The Butcher (Fifth Republic #1)
Penelope Sky
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars
3.98
· Steam/Spice level: 5 of 5
Explicit and plentiful [?]
· 53 ratings · 249 pages · Published: 12 Jan 2025

I move out and get a new apartment, a job as a bartender, and try to move on with a broken heart. I wonder where it all went wrong, if I hadn’t been enough for him, if I’d been stupid for marrying him in the first place.
I’m at work one night when he walks inside—the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. He sits at the bar and a forest fire burns between us. I was depressed the moment before he entered, but the second I look at his blue eyes, I forget the dumpster fire that my life has become. I invite him back to my place and it’s the most passionate night of my life. I expect to never see him again.
I just want him as an anti-depressant—but he wants me all to himself. I just got my heart ripped out of my chest so I want something easy and no-strings-attached, but he wants all the strings because he’s hooked.
I don’t get much of a say in the matter, and that’s not surprising when I learn why—because he’s the Butcher. The crime lord of all crime lords, the boss that overshadows all of Paris, that makes everyone abide by his rules—or pay.
And now I’m his.
Tagged as:
- m-f romance 9
- spanking 9
- dark romance 6
- poor heroine 6
- alpha male 6
- rich hero 6
- dual pov 6
- mafia 5
- hurt/comfort 5
- contemporary 4
- bad boys 4
- working class heroine 4
- possessive hero 4
- male pov 4
- first person pov 4
- cheating 2
- new adult 2
- competent heroine 2
- height difference 2
- take-charge heroine 1
- suspense 1
- Add topics
- content warnings
- graphic violence 2
romance tags
The 'Fifth Republic' series
99 ratings 4.05 ·
europe · spanking · bad boys · new adult · first-person-pov · dark · m-f · alpha male · france · possessive hero · dual-pov · contemporary · mafia · working class heroine · graphic-violence · competent heroine · cold hero · independent heroine · torture-mcs · cheating
Fifth Republic reading order and complete book list ❯