History Literature / GirlsDontHit

* ClingyJealousGirl: Jess meets a female detective who's secretly with her partner (also a woman). She's quite jealous, easily provoked to hit Joss after she hits on her partner. Joss used it as a distraction to get away after poisoning the man they're protecting.

* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: Joss uses poison she's placed surreptitiously in targets drinks to kill them more than once.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Joss is...off, somehow. She has no empathy toward most people, finds human interactions largely annoying, shows keen skill at displaying emotions that aren't real, and zero remorse over killing people. However, though most of this fits with a sociopath, she has real feeling for a small number of people, such as her first love and later Echo.

* BeneathNotice: Joss's cover as an ordinary businesswoman, wife and mother is designed for to be this overall, along with acting normally on jobs. Her being female likely also helps, as hitwoman really don't figure in most people's expectations.

Joss Kurtis is a seemingly ordinary woman in Pierre, South Dakota along with her husband and two children, working as a corporate mediator who flies around the country for her work. In truth however this is all just a cover for her ''true'' job as Joss Kurtis, a highly skilled assassin.

* PsychoLesbian: Averted. Although Joss is a hitwoman who feels no remorse at all, there's no suggestion that this has any correlation with her being a lesbian; indeed, her only real feelings are to her female lovers and her interactions with them the most humanizing thing about her.

Joss Kurtis is a seemingly ordinary woman in Pierre, South Dakota along with her husband and two children, working as a corporate mediator who flies around the country for her work. In truth however this all just a cover for her ''true'' job as Joss Kurtis, a highly skilled assassin.

* {{Jerkass}}: Joss is a huge jerk toward most people when she's not able to get away with this (aside from a very few). She even drives to other towns just for venting her repressed anger after maintaining a nice mom and wife image most of the time.

* MurderInc: Synergistic Business Services, a company officially specializing in mediating corporate disputes but actually arranging contract killings. They have assassins around the US and elsewhere. Joss and Echo are just two, with Miles their only actual link to the business. Sometimes though Joss goes to an office where she does fake work but actually just surfs the Internet.

** Joss pretended she was defending herself against the man who'd raped and murdered her friend/lover Crystal, though she actually lured him into attacking her deliberately, then had killed him. She realizes she's in trouble when the police see through it, but Myles arrives, recognizing her potential as a killer and makes it go away (helped by the fact the cops sympathizes, laws aside).

Joss cares for very few people, and it's been years since she has felt anything deeply toward another. That changes when she takes on an apprentice in her work, a girl code named Echo. The two become attracted to each other quickly, slowly falling deeply in love. Yet can a happy ending or true love exist for people such as them?

* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: Miles, Joss and Echo all just look like ordinary people, though their business is murder for hire. Joss even goes out of her way to seem normal, marrying and having kids just to fit in (despite this not really being her wish), since most don't suspect a middle family class woman.

* AbusiveParents: Joss' dad would make her tell exactly what boys were thinking about doing with her when they'd call, as “crude mind games” in her words.

* BeneathNotice: Joss' cover as an ordinary businesswoman, wife and mother is designed for to be this overall, along with acting normally on jobs. Her being female likely also helps, as hitwoman really don't figure in most people's expectations.
* {{Blackmail}}: One of Joss' targets is a young woman who was a married politician's lover, and blackmailed him after getting pregnant with his baby. His attempt to bribe her into going away just got her more ammunition, as she recorded this.

* CopKiller: One of Joss' early hits was an NYPD detective who'd been investigating a gambling ring. She managed to seduce and kill him, then made this look like she'd been struck by the hitman before he'd been murdered. The cops bought this, though the criminal who ordered the hit is later arrested for ordering his death.

** Joss also masturbates when she's looking at risque photos of her husband's mistress.

* IHaveAFamily: Joss' first seen victim attempts to sway her using this. He thinks it's worked after she asks about his daughter. It's only to get tips about what her own daughter, also a teenager, might like for her birthday. She kills him remorselessly after getting this.

* PsychoLesbian: Joss only seems to be genuinely into women (as opposed to her pretense with her husband). She's also a hitwoman who feels no remorse at all, with her only real feelings being to her female lovers.
* QueerRomance: Joss' romance with her apprentice Echo is the main theme of the novel.

