The Butcher of the Bay: Part I (The Butcher Duet Book 1) Kindle Edition

It took me such a long time to pick up this book and I honestly find it hard to explain why I was saving it for the perfect moment and thus postponing reading it for all this time even though I bought this book on release day. Yeah... I'm questioning my motives too at this point. But... I digress...The Butcher of The Bay aka Johnny Illium aka Illi was one of my favourite characters in Hannaford Prep. I honestly had hopes for him and Lips back then, until I met Odie. Getting to know their background story was something I really was looking forward to and J. Bree doesn't disappoint at all. It's great to turn back time for a bit and see Mounts Bay, Lips and Illi before Lips starts attending Hannaford Prep. Her character cameos didn't disappoint at all. She's as fierce as I remember her. Illi and Odie's journey starts quite brutal and not for the faint of heart making me feel like a trigger warning is in place for people who don't like to read dark romance. I won't spoil the content, but if you're hesitant going in, check in with someone who has read it to make sure it won't cause you any mental health issues.I loved reading this book because it gave me so much more insight in Illi than I had before. We read how his loyalty to the Jackal is being tested and how he's starting to question Matteo's motives. We discover how Lips and him connect and how his loyalty shifts towards her. There is so much more to him than being the Butcher and J. Bree does one hell of a job showing us an incredibly developed character with so many layers.And Odie? Well... she's such a fighter through and through. She's been to hell and back and is still standing, fighting, not letting others break her spirit despite the horrible ordeals she faced. All in all this is a tale that I love to classify as a story where one needs a personal monster to deal with the even bigger monsters. It is clear that Illi is willing to go to the end of the world to make sure Odie is protected and safe, while also making sure that she can  hold her own when he isn't there. It is incredibly powerful to see how he builds his relationship with Odie on patience and trust and I love Illi for it. 5 stars, would definitely recommend!

I've owned this book since it was released but have held off in reading it, fearing that it would be so dark it would mess me up. I finally felt up to getting in and starting it. Is it dark? Absolutely. There are some downright disturbing scenes, but that's primarily because I "know" Odie from having read the HP series so I have more emotional investment in what happened to her. I'm relieved to say I didn't find it nauseating or triggering. Not sure what that says about me but this was not as gruesome as I had feared and I probably didn't need to avoid it for this long.In true J. Bree fashion, the writing, character, and world building are on point.I am especially loving the little moments where we get to see the early growing friendship between Illi and Lips. Some of the things that Illi thinks and says to Odie are downright swoon inducing. That man is freaking delicious and he is obsessed with his girl, in the most beautiful way.Excited to move on to book two!Ratings:Character building: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐World building: 🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥 - this is slow burn, rightly so given the trauma Odie has facedRomance: 💓💓💓 💓 - the first half is too dark to really feel like a romance but there is a slow build between Illi and Odie is really intensifying by the end of the book.Dark: 💀💀💀💀Drama: 👀 👀 👀 👀Suspense: 💣 💣 💣 💣Action: 🍿 🍿 🍿 🍿Multiple POVs: Yes ✔Ending: Cliffhanger - would be somewhat painful but the second book is already out, so...moving on.Recommend: YES

Okay, so I started this book after reading Hannaford Prep 4 times. Illium was definitely a favorite right off the bat and I was not disappointed with this first book in the duet.Illium is just living his best life, killing people, fighting and doing all he can to keep his infamy as The Butcher of the Bay. He runs a job and has a chance encounter with Odie and instantly falls for her. Thinking she is a working girl, he makes a mistake and with the help of Lips Anderson he works to right that wrong.I loved the relationship with Lips and Illi in Hannaford Prep and really enjoyed reading the beginnings of their relationship and from his POV. He is the ultimate morally grey character and uh, I love how steadfast he is in all of his decisions and how he is ultimately team Lips all the way just like in Hannaford Prep.I feel for broken Odie and love seeing her grow stronger. Ends in a cliffhanger. But I am all ready for book 2!

The butcher’s heart is soft like a marshmallow when it comes to Odie but make no mistake he is still the Butcher of the Bay. He more than lives up to that name in this series. Also take my word for it don’t mess with kid either. See Hannaford Prep series.

I really wanted to know more about Illi while reading the Hannaford Prep series and I am SO glad J Bree decided to put out this duet. My love for Illi has grown so much through this - he may be messed up and a bit broken but my god does he love Odie, and reading about their love and feelings for each other was really incredible. It was also nice to read a bit more about a young Lips as well and getting to see how her and the Butcher became so close. I was (and yet still wasn't) expecting that cliff and I can't wait for book 2!Only note I do have is that there were quite a lot of spelling/grammar errors (which I think is odd for the author) but didn't take away from the story. Highly recommend and can't wait for the second instalment!

