College student Carey Gardner is still trying to figure out who sent him an enormous box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day when he goes on an unexpected date with his professor’s assistant, Walter Sterne. Carey isn’t used to not knowing where he stands with a guy, and with Walter he’s clueless. His secret admirer is unnerving him too. Does he want to date Carey or murder him?

Carey seems to jump from the frying pan into the fryer when he dates Walter, who is as mysterious as the secret box of chocolates he gets. Walter is enigmatic and he comes off as aloof and contrary, but his emotions are not that hard to read. He wants what Carey wants; he just doesn’t have as much experience interacting with people in social settings. Combine Walter’s social inadequacies with Carey’s uncertainty and desire for Walter, and you get a slow-paced romance that is delightful to watch develop. Carey and Walter‘s relationship takes center stage in Slings and Arrows, but there is a darker undertone as well. The Petit Morts series is proving to be as entertaining and fun as I hoped it would be.