Thank you to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for this ARC.

One day, Dolores de la Cruz, or Dodi, notices a new male temp at her office. His name is, I kid you not, Jake Ripper, and Dodi who is very into true crime, think he's the epitome of a serial killer. He notices her too, and they start a love/hate relationship.

I don't even know where to begin with this book because the blurb is entirely misleading and the title just gives you the wrong impression what the story is about. It is a romance but with dark vibes, and those serial killers never really materialise until the end when the identity of the Paper Pusher is revealed. The first few chapters confusingly are from Jake's POV which I didn't realise at first. After that the two POVs alternate with names given.

There are tons of romantic tropes which the author lists at the end. I won't repeat them as most of them are plot spoilers. How can you spoiler a romance plot, aren't they predictable? Not when they at the same time contain tons of twists and turns about the main character's past and present lives.

Every person in this book is interesting in a twisted way, from Jake's rich housemate Grant who is into sex dolls, Laura the undertaker and Grandad Billy. Even dog Princess is a personality, oh and there's a Cat also. Uncle Andrew however is infuriatingly awful and traumatising for his entire family.

This is a romance between two very damaged characters trying to come to terms with trauma, that waits until the last minute for a HEA. But fear not, it comes, and in the sweetest way. There is a lot of dark humour, especially when Dodi tries to lose her money in Las Vegas casinos and fails spectacularly, or when dismembered sex dolls spark frantic theories by a cop that are entirely true, but no one believes him.

This is a bizarre, darkly funny, twisty read about characters you learn to love and care for. Just don't expect too much about serial killers! Considering this is a debut novel, this is assuredly written with a lot to say about corporate culture but you go in with false expectations so maybe a different title and blurb would have been advisable.