How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates by Shailee Thompson

 

How To Survive a Slasher

1. Don't Have Sex

2.Always Hide For Longer Than You Should

3. Find a Weapon

4. Turn on the Light

5. Don't Split Up

6. Watch Your Back

7. Don't Run Up the Stairs

8. Don't Say "I'll Be Right Back."

9. Sobriety Equals Survival

10. Down Doesn't Mean Dead--Double Tap

 

Jamie is a grad student in film studies, and her dissertation is on the rules of horror and rom-coms. Jamie's best friend and roommate is Laurie, a documentary filmmaker who makes her watch boring documentaries in exchange for one of Jamie's horror flicks.  They also watch true crime stories and have been following in the news the stories of a man who is killing women.  

Laurie also convinced Jamie to do one in-person event where you could meet men.  Both are sick of swiping left. That month, they are going to a speed-dating event at a club called Serendipity.  Ten men, ten women, a ten-minute date. When they get there, everyone must turn over their phones and smartwatches.  

Jamie makes an enemy of one of the guys, Stu, who is more Laurie's type, meets John, her type, and is instantly attracted, then meets Wes, a mysterious man.  Her date with Wes starts out well, but takes a nosedive at the end when she goes off on her favorite subject, horror.         

Curtis, the next-to-last date of the evening for Jamie, comes across as a Neanderthal whom she must put in his place.  Then the lights go out for a short while, and when they come back on, Jamie stares at Curtis, unable to figure out what is wrong with him, as he stares straight ahead.  When she notices the bloody swipe across his throat and the blood coming out of his mouth, she screams.  Then the lights go out again, and Jamie can hear others getting killed. Over half of the daters make a run for it, while Jamie and Laurie find a place to hide with a weapon, just like the rules state to do.  

Those who hid in the basement of Serendipity, where the event takes place, decide to head up to the ground floor and look for the others and a way out.  When they make it out of the basement, Stu suggests that they split up and search for an exit.  Jamie is against this as it goes against the rules, and eight people against one is better than one against a man with a knife.  Laurie gets them to compromise by breaking them into two groups of four.  John, Dani, Jennifer, and Stu are in one group, while Jamie, Laurie, Wes, and Campbell are in the other group.  Billie, who gets along with no one, has gone off on her own.  

It soon becomes obvious that this is not just a slasher film come to life, but also a rom-com where the killer is searching for his/her Leading Lady, not just a Final Girl.  The killer leaves out scattered rose petals, roses, a note saying "You belong to me", and intestines spelling out someone's name.  Jamie tries to follow the rules, but soon finds that even the easy one, don't have sex, is difficult with John and Wes around.  

This book has secret Easter eggs. If you look at the characters in this story, you find links to films. For instance, Jamie Prescott, the lead character in this book, is also the lead character in the Scream series. Wes Craven, one of her love interests, shares a name with the director of the Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream series. John could be John Carpenter, who directed such horror classics as The Thing. At the beginning of each chapter is an altered quote from a romance movie.  An example from Dirty Dancing is, "I'm scared of walking out of this room and never killing the rest of my life the way I kill when I'm with you." I spent the whole book praying that it wouldn't be Wes, John, or Laurie.  Honestly, I wanted it to be Stu.  He's such a pain in the ass, the person who keeps splitting up the group, and is the least likable character. Jamie is a sarcastic, powerful woman who can hold her own against a killer and a club full of suspects.  Also, who knew that a dissertation could be useful in a speed-dating situation that has gone tragically wrong? I sprinted through this darkly humorous romance/slasher story, which is so well written with catchy quotes and pithy observations of the event. I promise you, you won't regret reading this novel. It's the best I've read in a long while.

Quotes

Yeah, she still watches the news.  I think it's a guilty pleasure, the closest thing to fiction she'll view willingly.

