e-ALC, 11:00:55
Narrated by: Stefanie Kay & Patrick Zeller
Release Date: February 3, 2026
Published by: Simon & Schuster Audio
Read from: February 16-17, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: Libro FM (I received this ALC free from the publisher and Libro FM. This did nothing to influence my review!)
Content Warning: Murder, Blood, Violence, Sexual Content, Injury/Injury Detail, Sexism, Misogyny, Vomit, Alcohol
For Readers Interested In: Action, Adult, Audio, Contemporary, Horror, Realistic Fiction, Romance, ThrillersA humorous, swoony, and downright terrifying horror romance in which a young woman gets caught in the middle of a murder spree at a speed-dating event and must use her encyclopedic knowledge of the horror genre 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. When the lights come back on and there are more bodies on the floor, it becomes clear that speed dating can be a very dangerous pastime.
Armed with makeshift weapons and Jamie’s extensive knowledge of what NOT to do in a horror movie, 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 he is committing the slayings to woo one of the daters and turn her into his real-life Final Girl. But Jamie has a different love story in mind, and as she fights for her life, she can’t help but find herself ensconced in a love triangle with two of the other speed-daters. Will she survive the bloodshed to find her happily ever after? Or does this machete-wielding psychopath have another Final Girl 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.
*MY THOUGHTS*
That TikTok sound that says “Is this effing play about us?” Yeah that’s all I kept hearing when I was reading this. As someone whose favorite genres are rom comes and horror (specifically slashers) this felt like super on brand for me lol So obviously its no surprise that I liked this one a lot.
So the main thing I liked was the plot. I was expecting it to be like Dark Humor but more so a romance. What I got was a Horrormance that was more horror focused, but had a real romance that just recognized this wasn’t the time or place lol Idk why I loved that so much. It was like a kind of “if we survive this” thing and that seemed more romantic to me? It was the hope. I think it was the hope lol But this was a slasher so it was meant for them to still have some room to fall in love. It made for no down time and my heart was racing the entire time. I don’t think there was a time I thought I knew who it was either. I had no idea and I loved that.
The mystery was crazy. The FMC is the “final girl” and it was downhill from there lol It had everything that a slasher had, from the final girl to a red herring, to just everything. And the best part of it? They go over everything and tell you all of it as they reach it. The FMC Jamie is getting a horror genre specific PhD. And she uses all that she’s learned to her potential lol She reminds literally everyone as well lol She was a know it all, but it made for some entertainment. She called everything and it helped. For the most part. As for guessing who it was…. Yeah I was way off. But in my defense, the ideas are limited lol You won’t understand what I mean until you read it lol
The romance was cute, but I thought it was weird for them to fall for each other so fast. Like I get that things are happening and you want to confess your like for each other, but like now is not the time lol But the way they finished everything was genius. I’m not sure I would have thought of that, so it was pretty cool the way they did everything. I will say I wanted more like the epilogue tho. Just to give it a more balance. But even still, I liked it the way it was too.
The writing style was fun too. I loved that there was a tiny bit of humor in this too. That one gross person didn’t know what they’d gotten into and I loved that for them. I also thought all her commentary before getting to know each one was hilarious as well. It helped break the tension that I had from my non-stop racing heart.
This book was a lot of fun. Definitely wasn’t expecting it to be as fun as it was. I loved the way it blended so well together. I was a little upset that I read this after my February 14th Valentine’s Day and Friday the 13th post lol This would have worked very well.
Overall, I give this
