Quick Thoughts: Tourist Season (The Seasons of Carnage Trilogy #1) by Brynne Weaver

Tourist Season

(The Seasons of Carnage Trilogy #1)

by Brynne Weaver

September 23, 2025

Goodreads Summary:

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.

Review

Meeting Harper, our female protagonist, was a really great start to Tourist Season. She was the best. Although the story wasn't as funny as I thought it would be, it had its fair share of movie-worthy scenes.

What I Liked:

- Harper's daring personality and unapologetic attitude

- most of the characters were more intelligent than they appeared

- some truly emotional moments

- all the murderers owning their murder-y ways

- barbed conversations that were entertaining as hell

- the crackling tension between Harper and Nolan

- the sexy times that fit Harper and Nolan so well

- well-done dark humour

- topiary talks

- the trust between Harper, Arthur and Lucas

- dark thoughts (often comedic) that only the readers were privy to

- the many functions of a woodchipper

The Not So Much:

- the middle of the story dragged a lot, I was bored

- I didn't really feel the intense connection between Harper and Nolan

- Nolan fell too fast and too hard for Harper

- a cliffhanger ending that felt too abrupt

“The best we can hope for is to find another soul who can stand in our path with open arms to embrace us.” (p.331)