Shailee Thompson (How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates, p 6)

It seems more likely you'll get murdered rather than finding love through Tinder these days.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 7)

It is familiar in that fuzzy 'this place is the reason I don't drink Kamikazes anymore' kind of way.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 11)

Once we get inside, I realize the cool blue signage above the doors was a ruse because the interior of Serendipity is red.  Like Susperia red. Carrie red.  The iconic river of blood spewing out of the elevator in Stanley Kubrick's seminal masterpiece, 'The Shining' red.  Serendipity looks like the set designer of Moulin Rouge! took LSD and cleaned out every velvet and gas lamp supplier in the state.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 12)

The interaction--if we can call it that--is brief, but that doesn't stop the self-conscious thoughts from arising, popping up stronger than Michael Myers after being shot six times in the chest.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 18)

I'd even go so far as to say Curtis falls into a specific category of men who only appeal to a very small group of women who haven't discovered therapy, the concept of gender equality, and are color-blind in a way that prevents them from seeing glaring red flags.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 39)

If you find yourself in a situation where it seems like you're surrounded by an unusually high number of bitches, there's a really good chance you are probably being an asshole.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 40)

"When a woman doesn't appreciate your 'compliment', don't blame her for your inability to read the room." I make my voice softer, lighter, and enjoy his confusion at the contrast when I said, "Shut your fucking mouth and stop talking."

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 41)

I could live with the idea of him thinking I'm a bitch. I'm starting to accept that he thinks I'm a ntcase. But I draw the line at him believing I'm both.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 57)

Keep us alive.  That's the goal of every survivor in a slasher, isn't it?  I've seen enough of them to know that the choices characters make either lead to their demise or land them a spot in the sequel.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 58)

If you say I’m cute, it won’t be the killer you have to worry about.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 75)

If we were in a slasher, or even a rom-com, this would be the part where he tells me I don’t have to be scared because he’s not going to let anything happen to me. Then there’d be a series of events that would leave him to being disemboweled by an ice hook and leave me incapable of trusting men at their word.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 92-93)

When I turn to glare at her, she has the most serious face on. The one she usually reserves for when I try to girl math my way to dropping two hundred dollars on skin care.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 108)

This is not exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted a man to go the extra mile for me. I meant unprompted good morning messages, noticing I’ve done something special with my hair, buying tampons every now and then. Not slowly but surely knock off complete strangers in creative and gruesome ways.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 166)

For the first time ever, I disagree with Kate Winslet. I don’t want to be the Leading Lady of my own life if this is what my life has led to.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 168)

But it’s too late, she’s going into the vent if I have to shove her into it like an uncooperative tampon.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 190)

Hitchcock once said that blondes make the best victims because they make the blood show up better on screen. “Like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprint” is the exact quote.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 197)

I interpret that as him accepting he can’t bring a knife to a machete fight and expect to win.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 216)

The air is so thick with tension I’m surprised it doesn’t bleed.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 237)

His voice is deep, breathless, rougher than the first cut of a student film.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 251)

My anger vanishes like the body of a villain at the end of a slasher.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 246)

My therapist is very proud of me, and really, that’s the whole point in therapy, isn’t it? To pay a stranger hundreds of dollars so the eye can show you how to deal with your demons and then tell you you’re doing a good job at it. And after all of the sessions and exercises and strategies and support people, I feel okay.

Shailee Thompson (How To Kill a Guy In Ten Dates, p 344)

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/How-Kill-Guy-Ten-Dates/dp/1668206714/ref=sr_1_1?crid=173VINTT6OSHJ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Wvoi6Up3-4Jji-WGPbvBqsuOZH5_80TxHjbPQJwgpKtu6-CWDDM3M3-aw4a2yOxwNDV4zi8r82mzJhBUHKbNUHrf3B3b4yhvYWralpSXsdm427aWt2W6GZC53U2OcaB9.vlBXkS6GHXgFBd8s-N9hjZi4hzIH8cwkzIs1YXyshEw&dib_tag=se&keywords=how+to+kill+a+guy+in+10+dates+book&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1780516013&sprefix=how+to+kill+a+guy+%2Caps%2C279&sr=8-1

Link to ThriftBooks: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/how-to-kill-a-guy-in-ten-dates-a-novel/55858176/?resultid=2d26bc60-2989-441e-8010-e247fb6b6646#edition=73595376&idiq=85374783

The Death of Doctor Strange by Jed MacKay (writer), Lee Garbett (artist), Antonio Fabella (colorist), and VC's Cory Petit (letterer)

This graphic novel opens with Doctor Strange thinking about why he went into medicine.  He wanted to cheat death.  In his studies, he came across a myth about a man named Koschei. Koschei found a way to live forever.  He hid his soul in a secret place that none would find. It’s sort of like Voldemort and the Horcruxes.  Strange is living a good life, until he goes to answer the door and is stabbed and killed by someone.  

