Oh how I wanted to like this book! I really enjoyed Dade's Spoiler Alert series for its fun banter and how it didn't take itself seriously. Unfortunately for me, this book just doesn't work. There is a ton of fun banter, but it felt forced and cringey. I ended up skimming a lot and the ending was okay.

This is the first book that I've read by Olivia Dade that I haven't loved. While it was as funny as every other book that she's ever written, the romance was very lackluster. The mmc was boring AF which is crazy considering he's a vampire.

Things I love: Olivia Dade’s writing style. Before this book I had never met one of hers I didn’t devour immediately and love so much. I did not love this one. I wish I did. The cover, the premise, the opening, it’s a trifecta of brilliance and then, for me it all fell apart. This read more like a second draft for roughly 70% of it. The plot was so clunky, while being very lore dumpy at the same time. A lot of information came fast and loose and could have been presented better.


Edie, the FMC is a delight, I love her, and her wit and her songs. A few of the side characters we meet are also very fun and memorable. Chad/Gaston/Max felt like a cardboard cutout who could drive for most of the book. The romance felt very abrupt. Which would normally be fine in a high stakes situation like this book is, but there was no prior pining or buildup.


Once we meet the witch things really pick up and I enjoyed the final part of the book, but getting there was rough.


The banter was still excellent and everything I love about Olivia’s writing, but the rest of this book really fell flat for me.

This story was cute and fun to read. I loved getting to know Edie and Max and loved the +size FMC rep.
This book was like a zombieland/vampire mashup that you didn’t know you needed

ZOMROMCOM reads like a fanfiction with the names swapped out: exposition is delivered clumsily, the plot is a series of happy coincidences and not much more, abd characters fall for each other immediately before having any reason to.

And for that, I admire it.

It’s LOTS of fun, and I can really tell that the author had fun writing it! There are tropes galore (grumpy x sunshine, secret identity, fated mates, forced proximity, vampires and werewolves and zombies and fae) but unfortunately the sheer amount of clichés are where it lost me.

If you’re willing to suspend your disbelief and immerse yourself in this semi-fleshed-out world where actions rarely have consequences and the fashion choices are wonderfully terrible on purpose, then I think you’d love this lighthearted book. But unfortunately, it wasn’t really for me.

This book had everything! Romance with vampires, fighting zombies, weird but extremely satisfying references, numerous Gaston song remixes, and a surprising amount of soap making knowledge. I was - pleasantly! - surprised by the amount of non-romance story in this book. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

What a fun surprise! This book was different than my typical reads but it was fun and there were many parts that had me giggling. I liked EDIE, our FMC. She’s funny, thoughtful, selfless, and so real. Max was also a fun MMC. I loved that he was a vampire and how he’s the grumpy to Edie’s sunshine. They had plenty of cute moments and there were also a nice mix of emotional ones that tugged at my heart. I appreciated the unique circumstances and setting of the story.

Zomromcom by Olivia Dade is just what it says on the tin: a romantic comedy ... with zombies! The romantic comedy part of the story worked for me, the zombie part less so. There's in-world magic and magical creatures in the story -- vamps, trolls, the fae, oracles, and the like -- but the origin of the (non-Romero style) zombies is science fuckery by the government. I legit don't get why the source of the zombies wasn't necromancy or sorcery so that all the metaphysics would match. The structure of the town, like the physical layout, makes no sense, and the history for how it came to be that way pretty hand-wavy. I'm a pretty massive zombie nerd, so all this mild bellyaching likely won't bother most readers.

But I was in the mood for this kind of quippy goofiness, so I had a good time anyway. I think the world-building is shaky in a lot of places because Dade will go for the joke or dumb pun over strict plausibility. Honestly, I don't think this is a bad thing. You can't write an effective romantic comedy if you take the inherent social violence and grief of the zombie narrative too seriously. I wasn't here for a bummer, and dumb puns are a classic. That said, whether you like this kind of humor comes down to personal taste or, in my case, mood. I was into it.

