Nahkuri ja Kiuru

The Ruinous Love Trilogy #2

by Brynne Weaver, Elina Koskelin (Translator)

Murhia, kaaosta, kipinää, säpinää ja tuhoisaa mutta huumaavaa rakkautta! Synkeänhauska kirjasarja karmii ja koukuttaa.

Palkkamurhaaja Lachlan Kane kaipaisi vain rauhaisaa elämää mutta tietää, ettei tule ikinä pääsemään alamaailman otteesta. Ei ainakaan ennen kuin laulaja-lauluntekijä Lark Montague ehdottaa yllättävää diiliä, joka pelastaisi heidän yhteisen ystävänsä ja takaisi Lachlanin vapauden. Heidän pitäisi kuitenkin mennä naimisiin keskenään – eivätkä he voi sietää toisiaan.

Pinnalta Lark on pelkkää auringonpaistetta ja glitteriä, eikä Lachlan osaa kuvitella, millaisia luurankoja tulevalla feikkivaimolla on kaapissaan – eikä sitä, kuinka samanlaisia he pohjimmiltaan ovat. Kun halpis-Batmanin ja pöljä-Barbien synkät elämät kietoutuvat yhteen, ei valeavioliiton erottaminen oikeasta ole mutkatonta. Ja verenhimoinen vaara on heidän kintereillään...

”Aina kun pääsen vähän eteenpäin, tahdon enemmän. Tahdon päästä pimeydestä hänen valonsa kehään. Olen tullut huomaamattani riippuvaiseksi siitä. Hänestä.”

Genres: Dark Romance, Romance, Audiobook, Dark, Enemies To Lovers, Contemporary, Thriller

361 pages, Hardcover

First published June 4, 2024

Reviews

[Ayman · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book felt like being thrown a monkey with rabies straight at my face, and i was present for every second of it 🤩

Lachlan Kane, i need to curl my fingers in your shirt IMMEDIATELY!!! if i was his wife: the house would be spotless, dinner on the table (im the dinner) ill have as many kids as he wants! i’ve never wanted to be called Duchess by an irish man until this book. “whatever my duchess wants” GIRL I NEED HIM TO COME TO MY HOUSE NOWWW!! the way he so effortlessly protects Lark. the acts of service this man did for Lark had me punching a wall in my room like a 2008 emo boy from a disney channel show. he is majestic. he is emotional. he is tall. he is pretty. he brings the beast outta me. 😖

“whenever she leaves the room, it’s as though the warmth disappears. It’s like returning to a version of myself that isn’t me anymore.” LACHLAN IF YOU DONT KISS ME !! 🔫🔫


Lark Kane. this iconic multiple deleter while also having her man wrapped around her finger!! the fact that she introduces herself as Lark Kane every time, slammed her updated drivers license to the family dinner table, and corrects anyone that calls her by her maiden name. she was standing on BUSINESS!! my favorite scene was the last epilogue for various reasons.

Marriage of convenience will always be a superior trope for things like this said, “whether our vows were real or not, whether she believes them or not, whether she uses her name or mine, she’s deftly reminded me of the ultimate truth: for better or worse, we are stitched together.” the barrel of my gun has never looked so good until now🧍🏻‍♀️🔫

also the fact that “Geallaim a bheith i do fhear céile dílis, fad a mhairimid le chéile” translates to "I promise to be your faithful husband, as long as we live together” Lachlan saying this little extra thing in the vows made me melt 🫠

butcher and blackbird is definitely far superior to this but i’m no hater. i’m nothing if not a girl entertained by killers in love.

[Ali Goodwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars!! Not asssss good as Butcher & Blackbird but still SO GOOD!!! I loved Lachlan & Lark. Lachlan is a contract killer which was interesting to read about & Lark has her own murderous side ☺️

Honestly, tho this is 100% a 5-star series. Murder meets romance is so god-tier! I'm obsessed! I love that we get 1.) fantastic binge-worthy romance 2.) the characters are murderous🔪 3.) the characters also have a mystery of their own to solve. All of those elements make the series so fast-paced & unique which I LOVE.

