Slaycation Series in Order: Every Book, Every Couple and Every Food Crime

I picked up Sinners Retreat as a palate cleanser.

Apparently other people cleanse their reading palate with a cosy small-town romance, a bakery, maybe a golden retriever.

I chose serial killers on holiday.

There was a pineapple.

I have made peace with who I am.

Four books later, I have developed opinions about fictional hitmen, ranked several deeply questionable men according to boyfriend potential, and lost the ability to look at certain sections of the supermarket without remembering things I did not ask to remember.

Now Sinners Reunion has arrived as the fifth and final main Slaycation book, and Lauren Biel is sending everyone off on one last road trip.

So obviously we need a proper series guide.

The reading order. The couples. My ratings. The spice. The fictional men. And, because this series has forced my hand, a documented list of innocent food items that did not make it out with their dignity intact.

Everything here is spoiler-free.

Well.

Plot-spoiler-free.

Your relationship with fruit is your own responsibility.

Comfort-level note: Slaycation lives in Lauren Biel’s dark-rom-com lane, but “rom-com” does not cancel out the “dark”. These books include killers, violence, murder and high-intensity sexual content, with individual books carrying additional warnings. Check Lauren Biel’s full content warnings before each one. Dark romance is not a surprise party.

Current status: I am reading Sinners Reunion now, so this is a living guide. I will add my full rating, King verdict and final food-crime findings when I finish it.

The Slaycation series in order

There are five main Slaycation books:

1. Sinners Retreat (2024): Kindra + Ezra, killers-only island retreat
2. Slay Ride (2025): Cat + Bennett, snowed-in winter retreat in Alaska
3. Ship Happens (2025): Frankie + Maverick, the Bruise Cruise
4. Slaughter Park (2026): Quinn + Aven, questionable theme-park holiday decisions
5. Sinners Reunion (2026): Josie + King, one final cross-country road trip

And yes, I would read them in that order.

Could you technically pick one up because a particular trope caught your attention?

Probably.

Would I?

No.

Do you actually need to read Slaycation in order?

Each book follows a different couple and gives them their own romance, so these are not five books about one relationship.

But the Slaycation world keeps growing around them.

Characters return. Previous couples turn up again. Jim continues organising holidays that absolutely nobody should have insured. The callbacks get better once you understand why everyone around them is Like That.

By Ship Happens, part of the fun is no longer just the central couple. It is watching this expanding group of murdery weirdos interact with each other.

And some of those jokes only properly land once you have the history.

So I would start with Sinners Retreat and work forward.

Not because I am assigning homework.

Because watching the chaos escalate is part of the experience.

The Slaycation books, according to me

1. Sinners Retreat

Kindra + Ezra

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

This is where I entered the Lauren Biel situation.

Kindra is heading to a remote island retreat for killers because she is looking for the man who murdered her brother.

On the plane she meets Ezra.

Nerdy. Glasses. Sweet.

Also a killer.

Also, inconveniently, the man she is looking for.

Normal holiday stuff.

Their whole dynamic should not work as well as it does.

Kindra has strong black-cat energy. Ezra is considerably softer, sweeter and more supportive than a man in this particular profession has any right to be.

Basically:

Cinnamon roll.

But murdery.

I loved them.

This one also establishes something that becomes extremely important to the Slaycation experience.

Lauren Biel cannot be trusted around food.

The pineapple was our first warning.

We did not listen.

My full review: Sinners Retreat by Lauren Biel

2. Slay Ride

Cat + Bennett

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️½

If Sinners Retreat made me realise this series was funny, Slay Ride was the book that made me realise Lauren Biel was going to keep escalating the bit.

Bennett is a grumpy, broke, blacklisted hitman.

Cat is sunshine in human form and still trying to get her first kill under her belt.

Which is an absolutely ridiculous sentence to type about a romance heroine, yet here we are.

Bennett thinks this is a terrible idea.

Naturally, stopping her becomes his problem.

Then they get snowed in together overnight.

In a cabin.

In the woods.

I have read romance novels before. I know the rules.

This is grumpy x sunshine, enemies to lovers, forced proximity and a secret relationship wrapped inside what Lauren herself has described as her “DIET Lauren Biel” lane.

DIET.

Which is useful information if you are currently considering exploring the rest of her backlist.

Also, there is a turkey leg.

And rockmelon.

I will be taking no questions at this time.

My full review: Slay Ride by Lauren Biel

3. Ship Happens

Frankie + Maverick

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️½

Welcome aboard the Bruise Cruise.

