Review--Tourist Season by Brynne Weaver

 

From No.1 New York Times bestselling author Brynne Weaver comes a wickedly delicious new series where dark romantic comedy meets thrilling suspense - and where falling in love can be a killer.

Welcome to Cape Carnage! Visit Once, Stay Forever.

You can hide in the farthest reaches of the deepest hell, and I will still drag you out. Even the devil can't save you from me.

Cape Carnage is a seaside town of colourful houses, quirky shops, and an unusually high body count. But with tourists comes trouble, and Harper Starling won't let anyone ruin her picture-perfect home. A skilled gardener with killer instincts, Harper protects her sanctuary at any cost - especially for her aging mentor with a fading memory. Troublesome tourists don't check out of Carnage. They compost beneath Harper's award-winning flowerbeds.

But Nolan Rhodes isn't your average tourist. Devilishly handsome, disarmingly charming, and skilled with a blade, Nolan is relentless in the pursuit of revenge. On every anniversary of the hit-and-run accident that fractured his life, Nolan slays another target. And he's saved the best for the undeniably beautiful Harper Starling. The problem? Harper isn't the monster he expected. And she won't go down without a fight.

When an amateur true crime investigator comes to Cape Carnage on the trail of a long-lost serial killer, Harper and Nolan strike an uneasy truce. If Nolan helps Harper protect her town, she'll keep quiet about his hunting habits . . . for now. But their alliance soon spirals into obsession, one that threatens to shatter every secret in Carnage - including their fragile love.

Tourist Season is a darkly funny, slow burn enemies-to-lovers romance where destruction and desire are balanced on the edge of a blade - and where love is the most dangerous battleground of all.

Brynne Weaver's Tourist Season is the start of a new grizzly dark rom-com that takes place in the same world as The Ruinous Love Trilogy! If you read Scythe & Sparrow, you get a hint at who's the heroine of his novel. I'll admit I was a bit baffled at first when I read the blurb and thinking, what...? But then once I started reading it, I was like OHHH! Lol. Yeah, that's what happens when you read between series! Lol.

Harper Starling is a young woman living in Cape Carnage caring for Arthur who is an elderly man with Alzheimers who has his own dark history. When Nolan Rhodes comes to town, he's a man on a mission, and that mission is to kill Harper. Four years ago, Nolan was in a car accident that killed his younger brother. He's made it his mission ever since recovering from that accident to hunt down the people who were in the car that crashed into his and kill them...and he'd down to just one more murderer, the driver, aka Harper.

But Harper is not one to go down without a fight. She's a woman with her own dark past, one that she doesn't feel like hashing out to Nolan, because he plans to kill her anyway! So naturally, there's this whole enemies to lovers vibe going on, because it's a dark rom-com, you know they'll get over the hating game eventually. Harper is a killer as well, as you would've guessed from Brynne's previous books. Harper takes care of the troublesome tourists who aren't just annoying, but down right evil.

When she learns that land of her employer's has been sold, she's worried because she knows what Arthur has hidden on said land and she will do everything she can to protect him. So she makes a deal of sorts with Nolan, asking for his help to uncover a dozen or so bodies that are buried on the property and they only have three weeks to do it. She managed to steal something important to Nolan and promises to give it back, if he helps her.

Throwing in another round of complications, we have a shady true crime seeker in town who is investigating the past murders connected to Cape Carnage and the fact that one...or maybe more than one, of its citizens may in fact be a serial killer. He also happens to be staying at the same inn as Nolan, so expect the usual shenanigans!

This was yet another entertaining read from Weaver! Granted, I am once again here for the Dexter/murdery vibes more so than the romantic bits. I like romance fine and all, but these darker romance aspects really aren't my cup of tea, but since they are kind of sporadic in this first installment, at least, I was able to just roll my eyes a few times and get back to the bloody good parts! Lol. 

That Nolan and Harper are both serial killers falling in love is yet another riot. It's like a reverse Murder She Wrote, that no matter where Jessica went, someone dies. Well here, no matter where we go in the Weaver universe, there's always more than one serial killer in town! Almost makes you rethink Murder She Wrote and wonder...lol.

There was a teeny tiny mystery of sorts going on here in the background. If you pay attention, you'll hear a few things but might not be able to put together any kind of story until the verrrry end! Just as I was reading that epilogue, I started thinking one thing, then after a few more paragraphs my theory proved correct, but then that last line totally threw me and I was like OMG! Thankfully, the next installment isn't too far off...but my plate is pretty full right now so who knows when I will get to it! 

This one was pretty well paced. I mean the characters are forced together with a goal in mind where helping one helps themselves so things move along at a decent pace. Naturally, we get the interludes of romantic tension and bloody good times as well. There were laughs, there were grimaces...all in good fun or as much fun as you could say is being had in a murder fest type book. Definitely can't wait to see what will happen next in this aptly named little murdertown! If you enjoy your dark romances with a side of comedy and a healthy dose of murder, be sure to check out this new series of Weaver's! You don't have to have read the previous trilogy in order to dive into this one and it can completely stand on its own without any kind of prior needed knowledge, so it's a win-win situation here!

Overall Rating 4/5 stars