Leather & Lark
The Ruinous Love Trilogy
Dark Romantic Comedy
Zando-Slowburn
June 4, 2024
eBook, Paperback, Audiobook
416
From the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the genre-breaking international TikTok sensation Butcher & Blackbird comes the second book in the Ruinous Love Trilogy―a hate-to-love dark romantic comedy packed with danger, chaos, and heat.
Contract killer Lachlan Kane wants a quiet life working in his leather studio and forgetting all about his traumatic past. But when he botches a job for his boss’s biggest client, Lachlan knows he’ll never claw his way out of the underworld. At least, not until songbird Lark Montague offers him a deal: use his skills to hunt down a killer and she’ll find a way to secure his freedom. The catch? He has to marry her first.
And they can’t stand each other.
Indie singer-songwriter Lark is the sunshine and glitter that burns through every cloud and clings to every crevice that Lachlan Kane tries to hide inside. The surly older brother of her best friend’s soulmate, Lachlan thinks she’s just a privileged princess, but Lark has plenty of secrets hiding in the shadows of her bright light. With her formidable family in a tailspin and her best friend’s happiness on the line, she’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 dark world that binds them together, it becomes impossible to discern their fake marriage from a real one. But it’s not just familiar dangers that haunt them.
There’s another phantom lurking on their doorstep.
And this one has come for blood.
“Just like in nature, the prettiest things are often the most poisonous.”
Last year I came to you, as a friend, to let you know that a book about two serial killers falling in love was my favorite book of the year in the hopes that I could get ahead of any looming questions. In a twist that I hoped for, but didn’t expect, “Butcher and Blackbird” by Brynne Weaver took the book world, including the Hive, by storm and we all fell in love with Sloane and Rowan, despite, or maybe because of, their particular sets of skill with vigilante justice.
If interested, please follow the link to my previous gushing.
https://www.thelitbuzz.com/2023/09/butcher-blackbird-by-brynne-weaver/
But today friends, I am here to talk about the sequel “Leather and Lark” in which we get the pleasure of watching Sloane’s best friend Lark, and Rowan’s grumpy brother Lachlan, dance their way around each other in what can only be described as a romcom that just so happens to include some murder-y business.
“Hope. It’s cute, really.”
As it turns out, Lark and Lachlan have a past that extends before Sloane and Rowan (re)introduced them, but they left with less than amicable feelings towards each other. When they meet again the chemistry is undeniable, but their history makes it impossible for them to give in to their connection… that is until circumstances take a drastic turn and a marriage of convenience is the only way to track down a killer and free Lachlan from the life of crime he desperately wants to leave in the past.
“Sometimes karma needs a backup bitch”
Brynne Weaver has proven once again that she is the master of the dark romantic comedy, just a quick glance at the trigger warnings and you might think that you are about to dive into a horror novel, but with her mastery of the macabre she manages to tell a story that is mostly surprisingly upbeat!
As with the first in the series, please take care of yourself and read the trigger warnings, while this is a comedy, the content
is present and graphic. I must confess that she managed to get me with one of the scenes early on, I may never trust a smoothie again.
“My Feckin’ Catastrophe”
As soon as I finished “Butcher and Blackbird” I could not wait to get Lark and Lachlan’s story and while I did enjoy their banter, I felt myself wishing they would get loved up sooner, but the author knows best when it comes to Lark’s heart, and in Brynne Weaver we Trust.
I knew that I would not be the only one to dive into Leather & Lark at the soonest possible opportunity and in true Hive fashion it was a veritable swarm to get to the audiobook. There were some differing opinions on the success of the audio version, while one bee found the new narrators a success, another felt it lacked the same magic that Butcher and Blackbird brought to audiences.
One thing we can all agree on is that we are so excited for the announcement of the final book in the Ruinous Love Trilogy, “Scythe
& Sparrow” set to release February 11, 2025!
Please join The Bees as we anxiously await any and all new releases from Brynne Weaver, as she has definitely secured her spot as Hive favorite. Congratulations on an amazing new release!
Amanda is a proud Alaskan who now resides in District 10 with her husband and 2 kids. As a full-time working mom, her time to read is precious and she uses it to devour as many books as possible. While romance in all it’s forms is her go-to, she has recently developed a love of thriller/mysteries and is so excited to explore a whole new genre!