* SurprisePregnancy: Both of Joss' children weren't planned. Since then, she's tried to avoid having sex with her husband without any protection.

* WoundedGazelleGambit: Joss got away with killing a cop after seducing him by hitting herself, making it look like the killer had struck her then cut his throat. His colleagues bought this (helped by the fact she'd slept with several others too), justifying it her not being a target and the hitman sparing her as a result, since they don't generally kill for free.

* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: Miles, Joss and Echo all just look like ordinary people, though their business is murder for hire. Joss even goes out of her way to seem normal, marrying and having kids just to fit into (despite this not really being her wish), since most don't suspect a middle class woman.

** Joss says the only time she cried over a job was for killing [[her mentor Greta]]. Then she also says she'd cried after killing a woman who put out a hit on herself.

** Throughout most of the book, Echo is only called that since it's her cover name. Joss knows her last name, Barrett, while deliberately not finding out her true first name. Echo comes to prefer this too, saying that Echo is her real name. However, it turns out that her first name is (legally) Aubrey.

* MurderInc: Synergistic Business Services, a company officially specializing in mediating corporate disputes but actually arranging contract killings. They have assassins around the US and elsewhere.

* LikeASonToMe: {{Inverted}}. Joss told Greta, her mentor, she was like her mother [[spoiler:before killing her. She was very sad to.]] Her birth mother was "hardly maternal" to her apparently.

* {{Jerkass}}: Joss is a huge jerk toward most people when she's not able to. She even drives to other towns just for venting her repressed anger after maintaining a nice mom and wife personality most of the time.

* {{Irony}}: It's a book about Joss, a woman who's very skilled at “hitting” (contract killings) and will certainly hit in the more general sense as well, along with her apprentice in killing, Echo.

* {{Irony}}: It's a book about Joss, a woman who are very skilled at “hitting” (contract killings) and will certainly hit in the more general sense as well.

* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: Joss and Echo take advantage of this belief, since few people suspect women will be assassins. Even when not combined with [[HoneyTrap explicit seduction]], it helps them get the drop on people many times.

* FairCop: Shannon, Colin's lover, is a very beautiful, redhaired female police officer.

** Joss and Echo's second target is in a clandestine relationship with another man. From what they say, his lover's wife or her family are behind the hit, to “[[DisproportionateRetribitution keep up appearances]]”. For apparently the first time, she empathizes toward a target, and lets him go... Only for him to be shot immediately by Echo, her apprentice.

** Joss is not openly a lesbian, rather having the façade of a straight marriage and kids.
** Joss and Echo's second target is in a clandestine relationship with another man. From what they say, his lover's wife or her family are behind the hit, to “[[DisproportionateRetribituion keep up appearances]]”. For apparently the first time, she empathizes toward a target, and lets him go... Only for him to be shot immediately by Echo, her apprentice.

** Joss is not openly a lesbian, rather having the facade of a straight marriage and kids.

ClingyJealousGirl: Jess meets a female detective who's secretly with her partner (also a woman). She's quite jealous, easily provoked to hit Joss after she hits on her partner. Joss used it as a distraction to get away after poisoning the man they're protecting.

