Leather & Lark was a worthy sequel to the iconic Butcher & Blackbird. This one wasn't as funny as the first and the banter between Lark and Lachlan wasn't as good, but it makes sense considering who these characters are. I adored these characters, especially Lachlan who is a lot sweeter than what I thought he'd be. Their romance is a bit of a slow-burn, but when they finally do get together the chemistry is unmatched.

While the plot isn't as tight in this one, the emotional aspects of the story more than make up for it. Lark and Lachlan have been through so much, always looking out for their loved ones, so seeing them focus on themselves and their happiness was so heartwarming. The side characters, particularly Lark's family, bring some comedic relief to the story. And there's definitely less gore in this book, but enough where it doesn't feel too different from the first.

It's so so hard not to compare this directly to Butcher & Blackbird but I have to say the plot in Leather and Lark was a little bit more muddled than in B&B and with the similarities in the characters, it's difficult to not draw comparisons. But as the two characters were a part of B&B, both Lachlan and Lark in this book felt disconnected from the same people we met in the previous book. They felt more muted and less entertaining.

However, the pacing felt off, the middle dragged a LOT when I'm used to a more more subtly paced narrative, and I think that took away a lot from the development of the relationship and once together, the romance felt a little rushed.

What remains top-notch is the hilarious banter, the delightful tension and slooooooooow burn and the wild antics and weird gifts the MCs give to each other. Weaver has still the touch for the macabre that I enjoyed but it wasn't quite up to her usual standard. Despite all this, L&L is an entertaining time, I just felt zoning out in the middle a little bit.

Lark and Lachlan’s story was an intense and emotional read. I really enjoyed Sloane and Rowan’s book and wanted more of Lark when she was mentioned in Butcher & Blackbird. Lark is not what she seems, she has a dark side to her and when you find out why she does what she does it is truly heartbreaking. Lachlan protects his family and is fiercely protective of his brothers, when he agrees to enter into a arranged marriage with Lark he’s not too pleased as they can’t stand each other but he also has an attraction to Lark he simply can’t keep fighting.

The plot for this book was interesting and immersive, I liked the back and forth between Lark & Lachlan , I also liked seeing them become vulnerable with each other.

I look forward to reading Fionn’s story.

The perfect follow-up to our newest most unhinged romance series. Leather and Lark is laugh out loud funny, deeply tender, and hot as hell. Truly obsessed with this series!!

What a feckin’ banger!

What does it say about me that my type is Brynne’s characters?

Though vastly different in personality and demeanor than Sloane, Lark was fierce, bold, hysterical, and badass in her own way. Lachlan was devoted, caring, and so delicious. It was such a joy to watch these two grow together as characters and as a couple.

While Leather & Lark contained darker themes than B&B, in my opinion, the violence was marginally less revolting. L&L was such a joy to read and I’m already frothing at the mouth for Book 3.

Thank you so much for approving me for this arc. I absolutely love Brynne.
2.75/5⭐️
Spoiler for my third reason pls be advised

Where can I start…I’m extremely sad. This was one of my most anticipated reads of this year and it felt very different from Butcher and Blackbird. First I will say everything I loved about Leather and Lark.
1. I love LACHLAN KANE
2. The banter—the banter between Lark and Lachlan was amazing. It is my favorite part of the book—the swooning conversations.
3. THE WEDDING 🥹🥹🥹
4. The sex scene 🥵🥵

Now about what I didn’t like.

1. I felt that the hate to love reason was invalid but also it felt dragged. More than half of the book Lark still held the first meeting against Lachlan. In my opinion I didn’t think he needed to apologize because he was there for a JOB. And he repeatedly explained what happened that night.
2. Chemistry/tension—I felt that the chemistry was lacking. In Larks point of views you don’t get much of her liking anything about Lachlan or really sympathizing with him. Sometimes throughout the book it seems forced between them. I love them individually but not as a couple.
3. The relationship between Sloane and Lark—-I mean I have to say this was the most disappointing to me. I felt like the relationship could’ve have been better. One thing I loved the most about BB&B was the relationship between the two. I don’t like that Lark couldn’t confide in Sloane to tell her what was going on but also how it involved her. Even towards the end no type of bonding or even acknowledgement that lark is also a multiple deleter.
4. The plot—I felt the plot was very lost in this process. Abe was completely forgotten about up until the last few pages of the book. The ending was rushed. I think there was so much focused on the back and forth and tension of them being together, that Abe showing up was resolved really quickly.

