Grumpy hitman, sunshine chaos and a turkey leg scene you cannot explain at normal volume
After Sinner’s Retreat, I clearly had not learned my lesson.
Apparently one Lauren Biel book involving fruit I can no longer look at directly was not enough. I needed the winter retreat version.
I finished Sinner’s Retreat, the plane scene and the pineapple incident and went straight into Slay Ride. Some people would take a breath. Maybe read something about a small town bakery. I did not do that. I moved immediately on to the turkey leg one.
This is a sentence I should not be able to write into a book review and yet, here we are.
What is Slay Ride about?
Slay Ride is the second book in Lauren Biel’s Slaycation series. It follows Bennett Carter and Catarina “Cat” Novak, two deeply questionable people at a five-day winter retreat for serial killers in Alaska.
Bennett is a grumpy, experienced hitman who is currently broke, blacklisted and deeply frustrated after messing up a recent contract. He has real problems beyond the immediate chaos: his mother is in a medical facility and he is running out of money to cover her care. He shows up at the retreat needing a distraction, finds Cat, and immediately decides that making her miserable is his preferred distraction.
Cat is sunshine-coded, bubbly and at the retreat with one goal: finally secure her first kill. She has not managed it yet, and this is supposed to be her week. Bennett, because he is apparently allergic to letting women have hobbies, makes it his personal mission to block every attempt.
Then they get lost in the woods overnight and get snowed in together.
Mutual irritation becomes tension. Tension becomes something they now have to hide from the rest of the retreat. A secret physical relationship, enemies-to-lovers energy and a grumpy man who starts falling first — all set inside a log mansion in Alaska with a guest list nobody should trust around cutlery, poultry or produce.
Normal book club reading. Obviously.
Why I picked it up
I read this straight after Sinner’s Retreat, and I went in knowing exactly who I was dealing with.
Lauren Biel. “DIET Lauren Biel” lane, specifically. Which, to be clear, still does not mean normal. It just means the humour is running the show instead of pure darkness.
After Sinner’s Retreat, I wanted more Slaycation chaos. I wanted more of the banter, the ridiculous premise, the fun dark rom-com energy with the serial killer retreat setting. I wanted to see how Bennett and Cat worked as a couple.
I knew a turkey leg was involved. I had seen it mentioned. I thought there was one turkey incident.
There were two.
The second one attacked me in real time, which is apparently how Lauren Biel operates. You think you know what you are in for, and then you do not.
First impression
The tone was immediately familiar — this is the same “DIET Lauren Biel” lane as Sinner’s Retreat, the same dark rom-com humour, but the setting gave it a completely different feeling. Alaska in winter, a log mansion, snow, grumpy x sunshine instead of black cat x cinnamon roll.
I knew my rating very early again. The detail about Bennett discovering a food kink while watching the Food Network as a teenager — and the fact that this was apparently awkward for his mum — was exactly the level of Lauren Biel nonsense I came here for. That detail alone told me this book knew exactly what it was and had no intention of apologising.
Then came the turkey leg.
I had thought there was one turkey incident. Then there was also the rockmelon situation. (In Australia, we call it rockmelon. In the US, it is called cantaloupe. After this book, we call it suspicious.) And then the raw roast turkey. That one took even longer to explain to friends, because there was more to the scene and people kept walking past while I was trying to keep the conversation on the down low.
Was it raw? Yes. Apparently that was the important clarifying question. And somehow the answer satisfied the person asking.
I am still thinking about it.
The vibe
This is Lauren Biel’s winter retreat. Cold outside, chaos inside.
The setting works brilliantly for the series. After the tropical island resort energy of Sinner’s Retreat, Alaska is a completely different backdrop — snowbound, remote, cabin pressure in every sense. A log mansion full of serial killers, a grumpy hitman who shows up with real problems and no patience, and a sunshine woman trying to prove herself to a community that does not give out first-kill achievements at the door.
The banter is the engine. Bennett and Cat do not get along, and their mutual irritation is both funny and genuinely tense. He falls first and he is grumpy about it, which is exactly the right energy.
