5⭐️ 3.5🌶️
- MF
- Forced Proximity
- Friends with Benefits
- Primal
- Creative Use of Cotton Candy
- Rules Were Meant to be Broken
- Dark Romcom

Brynne does it again! The Ruinous Love Trilogy is officially one of my top series ever. It was everything I have come to love and expect from Brynne. Scythe and Sparrow was absolutely bonkers and had me laughing out loud so many times.

I’m used to some pretty unhinged FMCs from Brynne but Rose was a whole new level of chaos. I think it is because she was more of a fly by the seat of her pants kinda gal. She knew what she wanted to do and just hoped it all worked out. Sometimes it did but more often than not poor Fionn was chasing behind her cleaning up her mess. But she always has the best of intentions and was such a fierce protector of vulnerable women and I loved that so much.

I loved Fionn so much. He thought all he wanted was some peace and quiet and to be a respectable member of society. *insert snorting laugh here* Because while he might be the most chill Kane brother. He is still a Kane and after growing up with Rowan I think he has had plenty of practice dealing with the aftermath of chaos.

I loved Rose and Fionn together. She kept him on his toes. He never knew what to expect from her which is probably how he ended up with a raccoon to the face. He was so broken and closed off and continuing that way just wasn’t an option with Rose in his life. She quickly broke down his walls and encouraged him to have more fun than just a weekly crochet circle. I loved the growth the two of them experienced and the comfort they found in each other.

While I’m devastated that this series is over I think Brynne did an amazing job wrapping it up. Those epilogues made my heart so happy. I already can’t wait to reread this series. I said it before but I truly mean it, this is one of my favorite series of all time. I can’t wait to see what comes next from Brynne.

TW - clowns, medical trauma incl serious injury, ambulances, open fractures, puncture wounds, blood loss, hospitals, surgical recovery, impaling and needles, domestic physical abuse (scs on page and MC past, mentioned / recounted), psychological / emotional abuse (scs), sexual harassment, threats and intimidation, misogyny, injured dog, parental neglect, child physical abuse (mentioned), numerous weapons, knife violence, gun violence, blood, graphic violence, blasphemy, serial killer, drug addicted racoons, vomit, aggravated assault (sc, mentioned), alcohol consumption, murder (patricide, past and others on page), revenge porn (scs, implied), drinking while driving (sc), tobacco use (sc), drug addicted parent (past, mentioned), alcoholism (parent, past, mentioned), underground fighting, death of grandparent (mentioned), drug dealing (scs), imprisonment (parent, past, mentioned), cannibalism (sc, implied), death of a parent (child birth, implied)

CW - toys, public play

Tropes - touch her and die, circus performer x doctor, serial killer, friends with benefits, small town, he tends to her wounds

Hm

I'll start by saying I really loved and enjoyed Butcher & Blackbird and I'm glad I continued reading the series to see the conclusion to the Kane brothers. I've rounded this rating to 3⭐️ as I feel like it's closer to that than 2⭐️.

This book felt... unremarkable to me and frankly, boring at times. My initial opinion on Rose (FMC) was that I was extremely unimpressed. I felt like the very beginning and obviously the introduction of her first target sets the scene for her to be a badass FMC in the same vein as Sloane and the show down was… embarrassing, lol. I did not have high hopes for her for the rest of the book and that remained until the final page.

Rose and Fionn's (MMC) relationship felt unconvincing to me, it didn't seem like they had much chemistry which I guess wasn't helped by the time jumps; I felt like we almost missed out on them actually developing feelings for each other over time.

Rose is some sort of vigilante killer and she is fucking terrible at it to the point that it’s SO embarrassing lmfao. Fionn is right to question why she’s doing this because she can’t stomach the gore and she’s only really getting away due to whatever luck she has on her side. My feelings about this were made even worse given how the infamous third act breakup unfolds and the reason why.

By the third act breakup, I felt absolutely no sympathy for the characters, Fionn calling the person he called was a very stupid move and, as a doctor, you'd think he'd be smarter than that.

Despite how negative that all sounds, the book was okay. Getting to see all the characters at the end was nice and some of the scenes were cute. It defo wasn't a complete write off and I didn't loathe the book 🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️

🔥 scythe & sparrow 🔥

Fionn and Rose story is FINALLY out to the world!!! I devoured it! I was privileged enough to receive an early copy back in October and I devoured it!! Like it took me only a few hours to finish it because ITS'S ADDICTIVE 😳.

