I was so excited to get the ARC for this title! I had just finished the Butcher & Blackbird and was so relieved to be able to get my hands immediately on the sequel. Honestly, I loved this one even more than I loved B&B. Lachlan and Lark just had a more cohesive relationship. It was so fun to get to know the characters and to watch their love grown from marriage of convenience/enemies to lovers into a real love story.

Lark is a serial killer that kills pedophiles and other questionable unmentionables while Lachlan is a hitman for the local mafia/gang. He was taken in as an orphaned young man and now owes the leader a debt that might never be repaid. But Lachlan is Lark's best friend's brother in-law and when her family decides he has to die she takes matters into her own hands. She and Lachlan might have started off on the wrong foot, but she will make sure he, his brother, and her best friend survive the complications of organized crime life. After all, family is more important than anything.

After a rushed wedding, the two team up to find who is behind the mysterious assassinations within the family. They are running against a clock, but if they succeed they might just be able to focus on their relationship and the lives they want to lead: Local Leather Business Owner and Local Rock Star Sensation.

This book was absolutely amazing! I read the first one and finished it in less than 2 days. This book was even better than Butcher and Blackbird. I am usually not as impressed with a second or third book, but I was pleasantly surprised with how this one was written. From start to finish this book kept me enthralled. I cannot wait for the final installment so that I can see how it all ends!

First off, this is a SLOW burn! Like I’m talking the first 70% they don’t even really like each other, but then boom, the last 30% is cray! I love Lark so much and she really inspired me to do more diy projects, I’ve personally never made a snowglobe before, but now I want to! Lachlan was kind of a stick in the mud until the last couple chapters which did kind of irritate me and dropped the rating of this book, because the chemistry just wasn’t there. The last three or so chapters made the book for me. I was on the edge of my seat and I am very excited for Rose and Fionn’s book!

I looooved everything about this book. I’ve been waiting for Lark’s story since book 1.

The storyline, the banter, the spice… everything was perfect. Lark and Lachlan are everything. Fake marriage, enemies to lovers for the win!!

Brynne can do no wrong!

I loved this story.

Brynne Weaver knows how to make your stomach turn AND make you swoon within mere pages of one another. She balances the horror of serial killers with the sweetness and gentleness of romance, and I find myself craving more of her words every time I finish a book.

Lark is a character I see quite a lot of myself in, and it made reading the book that much more meaningful as well. Lachlan had so much depth and his characterization and chapters were a delight to read.

Brynne is an auto buy and auto read author for me for a variety of reasons, but this book just cemented her talent in my mind.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The prompt follow-up to Butcher & Blackbird, Leather & Lark tells the story of Lachlan, contract killer and brother of Rowan Kane, and Lark Montague, best friend to Sloane and singer-songwriter/murderer. When a chance encounter leads to a marriage of convenience (AKA life and death), Lachlan and Lark are forced to team up to convince their families, friends, and sketchy business associates that their fake union is true love. But the deeper they become embroiled in their life saving marriage scheme, the more they begin to question whether or not “fake” is the word to describe what they have.

I enjoyed Butcher & Blackbird and I was looking forward to jumping into Lachlan and Lark’s story. To my surprise, had I not been stuck in an airport for hours with no other options, I probably wouldn’t have read beyond the meet cute. I found the whole Batman/Barbie banter to be super cringe and for a moment thought that the entire book was going to flop. It did not. The dialogue improved significantly and I grew to really like both of the main characters, maybe even more than Rowan and Sloane. Overall, a fun and comfortably predictable little romance.

Thanks NetGalley UK and publishers for this ecopy in exchange for an honest review.

Tropes are amazing : marriage of convenience, hate to love, second chance, groveling, grumpy/sunshine, murder, funny but gore ?… and more.

A danger looms over our characters head, and what more than a marriage could solve …?

Lark seems to be sunshine, talented, and happy, in contrary to the grumpy Lachlan. But, lets not get carried away by the apparences : Lachlan is deeply caring and sweet for Lark ; especially when he knows what she hides (corpses..). The fact that he read romance book to understand and talk to Lark, it was really sweet !! He really tried to learn about her and to apologize.

The storyline was simple but nonetheless catching and cool. I loved learning about those characters that are linked to the first book.

I enjoyed this prequel even though i had difficulties to be immersed as I forgot about what Lark went through, so I had to search some details … I would have loved some recap or confession. I would have appreciated more confessions about their pasts, it was only a scratch of the surface that we got. I think that it was that lack of description that prevented me from feeling close to Lark and Lachlan and truly enjoy their story.