This is only funnier than Sinner’s Retreat by a smidge. But that smidge involved two turkey incidents, rockmelon and the raw roast turkey revelation. So the smidge is doing a lot of work.
This is still “I cannot explain this in polite company” reading. It is still “check your trigger warnings before you start.” It is not soft, it is not cosy in the Hallmark sense, and it is not a book about innocent winter romance. It is a dark romantic comedy about two serial killers in Alaska, one of whom is inconveniently falling in love while grumpy about it.
The romance
Bennett and Cat should not be this compelling as a couple.
He is doing everything he can to agitate her, derail her goals and generally be a problem. She is sunshine with a highly questionable agenda and she is not backing down from his grumpiness. The tension between them is funny and then tense and then suddenly they are snowed in together and everything shifts.
The secret relationship element adds another layer — they have to hide what is happening from the rest of the retreat guests, which means all the chemistry they are trying to suppress has nowhere to go except into sharp banter and loaded looks while surrounded by other people who are also, to be fair, serial killers.
Grumpy x sunshine is a trope that only works when the sunshine character has enough substance to hold her own against the grumpiness. Cat absolutely does. She is not sunshine in the passive, delicate sense. She is sunshine with goals, with fight, with her own darkness underneath the brightness. That is exactly why the dynamic works.
He falls first. He falls inconveniently hard. He is annoyed about it. That is the whole thing, really.
Fictional man assessment
This is Bennett’s section and I need to tread carefully.
Bennett is grumpy. He is broke, blacklisted and professionally frustrated. He has a mother in a medical facility and a missing sister and real weight behind the “annoyed at everything” exterior. The grumpiness has a source. He is not just a grumpy hitman archetype — there is something more underneath, and Lauren Biel gives you enough of it that the falling-first moment lands properly.
Would I survive Bennett in real life? No. He is a hitman. He is at a serial killer retreat in Alaska. These are not the credentials of a sensible real-world romantic prospect.
In the fictional, trigger-warnings-checked, Lauren Biel dark rom-com container? He works completely. He is grumpy until he is not. He is possessive in a way that makes sense given who he is. The winter setting does a lot of work for him. And the moment he starts falling first and being thoroughly inconvenienced by his own feelings is exactly when this book fully gets its hooks in.
This is a “please keep him in the Kindle” situation. I understand that.
I love him anyway.
Verdict: Romance alive. Professionally dangerous. Has feelings about it and is not happy.
Main character vibes
Cat is the right FMC for this book.
She is bubbly and bright and she brought her whole sunshine self to a winter retreat full of professional killers, which is already an energy. She wants her first kill. She has a plan. Bennett is blocking the plan, which she handles by refusing to let him win, which he handles by being more aggressively annoying, which they both handle by eventually getting lost in the woods together.
She is not just the sunshine half of a dynamic. She is sunshine with darkness underneath, and that is what makes her interesting in a book with this premise. She is dangerous in her own right. She just has better social skills about it.
I loved Bennett and Cat equally to Kindra and Ezra from Sinner’s Retreat. The dynamic is completely different, and the book earns that on its own terms. Where Sinner’s Retreat was black cat x cinnamon roll (with both of them being serial killers, which helped), Slay Ride is grumpy x sunshine (with both of them being deeply questionable, which also helps). Cat holds up her half of the whole thing.
Slay Ride spicy chapters: how spicy is it and where?
Slay Ride is a 3.5 out of 5 on spice, which is a smidge higher than Sinner’s Retreat — and once again, it is the humour that makes the scenes unforgettable rather than just the heat level alone.
Is it spicy, and how much?
Yes. romance.io rates this explicit and plentiful, and that is accurate. Open door, adult content, food-adjacent elements that cannot be described in a public setting, specific kink content and a food discovery origin story that involves the Food Network as a teenager. This is not soft spice. This is not safe-for-the-cafe spice.
