A Likeable Woman

1

Kira

Midmorning sunlight winks through the glass-slat windows, but I'm still lying in bed, the black paper invitation shouting at me from across the room. It's sitting upright, resting atop a stack of junk mail on my wooden café table, where it's been since Friday evening after I retrieved it from the mailbox.

20 years and still going strong!

We'd be delighted if you'd join us,

Chad & Genevieve Greer,

as we re-tie the knot with a

Vow Renewal Ceremony

Saturday, October 15th, at 6 p.m.

The Walters's Farm

7328 Evergreen Road

Longview, Texas

Please RSVP by September 15th

The envelope it came in-black on the outside, bloodred on the inside-is gashed open, the tiny RSVP card peeking out like the tip of a cat's tongue.

I can't pull it out yet and mark "Attending" or "Not attending" because I can't decide.

Of course Genevieve wants to throw herself a bash. She's always been attention seeking, and from the group text I've been ignoring since Friday night, it's clear that it's not just the ceremony itself but a weekend full of eye-rolling events she has planned for us.

Friday night at the bowling alley, kids welcome. Saturday morning ladies' brunch at The Farm (no doubt some farm-to-table BS), followed by crafts of some sort (WTF, are we five years old?), ending with a spa day complete with manis and pedis and a wine tasting.

The guys, of course, get to do the fun stuff on Saturday-canoeing, archery, and duck hunting. Chased with a private uncorking of a local distillery's batch of bourbon made exclusively for the occasion.

I'm certain the entire event will be just a giant Band-Aid on what has, from all accounts, been a very nasty marriage. But it's not just the spectacle that's making the pit of dread in my stomach expand. It's the prospect of having to go home again. A place I fled over twenty years ago, after I lost her. Mom.

I've returned only the one time, for my father's funeral.

All eyes were on me the

May Cobb is an award-winning author of The Hunting Wives, My Summer Darlings, A Likeable Woman, and Big Woods. Her books have received attention from Book of The Month, The Today Show, and Oprah Daily and have been optioned for film/TV. She has an M.A. from San Francisco State University and her essays and interviews have appeared in The Washington Post and Good Housekeeping. She currently lives in Austin with family.

"You can t close summer without a murder mystery. Fans of Desperate Housewives and Devious Maids will love this thriller "
Cosmopolitan

"A smart, juicy thrill ride Full of scandal, lies, and manipulation Completely unputdownable."
Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of Local Woman Missing

"Sexy and suspenseful with delectable prose you'll want to savor.
Jeneva Rose, international bestselling author of The Perfect Marriage

"Bring on the backyard chardonnay and rich, nasty housewives of East Texas...Gossipy, glamorous, and hair-raising."
Oprah Daily

"[A] delicious summertime popcorn thriller feel: Propulsive, full of unexpected twists, and with more than a little spicy sexiness thrown on top. The sort of story you accidentally find yourself devouring in an afternoon, simply because it s so easy to promise yourself you re only going to read one more chapter."
Paste

Just begging to be read by the pool.  
Novel Suspects

Cobb s story delve[s] into the secrets and seething tensions that exist in small towns the final twist is nicely done.
Library Journal

"Another sizzling thriller set in the sultry Texas heat You ll tear through this one poolside! Maybe on the beach, while wearing sunglasses who knows what thoughts of delicious vengeance may be hidden behind sunglasses."
CrimeReads

May Cobb knows how to capture the pressure-cooker environment of a small Texas town engulfed in scandal.
Austin Monthly

Beneath the suspenseful page-turner is a sharp and unflinching dissection of what it means to be a likeable woman.
Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties

Equal parts murder mystery, dysfunctional family saga and commentary on female relationships, it reminds us that everybody s got an opinion on how 'likeable' women should behave.
Book and Film Globe

"Set among her trademark rich-b*tch