Brynne Weaver sets the standard for dark romance that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Her unique blend of murdery protagonists, irreverent humor, and high spice hooked romance readers with The Ruinous Love trilogy. This June, her latest trilogy, Seasons of Carnage, is back with a second installment.
Warning: If you haven’t read book one, Tourist Season, take the exit now and check it out—spoilers lie ahead. If you’ve been anxiously awaiting the next book in the series, though, pop in your headphones, turn on the brilliant chapter-by-chapter playlist at the beginning of the book, and dive right in.
Unlike The Ruinous Love trilogy, Seasons of Carnage follows the same male and female main characters for all three books. In Tourist Season, readers met Nolan Rhodes, the handsome killer who traveled to Cape Carnage with one mission: avenge his brother’s death by getting rid of Harper Starling. Except Harper wasn’t at all what he expected. She came with her own baggage (read: trail of bodies), roped Nolan into helping her protect the town, and his master plan was completely derailed as he found himself falling for the woman he originally intended to kill.
Now that Nolan knows who Harper really is, things get even messier in Harvest Season. Harper is trying to balance the responsibility of caring for Arthur, her aging serial killer mentor, with what she wants for herself—the first thing she’s wanted in a very long time: Nolan. As the body count rises around them, and a group of true crime nerds come searching for their missing leader (who is part of said body count), the big question is this: Will Harper and Nolan’s love save them or will their blinding obsession ultimately bring about their downfall?
Obviously, you’ll have to read to find out.
Let me just say this for fans of book boyfriends everywhere, though. Nolan is the definition of “if he wanted to, he would.” Not only does he do a complete 180 from wanting to kill Harper to falling madly in love with her. He abandons his job to stay in Cape Carnage and explore this budding relationship, while also running a search and rescue operation for their collective victims in order to make sure they both don’t get caught. And then there’s all the hot, hot sex they have during their non-existent downtime. When does the man sleep?!
As always with this genre, and per the author’s recommendation, it’s a good idea to check out trigger warnings first before jumping in. The juxtaposition of horror and dark themes with pleasure is a unique combination that’s not for everyone. Weaver has a list of everything readers need to know at the start of the novel, covering all the bases with what violent and explicit material lies ahead.
You’ll also find a good heart at the core of this story, though. Beyond the devotion and trust-building in the novel’s romantic relationship, Harper’s relationship with her father figure, Arthur, is also a driving storyline. Weaver even notes in her content warnings that a portion of the royalties from the Seasons of Carnage trilogy goes to Alzheimer’s charities in the U.S. and Canada—a cause near and dear to the author, as her maternal grandparents’ experiences with dementia inspired this part of the story.
The only drawback of Harvest Season for me is that it feels a bit drawn out. Trilogies are a popular trend these days in the romance and romantasy genres, so perhaps there’s a push to flush out stories into three installments. At times the dynamics of Harper and Nolan’s relationship seem repetitive, and perhaps the length of the novel could have been shortened.
Despite this, Brynne Weaver knows how to write a fun book to read and her particular brand of dark romance works. There’s angst. There’s plenty of steamy scenes. There’s blood. And there’s some weird, weird stuff. (Like everyone’s favorite “pretty little murder bird”). In the end, Harvest Season ramps up into a hell of a cliffhanger, and these characters are fantastic, so you better believe I’ll be back for book three to find out how Harper and Nolan’s story ends.
Harvest Season is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of June 9th 2026.
Will you be picking up Harvest Season? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Brynne Weaver comes the second book in the devilishly steamy Seasons of Carnage trilogy where dark romantic comedy meets thrilling suspense—and where love is ripe for ruin.
It’s time to reap what you sow.
Cape Carnage is blooming with secrets, and they’re ready to harvest. But every time Nolan Rhodes digs one up, another grows in its place. Harper isn’t who he thought she was. Arthur might be more sinister than he first thought. And Sheriff Yates? The man is everywhere he turns. When true crime fanatics descend on the town looking for answers about the death of their leader, Nolan finds himself at the center of a search and rescue operation for missing people he knows are already dead. Cape Carnage teeters on the brink of chaos. And the harder Nolan tries to keep it together, the closer Harper comes to unraveling.
Harper Starling has risked everything to bury her trauma in Cape Carnage. But now that Nolan has unearthed her past, her whole life seems ready to break apart. And who can she trust? The enigmatic man she’s falling in love with? He came to kill her. The serial killer mentor she’s vowed to protect? He’s become an unpredictable menace. The woman in the mirror? She might be the most dangerous of all.
Loyalties are tested. Bonds are bent to a breaking point. And love? That might be the deadliest trap of all.
Harvest Season is a dark romance with mature themes. Please check content warnings at the beginning of the book.