He kinda did what Koschei did, but a version of himself from years ago, when he called himself The Master of Black Magic, that will last only a week.  Long enough to solve his murder.  His death is known immediately when the magical forcefield comes down around the earth and lets in such baddies as Aggamon, Tiboro, Mordo, Umar, and Kaecilius who was already on earth working for Mordo.

These formidable magical forces have come to Earth seeking shelter from three warrior queens who are traversing the universe to find magic to feed the Perrigrine Child, a thaumovore who is always hungry. The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, and The Avengers all come out to fight them, but they are no match for the women.  It will take Doctor Strange teaming up with all those who hold magic that are on the planet Earth, which include: Aggamon (Sorcerer Supreme of the Purple Dimension), Tiboro (Sorcerer Supreme of the Sixth Dimension), Clea (Sorcerer Supreme of the Dark Dimension), and Illyana Rasputina (Sorcerer Supreme of Limbo).      

It is hard to believe that a simple stabbing with a knife by an assailant, which Strange will soon discover, could kill him.  It was nice to see all the characters who showed up for the fight, including his wife, Clea. The story by MacKay is interesting and excellent.   The art is typical Strange. I really enjoyed this graphic novel and can’t wait to see in what direction MacKay takes the series into.

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Death-Doctor-Strange-2021-2022-ebook/dp/B09NL6Y6Q5/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3RQZ8TSF9RMO0&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.W8KGMJTsFZ6q0xuqrTKsAiVbzhkPPN66eZdWQt7J-Q5JHOYmL4Oz0-fFh4X-yXtdZOsUccydzSYy6c73kQGAp4EmwgMVwsSm1Ti8-znqJyZlVHEtkmDZ8yy689gr92AXI3jKEvds9x3T9eMWdGO3O0sNIiai3uCxw_Wu8i7YW4kE59cjqttL91UE-7jkezqsdPWJLGPmfl8hXdNT5zKIgVgZ7pJ6SvHhC5HkivzShbw.sZuCB4tKf_jl_fZiq2Ry0ANok4p9axgIhjQ8EsI6Dpk&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+death+of+doctor+strange&qid=1780938334&sprefix=The+death+of+doc%2Caps%2C298&sr=8-1

Link to ThriftBooks: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/death-of-doctor-strange_jed-mackay/29242256/?resultid=7c2713af-1e25-4386-afb6-2be269273809#isbn=1302930222&edition=60290481 

Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell

 

Cherry is in management, working her way up the ladder at a big train company.  Cherry is a fat woman who comes from a family of fat women, including her four sisters named Hope Honesty (Honny), Cherity (Cherry), Faith, and Joy.  Her mother is deeply religious, as are some of her sisters, but Cherry isn't.  The sisters have texting threads where they talk to each other.  Recently, they started one without Hope, whom Honny believes has committed the unforgivable sin of going on Ozempic.  The sisters believe that it is alright to be fat because they cannot lose the weight, no matter how hard they try, and that Ozempic is cheating and denying who they are.  

Her husband, Tom, worked for an ad agency that did a lot of work for the train company, and that was how they met.  They both studied art in college, but Tom was the real talent of the two.  Tom has been writing a comic strip since before he met Cherry.  The main character is 'The Guy, and Tom adds Chery as the character Baby.  He posts the comic, as a kind of diary of his thoughts, online, where no one really notices it for a long while, until they do.  A publisher of graphic novels offers Tom a contract, and Cherry encourages Tom to take it.  Cherry is the driving force behind Tom, who can't seem to make decisions.  The graphic novel becomes a hit, and Hollywood wants to make a movie out of it with Tom as screenwriter.  Tom goes to L.A. and ends up staying there for a year.  All the traveling for the book and writing the screenplay have put a strain on their marriage. Cherry tells him she wants a divorce when she catches him with another woman via FaceTime.

