I received a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley.

So... yikes.

It was okay, at best. That dialogue was pretty cringey. And repetitive. The same jokes over and over and they weren't even great jokes. Why was hell pluralized to hells? Why did Edie insist on running every joke to death? And, for that matter, why was Edie the most stereotypical version of a "quirky girl" in existence?

It was an easy enough read and I didn't feel the need to quit early, but I also won't continue with this world since this is supposedly a first in a series.

Parts of the world building were super interesting to me, but it felt slapped together. Plot points and world building aspects seemed to suddenly appear just to fill a gap or move things along when the author got stuck and not because they made sense.

I feel like the author had this great idea (government sponsored zombies! human-supernatural alliances!), but didn't give it enough time to be fully fleshed out. So instead, as the reader, I just felt like things were being thrown at me and I was expected to make sense of them and/or accept them with little to no explanation.

So yeah. All in all, I think it had great potential but was rushed along which left it as an unsatisfying read.

Nobody can do Grumpy/Sunshine banter like Olivia Dade.
That is all.

Oh. I have to say more? Okay...
I don't read many paranormal romances because I'm afraid they'll drag me into an emotional quagmire. This one, though, was perfect. It truly is a romantic comedy, with the main characters' rough back stories appearing only as needed to act as characterization and help us understand Edie and Max's motivations and actions. There is a fair amount of violence in the book, but it is not gratuitous or exploitative.

I never expected a zombie book to delight me, but this one did (I suppose that was inevitable, given Dade's stellar sense of humor.).
Max falls hard and fast for Edie, who finds him physically appealing but clueless and vapid in the Chad persona in which she has known him for 3 years. One of my favorite things early in the story is when she meets him in his real Max persona and learns just what a show he has been putting on for her. Another of my favorite things is the way he pretends to be surly and evil and uncaring, calling her "Human" and lording his glorious vampire superiority over her inferior humanity. I'm a sucker for a so-called tough guy who is secretly a protective squishy love, and Max is delicious.

The challenges Edie and Max face in this story are mostly external, but in their quest to save the world from a zombie containment breach, they fall in love and grow as people and have fabulous sex and care/sacrifice for each other and put together a very interesting and quirky bunch of companions to help in the battle.

Zomromcom is surprisingly light-hearted, laugh-out-loud funny, and heartwarming. Olivia Dade has conquered a new subgenre.
4.5 stars.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for my free e-ARC. All opinions are my own.

Zomromcom follows Edie and her neighbor Chad as they navigate a zombie breach in a post apocalyptic world. While the premise was fun and had its entertaining moments, the plot felt a bit scattered and the dialogue didn't always land, coming off as cringe at times. Overall, it was an enjoyable read but not a standout for me.

Zomromcom by Olivia Dade is a bit of a departure for this author -- not the rom-com but the paranormal / urban fantasy of it all. The premise is rather bleak, as all zombie apocalypse stories usually are, but if you stay for the rom-com it's well worth it. Full of Dade's signature banter and entertaining side characters. I wasn't prepared for the cliffhanger ending, but maybe that's to be expected with paranormal romance? It's not my usual subgenre. I will be awaiting the sequel impatiently for a long time, as this title is officially released August 5.

This was my first Olivia Dade book and I really enjoyed how fun, light, and humorous it was (especially the running gag of what Chad would do).

Despite all that, I do not think I was the target audience for the book. It was a little too quipy for me, with the chaos and humor sometimes making me feel like I missed something.

Thank you to Berkley for providing this free advanced copy to me as part of their influencer Hub for Underrepresented Voices.

Zomromcom is Olivia Dade's exciting foray into paranormal romance. And I absolutely adore it! There was adventure, tension, high stakes, steam, and Dade's signature feisty, plus size FMC. I have always found Dade'.s writing to be whip-smart and incredibly funny, and Zomromcom is no exception.

I loved how much care Dade took in writing about Edie's size. It was never used as a plot point or a character arc, but simply described like any other physical feature. Edie simply exists in a bigger body.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys their paranormal romance with a good dose of humor.

