[NOVEL] Tourist Season by Brynne Weaver

Unhinged, but fun.

Welcome to Cape Carnage! Visit Once, Stay Forever.

Cape Carnage is a seaside town of colorful 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 last: 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.

The Seasons of Carnage. Book 1

For sure it was bloody and fun. From the author of Butcher & Blackbird I never read.

I'm no fan of toxic traits, but if you can wrap it up nicely and add some dark humor and not make it super serious, I can deal with it.

The two main characters are totally unhinged, the story doesn't take itself seriously, although it has some good moments of friendship and care.

The plot itself is super easy, Nolan comes to town with a goal, but then he meets Harper and he did not expect to meet this type of Harper, so things got complicated, tied together they try to navigate how to get rid of Sam Porter, the head of amateur sleuth group, who had too much get in his head that he can do anything for fame. That means coming to Cape Carnage and tying the name of Harper's mentor and a serial killer named La Plume together (spoiler, not the same person). Harper wants to protect one person so dear to her, so she is ready for some blackmail. Nolan doesn't want Harper to get caught before he deals with her himself, so it's all in his interest to make it work.

Honestly, they didn't do much in that direction.

But the forced proximity kinda works and both have conflicting feelings. Nolan loathes himself for feeling anything towards a woman who killed his brother and yet to find out that she is not real Harper.

Harper had no one else except her mentior who knows her true self and a person she could rely on, slowly (very slowly) she tries to trust Nolan.

Although the plot is a bit predictable, but it's those bits and pieces of fun that make the picture going. Oh, and a bit of gore. Or not a bit.

I honestly had a feeling that maybe the entire Cape Carnage is on what's really going on but they stay silent because they're not that against of getting rid of few scumbags. Like the dude who pushed the pregnant nurse. Small towns may be weird. But it's fun to think that way.

Spoilers section~

To me the ending had a bit of a cliffhanger feel tbh, because by that time Nolan came to terms that he fell in love with a woman he came to kill, only to uncover at the very last chapter of this book that she is not who he thought she was, she said it herself but tbh it was cryptic. So what should he do with all that avalanche of emotions.

And not to mention the sleuth group acted as if they're ready to get into Cape Carnage the very next second since they got news of Sam and his companion deaths. But it's left for later.

I was also a bit surprised (not really) about the epilogue. I had a feeling they dealt with La Plume in the past, but it happens not to be the case, I wonder about this backstory.

Honestly, Sheriff always gave you the feeling that HE KNOWS EVERYTHING, but does nt get involved for some reason.

Anyway, I do wish to see maya with her talent for mixtures in the next book, won't it be fun? I think so. I have a feeling the girl cracked the two open the first time she saw them with severed head and hands, but because she is also from the same type of people she played along.

RATE: 3,75/5.