[chan ☆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

well i finished it. wish i hadn’t.

also -93945838596745 stars for the words "pleated hole"

[Sara Carrolli · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️😞

[aleksandra]

dnf 43%

I would have never in my life believed that I would put this book on my 'dnf' shelf, but unfortunately that's what happened. The Ruinous Love Trilogy had so much potential to become one of my most beloved series because a series about a group of friends/brothers that could easily be described as "When your circle small but y’all serial killers"? It sounded like so much fun, but the second book turned out to be the complete opposite for me.

Leather & Lark was one of my most anticipated reads this year after completely falling in love with the first book about Sloane and Rowan — who were the best part of this story for me

"SLOANE: You think I’m just going to cough up my best friend’s history on a platter for you? Lachlan Kane, be so fucking for real right now.
ROWAN: Hey dickhead. My wife wants to know why you’re such a dickhead.
ROWAN: Should I give her the long version or the short version?
SLOANE: Do you honestly think I would tell you that? Seriously? GO FUCK YOURSELF.
ROWAN: Secure your eyeballs. Repeat. Secure your eyeballs.
ROWAN: If you can find insurance for eyeball enucleation, now would be a good time …"

I need to read their book again this year because I miss them.

— but all Lachan and Lark left me feeling was boredom. I just couldn't connect with these two at all. In the Butcher & Blackbird I felt this instant connection with the main characters and giggled and kicked my feet during their interactions but here I felt nothing. I literally made a plan in my head of how many chapters I had to read per day to get to the end, and that's a really bad sign for me because it usually means I just don't like the book, so unfortunately I have to say goodbye to it.

[SK · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf @47%

Unfortunately the book couldn't hold my interest. It started off okay but lost me pretty early on. The plot is very boring and I couldn't careless about it.

Am disappointed by the way the characters have been written. They seem so bland. Like sure they do dark, gruesome things but their true self is just so boring. If that makes sense 😅 I remember really liking Lachlan in the first book and he's just not that impressive in his own book. Lark is slightly better than Lachlan but not enough to save the book.

I thought there was hope when they got into a marriage of convenience but turns out not really. Am done with the series.

[Heather Mclarry · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the moment it’s 3.75⭐️ for me but I might reread it so that may change I feel like I was so distracted with so much this weekend idk if I gave it the proper attention LOL

[Eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

How did we go from Butcher & Blackbird to THIS?!?!

I had been looking forward to this book for almost a year and it just let me down completely. The pacing and romance was off, Lachlan and lark were great separately but I honestly don't know how they fell in love. Butcher & Blackbird was laced with humor and charm but this had none. Where was the gore, where was the killing, where was the fun? Not to mention, the villain was so easy to spot from a mile away and so far-fetched. I am truly devastated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This can't come out fast enough! I need it ASAP.

[♥︎ Heather ⚔ (New House-Hiatus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well... I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first one. I think my main issue here was I didn't feel the chemistry between Lark and Lachlan. He kind of had the personality of a wet rag and she's kinda fun in a manic Harley Quinn type of way.

Why would he be a basic Batman when he could have had The Joker vibes?

Sigh... bit of a let down here.


*⁀➷ 🩵🔪 Hate-to-love
*⁀➷ 🩵🔪 Marriage of convenience
*⁀➷ 🩵🔪 Grumpy / sunshine
*⁀➷ 🩵🔪 He falls first
*⁀➷ 🩵🔪Groveling, but make it psycho
*⁀➷ 🩵🔪 Touch her/him and die

“Sometimes, you need to carve the things you’ve lost right into your skin so you remember what you left behind.”

[T.S · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 64%

Lachlan and Lark? More like Lachless and Lackluster.

