“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.
Shailee Thompson is the internationally bestselling author of
How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates. She’s always had a penchant for writing women with smart mouths, soft hearts, and strong wills going up against extraordinary odds. Based in Brisbane, Australia, you can find Shailee on Instagram @ShaileeWrites.
THE RISE OF HORROR ROMANCE: HOW TO KILL A GUY IN TEN DATES is a fresh romance that taps directly into the trends of today’s readers—it's been selected as an Indie Next Pick and an Amazon Best of the Month Pick for February 2026, in addition to bringing home three starred reviews from
Kirkus,
Publishers Weekly, and
Library Journal. Today’s romance readers are dying (pun intended!) to get their hands on pulse-pounding genre benders like Brynne Weaver’s BUTCHER & BLACKBIRD (Zando, 531K sold across formats) and Alicia Thompson’s LOVE IN THE TIME OF SERIAL KILLERS (Berkley, 169K sold across formats). A gory twist on a happily-ever-after is a major draw for readers in today's fast-growing horror-romance genre.
A FRENZY OF FOREIGN DEALS: We acquired HOW TO KILL A GUY IN TEN DATES through an overnight pre-empt with S&S UK and S&S Australia in a two-book deal, and we plan to build Shailee into a global sensation. It has officially sold in sixteen territories across the globe, including the US, the UK, Australia, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Hungary, and many more. Readers are buzzing internationally about Shailee’s debut, and all this early enthusiasm gives us every reason to believe it will be a smash hit in the domestic market and beyond.
PUBBING IN THE SEASON OF LOVE: HOW TO KILL A GUY IN TEN DATES will be pubbing in early February, which is right on time to hit the lists for trending Valentines Day reads. We're poising it as an "anti-Valentines Day" romance, and it's perfect for anyone looking for love that's a little less sweet and a little more dangerous. As a Spring Focus Title, it's full speed ahead as we get Shailee's debut on everybody's radar through influencer collaborations, seasonal roundups, and five-star blurbs. Hannah Grace, the #1
New York Times bestselling author of ICEBREAKER, is our first endorsement of many to come.
A KNOCKOUT IN TPO: Romance novels with a killer edge are scary popular in trade paperback. All the heavy-hitting horror romances—like Tessa Bailey’s MY KILLER VACATION (Avon, 108K sold across formats) and Lucy Score’s DEAD GUY NEXT DOOR (Bloom, 103K sold across formats)—first hit the shelves in trade paperback, and HOW TO KILL will follow suit. By taking advantage of the format’s lower price point, Shailee’s debut is a perfect fit for price-sensitive genre readers.
CULTURAL ZEITGEIST: HOW TO KILL places its finger firmly on the cultural nerve of modern dating, which is equally terrifying as it is tempting. As today’s singles swipe through dating apps instead of sharing in-person meet-cutes, the dangers of meeting a total stranger remain just below the surface. And Shailee turns those dangers into something much scarier, maybe even something like (dare we say) love.