It's been a year, and Cherry is going to a concert by a much-beloved band from her youth.  While there, she meets Russ, a guy she fell in love with in college, but who decided to date her skinny, beautiful friend.  They leave the concert early and go home together.  Pretty soon, they are dating. Russ is very different from Tom, and he makes her happy.  Then Tom comes back from L.A. to pack up his stuff to move to California.  Cherry hasn't spoken to him in a year, so things are a bit awkward between them, though they accidentally share a kiss.  

Cherry is under a lot of pressure because of the movie, and everyone sees her as Baby, not Cherry.  Russ has some problems with it too when he sees the trailer by accident, and begins to think he may be dating Garfield.  Cherry invites Russ to Thanksgiving and Tom to Christmas with her family.  Two men can possibly make her happy, but both must accept Cherry as she is.  I loved this book, and I loved Cherry, who is confident, except in certain situations, like her job, but less so in her private life.  This is a very interesting, well-written read, as evidenced by the quotes I took from it. The book goes back and forth in time, examining her relationships with Tom and Guss from the beginning to the present, and leaves you rooting for both.  They've both made mistakes with Cherry and want to make it up to her.  Rowell is known for her young adult novel "Eleanor and Park," which I reviewed here https://nicolewbrown.blogspot.com/2019/08/eleanor-and-park-by-rainbow-rowell.html)

Quotes

Anytime Cherry had tried to take Tom to a concert, he'd spent the whole night frowning at everyone, and he didn't even realize he was doing it.  Tom had resting uncomfortable face.

Rainbow Rowell (Cherry Baby, p 3)

Cherry watched them for a while-- then realized she was staring at people like some sort of twentieth-century weirdo. She should stare at her phone like a normal person.

Rainbow Rowell (Cherry Baby, p 7)

He looked like the token Irish actor on a BBC drama--a little flintier than everyone else and a little more alive.

Rainbow Rowell (Cherry Baby, p 10-11)

Goldenrod was the band that made "Omaha emo" a thing.  Simple, pretty guitars, whiny, breathy vocals. Base-level unhappiness. All of Goldenrod's songs were about being lonely or feeling guilty. The lead singer was a famous depressive.

Rainbow Rowell (Cherry Baby)

Everybody was going to the Galway that night.  They were twenty-two and still feeling like they had to go out and drink legally every weekend just because they could-- because it's what adults did.  Adults drank in bars, not in dorm rooms and basements.

Rainbow Rowell (Cherry Baby, p 15)

All Russ had told Cherry about his ex-wife was, "I think she always kind of hated me, and I mistook that for 'interesting.'"

Rainbow Rowell (Cherry Baby, p 91)

Cherry parked her used Hyundai at the end of a long line of black SUVs (Railroad execs drove the same cars as rappers).

Rainbow Rowell (Cherry Baby, p 125)

If you charted Tom's attractiveness to Cherry over these first few weeks, it would have looked like runaway inflation.  

Rainbow Rowell (Cherry Baby, p 140)

It was chilly, but Cherry wasn't wearing a coat over her baby blue angora cardigan.  It would spoil the effect.

Rainbow Rowell (Cherry Baby, p 146)

She thought about texting someone, but there came a point when you'd been so sad for so long, and so repeatedly, that you could not actually bear telling people anymore. When it felt like you were telling the same story.

Rainbow Rowell (Cherry Baby, p 234)

I'm very pretty for a fat girl. It's like being very pretty for someone with three eyes or no nose, or very pretty for a malamute.

Rainbow Rowell (Cherry Baby, p 241)

Dimples and freckles, that shouldn't be legal.

Rainbow Rowell (Cherry Baby, p 269)

Women are born with clocks in their hips and calendars in their bodies, and Cherry's brain never stopped ticking.