It’s not a secret since Butcher & Blackbird I developed a HUGE crush on Rose. I adore her! She was more than I expected and I’m so happy she got her own romance. She’s sweet but also wild and so loyal. And freaking hilarious 🤣. I thankful she exists.

And sweet sweet Fionn 🤩. He didn’t see Rose coming 😂. He literally was living a peaceful life, different from his brother’s life’s but unfortunately he wasn’t happy. So imagine his surprise when Rose began to show him that it’s okay to be HIMSELF. And in return he showed her that’s okay to embrace our darkness.

Their romance was everything. The tension, the unknown, the uncertainty… I was stressing but in a cool way.

Btw, the side characters were GIVING THEIR BEST PERFORMANCE. Love the ladies crochet club so much 🫶🏽.

This book was brilliant and I’m so devastated that it’s over. I’m seriously missing the Kane brothers and the most beautiful wicked women.

Scythe & Sparrow is the perfect conclusion for The Ruinous Love Trilogy. I’m so excited for what’s coming next regarding Bry fabulous writing.

I’d like to thank Bry and Zando for the early copy.

The romance in this book rivaled my favorite fantasy romance stories.

This story is so romantic. The yearning for each other. The aching for each other. The fact that they can’t be with each other. there’s so much sadness. There’s so much heartbreak. there’s so much longing here it will drive you mad. In the best way possible.

It’s so romantic. It’s SO ROMANTIC.

The things this man does for her. He’s quiet and calculated. He’s lethal with his protection and loyalty to her. He’d do anything for her.

There’s love letters…. You guys. LOVE LETTERS that are so passionate and important and thought out.

The passion of love and declaring “I’m not letting you go. I never will. Let me love you forever.”

This is THE MOST vulnerable and emotional story out of the series. This is where someone broken and someone hiding find each other and embrace the darkness together.

This story is blush inducing spicy. It’s wicked. It’s decadent. It’s perfection.

It’s got a cute raccoon that I love. It’s got carnivals and clowns and Halloween.

There’s cameos of all the characters we’ve grown to love… but when I tell you… Fionn and Rose…. They are END GAME for me.

There’s a scene in this book where things are delicate between the two of them and there’s heartbreak and a bit of betrayal and Fionn says something to himself that really got to me. He’s tarnished something important between the two of them and he says… “It’s going to take time… so I just stay steady.” The safety I felt in that moment. The sureness and the willingness to be strong and steady for her while things are rocky makes me want to literally weep.

The growth these characters go through is inspiring. “You showed me how to care for the darkness, not to fear it or hide it away.”

There are high stakes and crazy scenarios… but this story is just such a romantic and touching story… I will think about it forever.

When you find out about his tattoo… good luck. God speed. Have some tissues handy.

This is my favorite book in the series. I feel like crying I love it so much.

Don’t forget that living and just existing are two different things…

“I’ve admired you every single day I’ve known you. Your bravery. Your recklessness. Your huge, wild heart.” I’m inspired to live more like Rose after reading this story. And settling for nothing less than Fionn.

Scythe & Sparrow- Brynne Weaver
Narrated by Samantha Brentmoor and Eric Nolan

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Narration 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧

I can’t believe we’ve come to the end of this incredible series. I feel like this series kind of pioneered a newer genre in dark romcoms. Yes, I know they existed before, but B&B made them more widely known and made people want dark humorous love stories. Dare I say S&S was better than the first two? I had this same sentiment in my L&L review so they just keep getting better and better. I did love seeing the parallel timelines from Fionn and Rose’s POVs that we previously got in Rowan, Sloane, Lachlan, and Lark’s POVs. I loved the tarot and how a lot of Rose’s actions kind of surrounds around what her cards say, they’re a part of her and her personality. And Fionn the sweet, sweet soul he is. He falls so hard for our girl. And he tries to keep up with her, but she’s a wild one.

Can we please stand up and give a round of applause for Samantha and Eric? They did so freaking fantastic on this audio. It was absolutely incredible.

when I tell you this book is EVERYTHING I wanted.

It has the crazy murdery plot like BB and the romance, character development of LL, mixed with humor, spice and family.

Rose is hilarious in her quest to do right by women who have been hurt. She just can’t seem to get murder done easily. And Fionn is ALWAYS there to help her. No matter the consequences.

Their friendship, to lovers was such a breath of fresh air. It felt realistic, yet hopeful. The pining, the YEARNING. And the end omfg.

this is a story about loving the dark part of you and letting the person you love the most, see the darkness - and them loving you because of it. OBSESSED

5/5 no notes.

