Review by Ronny
Zomromcom tried to be funny and bonkers but unfortunately this book fell a bit flat for me.
Favourite Quote:
… she lurched forward the necessary distance to press a kiss to his cheek. It was stubbly and chilly, and she wanted to lick it for some reason, but she settled back into her seat instead.
He stared at her, unblinking.
“For luck,” she explained. And because I’m probably not going to live through this. I want something warm and bright to remember as I sink into darkness.
“Right.” After a moment, he gently drew her head forward again and nuzzled against her temple, brushing his lips over the thin, sensitive skin there. “For luck, see Edie.”
Book Synopsis:
When Edie Brandstrup attempts to save her sweet, seemingly harmless human neighbor from the first major zombie breach in two decades, she’s stunned to be saved by him—and his ridiculously large sword—instead. As it turns out, he’s actually a super-old, super-surly vampire. But for all her neighbor’s newly revealed cynicism and lethality, Gaston “Max” Boucher (yes, Gaston) is unexpectedly protective. He wants her to stay in his safety bunker until the breach is resolved. Edie can’t risk more innocent people getting killed, though—and Max won’t let her save them alone.
As they unravel a sinister conspiracy to set zombies loose on the world (again), the duo meet a host of lovable allies and discover they’re not the only ones willing to fight for the future of humanity. Despite the awful timing, Edie finds herself falling for the vampire who’s helping her save the world . . . but all their dangerous plans could end their future before it even begins. As she and Max battle side by side, Edie must decide whether having a love worth living for also means having a love you’d die for—and, in a world that grows deadlier by the minute, whether that’s a risk she’s willing to take.
Review:
I had such high hopes for this book. I love books that are bonkers in the most wackiest and ridiculous way. So, when I heard about a zombie book, where the heroine tries to save her neighbour from a zombie, and it turns out the neighbour is a vampire, I knew this book was made for me. The premise of this book promises fun and crazy times, and indeed, there are moments when the author delivers on this. However, I found that the book was suffering from an identity crisis. It felt like the author couldn’t decide if this was a fun, bonkers romance or a more serious paranormal romance. With a premise like this, I expect something that is fun, easy breezy, and completely banana pants crazy, and overall, I didn’t get that. You experience moments of fun, but then you encounter drawn-out moments where things seem heavy, both emotionally and in terms of world-building.
I can also tell this is Olivia’s first paranormal romance, because I found she struggled with blending a contemporary romance within a paranormal world. She nailed some parts, but I found that when it came to the world-building aspects, there was a lot of info dumping, which made the flow of the story jarring and confusing. I had no idea what was going on with the zombies and what had happened with them in the past. I had to re-read those info parts a couple of times, just to wrap my head around what was what.
I liked the two main characters. Edie is a delight and loved spending time with her. She is a fabulous paranormal heroine, and I loved the fact that she is a curvy heroine. Max wasn’t what I was expecting, and I can’t quite say whether that’s a good thing or not. I felt like he was this mixture of broody, closed-off alpha hero, but also a social media fashion influencer. His career didn’t quite fit the “hero type” vibe the author was going for. I liked the chemistry between these two. I love an exasperated hero, and Max definitely acted like that when it came to Edie and her ideas of saying the rest of humanity from the zombie outbreak. The spicy moments were nice, and you get to enjoy the heightened emotions between these two because of the constant danger they seem to find themselves in.
Zomromcom was a miss for me, but I would definitely give Olivia’s contemporary romcoms a try.
