I Love You to Death

by Amy Garvey

Three women rise to the challenge when their blind dates lead to mystery--and to Mr. Right--in this delightful collection that includes "Dial M for Mortified," in which a "blind date night" at a local coffeehouse results in murder, leading owner Darcy Bennett into the arms of reporter Noah Gleason. Reprint.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Contemporary

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

I've always been a reader. I've also been a movie theater ticket taker, a nanny, a camp counselor, and a romance editor. Now I'm a mom and a writer who still spends most of my free time reading (when I'm not watching too much TV).

After starting off in romance with books like Hot Date and Pictures of Us, I'm writing in the genre I've always loved most, young adult fiction. (My very first completed novel, which will live forever under my bed, was a young adult novel!) Cold Kiss will be available from HarperTeen in September 2011.

Reviews

[Jacalyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

All three stories in this were the same. And unrealistic. It seems the entire point was to get someone in bed with someone else. Throw in a dead body and the bedmates being blind dates and you have all you need to know.

I only suffered through this because it was the end of the month and I needed it for a challenge. No time to complete anything else. I do NOT recommend this at all.

[Dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Totally juvenile and full of sex (which isn't always necessarily a bad thing). Each book had a main character and each of these characters were complete tramps, sleeping with their mates on the first dates-doing things that were way to intimate for first meetings.

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could never get into this book. It consists of 3 novellas that never really had any story line and were all predictable from the beginning. I finished it but it didn't catch my attention.

[Christa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains three short stories by Amy Garvey. The stories all take place in the same town, all have something to do with blind dates, and the characters are connected. In each story, a mysterious death occurs, and the hero and heroine become involved while investigating the event. In the first story, "My Love Life is Killing Me," Alex Ramsay, a ballet instructor, mistakes John Tanner for her blind date. After talking with Alex, John Tanner finds the date dead in the bathroom before Alex ever has a chance to meet him. Alex and Tanner, a private investigator who was investigating the victim, try to find out what happened. The second story, "Dial M for Mortified," features Noah Gleason, the ex-husband of Alex Ramsay. Noah Gleason visits with Darcy Bennett during her coffee shop's first ever blind date night. Elsewhere in the cafe, Darcy's fiercest competitor is murdered. Noah, a newspaper reporter, is determined to help Darcy find out who killed the victim before the reputation of her business is damaged. In the third story, "Dead Men don't Write Checks," middle school teacher Franny Gabriel, good friend of Alex Ramsay, is set up as a blind date for Theo Landry by his grandmother. During the dinner they attend, the pair is trapped on an elevator while a murder takes place downstairs. Franny has an idea of who the culprit was, and has to act quickly before suspicion falls on Theo.

All of the stories were very light, simple, and mildly entertaining. They were all very similar, but I liked the last one slightly more than the other two.

[Jane Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked one of the three stories.

This book consisted of three stories involving the death of someone and solving the mystery.

3 stars for MY LOVE LIFE IS KILLING ME.
Alex has a blind date with Matt. The bartender mistakenly tells Alex her date is the guy in the corner, John. Alex talks with John for awhile. Matt never shows up because he died in the bathroom. John is a private detective who had been following Matt. Alex and John fall for each other but John breaks up with her thinking his lifestyle can’t have a partner. Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: three.

The last two stories, below, were not that good and I wanted the book to be over.

2 stars for DIAL M FOR MORTIFIED.
Darcy owns a coffee shop. Trish owns competitor coffee shop and is killed upstairs at Darcy's shop. I didn't like the way Darcy tells police "no one here killed Trish, I promise you that." Darcy has no facts and does not know who killed her. She makes unsupported statements. Noah is a reporter who becomes involved with Darcy. Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: four.

2 stars for DEAD MEN DON’T WRITE CHECKS.
A wealthy man Theo does peace corp work around the world. His mother sets him up on a blind date with Franny (a school teacher) to be his escort at a charity function. Someone dies during the event. Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: two.

For all three stories: Setting: current day U.S. Copyright 2006. Genre: contemporary romance.

[Mardi D · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't care for this one overall and gave it 2 stars only because I was actually able to finish reading it. The three stories in the book are all completely different stories based on a blind date during which a death occurs, but there is a bit of connection of a few characters between the three stories. Really I didn't think there was much of a story in any of them. Not much mystery in any and what there was was thin and really not much romance, lust yes, romance no. Lust does NOT equal romance. The third story was the worst, the storyline was pretty thin in that one for sure. The first story was probably the best but it seemed unfinished the way it ended. It seems the steamy sex is what is meant to grab the reader in all three stories but if you want actual plot development of either mystery or romance, there is not much of that to find in this book. It was a fairly quick and easy read but all I can say is "THIN STORYLINES".

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of three novellas. It markets itself as a "sexy mystery," but I don't think that's entirely accurate. Each story is more of a collection of sex scenes with a faint mystery plot taking up the space between them. Now, the sex scenes are really well done, so that's not such a bad thing, but if you're reading it for the mystery part you may be disappointed.

(Bonus point for naming one of the heroines Darcy Bennett.)

[colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

read 11.30.06

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Goge (BARRONS) le Moning Maniac, · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.56

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed how the short stories were all separate pieces unto themselves, while still connecting in small ways to one another.