Overall, I give 3 ⭐️, I didn’t fell in love with this prequel but I enjoyed it. I want to read the next one !

IM OBSESSED WITH THIS BOOK! Couldn't stop reading that I finished it all in one sitting. Will recommend if you love the MindF*ck series, and aren't bothered by the trigger warnings.

4.5/5 stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶🌶🌶/5

TW - teeth and tooth products (forced cannibalism / autocannibalism), human ornaments, enucleatipn (on page, graphic), numerous weapons and sharp objects (incl darts, scissors, guns, saws, knifes, grinders, an edger, enucleation spoon, fireworks), severed fingers (on page) / finger tips (past), vehicular collisions, drowning (sc, on page), cancer (aunt, terminal, throughout incl death on page, aftermath and grief), parental neglect (mentioned), child abuse (mentioned), child SA (implied), religious trauma, blasphemy, injured dog (cause not depicted), serial killers, death & murder (on page), cheating (sc on the FMC), predators / pedophiles (their crimes are mentioned / loosely recounted, FMC targets them throughout), drug dealers (fentanyl, sc), blood and gore, parental death (mentioned, recounted, incl murder), parental death (home invasion, recounted incl other injuries and trauma), torture (on page), claustrophobia and panic attack (on page), drugging of multiple characters, insomnia, bomb threat, stalking, kidnapping

CW - toys, choking, mild degradation, public play, pegging, light edging, temperature play

Tropes - "my wife", marriage of convenience, jealousy, serial killers, grumpy x sunshine, enemies to lovers, slow burn

Reading the next book in a series after an author gets picked up by a publisher is always nerve racking and for me, this book was no different...

I will say that I am very happy that, despite being picked up by a publisher, Brynne wanted to honour her original ARC readers and guarantee us an ARC which was nice. However, Netgalley will not be seeing me for other books outside of this world because the way this was formatted was so criminal it took me 3 weeks to start this after receiving the ARC.

Lark (FMC) wasn't for me. It felt like she was trying far too hard to be that girl and I was over it very early on. Her and Sloane being best friends didn't really come across in this book. She doesn't want to tell Sloane that she is a serial killer because she doesn't want to put her in danger. Idk about you, but that didn't make any fucking sense to me because Sloane is a notorious serial killer and Lark knows that.

Lark and Lachlan (MMC) didn't have much chemistry in this book imo which was annoying because I did like Lachlan's character; you could tell that he had a spark, she just didn't have the fuel. There were defo parts of this book I enjoyed and there were moments with Lark and Lachlan that I felt was cute but overall, the story was mid for me which was a shame after having read and enjoyed B&B.

The entire conflict in this book didn't make much sense to me because the villain wanted vengeance for something that had nothing to do with Lark and Lachlan and would have made more sense if this arc happened in B&B or a continuation of their story and was justified as an eye for an eye - this wasn't a strong enough story arc for me and left me basically like:🧍🏾‍♀️🧍🏾‍♀️🧍🏾‍♀️. Not only did the conflict not really make much sense to me, it was wrapped up quite quickly.

side note, loads of Keanu Reeves references and no Matrix? 👎

Scale:
⭐️ - would've DNF'ed / continued out of spite
⭐️⭐️ - shit, but whatever
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - meh, could've been better
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - lit 👅
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - loved it, inject this shit into my veins 🤪

🫑 - no smut
🌶 - no point
🌶🌶 - mediocre at best
🌶🌶🌶 - standard smut, hot
🌶🌶🌶🌶 - 🥵 okay, some CW
🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶 - fuck me 🥵🥵 CWs / filthy with a side of filth - see Poison / Room Twenty-Two: Hide and Seek/ The Naughty List

⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶🌶

I'm going to preface this by saying I have LOVED all of Brynne's prior work. B&B and Marrow are high on my list of all time favs. I had *high* expectations for this one. Especially after meeting Loclan and Lark in B&B I was SO. EXCITED. for their dynamic together.

That being said.... this unfortunately fell WAY flat for me. The magic of their personalities and dynamic from B&B didn't translate into this book after the initial scene. It felt like the story wasn't even about the same people we'd previously met. In addition, the entire book felt rather disconnected. The characters would act one way and then think something else. It was very confusing and made it hard to get a true read on what their personalities were supposed to be. Also I felt like it was very wordy and there was alot of "telling us" instead of "showing us" moments.

