Tourist Season by Brynne Weaver REIVEW

Summary:

Cape Carnage is a seaside town of colorful houses, quirky shops, and an unusually high body count. But with tourists comes trouble, and Harper Starling won’t let anyone ruin her picture-perfect home. A skilled gardener with killer instincts, Harper protects her sanctuary at any cost—especially for her aging mentor with a fading memory.

Troublesome tourists don’t check out of Carnage. They compost beneath Harper’s award-winning flowerbeds. But Nolan Rhodes isn’t your average tourist. Devilishly handsome, disarmingly charming, and skilled with a blade, Nolan is relentless in the pursuit of revenge. On every anniversary of the hit-and-run accident that fractured his life, Nolan slays another target. And he’s saved the best for last: the undeniably beautiful Harper Starling.

The problem? Harper isn’t the monster he expected. And she won’t go down without a fight. When an amateur true crime investigator comes to Cape Carnage on the trail of a long-lost serial killer, Harper and Nolan strike an uneasy truce. If Nolan helps Harper protect her town, she’ll keep quiet about his hunting habits . . . for now. But their alliance soon spirals into obsession, one that threatens to shatter every secret in Carnage—including their fragile love.

My Thoughts:

As a huge fan of Butcher and Blackbird, I had to pick this up. Harper Starling is a serial killer who goes after terrible people and puts them through her woodchipper while taking care of an elderly man with Alzheimer's. Nolan Rhodes is on a revenge spree going after those who got his brother killed - and Harper Starling is next on the list. What they don't expect is to work together and find love in each other along the way.

As usual, the writing is very well done and the tone is darkly comedic. I love that even we as the readers don't know the full context of any of the characters' pasts, and the twist at the end was earth-shattering to me. My only complaint is that they seemed to have fallen in love a little too quickly, considering that they are enemies and Nolan's entire reason to being there is to kill Harper.

My Rating: 4 stars  

Scythe & Sparrow by Brynne Weaver REVIEW

Summary:

Doctor Fionn Kane is running from a broken heart. One he hopes to mend in small-town Nebraska, far away from his almost-fiancée and his derailed surgical career. It's a simpler life: head down, hard work, and absolutely no romantic relationships. He wants none of the circus he left behind in Boston. But then the real circus finds him.

Motorcycle performer Rose Evans has spent a decade on the road with the Silveria Circus, and it suits her just fine, especially when she has the urge to indulge in a little murder when she's not in the spotlight. But when a kill goes awry and she ends up with a broken leg, Rose finds herself stuck in Nebraska, at the home of the adorably nerdy town doctor. The problem is, not every broken heart can be sewn back together . . . and the longer you stay in one place, the more likely your ghosts will catch up.

My Thoughts:

This was an interesting switch-up from the last couple books. While Rose is a killer, she doesn't really have the stomach for gore. She has a booth set up at the circus where she reads tarot, and whenever a woman in an abusive relationship comes for a reading, Rose plans to help them with murdering the partner. But when she fails to complete a kill, she ends up at Fionn's door needing help with a broken leg. Fionn isn't really a killer, but he helps out his brothers who are killers. Even so, he has a darkness inside him that he's constantly keeping at bay, and has been for years. Then Rose shows up, rocking his world upside-down. They originally agree to a friends-with-benefits deal, but as they spend more time together, feelings start to pop up.

This was a really fun read. I enjoyed the constant banter between our two main characters, and their eventual romance felt like it happened at a realistic pace. The characters from the previous books show up a few times, which felt like such a treat! My only real complaint was that there wasn't that much murder.

My Rating: 4 stars

Leather & Lark by Brynne Weaver REVIEW

Summary:

After contract killer Lachlan Kane botches a job for his boss's biggest client, he knows he'll never claw his way out of the underworld. At least, not until songbird Lark Montague offers him a deal: hunt down a killer, and she'll secure his freedom. The catch? He has to marry her. And they can't stand each other.

Indie singer-songwriter Lark is the sunshine that burns through the darkness Lachlan Kane tries to hide behind. Lachlan might think Lark is just a privileged princess, but the truth is that she keeps plenty of secrets. With her formidable family in a tailspin and her best friend's happiness on the line, Lark's willing to make a vow to the man she's determined to hate, no matter how tempting the broody assassin might be.

As Lachlan and Lark navigate the mission that binds them together, it becomes impossible to discern their fake marriage from a real one. But the restless ghosts left in their wake are only a few steps behind, ready to claim more than just their newfound love.

My Thoughts:

It took a little bit for me to get into this one, as it is very different than the first. We first meet Lark as she is killing someone who deserves it, when she ends up needing a cleanup crew to help afterwards. This is when she first meets Lachlan, who, at the time, is in a terrible mood and is not very nice to her. They meet again at Rowan and Sloane's party, where they don't recognize each other at first and almost kiss. Lark's family is having some issues, and her parents think that Lachlan is to blame - and although Lark despises him, he is Rowan's brother, and she doesn't believe he would do that. Prompted by her Aunt Ethel, she proposes marriage to get the target off his back and to find the person who is really responsible.

I had fun reading this book. The characters are very well developed. The reader, like Lark, doesn't like Lachlan at first, and then slowly starts to like him. But my favorite character by far is definitely Aunt Ethel, who is an older lady that does not care about what anyone thinks of her, but cares deeply for her family. I do think that the antagonist is kind of underdeveloped though, as his two traits are being religious and wanting revenge for his brother's death. He seemed a little one-dimensional compared to the antagonist in the first book.

My Rating: 3 stars

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver REVIEW

Summary:

When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, they find something elusive - the friendship of two like-minded, pitch-black souls who just happen to enjoy killing other serial killers.

From small-town West Virginia to upscale California, and from downtown Boston to rural Texas, the two hunters collide in an annual game of blood and suffering, one that pits them against the most dangerous monsters in the country.

But as their friendship develops into something more, the restless ghosts left in their wake are only a few steps behind, ready to claim more than just their newfound love.

My Thoughts:

This was such a fun story. The book starts with Sloane being stuck in a cage after killing someone for three days, only to be rescued by Rowan, another serial killer looking to kill the already dead guy. She starts a reluctant friendship with him, that turns into them having a yearly game of who can kill the picked serial killer first. They know each other's darkest secrets and they text each other every day. Sloane and Rowan start catching feelings, and before they know it, they are dating.

I loved the chemistry between the two main characters, and the love story feels right and not at all rushed. Rowan catches feelings first, but waits until Sloane confesses so that their friendship doesn't become awkward or ruined. They are also believable as serial killers. The hunting scenes are fun and dark, and well descriptive. The characters do eventually have sex, and it is also descriptive.

Overall, this was very enjoyable to read, and I look forward to reading the next books.

My Rating: 4 stars