I was this close 🤏 to tearing my kindle in half and tossing myself off my bedroom window. 260 pages of mindless, eye-rolling torment, and I made it to 64%. (A miracle, really🎉.) I thought Lachlan was supposed to be the badassest of the badass??!!!😭, but his character development was so bland. Lark? Boring. Their chemistry? Zero. The plot? Dull as fuck, didn't give a damn about a single soul. And the forced-ass convenient marriage? Fuck no. Enemies-to-lovers? More like enemies-to-boredom. Such complete and utter crap, man. 1 star. do not recommend. very very disappointed.

𓍼The Ruinous Love Trilogy𓍼
Butcher and Blackbird 🡢 4.5 🌟
Leather & Lark 🡢 1 🌟
Scythe & Sparrow 🡢 TBR

[Natilie Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.9/5 ⋆˚☆˖°

ˋ°•*⁀➷ My initial thoughts are this was very bingeable - I finished it in 24 hours. It was over the top and ridiculously detailed - in a good way. I adore Lachlan Kane & their romance was very swoon worthy. I love unconditional love, despite all the skeletons in the hypothetical closet.

The only thing I didn't like about this book is that I felt like it lacked plot - or the plot was very shallow, in my opinion. Compared to Butcher & Blackbird, I'd say I liked the romance in this one more but the plot in the first one more.

ˋ°•*⁀➷ Plot:
A fake marriage of convenience is always a creator of tension and a lot of fun. This was less convenience fake dating though, this was like 'we need to marry or you die.' I loved being in this universe again though, two morally grey characters that hate each other and end up married.

I will say, this was more character driven than Butcher & Blackbird. There's no fun murder games this time and even though this book followed the same formula as the first one, it felt a little more lacklustre.

There is plenty of gore and serial killer madness, as well as some very sufficient spice scenes. I'm not typically a reader of spice, but I'm a fan of Brynne Weaver's depictions.

ˋ°•*⁀➷ Characters:
I liked Lark and Lachlan wayyyy more than I liked Sloane and Rowan. Lachlan is the broody older brother and is definitely attractive in a bad boy that you want to have a soft spot for you kind of way. He's not all sex, he has such a caring, nurturing but leading masculine vibe. 10/10.

Lark is bubbly and fun. She's the golden retriever to Sloane's black cat personality. I found her just fun to follow, and she was complex. A little bit of childhood trauma mixed with a fierce protector - leads her to make life altering decisions. I was a bit surprised that she doesn't tell Sloane about her 'multiple deleter' antics. I think they'd have a blast carrying out their vigilante justice right?

ˋ°•*⁀➷ World/Setting:
This was where I didn't really notice anything special. It's set in... Boston? or Rhode Island? I'm genuinely not sure because it was never really relevant to the story in my opinion. The graphic scenes where described in great detail, and were so incredibly uncomfortable that I visibly cringed - exactly like they were intended to make you feel.

ˋ°•*⁀➷ Pacing:
I finished this in less than 24 hours - so it was for sure easy to flip the pages. It felt like the romance was developing more and more at a good pace - the plot though was never really at the forefront so I can't really comment on that.

ˋ°•*⁀➷ Enjoyment:
I did love reading this - mainly because I just adored the romance and felt my heart flutter during all their tense pining. The plot is a fun premise and I enjoy reading about serial killers. In no way is this a thriller though. I saved a bunch of quotes that I wish I could hear in real life.

Would I recommend this? Yes - especially if you've read the first one! ᥫ᭡

╔═════ ❀•°❀°•❀ ═════╗

score card:

plot: 3.5/5
characters: 5/5
world/setting: 3/5
pacing: 4/5
enjoyment: 4/5

total: 3.9/5ੈ✩‧₊˚

╚═════ ❀•°❀°•❀ ═════╝

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── reading log

07/06 12:13am ʚɞ
» it's midnight and i can't put it down help

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── pre-reading

I have never been so excited for a release to come out this year - as I completely adored butcher & blackbird I have been impatiently awaiting this book and I have such high expectations but I am so certain this will deliver

︶︶︶ ⊹ ︶︶︶⠀୨♡୧⠀︶︶︶ ⊹ ︶︶︶

june tbr:

ಇ. first lie wins
ಇ. the only one left
ಇ. leather & lark
ಇ. if something happens to me
ಇ. the familiar
ಇ. the warm hands of ghosts
ಇ. a court of silver flames

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

An assassin who blushes, wears reading glasses and does the longest grovel I’ve ever read? Yes please. 🍕

Was it contrived to fit every reader expectation? Obviously. Were ‘My Wifes’ thrown around to pander to lovers of MOC? You betcha. Was it highly entertaining and fun? Absolutely.

