Tourist Season

Tourist Season is a dark romance thriller novel by Canadian author Brynne Weaver. Originally published in 2025 by Zando, the novel is the first installment in Weaver’s forthcoming Seasons of Carnage trilogy. Set in the fictional town of Cape Carnage, Maine, Tourist Season traces the raucous evolution of Harper Starling and Nolan Rhodes’s enemies-to-lovers romance. Nolan arrives in Carnage with the intent of murdering Harper for killing his brother Billy in a hit-and-run accident four years ago. Terrified that Nolan will expose her complex past, Harper seeks to destroy Nolan while protecting her tenuous life in Carnage. The novel is written from Harper’s and Nolan’s alternating first-person points of view and explores themes including The Importance of Resolving the Past for Self-Reinvention, Healing From Past Trauma Together, and Navigating the Boundaries Between Love, Hatred, and Obsession.

Brynne Weaver is the bestselling author of the popular dark romance series, the Ruinous Love trilogy, which includes the titles Butcher & Blackbird (2023), Leather & Lark (2024), and Scythe & Sparrow (2025). Weaver aims “to write female-focused stories about complex, resilient, imperfect characters who struggle with anger, trauma, fear, courage, and love” (“About Brynne.” Brynne Weaver Books). Tourist Season is no exception.

This guide refers to the 2025 Zando hardcover edition of the novel.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of cursing, sexual content, graphic violence, sexual harassment, illness, substance use, physical abuse, sexual violence, and death.

Plot Summary

Harper Starling lives in Cape Carnage, a small town on the coast of Maine. She moved here four years ago after fleeing her mysterious past. Upon arrival, she noticed a man harassing a group of young girls and killed him. Local bigwig Arthur Lancaster discovered this incident and took pity on Harper, inviting her to live with him at Lancaster Manor, his estate.

Ever since, Harper has devoted herself to Arthur’s cause: He has been targeting and killing tourists who pose a seeming threat to Carnage’s New England charm. In exchange for her help with this mission, Arthur protects Harper’s secrets and keeps her safe. He has also given her more permanent lodging on his property and work as a landscaper in town.

One day, Harper runs into an attractive man named Nolan Rhodes in town. Four years ago, Nolan was the victim of a hit-and-run accident that killed his younger brother Billy. Ever since, he has sought to avenge his late brother. He has already killed the three passengers in the car that hit him and Billy, and he has come to Carnage to hunt down and kill Harper Starling, the driver of the car.

When the two meet, they are enamored with each other. Nolan doesn’t immediately realize who he’s dealing with. He is horrified to discover her name, realizing he has been flirting with his archenemy.

Nolan runs into a man named Sam Porter at the inn where he’s staying. He learns that Sam is an amateur sleuth and documentarian who is making a movie on Carnage’s allegedly dark history. Sam believes that an infamous serial killer named La Plume might be a Carnage resident. He also suspects that another missing woman might have come here and been targeted by La Plume. Nolan is skeptical but offers to help Sam operate his drone because Sam’s usual operator, Vinny, isn’t available. Using the drone, Nolan watches Harper’s movements and tracks her whereabouts.

Nolan arrives at Lancaster Manor unannounced. He tells Harper about Sam, his online forum called Sleuthseekers, his drone, and the documentary. Harper is terrified that the truth about her will be discovered, but she doesn’t trust Nolan. She breaks into his room at the inn and discovers a scrapbook documenting the people he has killed. She realizes he thinks that she is the real Harper Starling.

The narrative reveals that she killed Harper when she was fleeing her past and has been using her identity ever since. She steals Nolan’s bag of murder equipment and murder trophies as leverage over him. Then she convinces Nolan to help her get Sam out of town, saying that if he helps her, she won’t turn him over to the FBI.

Four years ago, Harper and her boyfriend Adam were living the “van life.” Harper had a social media channel where she documented their adventures on the road. One day, the couple was kidnapped by a murderer named Harvey Mead. He locked them in a dank cellar, tortured them, and killed Adam. Harper escaped, but she could never reintegrate into society afterward. She fled her life in an attempt to outrun her past and has been hiding in Carnage ever since, living the life of a killer.

Harper and Nolan work together to stop Sam from digging into their pasts. Meanwhile, they become increasingly intimate. They start having sex and eventually fall in love.

One day, Sam apprehends Nolan. He ties him up in Arthur’s family distillery and interrogates him about Harper and La Plume. Nolan reveals nothing. Harper barges in and saves Nolan. Together, they kill Sam.

Harper and Nolan have passionate sex that night. After Harper falls asleep, Nolan sneaks out and heads to the beach. In Sam’s room, he found a mysterious list of coordinates attached to low tides, which he’s curious to investigate.

At the beach, he discovers the top of a van emerging from the water with the low tide. He records the VIN number and researches it online back at the inn. He traces the van back to two people: Adam Cunningham and Autumn Bower. He realizes Harper is, in fact, Autumn. Nolan cannot understand why she didn’t tell him the truth or why she’s using Harper Starling’s identity. He wonders if they can have a future together after all.

Meanwhile, a local police officer named Sheriff Yates reports to Lancaster Distillery to investigate a disturbance. He discovers Sam’s dead body and runs into Sam’s drone operator, Vinny. Vinny explains what he and Sam were investigating. Yates laughs and reveals that he is the infamous La Plume.