Frankie is an undercover FBI agent.

Maverick is a chaotic young hitman working for the people Frankie is trying to investigate.

Then a booking mix-up puts them in the same suite.

And the same bed.

Workplace boundaries are thriving.

This one gives us opposite sides of the law, one bed and a reverse age gap, but my favourite part was actually everything happening around Frankie and Maverick.

By book three, Slaycation has become an ensemble.

Jim is in full pirate mode.

Previous characters are popping up.

Everyone is participating in cruise activities that would result in an extremely long meeting with HR on any normal ship.

And Frankie is slowly discovering that perhaps being an FBI agent is considerably less fun than hanging around with serial killers on holiday.

Understandable.

The central romance did not grab me quite as hard as the first two books, but the supporting cast absolutely carried the cruise for me.

Also?

Champagne bottles are no longer trustworthy.

My full review: Ship Happens by Lauren Biel

4. Slaughter Park

Quinn + Aven

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

And then Aven arrived.

Reader.

The fictional man ranking was in danger.

Quinn is fiercely independent, plus-sized, a cam girl, and dealing with a genuinely dangerous stalker.

Aven is the Scottish bodyguard hired to protect her.

His plan is essentially:

Get in.

Do the job.

Get paid.

Go home to Scotland.

Adorable that he thought there was a plan.

He is also part of a vigilante crew that targets bad people, so we are still comfortably inside the Slaycation moral universe of:

Technically murder, but have you considered that I like him?

This one gives us bodyguard romance, forced proximity, an age gap, one bed and a heroine who absolutely does not enjoy being told what to do.

Before I started it, I said I was picturing Reacher, the tall one, not Tom Cruise, but Scottish.

I regret nothing.

This was also the spiciest Slaycation book for me so far.

And then Lauren Biel came for the deep fryer.

And the piping bag.

And funnel cake.

Apparently I had become too comfortable.

My full review: Slaughter Park by Lauren Biel

5. Sinners Reunion

Josie + King

Current status: I am reading it now.

Five years ago, King disappeared from Josie’s life.

Now they are together again.

In a car.

On a cross-country road trip.

For the final Slaycation book.

Second chance romance is already dangerous enough without putting two people with unresolved history into a vehicle for an extended period of time.

The author’s trope list also includes food play.

Because apparently Lauren has unfinished business with my grocery list.

I am not giving this one a rating yet.

I am also not ranking King yet.

He needs to complete the application process.

But once I finish, this section gets the full treatment.

For now:

• King status: under investigation.
• Food status: vulnerable.
• My Kindle: concerned.

The important question: how spicy is Slaycation?

Short answer?

Yes.

Longer answer, it climbs.

My ratings so far, using my chilli spice scale:

• Sinners Retreat: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ story, 🌶️🌶️🌶️ spice
• Slay Ride: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ story, 🌶️🌶️🌶️½ spice
• Ship Happens: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ story, 🌶️🌶️🌶️½ spice
• Slaughter Park: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ story, 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ spice
• Sinners Reunion: reading now, spice pending

The interesting thing is that the food scenes are not necessarily the same thing as the overall chilli rating.

Slaughter Park is my spiciest so far, but Slay Ride has done considerably more psychological damage to my ability to walk through the deli section.

Which brings us to…

The Slaycation Food Crimes Index

I did not intend for this to become part of my reviewing methodology.

Lauren Biel made choices.

Every Slaycation book seems determined to take at least one completely ordinary food item and make sure I never look at it quite the same way again.

I am keeping this vague because you deserve to experience the moment yourself.

Also because I would like this website to remain reasonably safe to open while somebody is standing behind you.

🍗 The turkey leg, Slay Ride

Damage: 🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗

Possibly the reigning champion.

I tried to explain this scene to friends.

Their immediate follow-up question was:

“But was the turkey raw or cooked?”

Raw.

Apparently this information mattered.

There is also more than one poultry incident in this book, because apparently one was not sufficient.

🍟 The deep fryer and piping bag, Slaughter Park

Damage: 🍟🍟🍟🍟🍟

Additional piping-bag damage: 🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁

I already had questions.

Then we entered a theme park food stall.

Now I have more questions.

Funnel cake was involved.

So was something else from the food stall menu. See below.

I responded in the only sensible way available to me and made a Slaughter Park Funnel Cake for the website.

This is what content creation looks like here now.

🍛 The katsu chicken curry, Slaughter Park

Damage: 🍛🍛

The deep fryer did not act alone either.

