How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates: A Novel

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER

“A delightful celebration of rom-coms, slasher flicks, and the women who love them.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

A humorous, swoony, and downright terrifying slasher rom-com in which a cinephile gets caught in the middle of a murder spree at a speed-dating event and must use her encyclopedic knowledge of the romance and horror genres to make it as a real-life Final Girl.

When Jamie Prescott and her best friend Laurie attend a speed-dating event, Jamie expects to meet a roster of mediocre men and indulge in some street food afterwards. She doesn’t expect one of her dates to have his throat slit at their table during a blackout. After the lights come back on and there are more bodies on the floor, it becomes clear that dating can be a very dangerous pastime.

Armed with makeshift weapons and Jamie’s extensive knowledge of what NOT to do in a slasher, the remaining speed daters try to find an exit while the killer adds to their body count. As the night progresses and Jamie comes face-to-mask with the murderer, she begins to suspect they are committing the slayings to woo one of the daters and turn them into a real-life Final Girl. But Jamie has other plans, and as she fights for her life, she can’t help but find herself ensconced in a love triangle with two of the other survivors. Will she make it through the bloodshed to find her Happily Ever After? Or does this machete-wielding psychopath have another ending in mind?

For fans of Love in the Time of Serial Killers and Butcher & Blackbird, How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates is one killer love story.

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Published Feb 3, 2026

368 pages

Average rating: 7.58

40 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

fromlizaslibrary
Feb 23, 2026
8/10 stars
8.5⭐️ - rounded down for Bookclubs This was a very unique book. I chose this for my BOTM pick because the title had me intrigued but I didn’t really know what to expect. The beginning had me questioning if I’d like it due to the way Jamie’s narration is a bit chaotic to say the least. She goes off on tangents and sometimes it took some time to get back to the point but I did get used to it. I loved the friendship between Jamie and Lori so when they head off to speed dating I found that to be easily relatable even when I knew it wasn’t going to be good. The mix between a slasher storyline and a romantic one was… odd but it did sorta work and it was entertaining. It was a bit tough to picture the location but it wasn’t completely important in the grand scheme of the story. Like any good crime reader I was left to figure out the case and was pretty proud I put a lot of it together, but I did enjoy the surprises I got. It was a dark yet fun read, my only real gripe was that it got a bit long. Sometimes it felt like we were going through the same things over and over again just to build suspense but I was ready to get to the point. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who’s into thrillers, especially if you also enjoy romance.. just make sure you’re okay with murder and gore before picking this up!
_mountainsoul_
Mar 31, 2026
Cute, and darkly funny read.
kjolley
Mar 29, 2026
7/10 stars
Pleasantly surprised! This was a a book club pick and I had my doubts based on the gore + romance combo but Shailee makes it work!

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