Leather & Lark

Release Date: June 4, 2024
POV: Dual POV
Genre and Sub Genre: Dark Romance, Rom-Com, Serial Killers
Main Location(s): Boston, MA
Tropes: marriage of convenience, hate to love, he falls first, touch her/him and die, contract killer/leather worker MMC, musician/serial killer FMC, forced proximity, slow-ish burn, “my wife”, no third act breakup, possessive FMC/MMC, nicknames
TW/CWs: honestly too many to list; check author’s website or warning list on the front page
On KU?: No
HEA: Yes
Rating: 3.75/5
Spice: 3.5/5 (only a few scenes but they’re explicit)
Kinks/Spice Warning: praise, dirty talk, rough sex, mild degradation, dom, sub, mistress, toys, pegging, impact play, breath play, public play, shower scene, mirror scene, sexual acts in public

Full Review to Come

I am apparently in the minority in thinking this book was better than the first. i dunno.. something about a Silago accent and a marriage of convenience.. whew lachlan kane, the man you are.
every time this man said, "my wife" i died a little inside. why is that so hot!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

despite the ~various noises~ in the audiobook, i would highly recommend it due to what i hope is the accuracy of the accents. i loved both narrators; they really immersed you into this book which since it has to do with murder wasn't super pleasing but great storytelling! the spice WENT CRAZYYYYY and i know it was good in the first one too but dammmmnnnnn that final bonus scene??? jaw on the floor. some might say this was too easy of a plot line to follow after the first one but i really enjoyed it alongside what i think was the bigger story, lachlan and lark. at times i didn't know who i wanted to be more. if i wasn't terrified of them, i would want to put them in my pocket and carry them around with me.... lil babies. anyway i'm obsessed with this book and after that ending i CANNOT WAIT to ~hopefully~ get an arc for the final book in the trilogy. either way, i'll be sat come January.

many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for granting access to this e-book!

Lark and Lachlan: the Marriage of Convivence I didn't know I needed!
Lark is a multiple delete-er who loves glitter, diy, music and falling in love with her husband.
Lachlan is a contract killer who's second job is leather work. He loves listening to romance audio books and is absolutely obsessed with his wife.

Their banter is delightful and their chemistry is smokin hot. Their first meeting didnt go so well, but only one of them know that.
Until I read Brynne Weaver I didn't realize that I loved Dark Rom-Com.
It was the perfect contemporary romance, then you added a dash of MURDER and mystery and it became a masterpiece. Lachlan being the nurturer was an enjoyable change. Hes my favorite Kane brother so far.
The vibe is different from Butcher and Blackbird, but just as strong of a story.
There is a slow burn, (which usually isn't my favorite), but after the burn, you are ignited.

There are a few side characters that we get to meet, but my favorite is Aunt Ethel. I love that we have this old, muffin making, sweet lady as the matriarch of this (mafia like) family.
I loved this book and cant wait for the 3rd Kane brother. I dont know how she will top it.

Another winner from the author. I fully enjoyed this - definitely recommend checking triggers before reading. I enjoyed this one almost as much as the first, and definitely will be reading number3.

I really enjoyed Butcher and Blackbird, but Leather and Lark fell very short. I really wanted to enjoy it, but the characters were very flat and didn’t grow over the course of the book. A lot of the explanations and logic around the kills that went into the first were pretty thrown out of the window in this one—I still can’t get over how confusing the idea of a resin table with a body encased in it is. What does it look like? Is it just a slab? How is that a table? How can you not see the body in it? These questions will continue to plague me.

As a standalone, I loved this book. I liked Lark who is this sunshine and glitter personality type, but who also spends some of her spare time as a multiple deleter. Then rough-around-the-edges Lachlan who's spent his life in a business he wants nothing more than to retire from. I love their dynamic. And I even really like the motivation behind the fake marriage trope. This book was funny, sweet, and had all my favorite moments. I loved how Sloane and Rowan appeared, but didn't play too big of a shining role in the lives of our new main characters. All of this is why I'm rating it five stars. Leather and Lark was just... fun.

However, I don't think it packs quite the same punch as B&B. The Kane brothers each finding serial-killer women to fall in love with might have been better, in my opinion, if the women were strangers to each other. I understand, truly, Lark's motivations behind her darkness. I think it suited her personality type. But it also felt... excessive? Like maybe I would have loved for her to be no stranger to the world of multiple deleting but ends up going on a job with Lachlan and helping him clean up. Or... I don't know. There's just something other I wish could have happened, you know? Even if I can't quite put my finger on what that is. But that's easily my only complaint about this. The writing was excellent. The pacing was great. And I love this little world of vicious women and the men who fall hopelessly in love with them.