This was a pretty amusing book overall and I read it in a day, so props for keeping my attention so well but it lacked the wow of the first book and felt kinda like it was scrambling to recapture that energy but I still liked it quite a bit.

I loved Lachlan, the grumpy Irish cinnamon roll, tortured caretaker hero. I loved Lark, the deceptively sweet deleter of humans, heroine. They were great together and the romance in this was almost cozy (except for the explicit degradation kink-filled sex scenes). But I dunno if it’s that my expectations were too high, but the shock factor, murderyness and promises of the ruining of pizza was kinda meh. The content warnings were long and complete but the actual content wasn’t a gross-out to the level of the first book. That might be good news for many, but I wanted more gross *pouts*. This made it drag just a bit for me, especially considering this was such a slow burn. It had some good momentum at the beginning but the middle didn’t have enough action to really keep me on the edge of my seat.

The villain intrigue also had me a bit confused, I didn’t get the bad guy’s motivations and it wasn’t as well done as the last book, there weren’t really the twists and big reveals here. It was creepy for sure, but not well developed and the James Bond-esque villain confrontation was way too easily resolved.
But this was sweet and fun and the banter was great. The audiobook was duet narration and very well done (I skipped the cringey singing) and the voice actors did such a good job, so I highly recommend listening to this one.




*************

Ok I’m ready, let’s do this! 🍕

[ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

such a let down from the first book🥲

[Mel]

DNF @ 75%

this book was a feckin’ catastrophe— i can’t do it anymore, i tried y’all😭

[buket · Rating 4 out of 5]

i support women’s rights but most importantly i support women’s wrongs-

i’m just kidding

lark kane can do no wrong💅🏻

this is lark. she loves glitter. she plays guitar. she smiles easily and very sunshine-y. she also loves deleting people. if you look at wrongly to the people she loves, lark will delete you🔪


this is lachlan. he’s a contracted killer. his job is leather(he’s like ken). he looks very grumpy, broody, asshat-y. and he loves lark. he blushes sometimes. he watches his wife’s favorite movie 12 times. he’s a pookie bear when he’s near his wife🧸


here is the actual representation of them


this was a lot tamer than the first book. more fluff, more love, more domestic. not that i’m complaining because lachlan was so whipped it was so fun to read. also did i mention, he blushed a couple of time🤭 and he wears glasses🤭 also lark is my icon.

but honestly…

i was expecting this to be more gross😔 she couldn’t ruin pizza and beer for me like she did with ice cream…autocannibalism? pfft where😒 sex scenes…let’s say some of us prefer praise kink and some of us *points at lark* prefers degradation🫣ending was also rushed imo✋🏻😬🤚🏻