Rainbow Rowell (Cherry Baby, p 276)

Cherry's mom ignored everything that she possibly could, and forgave everything that she couldn't.

Rainbow Rowell (Cherry Baby, p 365)

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cherry-Baby-Novel-Rainbow-Rowell-ebook/dp/B0FCS6PL5X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2M3FX7HN0A3O5&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ueg-2DZkrA0ePm-DcnlsV42b9C9sPsohSHTxzkGX-3H33FOIo74wndi9DrDj7jkxi8YXbGO_k2HabVPwn1ehgCo6BTWBf207p7dLo5G0hbGpPhDXrFDjoU9v3-QKlr2G.RVuLUOubeIVWVL9xKOmMafDj5WSLvKInHZ2_xfQ9RhI&dib_tag=se&keywords=cherry+baby+rainbow+rowell&qid=1780498280&s=digital-text&sprefix=cherry%2Cdigital-text%2C334&sr=1-1

Healing Hearts : A Workplace Romance With A Little Bit of Mother's Day Magic (Holiday Hearts) by Kiva Hart

 

This is one of the latest novellas in the twelve-book series centered on the holidays.  Alyssa is a single mother and a nurse on the pediatric ward of the hospital in Whispering Falls, Arkansas.  Her child's father left around the time Cathy was born.  Alyssa's parents help out, but it's hard to hold down a demanding job and raise a five-year-old.  Matthew is a new doctor taking over her ward, and is from Oklahoma City, and thinks they should keep talking to the patient at a minimum, asking only questions about the injury, and quickly move on to the next patient.  That was how things were done when he ran the emergency room in Oklahoma City.

Alyssa despises him right off the bat.  She believes in getting to know the kids and the families.  Matthew keeps screwing up with what he says to her.  Back in Oklahoma City, his job had a very high turnover rate as doctors burned out.  His boss insisted that he take this position in a small town where the pace is slower and he can learn to relax and think of things other than the hospital.  Alyssa believes that he wants to return to his emergency room job, but the truth is, he is beginning to fall for her and the way of life in Whispering Falls.   

This sweet romance tells the story of a single mother who does not feel she can trust the doctor with her heart and the heart of her daughter.  This is one of the better novellas of the series.  Alyssa is a character easy to fall in love with.  Matthew grows on you until you realize that he is perfect for Alyssa, if only she could discover this herself.  These characters will stay with you long after you put this book down.

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Hearts-Workplace-Romance-Mothers-ebook/dp/B0GGX9XTZB/ref=sr_1_2?crid=73659DW7XTWL&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.D-rYLR-fB9FUdX_uGeNdWDLwZGhv7Nj0RCQgAy3NVRwPC9NDgyByifMavox7E-_Jdi8WOXlCJcjeuCvgqjPhnLb11aCf1NPee03EMPC4IYKWDPAF04roMEaCDHFtqHDcAHPjwnHTjAlIpVwS0r2mqTZiljngKvOu_N0RYzBATUA9B0oCyD-rVrJpwXCywc4RaO7ee4J_HwK3ojWVVIQzrWxkMe2HtO9SckkwUCoOss8.ESF-_HKzgzS0BpWj8keS5JuT80GA3ZCs-EohOUuB7TY&dib_tag=se&keywords=healing+hearts&qid=1780242573&s=digital-text&sprefix=Healing+hearts%2Cdigital-text%2C304&sr=1-2

Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell

 

Dr. Kay Scarpetta is the Chief Medical Examiner for the state of Virginia. She has taken over the cases of a serial killer in Richmond who ties women's hands behind their backs, then uses an electrical cord from her bedroom to tie her up so that the cord is wrapped around her throat and will strangle her if she tries to straighten her legs out from being bent.  The killer rapes them multiple ways and lets them strangle and die, leaving behind a substance from his hands and body that sparkles like the Fourth of July under the laser, which is used to pick up on fibers and other trace elements missed by the eye.   The book opens with the fourth killing, a young surgeon whose husband spends the week away at school and comes home for the weekends.  All the other women lived alone, and if the killer was staking out their houses, he would assume that the surgeon also lived alone.  But nothing else connects the women; they are different sizes, different hair colors, and even different races, as in one case where the woman was African American.  

