The Boys of Briar Hall

Boys of Briar Hall #1-4

by Elena Lawson

An Amazon top 50 dark romance series.

If you love dark humor, found family vibes, and a morally grey heroine with a tongue as sharp as her blades, this series will swallow you whole.
Morally black. Unhinged. Killers.

Corvus, Rook, and Grey – the Crows.

Bred in a world of gang wars, violence, and secrets, they rule the bloody town of Thorn Valley and all the people in it…too bad for me, I’ve never been good at kissing ass or keeping quiet.

Even if their black souls awaken something inside of me I thought was long dead, I can’t break. I won’t.

They think they scare me, that I’ll run and hide, but the joke’s on them. The Crows aren’t the first monsters I’ve faced, and they won’t be the last. There are worse evils out there waiting to take their stab at Ava Jade Mason.

I say let them try. I’m tired of running. Tired of holding back my darkness. Thorn Valley isn’t ready for a new boogeyman. Too bad I’m already here.

this story is intended for mature audiences and contains foul language, high heat, lots of murdery mayhem, and jealous/possessive themes. Please read responsibly.

The best-selling Boys of Briar Hall series contains over 1300 pages of fast-paced dark romance for you to binge! Reading

Crooked Crows

Wicked Trials

Twisted Games

Warped Minds

Genres: Dark Romance, Contemporary

1385 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 23, 2025

About the author

Elena lives in Canada with her husband, daughter, and their Siberian cat overlords. She writes dark, why-choose romances full of feisty heroines, unforgettable heroes, and their kindle-melting chemistry.

When she comes out of her writing cave, she can be found binge-watching true-crime shows, obsessively rearranging her bookshelves, or chasing the sun around the globe.

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlealately

Reviews

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

♾️ stars. ALL THE DAMN STARS.

I seriously underestimated how much I would love this series. It took me by storm, made me stay up WAAAAY past my 'bedtime' - was on as an audiobook when I had to clean my house, read on my kindle in the dark of night as my kids fell asleep at night... its literally been my emotional support book the last 3 few days as I've read it 🥲 and now that it's finished? well, now I dont know what to do... nothing is going to compare to this, nothing is going to have the same emotional impact and the same depth as I felt while reading this.... I am so glad I was reccomended this book, and SO GLAD I read it. this is a God Tier series 🙌🏻 👏🏻 👌🏻

[Noelle Ousley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well since there are 4 books in this e-book there is to much to say, to much happened. Basically this book is in a high school setting and they are seniors (18/19 years old) which seemed super unrealistic and kinda icky but I purposely forgot about that and pretended they were in college. Ava Jane is kind of a wreck and after her father dies she goes to this boarding school her aunt sets her up at in a town run by a gang called the Saints. The three adopted sons of the gang leader go to the school and basically run it. She intrigues them and she ends up being forced to join the gang and go through deadly trials after being caught following them. The guys are growing attached but don’t know if they can fully trust her yet. She joins the gang and deals with gang drama all while trying to figure out who her stalker is and how to prevent him coming after her and the men she loves. This was super entertaining and fast paced and Aves was a bad ass and it was cool to see how she complimented each man. My main criticisms are the age of the characters, I just didn’t like how young they were with the level of trauma, depravity, and debauchery. My second thing I noticed is that they never had a “I love you” moment. I was hoping for en epilogue where they go on tour with Corvous, when they graduate high school, or even like 10 years later when they should takeover the gang. Their story didn’t get enough happy ending if you ask me.

[Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing series

I absolutely love this series!! I was hooked from start to finish.

Crooked Crows is the first book in the Boys of Briar Hall series. We meet our badass FMC Ava Jade and the three MMC Corvus, Rook, and Grey. I am so excited to be reading this series the first book wasn’t too spicy just a couple scenes however I am definitely addicted and want to see what happens. This is a why chose novel so definitely excited to see where this series goes.