Olivia Dade delivers once again with this sassy, humorous, heart warming supernatural romance. Both Max and Edie are delightful, fully fleshed out characters that you're gonna want to know better.

When Edie goes to protect her stoner neighbor 'Chad', she learns he's actually an isolated vampire named Max. With a new zombie outbreak ravaging their neighborhood, and no sign of government intervention, Edie decides to venture out to try and help who she can. Max refuses to let her go alone. As it becomes increasing clear that something has gone terribly wrong, Max and Edie learn to work together... And just may save each other.

The Gaston jokes were genius.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3.75/5)**
This book is set in a modern world where lab-created zombies are running wild, but it somehow manages to feel like a Hallmark-meets-cozy-rom-com mashup—in the best way possible.Our FMC is the type who always puts others first, and during a zombie attack, she risks her safety to help her neighbor... who turns out to be a vampire 🧛‍♂️. The two team up to save others, and along the way, they meet a cast of quirky and loveable supernatural characters that totally steal the show.

It’s a light, fast-paced, and delightfully weird read that doesn't take itself too seriously. Definitely a great palette cleanser if you’ve just finished something heavy or intense. Quick, quirky, and surprisingly charming!

Ok she’s giving quirky zombie movie + sexy vampire novel + supernatural fairy tale all rolled into one. A lot going on but it somehow works?! Olivia Dade fans, you will love this.

THE RUNDOWN:
-lab-created zombies that are actually lowkey terrifying
-looks like he could kill you but is a cinnamon roll vampire MMC (but also could definitely kill you)
-cutie patootie & stubborn plus-size FMC (everyone say thank you, Olivia!)
- “feed from me & f*ck me” energy (!)
-and yes also some elder millennial cringe, but I promise you can move past it

TYSM to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC

There were things about this book that I loved, but unfortunately there were others that just didn't work for me.

I really enjoyed the world building. I loved that it's an urban fantasy setting with scifi elements. The author did an excellent job of slowly rolling out information on the nature of the world. There was an element of mystery and surprise, and everything was worked seamlessly into the plot. There was no info dumping, which I really appreciated.

I also really liked these characters, and found their romance sweet, spicy, natural, and very believable. I thought the plus sized representation with Edie was very well done. She's not fixated on or insecure about her size, she just exists in her body. The MMC Max loves her body without fetishizing it.

Unfortunately, I found the humor in this book to be painfully unfunny. It relied heavily on the MMC modeling silly outfits and the FMC breaking into Disney parody songs. I think if this book hadn't tried so hard to be funny I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

I think this book is worth a read for the plot, characters, and world building. I think if your humor leans more toward the silly and goofy side of things you might even enjoy the comedy, it just wasn't for me.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for providing a digital ARC for an honest review.

Perfectly Olivia Dade. Weird and fun somehow, despite the fact that zombie apocalypse is in my top 5 biggest fears. I’m onboard for reading the rest of the series.

Perfect for fans of mouthy heroines and needlessly brooding heroes.

Zomromcom by Olivia Dade is the romance of the summer. This book had me laughing out loud! The romance between Max and Edie was perfection and made me want more even when the book ended. I love this author and will read everything she writes. Can't wait to see what she has instore!

I really connected with the characters in this story—they felt honest, layered, and easy to care about. Each one had something that made them stand out, and following their paths was probably my favorite part of the experience.

The story itself made sense to me. Sometimes plots can get a bit tangled or hard to keep up with, but this one felt clear without being too simple. I never felt lost, and I liked how everything came together without needing to overthink it.

Even after it ended, I kept thinking about some of the characters, which says a lot.

Oh, my goodness, this book had me absolutely cackling!! I loved everything about this. The characters are hilarious, ridiculous, and completely endearing. The romance is to die for! Reading this book was complete joy and I will definitely be giving it a reread! I hope there is more to come.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for access to this arc!

Olivia Dade is one of my favorite romance authors. I'll read anything she writes.