💌 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐈 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞.
𝐈 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞.

~~~~
IT’S TIIIIIIME🔪🔥💣 let’s kill some people, get traumatized by more food for life and fall in love yet another serial killer🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤

[Krysta ꕤ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ☆

”There’s power in finding secrets and blowing them up in a beautiful, bright light.”

chemistry? can’t find any
plot? dumb so don’t ask lmao
audiobook? secondhand embarrassment
chapters? longer than a giraffes neck
sex scenes? ate it up ngl

the last quarter was a bit better than the boring beginning, but i still didn’t enjoy this as much as b&b.. (Sloane & Rowan you’ll always be famous).

⇢ shout out to my boo Daniella for suffering through Lark’s singing with me👯‍♀️💚

[Tricia Levenseller · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are unhinged, and I love them with my whole soul.

[Madison Kait · Rating 4 out of 5]

this had alll the iconic vibes & energy from butcher & blackbird — but the plot did not plot as hard & the spice did make me want to crawl into a cocoon and reevaluate my decisions that got me here sometimes … if you’ve read butcher & blackbird, READ IT! still so good if we’re ranking it’s #2 in this trilogy for me so far 🤍 3.75/4♡

[annie]

dnf at 45% 😭

too much grunting and growling and i'm just bored 😢😔 (might pick it up later), also it has so many inner jokes ??? which is GIVING 'duo in a trio' vibes! 😭

[EmmaSkies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why yes I did sit and listen to this entire 12hr 15min audiobook in one go at 1x speed.
Review to come.

[༚˳⁺✧˚Jennifer ˚✧⁺˳༚ · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading Scythe and Sparrow I've come to the conclusion that I was far too generous to this book and even 3 stars is being nice. What it's got going for it is that it was kind of funny, better that S&S and the pegging scene was pretty good.

[Yana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ OKAYYYY SO I LIKED IT BUT I DIDNT LIKE IT AS MUCH AS THE FIRST ONE. I feel like it was a bit draggy at times and not much was going on, idk it just wasn’t as good as the first one and that’s all imma say

[manas (suffering) · Rating 1 out of 5]

characters = boring. chemistry = no where to be found. banter = nonexistent. pacing = a mess. plot = ??? my brain cells = lost. my patience = gone. my will to read this book = was never there.

i am going to be a massive hater. i am so sorry—please don't take this too seriously.

this was literally butcher and blackbird 2.0 for me. i felt like these weren't even the same characters that we saw snippets of in book 1. i also feel like the plot was all over the place, and there was no clear structure for this story. it somehow felt like nothing happened yet this was taking me hours to finish. this might be mean of me to say, but i feel like some characters are better off as side characters and they don't always need a whole book/POV. i didn't even love B&B like a lot of other people, but i found it fun, entertaining, and a unique concept. this just took all the special hype from that and watered it down.

➺ lachlan : i was really interested in him during rowan's story, but he was giving NOTHING here... i am sorry but he was a wasted opportunity for me. he had no personality and i did not care for his POV at all. he was just an extension of rowan & at this point, i don't even care for fionn and rose. his character felt tropey.

➺ lark : she was better than lachlan, but again, she gave me sloane 2.0 vibes. she could not save this book and a lot of her personality felt like 10 different FMC's in one. lark being this "multiple deleter"?? was just taking me out of this story. she was also just not giving me anything new and interesting. also what was with the constant giggling?? i was not able to take this seriously because NOTHING in this book was that funny.

they lack chemistry badly. their interactions were so mid and dragged out, yet nothing happened during their scenes. i don't even know if i would call this insta lust/love, but it was also trying to be this slow burn?? their first kiss was just bland and their smut scenes were snooze fest, i had to skip those. the jealousy and the constant usage of "my wife" came out of nowhere and i just did not care for the reveals/twists. the writing was also clunky and did not flow well at all. however, the worse part of this is the insane amount of times i saw the word “fuck” or in this case “feck”?… my head was spinning lmao.

all in all, this is what i get for being a dumbass lol. 🤡

[shei · Rating 2 out of 5]

—— 2.✰ stars.

“There’s beauty in terror when it sparks to life in dark souls.”

