We chat with author Cara Tanamachi about Kiss Marry Kill, which is a suspenseful, hilarious summer read is perfect for romance and true crime fans alike, think Arsenic and Adobo meets The Finlay Donovan series with zany characters.
Hi, Cara! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi! I’m a USA Today bestselling author of 40 books! I write under two names (Cara Tanamachi and Cara Lockwood), and my first novel, I Do (But I Don’t) became a movie starring Denise Richards that’s streaming on Amazon Prime. I also wrote the novelization of the Hallmark Movie, The Dater’s Handbook, and I host a podcast about romance writers called Skip to the Good Part. I live in Chicagoland with my spouse, five children (two by biology and three by marriage), and a 95-pound Goldendoodle named Teddy.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I’ve always loved reading, and reading is the gateway drug for writing. The first time I started thinking about being a writer was in middle school, when I was assigned to write a short story for English class. Mine was way too long and it was about warring unicorns and flying horses. I thought it was amazing. My teacher also thought it was good. Too good. She accused me of cheating, even though this was way back in the 1900s, before the invention of AI.
I was so hurt, but my mother, who’d seen me handwrite the story in a spiral notebook at the kitchen table, told me to take it as a compliment, because she said the teacher would never think a bad writer cheated. That was the first time I really thought: hey, maybe I should be a writer.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: It was one of the BOB early readers, and it was all about Dot, and I think she had a hat? And a cat and a dog? I was very interested in the pets wearing hats.
- The one that made you want to become an author: THIS is a hard question because the answer is ALL of them. But I decided to write rom-coms/contemporary romance after I read Watermelon by Marian Keyes.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Right now, it’s Caro Claire Burke’s Yesteryear. I’m an unapologetic feminist, and I haven’t been more affected by a book since I read Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tail. Yesteryear got under my skin in ways I can’t even explain.
Your latest novel, Kiss, Marry, Kill, is out July 7th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Meet Cute Meets Serial Killer
What can readers expect?
Ella is a failed podcaster who points the finger at the wrong killer on her podcast and then gets fired from her job. The real killer follows her home to her small Lake Wisconsin resort town and begins ruthlessly stalking her. She starts to suspect it might even be one of the three men she’s dating: stuntman Mateo, Jude, a sexy nerd and her brother’s best friend, or Russo, the Chicago detective on the case who’s a walking swipe right.
While there are thrills and chills and a serial killer (the Canceled Killer opts to un-alive people who’ve behaved badly and were shamed online), it’s also a romance with some of my favorite tropes (Best Friend’s Brother, Guy Falls First, One Bed). And it delivers a happily ever after, so no matter how many bodies pile up, it’s all okay in the end.
Well, I guess I should say it’s all okay for most characters at the end.
Where did the inspiration for Kiss, Marry, Kill come from?
In the back of my mind, accidentally dating a serial killer was always a real possibility. My mom, a Forensic Files addict, always insisted I run background checks on any man I met online to date. She was always worried I’d end up dating a killer, so this story had been ruminating in the back of my mind for a while. What if you did accidentally begin dating a killer?
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I loved writing Ella Takeda. She’s tough, she’s got a black belt in Krav Maga, and she’s not going to make herself smaller so someone else can feel big. I wrote her for my mom, but also for my daughters.
It’s quite frankly a terrifying time to be a woman right now. Our government is very interested in passing laws telling women what to do with their bodies, but not very interested in passing laws to make the world a safer place for them. With domestic violence and rape prevention programs being cut, coupled with the rise of some pretty toxic influencers, it’s simply a more dangerous world for women and it was never that safe to begin with.
Women literally put their lives on the line to date men, since women are five times more likely to be murdered by their romantic partner than men are. Also, side note: 9 out of 10 murdered women are killed by men.
This explains why most women would prefer to run into a bear in the woods than a man. I wanted to create a character who could take on both a bear and a man.
That’s Ella.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
I’m a romance writer, and mysteries are challenging. In a romance, the author and the reader are in cahoots. They know the main characters will fall in love and have a happily ever after. The only people who don’t know that’s the plan are the characters themselves, who fight falling in love pretty much the entire time.
In a mystery, the author is actively trying to fool the reader. It’s a much different lens to write from, and it was challenging but in the best possible way. I love trying new things. I love writing new stories. I feel immensely privileged to be able to write stories for a living.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on the sequel to Kiss, Marry, Kill. It’s called Truth or Dare. Ella returns to solve another mystery, this one about a missing camp counselor. When a skeleton in a canoe is discovered as the lake waters recede, authorities believe it might be the body of a missing camp counselor. But when others who worked during the same summer ten years ago start dying, it becomes clear the killer isn’t finished.
Is the killer covering his tracks? Or is it the work of a murderous ghost, the one rumored to haunt the lake? Think of it like Scooby Doo meets Friday the 13th meets Only Murders in the Building. Look for it next summer!
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up? Any you’ve read so far this year that you’ve enjoyed?
I loved Kennedy Ryan’s Score. Her work is a masterclass in character-driven love stories and I love everything she writes. Period. I also adored the last installment of Jayci Lee’s Nine-Tailed romantasy series, Light Burned. If you loved K-Pop Demon Hunters (and I so did), you’ll love this trilogy. For what I’m looking forward to? I cannot wait for Rachel Harris’s Kiss, Slay, Replay out this September. If you haven’t read her feminist horror, it’s addictive in the best possible way.