Detective Marino, who is running these cases, strongly believes the fourth victim's husband killed her because she found out about him raping and killing these women.  He does have greasepaint on his hands from acting in a play and was once accused of rape years ago.  The charges were dropped for whatever reason.  Marino does not want to let this go.  This is your first meeting with him, and you tend to want to hit him.  He is so annoying.  He is a man of the streets from a working-class background who feels threatened by those who have higher degrees.  Bill Botz, the Commonwealth Attorney (CA), is seeing Kay in secret (according to her wishes) and finds himself a suspect when someone comes forward to say he has roofied them.  Kay doesn't know what to think, and Bill leaves for vacation to avoid talking to her, which is a rather guilty response.  

Kay's niece, Lucy, is staying with her for vacation at her sister's insistence; then the sister runs off to travel with her new husband, the illustrator of her children's books. Lucy is a precocious ten-year-old with a very high IQ and knows how to work computers.  Kay feels guilty that the cases keep her from spending time with her niece.  When it appears that someone has tried to get into the computers at work, looking for information on the fourth case, which hadn't been entered in yet.  Kay doesn't want to suspect Lucy, but it's the better option when otherwise it's possibly the killer or worse, a reporter.  

Kay is also having trouble with Dr. Amburgey, the commissioner and her boss.  She is summoned to his office, and her office is accused of leaking information to the press.  From now on, she is not to release a press release.  Instead, it will come from Amburgey's office.  He has never cared for Scarpetta, and it shows in how he treats her.  Kay feels as though her legs have been cut out from underneath her and that she may be set up to be the scapegoat.  

This book is a hard-driving mystery that could have used a little more editing.  It's a little long at 440 pages.  Cornwell explains everything in depth, considering it was all new when this book was written in 1990.  DNA, for example, only tells you so much, considering that the human genome hasn't been mapped yet.  It also takes 4-6 weeks to get results at a lab in New York.  Today's reader knows how lasers work and doesn't need a tutorial.  But overall, it's a great read, and Dr. Kay Scarpetta makes a great detective, solving the case with a little help from Marino.  

Quotes

I assumed when she came home from school most days, she walked into a quiet, indifferent house where dinner was a drudgery to be put off until the last minute. My sister should never have been a mother.  My sister should never have been Italian.

Patricia Cornwell (Postmortem, pp. 164-5)

Link to Amazon

; https://www.amazon.com/Postmortem-Kay-Scarpetta-Book-1-ebook/dp/B002YPORR6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2E38Q2TV1YBMX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.RcCAFfby4bTxtwYQRImay46Rq8Tymo6ICHK8nd4fdGuVq6MR6mhMEasEKd_8ceSYCSm4Tu7lS2jQpd3PCP4-5x9mBd8NtBn6dH1VXdjtb46lGXKuZnvHmhqNiPCUfHu3wEae9mLCm4YyLQQ6AaGPG-b5YE8H8vskWVayyJkAnSEsIIMcJkWT5AIeo7Svq36wcd-vnUNp-WzXKvmHz4wUKMrOVT1qH_sK4_GSiMZ4TzM.A9nsafZDg61Tu4JKzeAkVo7tjkINTB5vpAczHXamcz4&dib_tag=se&keywords=postmortem+patricia+cornwell&qid=1780163259&s=digital-text&sprefix=post%2Cdigital-text%2C259&sr=1-1

Link to ThriftBooks: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/postmortem-by-patricia-cornwell/245820/?resultid=46ad0699-e8d6-49eb-bfd1-a6161f4c5f3e#edition=2377084&idiq=888689

Entwined Hearts by Kiva Hart

 

Mia is the owner of an Italian restaurant that her late mother started up.  The restaurant is a real place for the community, where they hold events like a book club.  Mia's life is the restaurant, and because dates get canceled and she has little free time, her dating life is nonexistent.  Thom is from Dallas, Texas, and is a businessman who, after meeting her at the wedding of Mia's last single friend and sharing a memorable kiss with her, decides he wants to franchise her restaurant across the state.  Mia doesn't think he could possibly be serious, or he might be interested in her romantically, and she knows how that will end and doesn't want to go there.  The two make a deal where Thom will work at the restaurant doing what she tells him to do for two months.  At the end of the two months, will she be able to say goodbye to him?  

