Leather & Lark Review (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5 Stars): Deliciously Twisted, Completely Addictive, and My Favorite Kind of Guilty Pleasure
There are some authors you read because they're good.
Then there are authors you read because they somehow inject literary crack into the pages.
Brynne Weaver belongs firmly in the second category. 😂
At this point, I've accepted that every time she releases a book, my reading schedule is completely ruined because nothing else stands a chance afterward. Her books are ridiculously addictive. They're dark, hilarious, romantic, disturbing, and somehow incredibly wholesome despite...you know...all the murder.
It's honestly a talent.
Now, if I had to choose between the first two books, I'd still say Butcher & Blackbird edges this one out. I thought the chemistry hit a little harder, and I absolutely preferred the audiobook narration in the first book. But that's like saying I prefer one flavor of gourmet dessert over another—they're both amazing.
Leather & Lark still earned an easy 5 stars from me. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
📚 Book Information
Title: Leather & Lark
Author: Brynne Weaver
Series: Ruinous Love Trilogy (#2)
Genre: Adult Dark Romance • Romantic Suspense • Romantic Comedy
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)
⚠️ Trigger Warnings
This book definitely earns its dark romance label.
It contains:
🔪 Graphic violence and murder
🩸 Blood, gore, body disposal, and mutilation
💀 Serial killers
🔥 Torture
🚗 Vehicular homicide
🔫 Guns and shootings
💣 Explosions
👁️ Enucleation (eye removal)
🦷 Teeth and severed body parts
🚑 Kidnapping and imprisonment
🏫 Child sexual abuse (past)
💔 Trauma and PTSD
🏠 Domestic abuse (referenced)
🐶 An injured dog (the dog survives ❤️)
🌶️ Explicit sexual content
🤐 Rough/BDSM elements and consensual choking
If any of those are dealbreakers for you, this probably isn't your book.
🚨 Spoiler Warning
⚠️ From this point onward, I'm discussing the ENTIRE novel, including the ending.
Proceed at your own risk!
❤️ My Thoughts: Brynne Weaver's Books Are Basically a Drug
I don't know what Brynne Weaver puts in these books.
Caffeine?
Pixie dust?
Human teeth?
Whatever it is, it works.
This series is pure addiction.
Every chapter somehow ends with me saying, "Okay, just one more..." and suddenly it's two in the morning.
The wildest part is how these books balance tones that absolutely should not work together.
One minute someone is being brutally murdered.
The next minute I'm laughing out loud.
Then five pages later my heart is melting because the romance is unexpectedly sweet.
How?!
The humor lands almost every single time because the characters fully commit to the absurdity. Nobody stops to acknowledge how insane everything is, which somehow makes it even funnier.
And underneath all the blood and chaos is a genuinely emotional love story about damaged people learning they're worthy of being loved.
It's weird.
It's violent.
It's hilarious.
It's wonderful.
🖤 Plot Summary (Full Spoilers)
The novel alternates between the perspectives of Lark Montague, Lachlan Kane, and the mysterious killer known only as the Phantom.
Lark appears to be an indie musician, but she secretly spends her free time murdering predatory men. Her vigilantism stems from childhood trauma after she was sexually abused by her teacher, Mr. Vernon, while the school's headmaster, Dr. Louis Campbell, knowingly covered up the abuse. Although Lark never killed Vernon herself—her best friend Sloane handled that years earlier—she has continued targeting dangerous predators ever since.
The story actually begins a year before the main events.
After Lark kills a predatory teacher named Jamie Merrick by forcing his vehicle into a reservoir, she contacts her stepfather Damian Covaci, whose criminal organization arranges professional cleanup through Leviathan. The cleanup crew includes Lachlan Kane, a contract killer and leatherworker. Believing Lark is reckless and irresponsible, Lachlan treats her coldly throughout the cleanup and eventually locks the traumatized Lark inside the trunk of his vintage car to transport her away from the crime scene. Unaware of her severe claustrophobia, he triggers a devastating panic attack before she manages to escape.