Thank you for the early copy BW and Zando

five stars, five stars, five stars all around. I love this series SO much and this book continued my love for it. no notes, all love.

This was such a sweet ending to the series! What a way to wrap up the Ruinous Love trilogy. Rose' and Fionn's love story is so different from the rest - if I have to describe it, it's finding love in a world full of chaos, but your partner is what anchors you. Rose tilts Fionn's world on it's axis when she turns up at his clinic, and from then on, he has been on an adventure with her. Not only did he show her unconditional love and support when she hasn't had a constant since young, I love how it was a slow burn so you could taste the tension and the pay off was great. Fionn has been struggling to fully accept himself - dark side and all, thinking he has to be the perfect man given the sacrifices his brothers have made for him. I love that Rose showed him what unconditional love meant and allowed him to be at the receiving end of it. This love story is healing and beautiful.

Thank you Zando for the ARC.

I liked this one a lot better than Leather & Lark, but not as much as Butcher & Blackbird. After that cliffhanger epilogue, I was dying to know more about Rose and her story, and this one brought us back to when Rose and Fionn first met. I loved the tarot elements and Rose's brand of meting out justice to the bad husbands and boyfriends of the women who come to her for readings, but I felt like we didn't see as much depth from Fionn. The storyline of Rose and Matt was drawn out, and then abruptly pivoted to where the last book left off in an anticlimactic way. Maybe this was because we already saw what happened from Rose's perspective in L&L's epilogue, but it felt rushed and disconnected coming from Fionn this time around. What started off as a solid book lost steam a bit at the end as it tried to tie together all the loose ends in the trilogy, never quite capturing what made the first such a refreshing read, but redeeming the lackluster second installment.

Immediate reaction: so much fun. Rose is chaotic and oddly hopeful, and Fionn is so out of his comfort zone with her. They were perfect. I laughed, I panicked, I stayed up until 1am and then fell asleep in the midst of the epilogues.

The thing you really need to know: BARBARA.

Fionn runs away to the middle of America to escape heartbreak and what he thought he wanted, so he's a safe country doctor existing in his quiet isolated life until Rose comes along and reminds him to LIVE.

Rose is not quite as skilled a vigilante as our previous FMCs which leads to spectacular hilarity. As time passes and she is woven into Fionn's life, which includes befriending Sloane and Lark, her confidence in other aspects of her life grows.

These two are so fantastically in denial and terrible communicators but it's such a wild journey. The only true word for this book is chaos, but I mean that as the absolutely best kind. I'm obsessed with them. This is the ending the trilogy deserved, with happiness and resolution and VENGEANCE.

It is as brutal as the previous books, full of the same cave dark humor, and god way too much eyeballs Brynne you need to stop. Check the content warnings carefully, as outside of the gore there are real issues with domestic violence that may be triggering for some.

PERFECTION.

It's not the book, it's me.

I couldn't get into this book. All along the plot felt scattered, and random. I wasn't invested in the characters, so I bit the bullet and DNF'd around 40%. I'm going to borrow the audiobook when it comes out from the library and see if that makes a difference for me.

Okay, few things:

1. This is my favorite trilogy of all time and I’m so sad it’s over!

2. I’ve always been a Sloan and Rowan girlie, but Fionn and Rose just stole my heart and I love them so much.

3. The raccoon scene in this book had me in actual tears I was laughing so hard.

4. Cotton Candy that’s all I’m gonna say.

5. Fionn crocheted in his free time and I can’t think of a bigger green flag than that.

6. I want to be Rose when I grow up.

7. Get ready for an epic conclusion to the darkest, spicy-est, food ruining, LOL funny trilogy. This book comes out on 2/15.

Thank you to @netgalley and @slowburn.reads for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Zando for my exclusive early copy of the final installment to Brynne Weaver’s Ruinous Love trilogy!! I was so pumped to dive into Rose and Fionn’s story, and Weaver delivered an absolute wild ride, yet still full of the emotional connection readers expect from her unique love stories.

