didn’t work for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the ALC of this book.

[Angelbelle Reads]

Thank you Avon for the gifted copy

🔥Forced proximity
🖤He teachers her to kill
🔥Age gap
🖤Small town
🔥Dad’s best friend
🖤Bluebird retelling

After the murder of her father, Saylor Mitchell has been tracked down by the same killers who were also after her. Unexpectedly rescued by Blue, her father’s best friend she is now temporarily forced to live with him for her safety

“He kidnapped me but he’s probably nice” isn’t exactly the foundation for healthy decision-making.

I’ve never seen a psychiatrist drink on the job. The way I was cracking up 😂

So this is definitely my favorite Alta book. Saylor and Blue are something else yall. Hump - fight rinse and repeat

If you’re a fan of dark and sexy rom-coms then definitely check this one out

“Most people have sex in beds. Normal people. But no, I decide to jump you in your creepy death museum because apparently that’s who I am now.”

[thebeespot72]

#AvonPartner

I’ve nearly read every book by Alta Hensley. To say I’m a big fan would be an understatement. Her ability to write an MMC that is all Alpha, Morally Grey, and only soft for the FMC is always top-tier.

If you’ve read Alta Hensley’s Naughty or Nice trilogy, Songbird in the Gallows has a similar Dark Rom Com going on, but it definitely has that gothic edge added to it. My first Bluebeard retelling, and I have to say I loved it.

I love the way Alta describes the whole atmosphere in all her stories, especially in Songbird in the Gallows. The town of Grimlock was as clear to me as were the characters, Saylor and Blue. These two together are perfect. Saylor is not afraid of Blue. She understands him, understands his violence, and doesn’t try to make him into something he’s not. Blue was trying to do the right thing, but was feeling guilty because of his relationship with Saylor’s father. This had me chuckling a few times—him repeating “Peter’s daughter” over and over.

And there were several other humorous parts throughout the story—the banter was well written. I mean, Saylor is really bad at the shmurder thing was quite comical

Thank you to Avon Books and Author Alta Hensley for the gifted copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Erin A. {midnight_rosepetals} Thorne]

Rating: ♡4⭐️♡5🎧♡4🌶️♡

🎧 Rock - I loved love loved you in this!!! The inner struggle def came across until he was like fuck it … well her 🫣😉

🎧 Jillian - gahh I LOVE this FMC for you! You are a first for me! Did not disappoint! 🫶🏻🫶🏻

📚 Alta - This was my first for you. I will def be looking for more!!!

By: @Alta Hensley Books
Narrated by: Rock Engle; Jillian Macie
Received by: @NetGalley

#bookish #darkromance #netgalley #audiobook #BookTok

[Magically Miranda]

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon a and author Alta Hensley, for providing me with the eARC of “Songbird in the Gallows”.

💭My Thoughts
She does it again, with another dark romance. This was a fun and quick read. I liked how steamy it got right away and then to find out the who he was Saylor! That had me hooked from that moment on.

No real notes, this was just a hit.

❣️Tropes❣️
Dark Romance
Age Gap
Forbidden
Unalivers
Forced Proximity

🩵RATING🩵
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Spice Level: 🌶️
Length: 301 Pages
Publisher: Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon a
Dual POV

[Alyx Gough]

Thank you Avon for the ARC!

Songbird in the Gallows was such a fun dark romance read overall. The creepy gothic atmosphere, stormy seaside town, murder-sober assassins, and chaotic cast kept me hooked the entire time. I flew through this book way faster than I expected.

Blue and Saylor had really addictive chemistry, and I loved the balance of dark humor, spice, and emotional moments throughout the story. There were definitely some scenes that dragged a little too long for me, and parts of the middle felt slower than they needed to be. Saylor also gave me emotional whiplash at times because her reactions and decisions could feel all over the place.

But overall, this was still a super entertaining and unique read that kept me invested from start to finish.

[Rebecca Whaley]

This was so good! Saylor is awesome! I love the story. It's so gothic and atmospheric. I love Blue. So sexy and a bit scary. It's also a bit gory. If you love murder shows you'll love this.

[Freya]

Thank you to the author, Avon and NetGalley for this gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really looking forward to reading this but was let down.