That disastrous first meeting costs Lachlan dearly.
His employer, Leander Mayes, loses a lucrative contract with the Covaci family because of Lachlan's treatment of Damian's stepdaughter. A year later, when Lachlan announces he wants to retire from contract killing, Leander refuses. Instead, he orders Lachlan to repair the damaged relationship with the Covacis before retirement is even a possibility.
Meanwhile, Rowan Kane opens his new restaurant, bringing together many characters from Butcher & Blackbird. Lark attends as Sloane's best friend, while Lachlan attends as Rowan's brother. Neither initially realizes they're the same people from the cleanup until a private conversation—and an unexpected kiss—ends with Lark recognizing him as the man who stuffed her into a trunk. Any chance at romance immediately disappears.
Unknown to everyone else, another threat is growing.
A mysterious figure known only as the Phantom is stalking Rowan and Sloane. The Phantom is actually Abe Mead, brother of serial killer Harvey, who died in the previous novel. Obsessed with revenge, Abe decides the best way to hurt Rowan is by destroying someone close to him. Since Rowan would never recover from losing his brother, Abe sets his sights on Lark, believing that hurting her will ultimately devastate the entire Kane family.
As violence escalates around the Covaci crime family, Damian suspects Lachlan is murdering his associates in retaliation for ending Leviathan's contract. If Damian acts on that suspicion, both Lachlan and Rowan could be executed.
Lark's beloved Aunt Ethel, terminally ill but still delightfully sharp, suggests an outrageous solution.
Marry Lachlan.
Since Damian would never kill his own son-in-law, marriage would immediately place Lachlan—and therefore Rowan—under the family's protection.
At Rowan and Sloane's wedding, Lark proposes exactly that. Lachlan initially thinks she's joking until he realizes Rowan's life truly is in danger. They quickly marry and begin investigating the murders together in an attempt to identify the real killer before the Covaci family strikes first.
Forced proximity works its usual romance magic.
While trapped together in a malfunctioning freight elevator, Lachlan witnesses Lark's crippling claustrophobia and finally understands the psychological damage he caused during their first encounter. The realization fills him with guilt, becoming the first crack in the emotional walls he's spent years building.
Their investigation also exposes Lark's darkest secret.
Lachlan discovers her hidden collection of trophies taken from the men she's killed. Rather than turning away, he confronts her honestly. Lark admits everything, explaining that she only targets predators. Surprisingly, Lachlan accepts her completely, though he struggles with his own complicated feelings about violence and redemption.
Seeking to make amends for the past, Lachlan arranges an elaborate sleep retreat to help Lark's chronic insomnia. More importantly, he secretly kidnaps Dr. Louis Campbell, forcing the former headmaster to confess his role in protecting Lark's abuser. After hearing his confession, Lark finally executes the man who enabled years of abuse, giving her long-delayed closure.
Around the same time, a strangely unsettling customer calling himself Abe Midus visits Lachlan's leather shop carrying a damaged saddle. Readers eventually learn this is the Phantom operating under a false identity. Although both Lark and Lachlan find him odd, neither realizes they're standing face-to-face with the man orchestrating the murders.
As their fake marriage slowly becomes real, Lachlan refuses to pursue a physical relationship until he believes he's truly earned Lark's forgiveness for how he treated her. His restraint becomes one of the novel's sweetest surprises, showing that beneath his intimidating exterior is someone desperate to deserve the woman he's falling in love with.
Eventually, Sloane gently reveals that she's always suspected Lark's secret life and loves her anyway. The unconditional acceptance lifts an enormous emotional burden from Lark, allowing her to finish writing music again. After one of her performances, Lark finally forgives Lachlan, and they begin a genuine romantic relationship.
Meanwhile, Abe continues eliminating everyone connected to the Covaci family.
His cruelest act comes when he infiltrates Aunt Ethel's assisted living facility disguised as a nurse. Fully aware that she's about to die, Ethel refuses to give him the satisfaction of seeing her afraid. She faces him with dignity and defiance until he murders her with a lethal injection, creating one of the novel's most heartbreaking moments.