Katsu chicken curry was also at the scene.

“What did I just read?” Again.

This series is a public safety incident for ordinary snack foods.

🍍 The pineapple, Sinners Retreat

Damage: 🍍🍍🍍🍍

The original victim.

I knew before reading the book that a pineapple was involved somehow.

I thought that meant I was prepared.

It did not.

And the pineapple was not acting alone.

🍹 The piña colada, Sinners Retreat

Damage: 🍹🍹

The pineapple’s accomplice.

There is also a piña colada incident in Sinners Retreat, and it is another one I will not be explaining at family afternoon tea.

Or over scones.

Or at all, really.

Tropical beverages have officially been placed on watch.

Piña colada trust levels: under review.

🍈 The rockmelon, Slay Ride

Damage: 🍈🍈🍈🍈

Americans may know it as cantaloupe.

Australians know it as rockmelon.

I know it as something I now view with suspicion.

Thank you, Lauren.

🍾 The champagne bottle, Ship Happens

Damage: 🍾🍾🍾

Somehow this is one of the more restrained entries.

That sentence tells you quite a lot about the series.

It also explains why the finale drink is a Last Stop French 75.

Champagne-adjacent bubbles felt appropriate.

And slightly threatening.

✈️ Honourable mention: the plane scene

Not technically food.

Still receives:

✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️

Because Sinners Retreat wanted me to understand extremely early that I had not wandered into a normal holiday romance.

Message received.

Pending evidence: Sinners Reunion

The author’s trope list says food play.

That is all I know.

I am going in with an open mind and a closed pantry.

My Slaycation book boyfriend ranking

A completely sensible ranking of men who should remain safely contained inside fiction.

1. Aven ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Scottish.

Broody.

Protective.

Bodyguard.

Reacher-coded.

This was not a fair competition.

2. Ezra ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sweet.

Nerdy.

Glasses.

Supportive.

Murderer.

Nobody is perfect.

I adored him.

Would I allow him anywhere near my actual life?

Absolutely not.

Please keep your fictional men inside the Kindle where they belong.

3. Bennett ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Grumpy. Dangerous. Falls first.

Cat and Bennett worked for me just as much as Kindra and Ezra, just with a completely different flavour of questionable decision-making.

4. Maverick ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Chaotic.

Charming.

And approximately seventeen HR incidents stacked inside a trench coat.

Frankie never stood a chance.

King: pending.

I do not hand out fictional-boyfriend placement before the evidence has been reviewed.

Standards.

Which Slaycation couple is my favourite?

This is much harder than the boyfriend ranking.

Kindra and Ezra were my first favourites.

Cat and Bennett hit just as well for me in a completely different way.

Then Quinn and Aven arrived and complicated everything.

This is why I dislike being asked to choose.

I am capable of making rankings.

I am not claiming I enjoy the emotional consequences.

Sinners Reunion may still come in and destroy the whole table, so I am leaving the official couple ranking unfinished until Josie and King have had their chance.

Fair is fair.

The overall Slaycation vibe

Imagine somebody took:

• a dark romance
• a holiday package
• a group of serial killers
• ridiculous themed activities
• surprisingly cute relationships
• explicit spice
• one deeply unsafe grocery aisle

and somehow turned it into a holiday-romance series.

That is Slaycation.

The thing that works for me is the contrast.

These are people who do objectively terrible things.

Then somebody is organising an activity.

Or sharing a cabin.

Or arguing over relationship problems.

Or turning up again in the next book like this is simply their friendship group now.

It is completely ridiculous.

The books know it.

That is why it works.

But how dark is Slaycation really?

This is the bit where the jokes stop for a minute.

The first four books mostly sit in the dark-rom-com lane for me, but they are still dark romance.

The protagonists include serial killers, hitmen and vigilantes. There is violence and murder. The sexual content can move into kink and situations that will not suit every reader.

Slaughter Park also brings in a stalker storyline, with additional warnings around stalking and other potentially upsetting material.

The warning list for Sinners Reunion is heavier again, including childhood sexual abuse as trauma history, non-consent and dubious consent, gore, murder, attempted suicide and animal abuse mentioned.

Please check Lauren Biel’s complete warnings for whichever book you are about to read.

That is not me ruining the fun.

That is how the fun stays fun.

Check your comfort level first.

Then enjoy your fictional red flags responsibly.

Is Slaycation a good place to start with Lauren Biel?

I think so.

Especially if you already know you enjoy dark romance but have not ventured very far into Lauren Biel’s particular corner of it.

