I’m not usually a fan of Contemporary Romance novels – I do love a good romance subplot, and I’ve slowly been getting into reading Romantasy lately (with mixed results) – but I somehow ended up reading Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver earlier this year. The premise was intriguing (two serial killers fall in love!), and I enjoyed it far more than I expected to – it was gross and exciting (in a fun way, yay cannibalism!) and I loved the characters and the way their relationship developed (spicy, but also somehow wholesome). I’ve been searching for something to scratch the same sort of itch since and haven’t found anything that I liked nearly as much. Naturally, I picked up the sequel Leather & Lark, which released earlier this month.
The second instalment in this series focuses on Lark (Sloane from Butcher & Blackbird’s best friend) and Lachlan (Rowan’s brother). Lachlan is a contract killer, Lark is the daughter of a powerful crime family (it’s very vaguely explained what the family is involved in, but it also includes her grandmother’s totally legitimate muffin business). Lachlan wants to leave his job, but he screwed up a previous job (involving Lark) which caused his boss to lose his contract with Lark’s family, so, obviously, his boss is disinclined to let him go. Lark discovers that someone is killing people associated with her family, and her parents suspect Lachlan. They’re considering having him killed (and to clear up any loose ends, also killing his brother Rowan, ruining Sloane’s chance at happiness with him). To protect her friend, Lark decides to hunt down the killer herself, enlisting Lachlan’s help. Also, they have to get married, so that Lark’s family won’t just have Lachlan and Rowan killed with minimal evidence.
While I did enjoy Leather & Lark, it was a bit of a disappointment when compared with Butcher & Blackbird. The characters and their relationship were fun, but I felt it was lacking the danger and tension of the previous novel. The characters are very rarely at risk – Lark’s parents and Lachlan’s boss weren’t really menacing figures and there was virtually no mystery in the identity of the killer. The one point in the novel where there was any danger, I felt that it was resolved far too quickly.
Ultimately, I think if you enjoyed Butcher & Blackbird, you’ll enjoy this too (although, like me, maybe not as much!). While I was a little disappointed (part of this is probably just a lesson in me managing my expectations), I’ll probably pick up the next book in the series (which looks like it’s going to follow Lachlan & Rowan’s youngest brother).