I do not usually reach for dark romance, but the cover of Tourist Season caught my eye, and I will admit I was influenced. I have seen Brynne Weaver’s Ruinous Love series everywhere and once again found myself swayed by striking artwork. I went in blind, curious and slightly wary, and ended up having a far stranger and more entertaining reading experience than I expected.
The story takes place in Cape Carnage, a seaside town with colourful houses, quirky shops and an alarmingly high body count. Harper Starling is the town’s unofficial protector. She is a gardener with a talent for keeping her home safe in ways that are both creative and deeply unsettling. Troublesome tourists do not simply leave Cape Carnage. They become part of Harper’s compost. Her loyalty to her mentor Arthur, who is living with dementia, gives her a softer edge, and I appreciated how sensitively Weaver handled his decline.
Enter Nolan Rhodes. He arrives in town seeking revenge for the hit and run that killed his brother and nearly ended his own life. He has spent years hunting down those responsible and Harper is meant to be his final target. The problem is that she is not the monster he expected and he is not the kind of tourist she can easily dispose of. Their uneasy truce soon becomes something far more complicated, and watching them circle each other was one of the highlights of the book.
This is a serial killer romance, and Weaver leans into the absurdity of that premise with dark humour, sharp banter and a surprising amount of charm. The chemistry between Harper and Nolan is immediate, even if I did not always feel the emotional depth behind it. The instalove element worked for me, but I can see why some readers might want more tension or yearning. What the book lacks in slow burn intensity, it makes up for in wit, gore and a sense of gleeful chaos. The town itself is almost a character, complete with a crow named Morpheus and a wood chipper called the Cookie Monster.
Let’s take a quick break to appreciate this beautiful fan art!
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There are several mysteries woven through the plot, including a true crime investigator who arrives in town at the worst possible moment. I found the twists genuinely surprising, especially the one in the epilogue, which left me annoyed only because I now have to wait for the sequel. Weaver has already announced Harvest Season for June 2026, and I will be picking it up without hesitation.
Readers who enjoy dark humour, morally questionable characters and romance that leans into the outrageous will have a great time here. Even though I am still unsure about the genre as a whole, I had fun with this one.
In the end, Tourist Season is messy, gory, funny and strangely heartfelt. Not my usual taste, but I am fully invested in this murderous little trilogy now.
Romance Author | Brynne Weaver Books