Slaycation gives you a lot of her humour and some of her trademark unhinged energy without immediately dropping you into the deepest end of her backlist.

If you want something even smaller first, Frisky the Snowman is another easy entry point.

If you have already read Butcher & Blackbird and thought:

“Fine, but what if everybody went on holiday?”

Hello.

Your boarding pass is over there.

Lauren’s other books can go considerably darker, so I would still check individual warnings rather than assuming liking Slaycation automatically means everything in the backlist will suit you.

Host a Slaycation reading night

For the finale, I somehow ended up making the most suspiciously elegant Slaycation pairing possible.

The sip

Last Stop French 75

Gin. Lemon. Bubbles.

A champagne-adjacent callback that looks like something ordered by a woman with excellent judgement.

This is misleading.

The snack

Slaughter Park Funnel Cake

Hot.

Crispy.

Buried under icing sugar.

And, crucially, the funnel cake gets to remain just funnel cake.

The food has been through enough.

Fancy glass.

Deep-fried fairground food.

Questionable fictional decisions.

Balance.

The full pairing lives on my Saturday Night Sip, Snack & Smut page.

Read Slaycation if…

• You like dark romance but also want to laugh.
• You enjoy recurring characters and interconnected standalones.
• You appreciate couples who are weirdly adorable considering their employment histories.
• You like forced proximity, killers falling in love, holiday settings and increasingly questionable group activities.
• You have previously read a dark rom-com and thought: could everybody involved make slightly worse decisions, please?

Welcome.

Maybe skip Slaycation if…

• Serial-killer protagonists immediately take you out of a romance.
• Dark humour around murder is not your thing.
• You prefer your fictional relationships free of extreme red flags.
• You do not want high-spice romance.
• Or you simply looked at that content-warning section and thought: nope.

That is a perfectly good answer.

There are too many books in the world to read one that does not fit your comfort level.

Quick answers

How many books are in the Slaycation series?

There are five main books: Sinners Retreat, Slay Ride, Ship Happens, Slaughter Park and Sinners Reunion.

Sinners Reunion is the final main Slaycation book.

Do you need to read the Slaycation books in order?

Technically, each romance follows a different couple.

Practically, I recommend reading them in publication order.

The recurring cast, callbacks and increasingly ridiculous group dynamic are part of the fun.

Start with Sinners Retreat.

Is the Slaycation series finished?

The main series concludes with Sinners Reunion.

I am currently reading the finale, so this guide will get my final ratings and rankings once I finish.

Which Slaycation book is the spiciest?

For me, Slaughter Park currently takes it at four chillies.

Sinners Reunion is still under review.

Is Slaycation dark romance?

Yes, specifically dark rom-com.

The comedy is a major part of the series, but the books still contain killers, violence, explicit sexual content and other potentially difficult material.

Check the content warnings before reading.

Which Slaycation book should I read first?

Sinners Retreat.

It introduces the world, establishes the tone and begins the long-running campaign against innocent groceries.

Start there.

Trust me.

My Slaycation series ratings so far

Four books fully read.

One finale currently under investigation.

• Sinners Retreat: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ | 🌶️🌶️🌶️
• Slay Ride: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ | 🌶️🌶️🌶️½
• Ship Happens: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 🌶️🌶️🌶️½
• Slaughter Park: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ | 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
• Sinners Reunion: verdict pending

So far, this has been one of those series where the premise sounds ridiculous when I try to explain it to another person and somehow becomes even more ridiculous after I explain it properly.

Which is probably why I keep reading.

Final verdict

I came for a palate cleanser.

I stayed for an entire friendship group of murderers taking increasingly elaborate holidays.

That feels like a personal journey.

Slaycation works for me because it never seems embarrassed by its own premise.

The killers are killers.

The holidays are ridiculous.

The romances are somehow genuinely cute.

The supporting cast gets better as the series grows.

And every time I think Lauren Biel has surely exhausted the number of ways food can become suspicious, another grocery item enters the scene.

My current favourites sit between Sinners Retreat, Slay Ride and Slaughter Park, with Aven occupying an entirely unreasonable amount of space in the fictional-man rankings.

Now I just need Sinners Reunion to tell me how this whole thing ends.

And what happens to the food.

Mostly what happens to the food.

Group chat voice note

I started this series because I wanted something light between heavier books.

There are now five serial-killer holiday romances on my Kindle, I have made funnel cake because of one of them, and my website contains a formal ranking of traumatised groceries.

So.

That went well.