Unfortunately it also was missing the shock value and magic factor we saw in B&B. No foods were ruined IMO and the gore wasn't like super shocking? It felt very tempered in comparison to B&B. And the conflict at the end wrapped up SUPER quickly while the middle of the book kind of dragged.

Things I did like:
Ethel. She was just *chefs kiss* and the highlight of the whole book.
The spice. It was a slow burn but the spice was hot af if you ignore the fact that I'm not sure where Loclan's Dom side came from 😬

I am so excited to finish this book, but for now I'm going to wait until it's finalized! Reading it on my Kindle the flow was off without having paragraph indents, which could be a fault of my own Kindle I'm honestly not sure. I put the book down about halfway through just for that reason because I know I'm going to love it, and I don't want this feature to discredit any of it.
Overall though I LOVED the banter between these two characters. The understanding too. The one thing I did feel that was missing a bit from the story was the background of Lark's family. I may have just missed a paragraph or so, or maybe it gets into more detail in the back half of the book, but I was a little confused as to why they even had to get married. All in all though, still can't wait for the rest of the story and will absolutely be carrying in my store!

This was fun but not as unhinged as I was expecting or as B&B. I really enjoyed Lark and her “sparkly” personality in contrast to how ruthless she could be (multiple deleter lol). Lachlan did a good job at winning me over as the book progressed and he started to show how caring and sweet he could be. Pretty slow burn but it made sense for the story and once it got going, IT GOT GOING and that was definitely worth it. Loved the scene where they had to take that guys eyeball and they kept being grossed out and saying they needed Sloane because it was definitely a nice little callback to B&B.

This one didn’t fully work for me. I just never connected with the characters or the plot, and I found it less engaging than Butcher and Blackbird. Yay for pegging though!

I was so excited to find out I was approved for an eARC of Leather & Lark via NetGalley as I was chomping at the bit for June 4th to get here.

Leather & Lark picks up shortly after the events of Butcher & Blackbird and features the best friend of Sloane, Lark Montague and the oldest Kane brother, Lachlan.

What starts as a marriage of convenience, or more accurately, a marriage of protection, slowly builds into something neither Lachlan nor Lark can really comprehend.

Someone is killing off members of Larks shady family and there's the shadowy Phantom from the end of Butcher & Blackbird skulking around.

I loved every minute of this. The banter between Lachlan and Lark had me laughing out loud. There were some special guest appearances of The Boston Butcher and The Orb Weaver, and Fionn and Rose (forthcoming Book #3: Scythe & Sparrow) and some really incredibly well written raw moments between Lachlan and Lark that had me getting misty eyed..

These two characters truly could not stand each other in the beginning, and rightfully so once you find out why. It was so gratifying to watch them slowly realize they have a lot more in common than they realize and that when someone truly sees you? Nothing can beat it.

This story revolves more around Lachlan and Larks relationship and the murder subplot really took a backseat with this one. Slow burn, Mutual pining and murder galore. If you liked B&B, you'll love Leather & Lark

BRYNNE WEAVER - LEATHER & LARK ✨️

ARC COPY - RELEASES 4TH JUNE.

Let me preface this review by saying this series won't be for everyone. It is dark dark but full of humour in true @brynne_weaver style so you forget just how twisted some of the things are you're reading. Check triggers, there is a menu of them. 👌🏻🤣🖤

I absolutely adored Rowan & Sloane so was really looking forward to getting my hands on this next one as we meet both main characters in Butcher and Blackbird so whilst you could read this as a standalone I'd highly recommend you read them in order for full impact.

Lachlan is Rowans brother whilst Lark is Sloanes' best friend. Lachlan is working on a job when he meets Lark in an unfortunate position, its safe to say they do not hit it off from the beginning for sure but find themselves in a marriage or convenience situation. I don't want to go too much into the plot and give anything further away but if you've read Butcher and Blackbird you'll know what to expect, instead of cookies and cream ice-cream Brynnes chosen violence and gone after pizza this time instead 🤣💀

Whilst I think I still prefer Butcher & Blackbird, that was always going to be hard to top for me, I absolutely ADORED Auntie Ethel and the comedic value she brings to this story. She was hilarious and had some absolute crackers. 👌🏻😆

Am I now on countdown for the third book before this ones even released? Yes. Yes I am

This book was really good! I loved the characters and seeing sloane and rowan happy! The marriage of convenience trope always just does it for me. The only reason this book is getting 4 stars instead of 5 is because the ending felt rushed.