This book is part of the twelve-book Holiday Hearts series.  This one is for Wedding Magic.  They are sweet romances that are better written than they have a right to be.  This one, however, wasn't as well written as Lucky Hearts, the St. Patrick's Day book.  This is supposed to be an opposites attract book, but it doesn't come off that way.  The only thing standing in their way is Mia, who feels the relationship is doomed from the start.  Parts of this book were good, like when Thom is working at the restaurant and convinces everyone there to order less sought-after meals, and when he goes to the all-female book club.  I give it three out of five stars.    

*Only available as an E-Book or on Amazon Kindle Unlimited for free.

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Entwined-Hearts-Opposites-Attract-Romance-ebook/dp/B0D46NQGHY/ref=sr_1_2?crid=N8S5JOGNIFK3&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.g9vHDQiO-weptd0sABe06OzFLBeqNhPvAGwU_9364_E_rKNRug_xl4t78RdJOf6ViqiPy-_VqJV6KJmJiGYAyuEDHStbqBEwN9uzXVUJMVSFw6l_V6xZ_3Ulw_BRdoEHXSMaMi4B-yXww8N5RAnN-IRI78TINfwDsvumSj7iK2L5iWlbJ6SJ72nbOn3iA3jbR84gDkaOEeQ_aEf9s5733ejS1lFFWfnGF2IYajJHszQ.84gHi5zfSwY0nDBCqLPrORukrBygz0B-xUesr5wJrHg&dib_tag=se&keywords=entwined+hearts&qid=1779985036&s=digital-text&sprefix=entwined+hearts%2Cdigital-text%2C250&sr=1-2

The Variants: A Jessica Jones Mystery by Gail Simone (writer), Phil Noto (artist), and VC's Cory Petit (letterer)

 

This collection of comics picks up where the last Jessica Jones book left off, with Jessica marrying Luke Cage when she finds herself pregnant with the Purple Man's child. Matt Murdoch has a client who was the first victim of the Purple Man, who takes over people's minds and control of their bodies.  He left this victim alive but promised to return.  Ten years to the date, she kills her entire family while under his control. Jessica talks to her and realizes that it will be ten years for her the next day.  She sends Luke and their child away for their protection.  Every time she gets a massive migraine, a variant of her shows up.  They include Captain America, Omega, Jewel, and Knightress. At first, she tries to fight them, but realizes that they are from other universes.  What these variants are doing here and how to prevent the Purple Man from taking over Jessica again.

Gail Simone, known for writing graphic novels with strong female characters, such as Wonder Woman, takes Brian Bendis's series and expands on it.  Phil Noto, known for his art on several Star Wars books, keeps up the watercolor look started by David Mack.  The art is well done and muted in tone.  My only complaint, and this after reading an incredible story with vivid characters, is that the very end of it, the answer is a little lame.  But this book is still worth reading for the strong female characters and storyline.   

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Variants-Gail-Simone-ebook/dp/B0BQJTC8XB/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2UFIYP0H3KKV5&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.VNSToxnQ1_OWPUwaH2Dl15Rwz7l1s_2LVgpvntNzNJtLiB6Ilv0zhjG2qNhqQX-r40a2BmYtpgreiPjwvDhZrGMKisODZJzEmoBMRIomHezKYOXYtujGl9f8qF6WoJ6viXrRbttwCDdTV0AwSFSTpTVmI5__onk5B2jyefP_RzMwPDtCsB5kKKnOqR3zqwVcL4db2rS9Bfsh4Xl5rVJ6I1_gju-SKsJ96RQNtgpntvA.OfMfX-mhXEZfrYtZXubvduEN5yxc0Q-60cqGJzmD2hg&dib_tag=se&keywords=variants&qid=1779816890&s=digital-text&sprefix=variants%2Cdigital-text%2C210&sr=1-1