In the audiobook, I still absolutely adore the dual narration style. The voice actors who brought this story to life were incredible. And I genuinely cannot wait for Fionn and Rose's book.

This book was just as good as the first one! I loved the plot and the details. The romance was incredible!

Mercy. Leather and Lark was such a wonderful follow up to Butcher and Blackbird. If you haven't read B&B, stop everything and go read it now. L&L won't be as fun or make as much sense without reading it first. But back to Leather (Lachlan) and Lark's story. I knew that these two would be just as hot as Rowan and Sloane. I wasn't disappointed. Although I wasn't as squeamish through this one as I was with B&B, I'd still make sure to remind any readers to check out the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book. It will at least give you a small heads up on what to expect. Overall, a solid follow up to B&B. Highly recommended.

Unbiased opinion, this was okay. Not as good as Butcher & Blackbird but maybe it's because this particular trope isn't my genre of choice. I was honestly a little bored trying to get through it and contemplated to DNF.

Again, I think it's the nature of the book that turns me off and not the actual book itself. The content just isn't for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Zando books for the arc!

Too far, just too far. The violence is disturbingly gleeful and the romance disturbingly violent and demanding. Ick factor way up there.

Brynne did it AGAIN 🤯🥰😮‍💨

Omg
This book was AMAZING!!

Lark & Lachlan were absolutely everything !!

Heres a few things I loved about this book :

The banter between Lark & Lachlan 😮‍💨
Lark’s sass & DIY tutorials 😉
Auntie Ethel💜 Lark definitely got her sass from her !
The degradation 🥵🥵🥵
The way Lachlan did everything he could to help Lark
MY WIFE
MY HUSBAND (this always gets me 🤭🫠)

Although I did like B&B a little bit more, I think Brynne did such an great job with L&L and It’s definitely an amazing sequel and I think people will love it 😊

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

Read this if you like :

Enemies to lovers
He falls first
Fake marriage
Slowburn
Spice 🌶️🌶️
MY WIFE
MY HUSBAND
Serial unalivers 🔪

She did it again!!!!!! This laugh out loud dark romantic comedy was everything I wanted! I wasn't sure I could enjoy it more than Butcher and Blackbird but I did! And the pizza scene will forever live in my brain......lol. Dark, steamy and full of laughs. I highly recommend this book!

Wow, just wow. This book is just amazing as the first one. I loved it so much. The irony, the details, everything is just wow.

This book gave me so many different feelings. Lachlan definitely is by far my favorite Kane brother. I loved watching them slowly start trusting each other and letting each other in. I loved that though it was a marriage of convince, Lachlan still paid attention to Lark and wanted her to be happy. The audio book is also definitely worth listening to.

If I could give this book one million stars I would. Lark is such a phenomenal FMC! The story had me intrigued, especially that a muffin business needed a security detail lol

This book was as fun as the first in the series. I enjoyed getting to know these two characters more and found the novel incredibly entertaining. There is a great mix between romance, humor, and mystery.

currently relistening to this because i just really love all of the vibes!!!!

enemies to lovers
dark romantic comedy
slowburn
marriage of convenience
forced proximity
contract killer / serial killer

Who doesn't love a serial killer and a contract killer with wild chemistry who kinda despise each other?! Throw in a marriage of convenience and I'm all in - what a fun ride!

I didn't enjoy it *quite* as much as Butcher & Blackbird because it wasn't as bonkers but it was still very fun!

I hope you don’t like pizza.

Want a book that makes you question your own morals & sanity one second & making you laugh out loud the next?

Pick. This. Up.

I knew this book was going to be a winner from the unconventional meet cute (👀) of our MCs.

And it did not disappoint.

This was a pretty fast read for me, just like the first book! The story kept me hooked, and was nicely paced. I remembered liking Lachlan and Lark from the first book, so I’m glad the author gave us their story. Their chemistry was well done, and I honestly just loved their characters. This book was just as fun as Butcher and Blackbird, and I enjoyed the marriage of convenience trope. It is one of my favorites! I also enjoyed how this book had a mystery thrown in with the romance just like the first book. Overall, I really enjoyed this, I still prefer Butcher and Blackbird, but this was a solid sequel, and I look forward to reading the third book!

Thank you NetGalley and Zando for the ARC!