I am loving this series. Ava Jade is a badass. I am loving her relationships with each MMC. The trials were absolutely insane and the stalker 😳. I can’t wait to keep reading this series.

Ava Jade, Rook, Corvus, and Grey are all paws when it comes to AJ’s stalker. This book so far has to be my favorite. You think you have everything figured out and then the ending 🤯

This is the last book in the Boys of Briar Hall series and I absolutely loved it. As someone who loves guessing what’s gonna happen I did not predict how it would play out. I love Ava Jade’s relationship with each guy. This is probably the first time I didn’t have a favorite and love them each equally. The smut and suspense is perfect for this series

[Nightwalker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Series

Ava has had a rough life but ends up at Briar Hall under the care of her wealthy aunt. There she becomes the focus of The Crows, the leaders of the school. They soon realize though that Ava isn't so easily broken. As they battle it out they come to a love hate relationship. They are drawn to each other. When circumstances bring Ava into their world things become more intense. Soon they find they are all in danger. Someone is set on destroying The Crows and owning Ava. As their enemy escalates they come to realize none of them are safe and the stakes have never been higher.
I enjoyed this omnibus. The characters are well developed and multilayered. Even minor characters are represented well. The intrigue and mystery are well done. This book definitely takes you on n emotional roller coaster.
The one thing I found slightly annoying though were the numerous errors throughout the book. Characters names switched, details mismatched, and proofreading errors. It was distracting and messed with the flow of the story.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

After 1300 pages of intense story, plot and spice. It is finally finished and has left me fulfilled and searching for her next book. All 4 books are incredible. I absolutely adored all the mmc as well as the fmc. FMC Ava Jade is a bad ass who doesn't need saving, when she can save herself.

The spice was deliciously dark and intense, be advised if you're not into the dark you may want to skip this, because there's wickedness afoot in this series.

This story is intended for mature audiences and contains foul language, high heat, lots of murdery mayhem, and jealous/possessive themes. Please read responsibly.
The books in closed in this are:
Crooked Crows

Wicked Trials

Twisted Games

Warped Minds

[Katrina Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fly with the Crows little Sparrow, don't become a ghost.

Once you read the book, you will understand.
What a ride, in more ways than one. I loved AJ, her character and the guys. There is violence, there is steam and one kick arse heroine. I lost sleep reading it. I am also happy that AJ's bestie is starring in her own series.
If you like dark, steamy and thrilling. You will enjoy this series.

[Kaylee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series was phenomenal. I love it so much. This series has dark romance, RH, enemies to lovers, amazing side characters, plot twists, amazing plot, amazing spice, it just has it all and I loved the way it ended. I didn’t want to put it down there was never a dull moment with this series.I also saw that there is a duet that goes along with this series containing side characters from this series and I will 100% be reading it.

[Nicole Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Downloaded the 4in1 book where all 4 books were in one download and I honestly only gave it a 3 for the fact that I didn’t need to keep reading but didn’t want to put it on my dnf shelf. I lost interest early one, and it got predictable by the third of what was going on and what would happen in the end. Unfortunately it only counted as 1 book and not 4 but it’s an easy read as long as the trigger warnings were up your alley for dark romances

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way this is my ABSOLUTE favourite dark romance, why choose series!! Ava Jade is the most well written bada$$ FMC I’ve read and I Love the way the Crows compliment and uplift her. They aren’t her knights in shining armour, they’re her morally grey found family. Rook will forever have a special place in my heart and Ghost will always have a different meaning after this series!

[Sabrina Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a ride

I was shocked at how great this series was. Love, betrayal, past trauma, new trauma, found family, really messed up but redeemable men is all included along with gang violence and a very stabby fmc. Ava Jade is my hero and was so fun to follow along with in this series.

