The Hitman’s Guide to Making Friends and Finding Love is a really fun read! I 10/10 recommend the audio, Michael Ferraiuolo does a wonderful job. I listened to this book on Audible.
Leland is the infamous hitman ‘Sandman’ and the murder-for-hire life is all he’s ever known. He doesn’t interact with people much, like… he hasn’t, at all, for his whole life. And when he sees Jackson, flailing as he climbed a fence, something sparks in him. And he goes from there. Leland is completely and totally lashed over Jackson from the very start. He professes that they’re soulmates and wants to “see his penis” repeatedly and loudly and confidently. Leland in love is like an overjoyed puppy, bounding towards Jackson and leaping all over him for kisses and cuddles. But like, about everything. He’s adorable and cheeky and demanding and provocative and . He’s very much like Eve (Killing Eve) in his view of the world and any obstacle being ‘Just shoot them’ as if it’s not a thing. So there’s a lot of Jackson being appalled and Leland being like ‘Ohhhh, is that not the right answer…?’ It’s awesome.
Jackson is ex-army and all about doing the right thing. He’s a Private Investigator who works closely with the local police. Jackson is pretty much heart-eyes over Leland. He would literally give Leland anything he asks for, and he does. They move in together almost immediately, basically because of an offhand comment Leland makes that just makes sense. We meet Jackson’s family at dinners, and some very uncomfortable family gatherings, but there’s some really important personal development those meetings allow for. We also spend time with the police chief in his many adventures with Jackson. They get a dog named Cayenne Pepper.
There’s a really interesting relationship dynamics being that he promised to ‘be good’ and stop his hitman work, but he’s extremely bored and unhappy and doesn’t say anything for fear of disappointing Jackson and losing their relationship. They also deal with things like Leland wanting to demonstrate his love for Jackson and the only way he can think of is to buy his extravagant things. And there is a really fucking shocking event that had me hand-over-my-mouth jaw-literally-dropped oh-my-glory-what-just-happened-oh-my-actual-what the wow. It. Is. Glorious. and unexpected, and shocking already but it is and I held my breath for ages, and at each stage as it progressed I just kept saying aloud “This is AMAZING. This is AMAZING. This. Is. Amazing.”
It’s overall very lovely and domestic and utterly sweet and a total delight. And there’s guns (Leland loooves his guns) and badass fighting bad guys, murder mysteries and sniper rifles and. I enjoyed this so much and can’t wait to read the sequel! I will 2000% be listening to this again soon, just to laugh as openly and loudly as I did allll throughout this book.
Content warnings: Cases they work on include girls who are missing and were caught in a human trafficking operation (They find and free them). Leland describes a history of terrible, predatory, abuse by adults in his life when he was in the foster system. Jackson’s mom is extremely dismissive of his sexuality, legit acts like he isn’t gay. There is a harrowing moment of Oh my fu king iS THE DOG OKAY?! (direct quote from my Kindle notes) and I’m delighted to inform you that he totally, totally is, it’s brief and super fine actually.
If you liked The Hitman’s Guide to Making Friends and Finding Love…
Killing Eve (BBC)
Killing Eve Videos | Trailers, Recaps, Previews, Behind the Scenes | BBC America
Watch video extras from Killing Eve. See trailers, recaps, previews, behind the scenes, highlights and more.
Definitely definitely watch Killing Eve (BBC) for a fun, dark, wildly captivating, queer and twisted relationship between an assassin and a detective amidst a series of violent and terrible criminal investigations. Also for the incredible outfits, locations and music.
The Phisher King series by Clancy Nacht (Kindle Unlimited)
For another enjoyable ‘I’m working a case but also keeping the bad-guy in my apartment and now I’m falling for him. He very openly and enthusiastically wants me and ofcourse I want him but ugh this is tangled both morally and with this case. The bad guy is a temporarily good guy to help me with this case and oh man I’m really falling for him ahhhgghh who am I what do I do’ complete with the provocative ‘I have to go to work but I’m watching you on the webcam, so stay home and be good.’ antics: The Phisher King series by Clancy Nacht is available on Kindle Unlimited.
