Book Review: Leather & Lark by Brynne Weaver
Rating: ★★★★☆(4/5)
Introduction:
Quick Facts
- Release: June 2024 Read: February 2025
- Reading Time: 8-12 Hours
- Pages: 406
- Format Recommendation: Audiobook is recommended. The voice actors make this even more entertaining for this series.
- Perfect for: People who want Dark RomComs that aren’t quite as Graphic as You or Lights Out. It still has a TON of trigger warnings but it didn’t make me cringe too much.
- Genre and Writing Style: Dark Rom Com.
- Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️– I give it the 4 because the sex doesn’t happen until half way through the book. It is such a slow burn that I wouldn’t give it that 5th pepper.
- Trigger Level:💀💀💀💀💀 https://triggerwarningdatabase.com/2024/10/15/leather-lark-by-brynne-weaver/
It is rare that I find a sequel better than the original but I loved Leather & Lark more than Butcher & Blackbird. The chemistry between the characters, the storyline, the dark rom com tropes… were all just better in this one.
Summary: A Brief Overview (Without Major Spoilers)
From Good Reads:
Contract killer Lachlan Kane wants a quiet life working in his leather studio and forgetting all about his traumatic past. But when he botches a job for his boss’s biggest client, Lachlan knows he’ll never claw his way out of the underworld. At least, not until songbird Lark Montague offers him a deal: use his skills to hunt down a killer and she’ll find a way to secure his freedom. The catch? He has to marry her first.
And they can’t stand each other.
Indie singer-songwriter Lark is the sunshine and glitter that burns through every cloud and clings to every crevice that Lachlan Kane tries to hide inside. The surly older brother of her best friend’s soulmate, Lachlan thinks she’s just a privileged princess, but Lark has plenty of secrets hiding in the shadows of her bright light. With her formidable family in a tailspin and her best friend’s happiness on the line, she’s willing to make a vow to the man she’s determined to hate, no matter how tempting the broody assassin might be.
As Lachlan and Lark navigate the dark world that binds them together, it becomes impossible to discern their fake marriage from a real one. But it’s not just familiar dangers that haunt them.
There’s another phantom lurking on their doorstep.
What Worked for Me:
Lachlan Kane. I listened to the Audio Book for some of this and holy moly the reviews were right. The voice actor for Lochlan is amazing. As a character though he is much more likable for me than his brother Rowan. Rowan is a serial killer that likes to take out (very vilontly) other serial killers. Lachlan on the other hand is a contract killer. For some reason that distinction matters to me. It’s how they handle who they kill and the pleasure (or lack there of) they get from the killing that sets them apart. I find myself stomaching Lachland’s character easier than Rowan.
Lark’s glitter bitch personality. The girl pisses rainbows but would also set your house on fire. The dichotomy she represents creates a complex character that is a lot less needy than Sloane. Sloane spends a lot of her time second guessing her actions or wondering if Rowan has feelings for her. Lark is a lot stronger of a FMC for me.
The tropes. We have fake marriage, forced proximity, and enemies to lovers going on. It works here. They build their relationship on them and it builds their chemistry nicely. Sometimes it can get cheesy when there are too many tropes happening at once but I think Weaver well … weaves them quite nicely in the novel.
What Didn’t Work for Me: Trigger Warnings and Criticisms
Letting the characters get all hot and heavy only to have it interupted by the safe sex talk. Weaver did it in Butcher & Blackbird too. These books are both slow burns as it is. I waited 300 pages for the two main characters to finally go for it and right as they really get going they stop to have the, “Hey I am STD free, are you on the pill?” Conversation. It feels like pouring cold ice water on the mood and I am not a fan of it when authors pull that.
Speaking of spice, this book does have it. Lachlan is like his brother, dominating. Lark takes on the submissive role just like Slone in B&B but to a whole new level. As some one who is strong female power oriented in my reading likes, having a woman go from strong to not just submissive but self degrading is not it for me. She wants to be called a whore and treated like garbage while doing the deed. Lachlan mentions that Lark is still the one in power while crawling around on the floor but I can’t get into that. It’s not my kink and it’s hard for me to read about women being self degregating. If that is your yum, don’t let me yuck on it but it’s just not mine.
Final Thoughts:
Why does every romance writer think marathon sessions are the only way to have sex? I was 22 the last time I went at it for hours on end with a dude. I’m 32 with a toddler now and I don’t have time for all that.
That being said, this was a delicious slow burn of a book. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to dip thier toes into dark romance.
📚 Study Guide
- Lark hides her murderous activities from everyone in her life. Why does she admit her status as a serial killer to Lachlan when she has hidden this fact even from her best friend, Sloane?
- Sloane killed Lark’s abuser, Mr. Vernon, when they were teenagers. How did Sloane’s action negatively impact Lark?
- Lachlan and Lark both struggle with The Challenge of Embracing Authenticity. Compare and contrast Lachlan’s or Lark’s respective journeys toward embracing authenticity.
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