war is over bitches, god this was BORING. I swear to god that until 70% of the book I wasn’t even a bit interested, and the last 30% is still shit but less smelly I guess lol.

➷ plot:

this time we follow Lachlan Kane and Lark Montague, their first meeting doesn’t go well and they hate each other, but a series of murders starts to happen and Lark offers Lachlan a deal he can’t really reject.

Basically the tropes here are fake relationships// forced proximity, etc. you all know the drill. The problem? I was BORED TO DEATH. I swear, the author had the opportunity to make it good, since I really liked Lachlan on the first book, but no, she fucked up. I have less expectations for the third one even tho I have hopes it will be better.

➷ lark:

she was meh. I expected her to be more unhinged to be honest, but she was kind of flat. The whole deal of her music career was so uninteresting that I was yawning every 1.5 seconds.

She thought she has a sense of humor just because she cracks stupid jokes. But every time she tried I was left blinking because I believe a math class would be funnier.

➷ lachlan:

”Geallaim duit a bheith i mo fhear céile dílis duit, fad a mhairimid le chéile.”

surprisingly he was more normal than I thought he was gonna be, I was expecting a morally grey man, like a brute kind of guy but nope. I liked him more than I liked lark but… yeah, bland, insipid, flavorless.

➷ leather + lark:

the only thing I liked about them was that it was slow burn in a way, since they hated each other. The smut was meh, the author tried too hard in my opinion.

as a summary: the book feels like eating chicken with plain white rice with no seasoning, bland

➷ final thoughts + some quotes:

the book really had potential, but it felt short, sorry. The only reason I’m not giving it a 1. ✰ star is because the IDEA was good.

I’m so curious about the third book taking into account the epilogue of this book. Also this book is less “triggering or disgusting” than the previous one, but still, please, PLEASE, READ THE TRIGGER WARNINGS.

”thought I’d end up lonelier if I wasn’t who they wanted me to be. But it doesn’t really work that way. You still live with your true self on the inside.”

“Bravery has nothing to do with not feeling fear, and everything to do with facing it.”

“Lark Montague crawls right into my brain and injects unexpected, wild fantasies into my thoughts every time she opens her feckin’ mouth. She’s taken control of some part of my mind I’m not sure I even knew existed, and I have no idea where she’s going to send me next. I just know I’m going to follow whatever trail she lays down. It’s unnerving. But it’s also irresistible.”

[ReneeReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the first book in this series, Butcher and Blackbird, so I was super excited to read this one and dare I say I like this one better than the first. I love Lark and her humor is top notch but the real masterpiece here is Lachlan. I love their flirty banter and the buildup to the sexy bits. That stage performance was just the buildup we needed before the actual deed took place. It was hot. The ending of this book did feel a tad rushed but that's ok with me and the epilogue was amazing. Definitely recommend this one to readers, but especially to listeners as the audiobook was to die for (pun intended). 4.5 stars rounded up to 5!

The narrators Eric Nolan and Samantha Brentmorr were fantastic. And Eric Nolan's accent does his part justice to say the least. I'm blushing and swooning.

Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape Select | Zando and Brynne Weaver for access to the ALC in exchange for an honest review.
~~Happy Release Day~~ Pub Date: 6/4/24

[Larissa Cambusano · Rating 4 out of 5]

batman & his catastrophe barbie <333

i’m not gonna lie i was scared to read this after seeing so many bad reviews… but i ATEEE IT UPPP!!

was it better than B&B? no of course. but it was still SO GOOOOOOD. i can’t wait for the final book!

“anything the dutchess wants” 🧎🏻‍♀️🧎🏻‍♀️🧎🏻‍♀️🧎🏻‍♀️

[gavie (busy with nursing school) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 🌟!!! This book was my most anticipated read, yet it fell slightly short of my expectations. However, it was still a good read that kept me hooked .Lachlan was grumpy and broody on the outside, but on the inside, he was a softie who always put others' needs before his own❤. The small gestures he did for Lark, were so heartwarming and made him incredibly admirable.😭♥️. Lark, a sunshine character with so much depth, made me want to give her the tightest hug and protect her at all costs😭🤍. Aunt Ethel was a hilarious yet cunning and twisted character in her own way who stirred up drama and kept things interesting😂💕.Overall, I enjoyed this book, but it didn't quite reach the same level as Butcher and Blackbird which was a great read.