I was unsure at first about the plot of this book but thought I’d give it a try and omg what can i say other than wow and I am so happy I gave it a chance.So you have two MCsIlli aka the Butcher, just your typical 24 year old psychopath nothing to worry about haha well other than people pay him to cut up bodies and he loves to slice through bodies with his cleavers and knives and other tools he keeps under his apartment that is a warehouse.Then you have the beautiful french Odie who at 17 lives in France with her mother in a little cottage near the sea, her father is a wannabe gangster, mobster, cartel, drug lord. Who sells drugs but took a liking to enjoying his own samples and became an addict.He doesn’t live with Odie or her mother but tends to make visits to beat Odie into submission and be the dutiful daughter he expects.On this particular day she comes home to find her father at her home with some of his friends/business partners.He is in a discussion with them that starts to become a topic that gets Odies attention, she soon realises her father has sold her to some Spanish cartel.Unknown to her father, he thinks Odie is still a virgin and think she will be sold for a good amount of money to help bail him out of his debts.As you can imagine Odie is devastated, she doesn’t want to marry some man she doesn’t know or leave the country she only knows and a boyfriend that she thought loved her that works for her father and have been having a secret affair behind her fathers back, she can not tell her father of this secret as he would kill them both, so even though she doesn’t wanna do this she has no choice.Once she is flown to America to meet the soon to be husband and her father and now ex boyfriend leave her with these strangers she is already thrown in the back of a car and pinned to the back seat where one of the strangers test to see if she is actually a virgin.When they find that she is not a virgin, the men knock her out and she is out cold till later when she wakes to complete darkness, she finds that she is still in the car and that when lights turn on that a little old lady collects her, Odie doesn’t understand what the lady is saying but thinks this lady is there to help her.Not the case the lady isn’t interested in helping Odie, she wants her money back with profit after buying Odie from Odies father in believing she was a virgin.The lady sells her to cartel who have aka the Butcher meet Odie at the airport where the Butcher sees Odie for the first time and thinks Odie is the most amazing beautiful woman he’s ever seen and that he has no idea she’s been sold to be raped and killed, he thinks she is some high class hooker and is debating to ask her if she is willing to accept his offer and spend some time with her, when the Butcher drops Odie off at the destination, it’s too late for him to find out she is sold and not a high class hooker.So when he finds out the truth his spends every single hour to try and find this cartel and rescue his Odie.This book is not for the faint hearted and please expect some very dark and very trouble scenes, you become part of these MCs and they do experience very dark and traumatic times through this book.But please don’t let that stop you from giving this book a go.It’s a dark romance and not your lovey dovey, sappy romance.It grips you from the beginning.It’s dark and broken but real and it’s brilliantly written.I can’t wait to sink in to book 2Must read!!!!!!

I LOVED IT !!!!!!!!Odie is easy to love and you can see that she’s getting strong. The emotions were right, we see her reconstruction following her traumatic experience and Illie’s patience is also one of the things I loved. Now I just can’t wait to read more.J Bree is definitely one of my favorite author.

J Bree did not let me down and she never does. This book was spectacular!The butcher of the bay is in the same world as a Hannaford prep series and it is just as good.Illi or the butcher is a serial killer who is paid to kill people for cash. He's not a part of the 12 but he has a deal with them that means he's basically his own entity.Odie is a strong character, I liked the fact that she's not American and she has a lot of cultural differences trying to survive after being sold to an American drug lord.Their relationship is hard and fast in the sense that the butcher is obsessed with her after one meeting and falls in love with her after a short period of time. Odies journey is a little slower but still there connection is strong and although they haven't consummated their relationship, the intensity of said relationship keeps you going and makes you root for them.The only thing is that the timeline isn't clear as to where this fits in with Hannaford Prep, obviously it's before the series because The Wolf is only 14 but I'd like to know a bit more about where it actually fits in with the timeline of that series.I can't wait till part 2 comes out, I'm really hankering to know what happens.

Oh oo, the jackal send his regards, I loved this book, I read the hannaford prep series before going into this one which is where I met illi and odie, loved illi's character what a beast of a man, to be honest I think I should of read his books first then the hannaford prep, but never the less getting to know illi and odies story is great, what a journey odie has been on so far, the damage done to her, no one can get over that, but the spitfire that odie is, will not let it become her, I love the way she brought illi to his knees just by being the girl he never knew he needed, the ending of this book... damn the jackal evil sadistic spawn of a devil. I do know what happens to him eventually but that happens in the hannaford prep, which is why I know I should of read these books first. Anyway need to dive into book two now.