Ruinous Love Trilogy #2

** See the full list of trigger warnings below**

Visit Brynne Weaver’s website HERE

Want more than just a review? Looking for a spoiler-filled plot summary – find one HERE.

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.

Trigger Warning:

As much as Leather & Lark is a dark romantic comedy and will hopefully make you laugh through the madness, it’s still dark! Please read responsibly. If you have any questions about this list, please don’t hesitate to contact the at brynnweaverbooks.com or one of my social media platforms (she is most active on Instagram an TikTok).

• Eyeballs but not eye sockets, so you’re welcome
• Teeth and tooth byproducts
• I might have ruined pizza and beer. Also smoothies. Still not sorry
• Snow globes
• Autocannibalism…? Welcome to a debate you never thought you’d have
• Numerous weapons and sharp objects, including darts, scissors, guns, saws, knives, grinders, an edger, and a little implement called an enucleation spoon
• Severed fingers
• You might have new thoughts about crafting with epoxy resin
• Vehicular collisions
• Drowning in various forms
• Terminal illness of a loved one
• Detailed sex scenes, which include (but are not limited to) adult toys, choking, rough sex, mild degradation, sexual acts in public, pegging, praise kink
• References to parental neglect and child abuse (not depicted)
• References to child sexual assault (not depicted)
• Religious references/trauma
• Explicit and colorful language, including a lot of “blasphemy.” Don’t say I didn’t warn you
• Injured dog (cause of injury is not depicted, and he’s okay, I promise!)
• There is a lot of death…it’s a book about a contract killer and serial killer falling in love, so I fell like that’s probably a given.

The sequel to Butcher and Blackbird. Was it as good? Yes and no. The story is really well done. Plotted out and executed. Had just enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. Not too many to make it over complicated. If you are looking for Lark and Lachlan to be the matching set to Rowan and Sloane, you will be disappointed. But if you are looking for a witty dark-romance comedy, then I’m sure you will love this.

While Sloane and Rowan are so much more twisted in their MOs,  Lachlan very rarely uses his skills. Lark performed a few times but it almost seemed subdued. If Weaver was trying to recapture the shock and darkness she achieved with them, she failed.

What she did do though, was write a great story of two people who are trying to leave the dark behind and keep those they love safe at any cost.

I would even venture to say that reading Butcher and Blackbird before this is not necessarily required. Will you still get the most out of the story? Absolutely not. But you won’t be completely lost either. Besides, Sloane and Rowan are not in this story an awful lot which was a bit saddening.

Lachlan and Lark are prime examples of two people that balance each other out. They differ in so many ways but align in the most important details of their lives. The banter is cute. Their chemistry is palpable.

I’m going to try and explain this without any spoilers. The end, the climatic fight between the good guys and the bad guy. the situation was exactly what you would expect. But, the POV in which is is told seemed like a cop-out. Told in such a way that most details wouldn’t, or couldn’t, be discerned. It wasn’t bad, just didn’t involve the reader as much as I personally like.

Still, it gave Lachlan and Lark the ending they deserve. All while setting up for the third book in the Ruinous Love trilogy. As of July, 2024 there is no release date yet!!

All that being said, I actually think I liked this one a bit better than Butcher and Blackbird. I did miss the mass amounts of serial killer-ness. But that’s just my dark side complaining.

The rest of this review is less review and more rant. Continue to read of skip the rest and check out another great review HERE.

After reading the very long list of content warnings, I’m not really disappointed in the story, that was great. I would like to think that this list is to hype what is to follow – the story.

I just read a thriller written in the 90s. Do you know how many content warnings that came with? That’s right, not a single one. Even though there was a lot of death, murder, gore, religious extremists, child murder, and corpse defilement (of said minor – not sexual).  I can understand that someone would like to be warned of some topics such as child abuse in any form.

As Weaver states, this is a book about two killers falling in love and doing their thing. Most of these things should be implied. I mean a warning about harsh language? Seriously? To me that is as redundant as having a cannibalism warning on Silence of the Lambs.

While I appreciate her dedication to this list, most of it is so minimal, like the warning on blasphemy (Lachlan’s favorite expression) is putting more into the story that isn’t there.

Rant over, as small as it was. Thanks for humoring me!