While pretending she's an FBI agent, Joss meets two closeted female detectives living in New Orleans. The two of them are (extra-legally) married and out to their loved ones, but not at work, as Louisiana is less progressive about LGBT+ folks. Not to mention they might not be [[InappropriatelyCloseComrades allowed to remain partners]].
ClosetKey: One half of a same-sex female couple who Joss meets hadn't been attracted to any women before meeting her wife.
CopKiller: One of Joss' early hits was an NYPD detective who'd been investigating a gambling ring. She managed to seduce and kill him, then made this look like she'd been struck by the hitman before he'd been murdered. The cops bought this, though the criminal who ordered the hit is later arrested for ordering his death.
CrocodileTears: Joss can cry on command when necessary to deceive people.
ADateWithRosiePalms:
Echo masturbates in bed opposite Joss after witnessing her first hit. Joss's thoughts indicate she had done the same thing and that it's common as a reaction.
Joss also masturbates when she's looking at risque photos of her husband's mistress.
Echo later masturbates once again in the wake of killing someone.
When they're in Las Vegas, Joss masturbates watching Echo get a lap dance.
EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Joss is a cold-blooded assassin who rarely feels remorse. Her first kill was of her lover's murderer in college, whom she clearly cared about. Later she also falls in love with Echo, who's her apprentice, and they become lovers. She has a husband and two children, but really cares only about her daughter among them.
ExperimentedInCollege: Joss convinced her roommate Crystal that them kissing or later sleeping together was just harmless college experimentation. It wasn't for Joss however-she genuinely loved Crystal, and avenged her murder.
FairCop: Shannon, Colin's lover, is a very beautiful, redhaired female police officer.
FemalesAreMoreInnocent: Joss and Echo take advantage of this belief, since few people suspect women will be assassins. Even when not combined with [[HoneyTrap explicit seduction]], it helps them get the drop on people many times.
ForcedOutOfTheCloset: Joss publicly outs two female detectives who are secretly married, as part of a distraction when she's poisoning a target.
FrameUp: [[spoiler:Joss is framed for supposedly attacking her husband's cop mistress, which then justifies her shooting her dead.]]
FromBadToWorse: Joss notes that many clients seem to think killing somebody will get rid of their problems. Often however it just makes things worse, as now they can sometimes be charged with murder as well and get into even more trouble.
GirlOnGirlIsHot: Joss and Echo easily seduce a target by dancing together then promising that he can have a threesome with them.
HairTriggerTemper: Joss quickly learns a female detective is hot-tempered and easily pushes her into violence through hitting on her wife.
HasAType: Joss likes lean, athletic women, and admits not only Echo has this look but also her. She thinks it's probably the case that most people find versions of themselves attractive.
HitmanWithAHeart: Not much of one, but Joss does once let a target get away after learning he's being targeted just for being a gay closeted lover of another man, but he's shot by Echo almost immediately.
HoneyTrap: Joss seduces people when useful for becoming close with her target, and notes that men are [[AManIsAlwaysEager especially easy]], rarely thinking twice about allowing women into their houses.
HyperAwareness: Joss is trained to notice all surrounding details, and trains Echo to as well, so she can better kill people then get away clean.
IHaveAFamily: Joss' first seen victim attempts to sway her using this. He thinks it's worked after she asks about his daughter. It's only to get tips about what her own daughter, also a teenager, might like for her birthday. She kills him remorselessly after getting this.
ImpersonatingAnOfficer: Joss pretends she's a New Orleans detective and FBI agent while infiltrating law enforcement to get near a target.
IronicTitle: It's a book about Joss, a woman who are very skilled at “hitting” (contract killings) and will certainly hit in the more general sense as well.
{{Jerkass}}: Joss is a huge jerk toward most people when she's not able to. She even drives to other towns just for venting her repressed anger after maintaining a nice mom and wife personality most of the time.
LackOfEmpathy: Joss feels absolutely nothing toward most people, her targets especially, except for annoyance.
LikeASonToMe: {{Inverted}}. Joss told Greta, her mentor, she was like her mother [[spoiler:before killing her. She was very sad to.]]
LoveConfession: Echo confesses her love for Joss after the latter rescues her in New Orleans. Joss later reciprocates, and means it-the first time in decades that's been true when she said the words.
MasculineFeminineGayCouple: Joss pegs one half of a female couple early on as the “butch” one (there isn't much explicit about them to support it though). She also presents herself in a slightly more butch manner at one point when out with Echo while seducing a target.
MurderByMistake: On her first solo hit, Echo screws up and shoots the wrong person, putting the cops on her tail while she runs. Joss has to track her down and fix things.