With that being said—I wish I could love this. I’m super excited for the next book as the end of the book did make me extremely excited for Rose and Fionn.

Leather and Lark is a worthy follow up to Weaver’s Butcher and Blackbird. The romance is a slow burn but the rest of the narrative is so tense readers might not even find that they’re waiting for the romance becoming so engrossed in the pace of the story itself. Much like Butcher and Blackbird this story might not be for certain readers but Weaver does an excellent job in the opening to highlight the various trigger warnings so the reader knows what they are getting! I found Leather and Lark faithful to the spirit of Butcher and Blackbird, fans of the first should doubtless be happy with this follow up!

And I thought Rowan was gonna be my fave but LACHLAN! Rowan and Lachlan are now tied for faves. Lark is hilarious and I love her sm! Leather daddy can get it any day🖤

✨𝕃𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 & 𝕃𝕒𝕣𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 ✨
🔪
ʀᴇʟᴇᴀꜱɪɴɢ ᴏɴ 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟒
🔪
I am going to try to not give spoilers 😅.
🔪
This book gave me all the feels. I loved it. The witty banter, humor, and all the rom-com feels with darkness sprinkled on it. The slow burn between Lachlan and Lark had me sweating and just 🥵. I laughed. I cried. I raged. 🐕 I have a new found love for gold glitter. I still like pizza and smoothies 👀🤣 IYKYK.
🔪
I loved everything about this read. It is right up there next to Butcher & Blackbird. 🔪🐦‍⬛ I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book.

I’ll keep it simple, this was phenomenal. If you loved B&B, you’re gonna love this one. Lark and Lachlan have my heart, and the slow burn through this story was so full of tension and angst 😍 Love me a good marriage of convenience.

So appreciative of the ARC I received for this, though my review is honest and unbiased.

I was very much looking forward to this book for MONTHS. I've been a Brynne fan for a couple of years now and this was very anticipated. Unfortunately, my fear of her being published (which don't get me wrong is a huge accomplishment) was a real fear. This book was not BRYNNE to me. Her last few books were amazing spice, cringe, humor and story.

This one felt like the beginning and end were written by one person and the middle another. I felt her creativeness was not here. The bad guy made little sense and was taken care of too quickly. He showed up too late and there was no real story behind that. Lots of missed opportunities with the Sloane/Lark relationship, the crafting hobby was not used as much as it should have and we were TOLD how Lachlan and Lark felt but not shown.

Lark came across at the end of B&B and in the beginning as a glittery, good kind of crazy girl and I didn't feel that throughout. Her personality didn't shine. Lachlan didn't even HAVE much of a personality besides a "grump" he was not the same man that was in B&B. He went from forgive me and I won't touch you to a complete 180. There was no chemistry or tension. The slow burn was just slow....for a GOOD slow burn you need to actually feel the tension....and we didn't.

I love Brynne and will continue to support her, but this book didn't feel like the Brynne I know and love.

I loved this as much as 𝘉𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 & 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥. I love hate to love, and this is a great example 🙌🏻 Lark is such a great character. I loved her in 𝘉𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 & 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥, and loved getting to learn more about her. Also, her aunt Ethel is life goals 🤣 Lachlan is just as delicious as Rowan, but in his own way. I felt every single emotion while reading this! Highly recommend!!!

Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction set it free. While I was deeply disturbed by the first book, I am too invested in this series to not continue it. This was just as dark and twisted as the first. Defiantly out of my comfort zone but totally worth the read.