Soon afterward, Abe kidnaps Lark.
Lachlan and Rose discover that Abe has been secretly watching Lark from an apartment directly across the street from her home, giving him a disturbing front-row seat to nearly every aspect of her life. They race to rescue her before it's too late.
Lark awakens trapped inside an industrial rotary oven while Abe forces Lachlan into an impossible choice.
Save Lark.
Or save Rowan.
A bomb has been planted in Rowan's car, and Abe insists Lachlan can only save one.
Lark, refusing to let Rowan die for her, orders Lachlan to save his brother instead.
Fortunately, the choice proves unnecessary.
Rose arrives in time, shoots out the oven's viewing window, and helps free Lark before the intense heat kills her. During the confrontation, Lachlan kills Abe, ending the Phantom's murderous revenge once and for all. Rose is wounded during the rescue but survives, while Rowan and Sloane escape the car bomb unharmed after receiving a warning.
With Abe dead, the danger finally ends.
Lachlan officially retires from contract killing after Lark secures Leander an enormous contract involving both the Covaci and Montague organizations, fulfilling the final condition for his freedom. Lark also accepts a leadership role as Chief Security Officer for her family's criminal empire.
The novel concludes with one final wonderfully unhinged romantic gesture.
Lachlan presents Lark with the preserved heart of Dr. Louis Campbell, beautifully encased in clear resin.
Because apparently flowers are overrated. 😂
He also hands her divorce papers, telling her she is completely free to leave if their marriage has served its purpose.
Instead, Lark tears the papers into pieces, kisses him, and chooses him—not because she has to, but because she wants to.
The epilogue finds them enjoying their honeymoon in Borneo, Indonesia, where Lark gets to fulfill one of her dreams by working with orangutans while the two of them embrace the wonderfully bizarre future they've built together.
💕 Lachlan & Lark
One thing I absolutely loved was how different this romance felt from Butcher & Blackbird.
Lachlan is all restraint.
Lark is absolute chaos.
He's constantly trying to think five steps ahead.
She's ready to set something on fire if it solves the problem.
Their personalities bounce off each other beautifully.
I especially appreciated that Lachlan spends much of the novel trying to earn forgiveness rather than expecting it. After what happened with the trunk, it would've been easy to gloss over Lark's trauma. Instead, the book lets him sit with his guilt and slowly become the partner she deserves.
😂 The Humor Is Still Top-Tier
One of my favorite things about this series is that it never apologizes for how ridiculous it is.
Serial killers debating snacks.
Deadly stakeouts interrupted by awkward flirting.
Crime scenes that somehow become relationship therapy.
And somehow...it all works.
The comedy never undercuts the emotional moments—it actually makes them stronger because the characters feel so wonderfully human beneath all the mayhem.
⭐ Final Verdict
Would I still recommend Butcher & Blackbird first?
Absolutely.
Did Leather & Lark still completely consume my life for a couple of days?
Also absolutely.
This series has become one of my biggest guilty pleasures. It's outrageous, funny, romantic, violent, heartfelt, and completely impossible to put down. Brynne Weaver somehow makes serial killers charming, romance swoony, and murder...oddly wholesome?
I genuinely don't know how she does it.
I just know I'll keep reading whatever she writes next.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5 stars.
📖 If You Loved Leather & Lark, Try These Next
❤️ Butcher & Blackbird — Brynne Weaver (Read this first if you haven't already!)
🖤 Scythe & Sparrow — Brynne Weaver
🔪 Lights Out — Navessa Allen
🩸 Mindf*ck Series — S.T. Abby
🌹 Haunting Adeline — H.D. Carlton (Check trigger warnings first!)
🗡️ The Risk — S.T. Abby
💀 Black Sheep — Brynne Weaver
If you're looking for dark romance with unforgettable characters, wicked humor, morally questionable decisions, and romances that somehow make you root for people who absolutely belong on several watchlists...this corner of the genre is incredibly entertaining.
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