MurderTheHypoteneuse: [[spoiler:Joss is murdered at the end by her husband's mistress, who had demanded she divorce him. She had tried ironically, but he wouldn't agree in the circumstances they had at the time. Joss told her this, and she killed Joss to get rid of the obstacle.]]
MurderInc: Synergistic Business Services, a company officially specializing in mediating corporate disputes but actually arranging contract killings. They have assassins around the US and elsewhere.
OffingTheOffspring: A married politician orders the murder of his pregnant mistress, who blackmailed him due to her pregnancy, even though it would kill their baby too.
OnlyKnownByTheirNickname:
Joss is short for Jocelyn, but she prefers it to that and is mostly called by her nickname.
Throughout most of the book, Echo is only called that since it's her cover name. Joss knows her last name, Barrett, while deliberately not finding out her true first name. Echo comes to prefer this too, saying that Echo is her real name. However, it turns out that her first name is (legally) Aubrey.
ParentalNeglect: Joss didn't really want to have children, and largely lets her husband Colin raise hers. She therefore is often unaware of what her kids are into, or in her son's case his age and whether he's bathing unassisted now.
PlotHole:
According to the first chapter Joss had her daughter right after marrying Colin. Chapter six says her daughter was six ten years after their marriage however.
Joss says the only time she cried over a job was for killing [[her mentor Greta]]. Then she also says she'd cried after killing a woman who put out a hit on herself.
{{Polyamory}}:
Joss and Colin eventually agree on having an open marriage when both of them have confessed to their past adultery, deciding it's better to simply be open about sleeping with other people while still staying married.
Joss also tells Echo she's free to have casual sex with other people while they're on separate hits, with her saying it's necessary to blow off steam after it's complete.
ProfessionalKiller: Joss is a seasoned, efficient assassin. She trains Echo in the same trade. The company which they work for also has many others on the payroll.
PsychoLesbian: Joss only seems to be genuinely into women (as opposed to her pretense with her husband). She's also a hitwoman who feels no remorse at all, with her only real feelings being to her female lovers.
ReallyGetsAround: Joss and Colin both cheat frequently on each other, with her having a large number of one-night stands while he had several mistresses.
{{Revenge}}: [[spoiler:The novel ends with Echo just about to kill Shannon in revenge for her killing Joss earlier.]]
SelfDefenseRuse: Joss pretended she was defending herself against the man who'd raped and murdered her friend/lover Crystal, though she actually lured him into attacking her deliberately, then had killed him. She realizes she's in trouble when the police see through it, but Myles arrives, recognizing her potential as a killer and makes it go away (helped by the fact the cops sympathizes, laws aside).
ShowerOfLove: Joss and Echo first have sex in the shower.
SuicideByAssassin: Joss and Echo kill a man near the end whom they realize put the hit on himself, as he had HIV/AIDS. She mentions a previous example of a woman with Huntington's doing it too.
SurprisePregnancy: Both of Joss' children weren't planned. Since then, she's tried to avoid having sex with her husband without any protection.
TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: Joss uses poison she's placed surreptitiously in targets drinks to kill them more than once.
TeacherStudentRomance: Joss becomes involved with Echo, whom she's training to be an assassin.
TechnicalVirgin: Madison tells Joss she's “technically a virgin” due to only giving her boyfriend blowjobs and handjobs.
TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: Miles, Joss and Echo all just look like ordinary people, though their business is murder for hire. Joss even goes out of her way to seem normal, marrying and having kids just to fit into (despite this not really being her wish), since most don't suspect a middle class woman.
UnholyMatrimony: Joss and her apprentice Echo, both of them unrepentant cold-blooded assassins, fall for each other. Their love is genuine, deep and would be sweet if they weren't horrible otherwise.
VigilanteMan:
Joss's first murder was of the man who had raped and murdered her roommate/lover Crystal.
Echo murders an abusive husband whom she'd seen.
VillainProtagonist: The main character is an unrepentant hitwoman who feels only annoyance toward most people.
WouldHurtAChild: Joss kills a young woman who's revealed to be pregnant afterward. The father, a politician, had ordered the hit as she was blackmailing him over it. Evidently the fact this would kill his own baby didn't stop him. Joss just demands a twenty percent increase, since she won't kill for free.
WoundedGazelleGambit: Joss got away with killing a cop after seducing him by hitting herself, making it look like the killer had struck her then cut his throat. His colleagues bought this (helped by the fact she'd slept with several others too), justifying it her not being a target and the hitman sparing her as a result, since they don't generally kill for free.