Tuesday Reviews: Tourist Season by Brynne Weaver

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.

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.

I am completely feral for this book. Tourist Season is bloody, clever, hilarious, and addictive from start to finish. It’s one of the most entertaining and chaotic stories I’ve read all year. Think Dexter meets Twin Peaks with a splash of Butcher and the Blackbird thrown in.

First off, this is not a standalone, so prepare your heart before diving in. It ends on a massive cliffhanger that will leave you pacing the room and cursing the calendar until book two arrives.

Cape Carnage is the weirdest, bloodiest, most delightful town imaginable. It’s coastal Halloween-core, full of vigilantes, retired killers, and locals who definitely know more than they let on. It’s gory, ridiculous, and somehow still heartwarming.

Harper Starling is the town’s unhinged protector. She’s got a woodchipper named Cookie Monster, a garden full of secrets, and the kind of sarcastic, no-nonsense personality that makes her instantly lovable. She’s also caretaker to Arthur, a retired serial killer battling dementia, and their relationship adds surprising depth and warmth to all the chaos.

Then there’s Nolan Rhodes, a dark, damaged man on a mission of revenge. He shows up ready to kill Harper, but ends up tangled in her world instead. Their enemies-to-lovers chemistry is unreal. They banter, they threaten, they save each other, and they definitely steam up the page. Nolan’s obsessive streak and Harper’s razor-edged humor make them an absolute power couple.

The plot moves fast and doesn’t let up. There’s mystery, gore, dark comedy, and a steady stream of twists that somehow all work. The writing is sharp, cinematic, and laugh-out-loud funny even in the bloodiest scenes. And beneath all the mayhem is a surprisingly emotional story about grief, identity, and what it means to protect the people you love.

This book is a perfect storm of murder, mayhem, and romance. It’s outrageous, clever, and weirdly touching. I devoured it in a single sitting and immediately wanted to reread it.