Readers who read the trilogy in order have already gotten a glimpse at carnival daredevil Rose who ends up injured and hiding out/recuperating in Fionn’s home where he is the town doctor in a tiny small town in Nebraska. The hurt/care trope is so well done, and these two characters have some insane physical chemistry that leads to a friends with benefits situationship. However, both resist taking the next step forward due to their own past experiences. I loved how Rose with her chaotic energy, tarot cards, and cheerful disposition just disrupts the HELL out of Fionn’s routines and life, and drags him into a bit of her vigilante mission to protect women from predators. Fionn’s demons and fears that Rose cannot handle his own darkness lead him to fumble a bit at first, but with time and some great plot developments, Weaver get these two lovebirds to finally communicate clearly (omg, so many letters! My heart!) and reach for their own HEA. With bonus epilogues including all of the series amazing couples, and a hint at a possible spin off series (!!) this is the perfect conclusion to one of my favorite romantic suspense books about serial killers finding love (ha!).

I loved this! The first book is still my favorite of the series but this one was so much fun. The tension was off the charts and so well written.

The fact that Rose adopts a trash panda that keeps breaking into Fionns medical practice is at least 50% of what should sell you on this book. Oh, and her name is Barbara.

Other selling points should include the murder, which is committed by Rose, because we stan a stabby queen. Fionn grudgingly is forced to mainly help her clean up the messes she gets herself into. The Robin to her Batman if you will.

What food did Brynne ruin? Possibly cotton candy.

Lots of guest appearances by our favorites and of course a side of love in all that murder.

Thank you Brynne and Zando books for the early review copy of this book!

A circus performer/tarot reader and small town doctor...this is officially my favorite book in the Ruinous Love Trilogy!

I was instantly sucked right into the dark comedy; I can't count how many times I laughed out loud! Rose and Fionn are the perfect balance of reckless and responsible in this wild ride that promises more gore (and eyeballs.) Their chemistry, the tension, the unaliving, the SPICE...it was chaotic and entertaining for sure. "Dr McSpicy" even belongs to the local crochet club (as if he wasn't already my favorite Kane brother.) Special shout-out to our girl Barbara, too.

✨Book Review✨

Scythe & Sparrow

📖 This is the third and final installment in The Ruinous Love Trilogy and it does not disappoint. Fionn, the youngest Kane brother, gets the attention we’ve all been waiting for. Our story starts with Rose at the circus, reading tarot cards and doing her motorcycle performance. It quickly turns into a failed murderous adventure that leads Rose right to Fionn.

📚 This book was a fantastic addition to the Ruinous Love world. Our timeline goes back to before Butcher & Blackbird and we see certain scenes from a different point of view. (Scenes from Leather & Lark as well!) Brynne Weaver has done an exceptional job of creating likable characters who you both yell at (“WHAT is your plan lady!”) and also cheer for and cry over. The peculiar characters of Rose and Fionn are alluring; I found myself wanting to read at any possible free moment. It’s been a while since a book made me tear up, but at multiple points in the second half I was misty! Don’t skip the epilogue(s) either!

🌟 If you have already fallen in love with the Kane brothers, then pre-order this book ASAP! You won’t want to miss the hilarious and cringy trigger warnings. If you haven’t read Butcher & Blackbird yet you’ll want to circle back to that first!

Special shoutout to @NetGalley and @Brynne_Weaver for the advanced reader copy! So thankful to have the chance to review ahead of time! Scythe & Sparrow hits shelves February 11th!

#BookReview #ScytheAndSparrow #RuinousLoveTrilogy #DarkRomance #BookRecommendation #Bookish #NetGalley

Stars: 5

An absolutely fantastic ending to the Ruinous Love Trilogy!
Rose and Fionn have amazing chemistry, and in true Brynne Weaver fashion, had me laughing at some extremely inappropriate moments. The thing I love the most about this trilogy is that it all ties together so well. Every character is connected in such a way, that it was exciting to read the new perspectives.
Be prepared for some 👀👀 did that just happen moments!

So sad to see this series come to an end but also so excited to see what Brynne has cooking up next!

S&S follows a similar story to L&L wherein Rosie finds herself in a bit of trouble, only for a Kane brother to come to her unwitting and slightly unwilling rescue. Fionn is just trying to live his quiet small town doctor life and Rosie has other ideas while she's on the run from a mysterious threat.

I always have fun reading Brynne's unhinged stories but the tension, chemistry and exasperation these two had for each other had me laughing out loud. At the same time they're so bad at communicating their feelings with each other than you just want to shake the book in frustration. I loved all the series characters making cameos and you definitely don't want to skip the epilogue on this one.

Thank you, Zando and Slow Burn for an early copy!!!!

I absolutely loved the conclusion to the Ruinous Love trilogy. Fionn and Rose are literally everything. Their story is probably my favorite.

The tension was so thick you could have cut it with a knife.