Cassie’s spice rating is 3.5 out of 5. It is spicier than Sinner’s Retreat, but the turkey leg scene is memorable not just because of the heat — it is memorable because of the chaos, the humour and the very important follow-up question about whether things were raw or cooked. (Raw. The answer was raw. That answer appeared to satisfy the person asking, which, honestly, raises more questions.)
Which chapters are the spicy ones?
The spicy chapters in Slay Ride are: 15, 16, 21, 22, 27, 33, 36, 37, 38, 39, 47 and 48.
- Chapter 15 — things begin
- Chapter 16 — building
- Chapter 21 — building further
- Chapter 22 — progressing
- Chapter 27 — mid-book heat
- Chapter 33 — building toward the main event
- Chapter 36 🦃 — the turkey scene (you have heard about this. the reputation is fully earned.)
- Chapter 37 🍗 — the turkey leg follow-up (yes, there is a follow-up. yes, it is also an incident.)
- Chapter 38 — continuing
- Chapter 39 — continuing
- Chapter 47 — back half heat
- Chapter 48 — closing it out
Chapters 36 and 37 are the ones that live in every group chat. Chapter 36 is where the turkey situation happens. Chapter 37 is the turkey leg moment. Both together are the reason this book has the reputation it has. The rockmelon is also in the back half, and I will say nothing further about it in a public setting.
Favourite moment
The turkey leg scene. Unambiguously.
Not just because of the scene itself, but because of what happened when I tried to tell people about it. There were interruptions. There were concerned facial expressions. Someone asked a clarifying question: was the turkey leg raw or cooked? It was raw. This appeared to be the key information needed to process the scene. That clarification and the expression on the face of the person who asked it will live in my memory alongside the book itself.
The rockmelon moment deserves honourable mention. That one took longer to explain because there was more to the scene, which meant more time to be interrupted, more time for people to walk past at the wrong moment, and more time to reassure everyone that yes, this is a romance book, and yes, I do recommend it, and no, you probably should not ask me to continue this explanation where people can hear us.
Most unhinged moment
The turkey leg. The rockmelon. The raw roast turkey. Pick your fighter.
Lauren Biel looked at the pineapple scene from Sinner’s Retreat and said: “Cute. Winter retreat. Food. Escalate.”
And escalate she did. I did not walk into Slay Ride expecting two turkey incidents plus rockmelon. One turkey incident felt like enough of a sentence to live in. But there were two. Plus rockmelon. Plus raw roast turkey.
Pineapple walked so the turkey leg could run.
Well. That certainly happened.
If this book had a scent
A snowy Alaskan cabin where the fire is warm, the guests are dangerous and someone has questions about the dinner menu.
Frosted pine and snow-covered cedar leading. Spiced bourbon and blood orange underneath, warm and slightly dangerous. Black vanilla and smoked amber for the after-dark energy. Pink pepper and maple glaze for the chaos register. And the faint presence of something roast-dinner-adjacent that has been placed on a permanent watch list.
Wintery, smoky, spicy and deeply suspicious.
If this book was a drink
A spiced bourbon apple cider.
Warm, wintery and deceptively cosy. Something that looks like it belongs in a proper mountain lodge and tastes like it has absolutely no intention of letting the evening stay sensible. A blood orange bourbon sour if you want the sharp, dark humour version.
Do not order the pina colada. We have a whole franchise of reasons now.
If this book was a snack
Maple chilli roasted nuts.
Crunchy, spiced, wintery and safe for public consumption, which feels important after this book.
Dark chocolate cranberry bark as a runner-up: pretty, appropriate for a winter read, and not likely to prompt follow-up questions at family occasions.
I will note that at my Christmas dinner table this year, there will be turkey and rockmelon placed in suspiciously close proximity to each other. This is not a recipe. This is a reader-detection test. I will be paying very close attention to my sister-in-law.