Leather and Lark is a sadistically twisted, laugh-out-loud funny, and strangely heartwarming enemies-to-lovers romance featuring two serial killers, a marriage of convenience, and a killer hunting the killers. When someone begins murdering members of Lark Montague's family, she enlists the help of Lachlan Kane, a contract killer, to help find the person targeting her family and framing Lachlan for the crime. Despite despising each other, Lachlan and Lark marry to keep each other safe from the killer and Lark's family. However, what started out as a marriage of convenience becomes something more as the killer gets closer to Lachlan and Lark.

She's a musician that appears to be sunshine incarnate but has a darker side to her and he's the brooding contract killer that is determined to get discover everything about her... and being in a marriage of convenience while trying to avoid a killer is the perfect way to do so. Lark is an indie singer-songwriter who has had a hard past but has tried to hide all her pain behind her sunshine demeanor... and her extracurricular activities of hunting down predators and "deleting them" and making them into her own little home decor. Lachlan Kane is a contract killer who wants to get out of the business, he just wants to be left alone and to be freed from his psycho boss. One halloween Lachlan and Lark's paths cross and now a year later his brother is marrying her best friend. Lark and Lachlan can't stand one another, they get under each other's skin... but Lark is determined to keep her best friend's happiness in tact and that means protecting her best friend's husband's family. When a killer starts targeting people in Lark's family business and her parents think it's Lachlan's family... they'll kill him and his brothers, but to protect her best friend and her best friend's new husband Lark decides to enter into an arranged marriage to protect Lachlan and his brother from her family. Lark and Lachlan will have to work together to find out who this killer is and why they are targeting Lark and framing Lachlan.... but this new arranged marriage means both Lark and Lachlan will have to face each other and spend time together. Lachlan is beginning to realize that he judged Lark too soon and that everything he ever thought, that she was a spoiled princess, couldn't be more wrong and soon he finds himself falling for his new wife... if only she would let her guard down and let him prove to her that he's in this marriage for real. This was such a fun sequel to the first book and I was excited to see Lachlan and Lark's relationship play out in this one. Lark and Lachlan were such a fun couple and I enjoyed their constant back and forth, I loved how Lark just got under Lachlan's skin so much and how he was so determined to love her. Lark is a girl after my own heart ( plus she loves Constantine and calls Lachlan Budget Batman and is into crafts?!?!??? We might have to fight for her hand Lachlan). This was a fun sequel and I am so so excited for the next book in the trilogy( Rose x Fionn sounds so so angsty and amazing). This was really a delightful read and this entire series has been such a fun chaotic romance read!

*Thanks Netgalley and Zando | Slowburn for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

"Leather & Lark" totally blew my mind! Brynne Weaver just knows how to keep the epic vibes rolling! This book is like a rollercoaster of feels that you never want to get off. Seriously, I couldn't even handle how amazing it was!

Lachlan Kane is the epitome of brooding charm. With a past shrouded in mystery and a present filled with leatherwork, he's like a modern-day knight trying to atone for his sins. But don't be fooled by his gruff exterior—underneath all that tough guy armor beats the heart of a fiercely loyal and surprisingly caring individual. And then there's Lark Montague, the indie sensation whose glittering facade hides a world of secrets. She's like a burst of sunshine in Lachlan's dark world, bringing with her a whirlwind of chaos and color.

Their dynamic is like watching a fireworks—explosive, breathtaking, and impossible to tear your eyes away from. The hate-to-love trope is executed flawlessly, with every barb and banter building up to an electrifying climax that had me on the edge of my seat. And when they finally give in to their feelings? Let's just say I needed a moment to catch my breath because the chemistry between them is off the charts!

But it's not just Lachlan and Lark stealing the show. Aunt Ethel deserves a standing ovation for her meddling ways, and the cameos from the first book felt like catching up with old friends over a cup of coffee. Brynne Weaver has a knack for creating characters that feel like they could jump off the page and join you for brunch, and the world she's built is so vivid and immersive that you'll find yourself lost in its depths long after you've turned the final page.

"Leather & Lark" is a masterpiece, with twists and turns that will leave you breathless and begging for more. From heart-stopping action sequences to tender moments of intimacy, this book has it all. And the ending? Let's just say I may have screamed into my pillow in frustration because I need the next book like yesterday. Rose and Fionn better be ready because I am already counting down the days until their story rocks my world!

ugh i really thought i would love this as much as the first one but i didn’t hit !! not saying that it isn’t good i think i just went into to high of expectations and it fell flat like something was missing!!! NOT SAYING IT ISNT GOOD BUT STILL WORTH THW READ