DNF

The FMC is delusional and unreasonable. I’m tired of reading books with FMCs like this. Curious as to what she would have liked Blue to do? Leave her on the side of the road? Brought her back to NYC to get kidnapped again? Leave her in enemy territory? The level of rage she has towards Blue is BS. He tried talking to her and assuring her that she would be safe in his heavily protected town but she was not having any of it. Completely hysterical. They didn’t have time to go into detail about everything while still in enemy territory. She would have gotten them all killed if Hans didn’t chloroform her. He didn’t kidnap her. He brought her to safety in order to explain the situation and to obviously keep her safe. Pick your battles. Sheesh. I didn’t expect her to trust him but which option is better? Go with him or stay to be tortured and killed? Hmmmm

[Jess Boschock]

A great dark read by Alta. Saylor and Blue’s relationship would be considered forbidden by some as he’s her late father’s best friend. This story is dark, twisted and exactly what i love reading from Alta. I liked the dark town feel of Grimlock. Will Saylor be the best pupil ever? Dive in to find out you won’t be disappointed.

[Kayla]

Honestly 0 stars. How do I keep ending up getting influenced by the worst books, and why do I refuse to DNF, I need to get over my DNF fear.

[Blair Warner]

This is dad best friend/age gap, serial killer romance. Saylor, formally Sarah has been on the run since her fathers murder and now Blue, her fathers best friend has caught up with her. He has made a promise to keep her safe and Saylor doesn't know who he is. But when she finds out, she wants to be taken under his wing...becuase she wants revenge.
It is what you expect from a Alta Hensley dark romance. I have read a decent amount of her work now and find that it is exactly what I expected it to be. I love this kind of romance so it was fun for me. The spice is good. And Saylor, though she wants to be his protege does have some issues when it comes to blood so I found those parts to be funny when it comes to her reactions. Don't go in thinking this is going to be life changing, it really isn't but if you go in thinking it is going to be a fun time and use it as a pallet cleanser I think you will enjoy it a lot more. It is more of an insta lust/love type of situation which I do like and it is Alta Hensley's speed when it comes to these. I would totally read again.

Thank you to Avon for the complimentary copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own

[J. Moufawad-Paul]

Picked this out of the library on a lark because it looked fun and I wanted an easy read. I almost didn't finish it, though, because of how annoying it was. I wasn't expecting the lurid yet somewhat boring sex scenes––made all the more eye-rolling by how the writer was at pains to describe them as not "vanilla" because there's some S&M, or maybe because the dude actually does cunnilingus, and yet they were structured around a heteronormative monogamous "true love" trope with a positively backwards traditional gender age gap. Describing fucking in a tradwife/tradhusband relationship, or in a Mormon sister-wife situation, no matter how "non-vanilla" the act itself might become is far from subversive. Nor were these sexual encounters. But I digress, and anyhow the sex scenes were not as offensive as the YA-level prose, the multiple narrative inconsistencies, and the insipid treatment of the Bluebeard myth. To be familiar with Carter's Bloody Chamber and Catherine Breillat's Barbe Bleue and then to read this? Terrible. What made Carter and Breillat's respective retellings brilliant was that they understood the meaning of the original fairy tale while subverting it.

The list of "Trigger Warnings" placed at the front of the book was about as asinine as story and writing. Was the author mocking the entire notion of content/trigger warnings with a list, many of which were clearly not any kind of trigger warning ("fairy tale endings that require significant cleanup" what?), or was this just some wink-wink-nudge-nudge nonsense. Then there was the list of "tropes", two of which, when combined, were better suited for a trigger/content warning list: "dad's best friend" and "age gap." Maybe it's being a dad who is around the age of the Blue Beard character with a daughter that made me find these tropes both cringe worthy and warnings for the #MeToo generation where dad's best friend is often a predator trying to groom teenagers, but the whole romance between Blue and Saylor grossed me out. Men who like women old enough to be their daughters remind me of old tenured colleagues in my field creeping on their barely legal undergraduate students. And though a 20+ year age gap fits the Bluebeard of the fairy tale and Carter's and Breillat's retellings, the Blue in this story is supposed to be a redeemed killer rather than an abusive predator.