Read this book if
- You read Sinner’s Retreat and immediately wanted more
- You like grumpy x sunshine with actual tension
- You enjoy enemies-to-lovers slow burns in chaotic settings
- You want a forced proximity, snowed-in, secret relationship and all of the above happening at once
- You enjoy dark rom-coms where the humour is doing most of the narrative lifting
- You like a grumpy MMC who falls first and is annoyed about it
- You want a sunshine FMC who has her own darkness and her own goals
- You already like Lauren Biel
- You liked Butcher & Blackbird and want something darker and weirder
- You can handle trigger warnings and explicit food-adjacent content
- You understand that “DIET Lauren Biel” still means checking your comfort level first
- You are prepared to answer follow-up questions about poultry
Avoid this book if
- You want a cosy, wholesome snowed-in romance
- You prefer soft winter romance without dark themes
- You do not enjoy serial killer premises or vigilante content
- You are not comfortable with mature explicit content or specific kink content
- You do not want food items involved in things that cannot be explained at afternoon tea
- You dislike content involving graphic violence, terminal illness themes or torture of side characters
- You are expecting something safer than Sinner’s Retreat (this one is spicier by a smidge)
- You need your fictional men to have legal career paths
- You are planning to explain your reading choices to people who trust roast dinner
Content warnings
Slay Ride carries real content warnings. Lauren Biel includes the full list on her website and I strongly encourage checking it before starting.
Confirmed: graphic violence, death and grief, terminal illness (a parent’s condition is central to the MMC’s backstory), torture of side characters, mental trauma, mental illness, food play and fetish content, BDSM elements, explicit adult content.
The book is “DIET Lauren Biel” in tone — humour is the dominant register. But that still means real content warnings are load-bearing, not decorative. This is not a book to go in blind. Check your comfort level. Check the author’s website. Read responsibly. And monitor your relationship with certain food items before starting.
Quick answers
What order do you read the Slaycation series in?
The Slaycation series follows a different couple in each book. Reading order: Sinners Retreat (Book 1), Slay Ride (Book 2), Ship Happens (Book 3), Slaughter Park (Book 4). Each book works as a standalone, but characters from earlier books appear as supporting cast throughout the series, so reading in order gives you the full experience.
Can you read Slay Ride without reading Sinners Retreat first?
Technically yes — Slay Ride has its own complete story with its own couple and its own resolution. But I would recommend starting with Sinners Retreat. Bennett and Cat are introduced there, which means their dynamic in Slay Ride lands differently when you already know them. Lauren Biel herself also notes that these work better in series order for the full experience.
Is there an age rating for Slay Ride?
No official age rating, but this is adult content throughout. Explicit spice level (5/5 on romance.io), dark themes, graphic violence, food play, kink content and mature emotional material. Not appropriate for younger readers and not a light spice read. Check the author’s full trigger warning list before starting.
How does Slay Ride compare to Sinners Retreat?
Same “DIET Lauren Biel” lane, same dark rom-com tone, same serialkiller retreat premise with a new setting and new couple. Slay Ride is spicier by a smidge (3.5 vs 3 chillies), set in Alaska instead of a tropical island, grumpy x sunshine instead of black cat x cinnamon roll. The turkey leg chaos versus the pineapple chaos. Both are equally unhinged. Both require trigger warnings. Both are impossible to explain in public. Start with Sinners Retreat.
What should I read after Slay Ride?
Ship Happens (Slaycation #3) is the obvious next read if you are following the series. If you want to explore the dark rom-com lane more broadly, Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver is the comparison that comes up most. For more Lauren Biel, check her content warnings carefully before moving beyond the Slaycation series — her other books go significantly darker.
EmberSas ratings
Romance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5 — Bennett and Cat should not work this well. They do.
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️½ / 5 — Spicier than Sinner’s Retreat. The humour still makes it.
Tension: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 / 5 — Snowed in, enemies-to-lovers, secret relationship, grumpy hitman feelings. Yes.
Book Boyfriend (Bennett): ⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5 — Grumpy, dangerous, emotionally inconvenienced by falling first. Please keep him in the Kindle.
Emotional Damage: 🍗🍗🍗 / 5 — Not heartbreak damage. Raw poultry confusion.