[Linz_loves_books (Semi-Hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ohhh I'm probably in the minority with this one!!! I want to start off by saying I absolutely fell in love with Sloane and Rowan and adored Butcher and Blackbird. This was one of my most aniticpated reads of the year and unfortunately this did not give me the same feels as the first one which was so dissapointing. I devoured the first one but this one I struggled through at times. I felt the characters weren't as intriguing and the plot was just blah!!! With that being said all 3 of these stars go to Lark and Lachlan. This was much more soft and fluffy than the first one. I am so sad about it 😭😭and this bonus chapter....Ummmmm👀👀
I hope the next one goes back to giving me the same vibes as the first book.
🔹Marriage of Convenience
🔹Grumpy/Sunshine
🔹Hate to Love
🔹He falls first
🔹Touch her/him and die
🔹Slow burn

"I don't just want to hear her laugh, I need to earn it. Every time I gain a little ground, I want more. I want to break out of the shade and back into her light. Without even realizing it, I've become addicted to it. To her."

An angelic devil, so wickedly innocent, her sweet and welcoming features contrasted by the lethal coldness in her crystalline eyes.

"I'll kill him before he lays a finger on you, I promise you that. Understand?"

Adding a 4th book to my currently reading...ABSOLUTELY!
This one just arrived and I can't wait to start it!😍😍

[DIVINITY&#x1f319; · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

𝕋𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕤 & 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝔼𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕥
🔪marriage of convenience
🔪grumpyXsunshine
🔪Dual POV
🔪dark humor, gore

OMG!!! Brynne has done it again!! While I liked Butcher and Blackbird more this was still a great read. I would say this is somewhere between a 3.5-4⭐️ I’m still deciding

Lachlan aka Budget Batman is so grumpy and broody. I would KILL for him to growl in my ear and call me duchess 🫠 This grump was such a simp for Lark. He watched her favorite movie 12 times. I repeat he watched her favorite movie 12 times!!! Also, he listened to romance novels and wore glasses..what more could a gal want in life.

Lark I absolutely adored her!! She’s sunshine, sparkles and unicorns. She is so caring and puts others first no matter what she’s going through in her personal life. But don’t get it twisted she’s FIERCE and will stab you or light you up with fireworks.

While I liked the book a LOT the pacing was slow. It wasn’t a lot of action it was more centered on the character’s development which I didn’t mind. The pace picks up the last 100 ish pages and it ALL WENT DOWN!!!! The bonus chapter had my jaw on the floor.

Overall thoughts: this book/series is a great start to darker romance. If you’re able to listen to true crime details but want a fluffyish romance this is the perfect book. I recommend and love this series!!

[Lexi · Rating 1 out of 5]

1⭐️

🎧📖🎧 An audiobook and a physical book read along!!! 🎧📖🎧

Oooh how I am in tears right now. HOW IN THE WORLD COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED???

This was supposed to good. Possibly great. Maybe even better than Butcher & Blackbird. And yet…

⚡️I was bored (even when the book picked up in the middle, IT DID NOT LAST LONG)!!!
⚡️The plot was missing (If someone were to ask me what this was about, I couldn’t even string two sentences together).
⚡️The narrator for Lark Montague’s voice made her sound whiny, caused her laugh to sound both cringy and out of place, and she played the victim way too much for me. I just could not bring myself to like her!!! Plus, I felt severely catfished about who Lark really was from B&B. Just “an Indie singer-songwriter”??? NOPE!!!
⚡️The words: “asshat, “feckin’ hell,” and “Christ Jesus” were overused. And when other curse words were said, they felt out of place.
⚡️The smutty scenes were just weird and too cringy. And why there so much saliva involved?!?! GROSS!!!
⚡️Then there was the unnecessary attitude that both Sloane & Lark had toward Lachlan that made ABSOLUTELY no sense. Lachlan was labeled an asshole (even by Rowan & Fionn) without any ACTUAL evidence. Personally, he felt like Cinnamon Roll but, was given a hard time by Sloane for just wanting help to connect with Lark. NOTHING ABOUT THIS MADE SENSE!!!

My experience with this book was a HOT MESS!!! Thank goodness this was a library book or I would be crying harder over just the idea that I own this!!!

😔😔😔. 🥺🥺🥺.

I am beyond thankful to have buddy read this with my girlie Getlyn. She kept me alive these past several days and brought the entertainment that I needed to prevent myself from DNF’ing whatever this was supposed to be. 🥰🥰🥰.