Which brings us back to the notion of what makes a retelling meaningful: cheap retellings just take the narrative elements and mix and match them (like putting The Odyssey in space just because, or making Bluebeard an assassin trying to be a good guy just because); thoughtful retellings find the core of the story (i.e. predatorial older men wielding social power) and push back against the narrative conventions wrapped around this core (i.e. that women must obey their husbands, even if they are murderous).

2 stars. One for a story, however mediocre and basically written, that kept me interested enough to make it to the end (but barely). One for there being enough fucking to distract me from my annoyance, even if the descriptions were sometimes eye-rolling.

[Lauren Perz]

ARC Review: Songbird in the Gallows
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“But maybe the best stories are the ones where the monsters get to be happy too. Where the villain and the hero are the same person, just seen from different angles.”

If you’re a fan of twisted dark romance and gothic vibes, you NEED to pick up Songbird in the Gallows by Alta Hensley. Inspired by the Bluebeard folktale, this story follows Saylor Mitchell as she’s thrown into the dark, world of her father’s best friend, Blue—a reformed assassin with a mansion full of secrets.

The chemistry? Off the charts. The tension? Obsessed. This is a gritty, forbidden, and delicious slow-burn that explores just how far someone will go for revenge for themselves or someone else.

Tropes included:
•Morally grey main characters
•Touch her and …
•Gothic mansion
•Age gap
•Forbidden love

Have you added this one to your TBR yet?

[casey]

3 ⭐️

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc and alc.

⋆˙⟡ tropes ⟡˙⋆
🖤 dark romcom
🐦‍⬛ gothic vibes
🗝️ forced proximity
🩵 bluebird retelling
🪓 age gap

⋆˙⟡ thoughts ⟡˙⋆
i’m conflicted??? i didn’t hate it, but didn’t love it??? i kinda felt like i couldn’t get attached or fully into the story. the pacing felt a bit off which could be why i struggled.

⋆˙⟡ synopsis ⟡˙⋆
five years ago, saylor’s father was brutally murdered in front of her and now his killers have tracked her down to finish the job. she is unexpectedly saved by her father’s closest friend, blue (a reformed, murder-sober assassin struggling to escape the clutches of his own violent history)

🎧audio: i think the reason i fully read through was because of the audio. the narrators did a great job portraying the characters.

[anovelaccount (Kayla)]

Uh, meh 🤷🏻‍♀️

Somewhere between 3-3.5 stars. Honestly, this audio was not good. At all. I stuck with it because I wanted to read the book and don’t have time to eyeball read it but. Unfortunately the audiobook big time impacted my enjoyment of the story and the female narrator CONSTANTLY took me out of the story. Her voice was so grating and when she did a man’s voice…oh my goodness, it was SO bad. So yeah, the book itself was…fine. I didn’t really get into it for whatever reason, but I think if you’re a Brynne Weaver fan that you’ll love this book. I also struggled to really feel a true connection between the MCs. I did like the Bluebeard retelling and I’m intrigued by the town & interested in learning more in subsequent books.

[Nikki]

I’ve read Alta Hensley’s Christmas themed dark romances and loved them, so I was so excited to have received a copy of this book from the publisher as well as NetGalley!

I devoured this book. It had me as soon as I read he’s a murder sober serial killer. Right from the start there was chemistry and it had me in a chokehold. This was somewhat of a slow burn. It took a bit for most of the spice to hit but *chef’s kiss*.

Aside from the romance there was a secondary plot that involved some suspense. The Crow family that is after Saylor and Blue definitely had the story full of action. I love my romance books mixed with some suspense so this book was perfect for me.

Alta Hensley has gained a loyal reader because now I must read all of her books and look forward to any new releases.

Thank you so much to Avon Books for a copy of this book!

[Amity Bailey]

4⭐️

This audio was so good! I loved the narration and emotion from Rock Engle & Jillian Macie!

I have absolutely loved the other books I’ve read by Alta Hensley, so I immediately jumped at the opportunity for this one! It didn’t disappoint! This was full of dark & twisted vibes, humor, romance, and spice!!

This definitely gave butcher & blackbird feel & absolutely kept me hooked into Saylor & Blue’s story! If you are looking for book with revenge, murder/serial killers, humor, and possessive MMC this one is going to be perfect for you!

This book has some super steamy spice, but the perfect amount of plot to go with it! It was a fast paced & overall fun time!! Definitely one I’d recommend!!