ARC Review: Axe and Grind by Taylor Hutton

Axe and Grind
Author: Taylor Hutton
Publication: Berkley (January 6, 2026)

Description: In this decadently dark romance, a virtual dating experiment spins into a deadly web of obsession, greed, love, and passion.

Josie Greene has always been a glass half-full kind of girl. But after a messy breakup, she’s broke, betrayed, and barely getting by. Even her trusted tarot cards point to chaos in her future. And they’re right: Axe MacKenzie needs her help.

As part of the tech CEO’s latest covert mission, Axe has been developing a simulator to create any user’s “Perfect Match,” and bubbly Josie is the ideal woman to test his product. When the gorgeous, reclusive billionaire makes her an offer—fake date him so he can launch his groundbreaking AI dating app—Josie’s in no position to refuse.

But Axe’s two worlds collide as the criminal underworld corrupts their experimental fling. What started as steamy role-play quickly spirals into a very real threat, leaving both Josie and Axe no choice but to uncover their well-buried pasts. With her life on the line, Josie will have to trust the man who has created the ultimate virtual illusion—and who might be hiding the most sinister truths of all…

My Thoughts: This book is billed as a dark romance and fits the bill nicely. Josie Hart has just broken up with her fiancé when the story begins and is attending a party at a former asylum turned party venue and movie set. She had a terrible childhood filled with cancer and diabetes and terrible allergies. She's mostly healthy now but needs expensive insulin from Germany and needs a job that will provide health insurance.

Axe MacKenzie has a solution. He's an AI millionaire and needs a model for his latest project - creating the perfect AI companion. He can't think of anyone better than Josie with her optimistic attitude, devotion to tarot, and quirky personality. He doesn't expect to fall in love with her. After all, he's never fallen in love before.

Axe and his partner Strike as former CIA agents have a hobby. They have set a goal of ending human trafficking by murdering traffickers one at a time. The next one in their sites is Niles von Grafenhagen. They are working their way into his computer files while Axe is trying to convince him to invest in his latest AI project.

But Niles has seen Josie and is fixated on her. When he kidnaps her, Axe needs to call on old pals to get her back. He has to return to the scene of his abused childhood. 

The story is told from alternate viewpoints with one chapter from Josie's point of view and the next from Axe's. I wasn't surprised to learn that "Taylor Hutton" is two authors because each viewpoint seemed like it was written by a different person. 

Much of the darkness comes from each main character's abusive past. Josie was exploited by her mother and Axe by his father. I enjoyed the way the two characters fell in love and dealt with their terrible paths. I felt that murder might have been going a bit far though.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.