Leather & Lark was a great followup to B&B.

Lacklan and Lark are your typical grumpy/sunshine, Lachlan turning out to be a big sweetheart and and Lark showing us more under the surface.

I don't read a lot of marriage of convenience, but I had a hard time believing this one. I think it's because I had a hard time believing who the bad guy was and why he was a bad guy. I think there was too much going on there. You can be a religious nut job without having to seek vengeance, especially when the brother he's seeking vengeance for acted entirely against the religion this guy was preaching? It just didn't convince me.

I want more gore! L&L arguably had the same amount of gore, but I loved that Lark took trophies. And her trophies were incredible.

Weaver is quickly becoming an iconic author when it comes to tension and banter, which is so important for romances. She's got it 100%

Thank you to Netgalley and Zando for the eArc in exchange for an honest review.

What a fantastic fantastic book! Leather and Lark by Brynne Weaver does not disappoint! Is it often I love the second book in a series more or as much as I loved the first? Not often, but this stands up and is just as incredible as Butcher and Blackbird. I love Lachlans and Larks story!

Minor spoilers: The marriage of convenience in this story is so good and one of my favorite tropes. I love we still got to see Rowan and Sloanes story continue. Did this book make me cry? Yes, several times.

Does this book make me love Brynne Weaver more? Also yes.

I will own several copies when it’s released, and can’t wait to share this book with everyone!

I really enjoyed this book, it was fun and the perfect amount of dark and humor intertwined. I do feel like it was missing something, mostly connection with the characters. I feel like i already loved them so much because of the first book but i wish there was a little bit more in this one to make me as a reader feel connected to them.

I quickly fell in love with the first one and was SO excited for this one. This did not disappoint. I think I might love it more than the first? Lark and Lachlan are just pure fucking perfection.


I cannot wait until the next one, with this ending idk what they are going to do but I know I’ll absolutely love it.

This book was amazing! The characters, the pacing, the build up, it was all perfect. I could not put this book down and am so happy I got to spend the time with Lachlan and Lark. I had so many thoughts while reading, the biggest one being I don't know if I'll ever look at a smoothie the same way while also laughing maniacally that I will never look at one the same way. This book really had it all. Brynne did such an amazing job with these characters and this storyline. I cannot wait for the next one.

Thank you to Netgalley, Zando, and Brynne for an ARC of this book.

I had high hopes for this book, and every one of them was exceeded!

I've been a fan of Brynne's work for a couple of years now, and she never fails to impress and awe with each new book.

First things first: Lachlan. I have no words to adequately describe this man. Incoherent screaming would probably do a better job of describing my feelings for him. He comes across as cold-hearted and aloof, but in reality, he is a super loyal, fiercely protective, warm, sarcastic, loving, and overly caring individual. He is now at the top of my book boyfriend list.

Next up, Lark. I'm used to Brynne writing really strong, badass female main characters. Lark is no exception, but there was an extra layer to her that I was surprised with and loved. Whilst still a sparkly badass, Lark is a very relatable character who is easy to root for from the get-go. She was quite different from the characters I'm used to from Brynne's books, but I loved Lark in all of her Keanu loving, sparkly ways.

The plot was slow, but definitely not in a bad way. The hate to love trope was done the right way with a great focus on the hate before the love. The development of Lachlan and Lark's relationship was delicious.

I loved the dual POV. We got amazing insight into each of our main characters' thoughts throughout the story, and Lachlan's feelings towards Lark were just *chef's kiss*.

Overall, Brynne has delivered another winner, and I'm already desperate for the third instalment of the series!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

OMG PLEASE write Fionn and Rose's story quick. Like FAST! I love this series. Perhaps I was waiting for the shock value the first held. Not quiet. I mean, it was plenty, but it didn't put me off pizza, unlike cookies and cream. (I still get a bit green when I walk by the ice cream case.) There wasn't a thing about this book I didn't love, including Ethel. Wonderful series and Weaver has GOT to keep writing...to finish this series and give me much, much more!