When Edie tries to save her sweet, if aloof, neighbor, aptly known to her as Chad, from the first major zombie breach in years, she's stunned to discover he's neither aloof nor a Chad. Instead, he's a centuries-old, rather grumpy vampire, Gaston "Max" Boucher. While seemingly annoyed by Edie's attempt to intervene when he was more than capable of zombie slaying with his massive sword, he's immediately concerned with her safety and wants to stay in his elaborate bunker. But Edie is determined to save as many people as possible from potential zombie carnage, and so the two embark on a quest to find the source of the breach. Their romance is sweet and tempers the action of the post-zombie world well. While Dade deftly crafts a new world order (map included), the story doesn't get bogged down in too much worldbuilding. This is a fun turn into the supernatural for Dade and I'm eager to see if she continues on this path.

First off, the title and cover? Stunning! I adore having a plus size heroine in a fun story like this. Edie lives in a neighborhood where she's at a higher risk for zombies. When there's a breach, she runs off to rescue her clueless neighbor, only to discover that he's actually a highly competent, zombie-killing vampire named Max (formerly Gaston and yes, Edie makes a meal of that one, thank you very much!). Together, they must figure out what's going on with the breach.

Olivia Dade's characterization and sense of humor shine in this fun zombie romp! It took me a little while to get into this zany, dystopian world, but I ended up having a fun time.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this eARC!

Thanks to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I loved the concept of Zomromcom — a zombie apocalypse meets rom-com with a plus-size heroine front and center. We are introduced to Edie, a human, and Max, her vampire neighbor, who have to team up to investigate a breach in their zone that has set the zombies free.

With “RomCom” in the title, I had such high hopes; however, I didn’t find much “rom” (more like lust — the spice is spicy!) and the “com” was cringe-worthy. The world-building felt scattered, the romance and humor heavily missed the mark, and the random criticism of the heroine by the male lead was off-putting. The premise of both leads being online personalities felt out of place in the larger apocalyptic narrative, and I found it difficult to suspend my disbelief in those moments. The inclusion of diverse supernatural creatures had a lot of potential to deliver something fresh and unexpected, but I don’t feel compelled to follow this story any further.

The title says it all, but I still wasn't expecting what I got with this book. It grabbed me with the first sentence, "Armed with a burrito, Evie rounded her car and sprinted to intercept the zombie." and things only got funnier from there. Edie, a soap maker, teams up with her neighbor, who she just found out is a vampire, to unravel a conspiracy to set zombies loose on the world. With quirky characters and hilarious banter, I could not put this book down. And don't get me started with the singing, Evie is a hoot.

I received this advance review copy from NetGalley & the publisher for my honest review.

Zomromcom is Oliva Dade's first foray into the supernatural genre. In this story, Edie, an arts and crafts soap maker is trying to live her life and hold onto her family home after a zombie outbreak as placed her smack dab in the center of the containment zone. One evening after cutting it too close to curfew (zombies are more prevalent at night), Edie attempts to save her cute but seemingly oblivious neighbor Chad. Only Edie discovers Chad is actually Gaston, a centuries old vampire who ends up saving her.

Realizing something is very wrong since the zombies appear to be gathering force, Edie and Gaston join forces and try to alert their friends about the oncoming threat. The road trip of a lifetime begins as the two work to overcome past trauma and deal with the growing threat.

I love Dade for her creative dialogue and strong storylines, but this one fell a bit flat. The dialogue was strong, but I felt the plot a bit thin and as other reviewers have pointed out, the incessant references to the Gaston song from the animated Beauty and the Beast got old very fast. I definitely see Dade having a lot of fun with the writing of this story, but an editor's pen would have been a great help with sharpening the story and removing some of the excess.

I can see she was trying to set up the storyline for a sequel and I would be interested in reading the next one, but hope that she learns from this one and tightens up the story a bit more.

Note: Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advance copy for review.

I absolutely loved this book! It was so funny, but also had me in tears a few times. Olivia Dade writes fat heroines the absolute best, and brings the sexy, spicy, funny, too. I highlighted so much, something I never do, and keep gushing about it to friends. I was a smidge dismayed it ended on a cliffhanger, but I'll read anything OD writes. I can't wait to have my own physical copy!