Unhinged Energy: 🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪 / 5 — Lauren Biel escalated from pineapple. Respect.
Obsession Level: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ / 5 — The fact that I had to answer whether the turkey leg was raw says everything.
Dark Humour Delivered: 😈😈😈😈😈 / 5 — Lauren Biel understood the assignment. Again.
Would I Explain This To My Family: 🚫🚫🚫🚫🚫 / 5 — Absolutely not. They eat roast turkey.
Turkey Leg Trauma: 🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗 / 5 — Raw. Apparently that mattered.
Rockmelon Damage: 🍈🍈🍈🍈 / 5 — In Australia we call it rockmelon. After this, we call it suspicious.
Pineapple Walked So The Turkey Leg Could Run: 🍍🍗🍗🍗🍗 / 5 — Two turkey incidents. Two.
Christmas Dinner Reader Detection Plan: 🎄🍗🍈🎄 / 5 — Turkey and rockmelon side by side. Then we watch.
Winter Setting Vibes: ❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️ / 5 — The Alaska retreat aesthetic is immaculate.
Would I Read More Lauren Biel: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5 — I moved straight on to Ship Happens. Obviously.
Review Snapshot
Book: Slay Ride: A Dark Rom-Com Author: Lauren Biel Series: The Slaycation Series, Book 2 Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ / 5 Spice rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️½ / 5 Emotional damage: 🍗🍗🍗 / 5 (food-related, not heartbreak) Obsession level: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ / 5
Final verdict
Slay Ride is Lauren Biel’s winter retreat in full dark rom-com mode, and it absolutely deserved the straight-from-Sinner’s-Retreat binge read it got.
This was a 4.5-star read for me. It was not emotionally devastating in the heartbreak sense, but it was funny, spicy, chaotic and the kind of book you find yourself describing to friends in settings where you really should not be having that conversation. The turkey leg scene is the obvious headline moment. The rockmelon situation and the raw roast turkey are the supporting acts. Two turkey incidents total. I was not prepared for the second one. That is how Lauren Biel gets you.
Bennett and Cat were the highlight. He is grumpy, broke, blacklisted, professionally dangerous and emotionally inconvenienced by falling first. She is sunshine, bubbly, determined and at the retreat to prove herself, not to become a distraction for someone else’s grumpy feelings. That tension, in a snowed-in cabin in Alaska, surrounded by other serial killers and a very bad week for the local wildlife — it works.
I loved Bennett and Cat equally to Kindra and Ezra. Different dynamic, same “I cannot explain this to normal people” energy.
This was only funnier than Sinner’s Retreat by a smidge. But the smidge contained multitudes.
Would I recommend this to everyone? No. To the right reader — someone who already likes Lauren Biel, dark rom-coms, grumpy x sunshine done right and books that make you explain raw poultry logistics to concerned friends? Absolutely yes. Check your trigger warnings. Check your comfort level. Then prepare to never look at a turkey leg, rockmelon or roast turkey the same way again.
Also, if you notice turkey and rockmelon sitting suspiciously close together at my Christmas dinner table this year: I am watching for your reaction. Especially if you have been on my book recommendation list.
“Okay, so Slay Ride is the turkey leg one. Yes. That turkey leg. No, I cannot explain it properly in a public setting. I tried telling people about the scene and there were interruptions, which is honestly dangerous because this is not the sort of book you want half-overheard by innocent bystanders. Someone asked whether the turkey leg was raw or cooked. It was raw. And weirdly, that answer seemed to satisfy them. I am still laughing. There is also a rockmelon situation and a raw roast turkey situation that took even longer to explain, because apparently Lauren Biel looked at pineapple and said, ‘Cute. Let’s escalate.’ Bennett is a grumpy hitman. Cat is sunshine with serial killer goals. They get snowed in. He falls first. The banter is ridiculous. The food is suspicious. Also, I am absolutely putting turkey and rockmelon near each other at Christmas dinner and watching people’s reactions to see who secretly read the book. Check your trigger warnings, check your comfort level, and please read this so I am not alone with the poultry trauma.”