[April Mason burd · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just couldn't do it, made it 20 or so chapters in before I gave up. There's a good storyline in here somewhere, the characters could have personality if the writing wasn't just so absolutely terrible. Took me a solid 10 chapters to figure out belly=boob, idiot=f#$k, trash=sh@t. Once the FMC was begging one of the MMC to idiot her I was out.

[Sarah E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rounded up, giving this full series 4.25 stars. While I prefer characters that are older, I just ignored that part so I could enjoy the plot, character development, emotional exploration, and of course the spice. If you’re interested in reading a spicy why choose series with emotional damage, action and bloody vengeance, this is a solid choice.

[Mackenzie Womack · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE

This book keeps you on your toes. A girl who grew up taking care of herself but finds the ones who would kill for her, die for her and risk it all for her. I loved it and wish there was more.

[Cherice Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

In love with this series!!

Absolutely loved this series! I love every single character and all the craziness that happened along the way! This book gave me so many emotions it was crazy! But I loved every second of it! Will definitely read again in the future!

[Shealyn Wall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanna be besties with Ava Jade

Wow. This series was delicious. Detailed, enticing, and dark. I loved it. The whole story was really great and something I kinda want to dive right back into. Kudos on a great series.

[Alice Bean · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10

This is such a good book! Anxiety, happiness, sadness and so many other emotions. A lot of spice! A lot of action! A very good plot. I can’t tell you how many times I laughed and cried. But it has a really good ending, who am I kidding.. the entire book was amazing!!

[Danielle Mathis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ate this up!!

I love a good RH but this really took the cake! The action, the tension, the drama?? I was hooked from the start and never let go!! The plot twists definitely took me by surprise and I loved every delicious second of AJ and her men!

[Sammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

a must read

Holy cow, I literally don’t have any words

I had so many emotions throughout this book; anger, sadness, laughter, just so many. Elena you did a hell of a good job with this series and I can’t wait to read more from you!

[Jenny Ames · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this will probably reread it!!

[Ashlie Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

I dont even have words

Read this. Its a little dark but just read it. Its amazing! Im honestly going to miss them. I feel like they are a part of me now.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read

Enthralling to the point of no return. I was enraptured by these words and loved the boys of briar hall.

[Geimy Sade · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this series very action packed lol

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally a BAB FMC

So many books have come close but finally an author delivers on a FMC that stays a BAB regardless of the MMC. Absolutely loved this series, highly recommend!

[Meg Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh boys 🥰🔪🐦‍⬛👻

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ava jade rlly be cheating death
why do they call ava jade avajade and not js ava idk oh welp
i love it will def reread and my fav is corvus

[Kim (KJW Reviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: The Boys of Briar Hall (Boys of Briar Hall: Book 1-4)
Author: Elena Lawson

Review: This series had me from the very first chapter. A strong FMC that stayed her true badass self throughout and her beautifully damaged sexy guys. This series had it all and I just couldn't put it down. I loved all the characters and pov's, the plot itself was fantastic and always kept you guessing. At some point you would think this lot would catch a break, but no, the author just kept putting out more and more and I LOVED it! Rook... you are my soulmate!

**Chefs Kiss**


“But you boys have fun in your little box of privilege. Wouldn’t want to spoil your VIP sausage fest with a street taco.”

“I wanted her all to my fucking self. I wanted all her smiles. Her laughter. I wanted her thighs to squeeze at the image of me inside of her.”

“I hated that I wanted her. I hated that I recognized in her someone who could not just withstand me, but fit into the mold with me to be reformed as something new. Improved. Twice as lethal and twice as strong. It’d been there from the start, her spark. I thought it would be the end of us, but I was wrong. She was the ember that would ignite us, spurring us into a forest fire that would eat all our enemies away, render them to ashes. We would burn together. She was the catalyst we’d been waiting for.”

“Don’t brighten your darkness or blunt your edges for anyone. You’re perfect the way you are.”


Stars: 5/5 ★
Spice: 3.5/5 🌶️
Recommend: Yes
Notes: Review based off the whole series