I also enjoyed the romantic pair. The vampire love interest is openly bisexual, but more than that, he's also pretty femme. He has a fashion and makeup insta, and he's more than a little vain about his dashing good looks. I don't think you run into many femme bi men in mainstream romance, or even in not-mainstream romance. Dudes can have sex with dudes, but they have to be dudes about it. Edie is kind of a dingdong, which is pretty common for romcom heroines, but it never tips over into suicidal stupidity or clueless cruelty. (I'm just a sol bean who can't help getting people killed being a dumbass uwu. This sort of thing happens a lot in zombie stories.) I also love that due to her profession as a soapmaker, Edie has both the applied knowledge and supplies to make some pretty gnarly explosives. I dig a plausibly competent character.

All in all, a pretty good time. I wouldn't call the conclusion open-ended, but the door is definitely open for more adventures in this world. Given how this works out, later books probably won't focus on zombies as the antagonist, which is a good thing for me. I'd like to see where this goes.

What a fun read!! I love Olivia Dade and was to thankful and excited to receive this e-arc from NetGalley and Berkley Publishing.

Right off the bat we are brought into this humor filled story. Edie is a vivacious soap maker who is set on saving the world from zombies. Her vampire neighbor, Gaston (Max), has different plans. He wants to keep Edie safe and sound in his bunker. That isn’t how our fiery FMC is, though. She has a mission and Max isn’t going to miss out on the opportunity to help.

In Olivia Dade fashion we also get some cute, quirky side characters that just add to the story. I would definitely recommend this read!!

A romcom set during a zombie apocalypse sounded so unique and fun—I was really looking forward to this one! I was lucky to receive an ARC a few months ahead of its release, thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group


Unfortunately, this ended up being a big letdown. I usually enjoy supernatural elements in books, but this one had way too much going on. There were way too many supernatural elements from witches, trolls, necromancers, oracles, you name it. It felt like I needed a spreadsheet to keep track.

As for the romance, it leaned into the grumpy-sunshine trope, but it just didn’t land. The transformation from grumpy to lovesick felt forced and unrealistic. The banter between the leads also fell flat for me, and I couldn’t connect with their dialogue or chemistry.

All in all, I’m glad I read this as an ARC and didn’t purchase it, as it’s not one I’ll be recommending. I had high hopes, but sadly, this one just didn’t work for me.

I absolutely love how much this made me laugh. I’ve never read an Olivia Dade novel before, but I’ll be checking more out. Actually, I’ll be checking every single one out. I was gasping at times. My chest hurt when reading the dooms-day meal names. Banter was witty, characters clever, and the dialogue was perfectly paced. I appreciated that the internal monologues didn’t replace good conversation. I’m a fan of silly jokes and so I thrived while devouring this.

Now, I can see very clearly why this isn’t for everyone. There’s a lot of crack, a lot of ridiculousness, and not as much overt romance as I was, admittedly, expecting. This is romantic, but maybe not so “traditional.” There were moments I was cackling, moments I was sweating, and moments I was fanning myself…because some of these scenes were whew.

Overall, this was a blast! I was brought joy, a smile, and another authors backlog to catch up on. Too many books and not enough time.

This was really fun. The worldbuilding is a little kitchen sink messy, but it does the job, and it leaves a lot of space for future books to do whatever they need to. The relationship felt a little bit rushed--I didn't 100% buy Max and Edie's chemistry, but the story moves fast and I was bought in enough to the overall plot that I didn't really care. I'm interested to see where they series goes!

I gave up around 30% through the book but I just had a hard time connecting with the characters. I feel like they lacked personality and depth. And some of the dialogue was just so cheesy and I’m not necessarily a fan of cheesy commentary. I honestly didn’t really feel the spark between Edie and Max :(

Thank you NetGalley for the free digital arc

I've been a huge Olivia Dade fan for a while, and was SO excited when she announced she was releasing her first paranormal romance. And a paranormal romance centered around zombie-slaying and a hunky French vampire? *Exactly* my cup of tea!

...Except, this ended up *not* being my cup of tea. I honestly can't remember the last time I was this let down by a book -- I went in with stratospheric expectations, given how much I've enjoyed all of Dade's contemporary romances, but within the first twenty or so pages I found myself wincing. This lacked not only her usual wit and depth, but the characters themselves were far less developed, interesting, or likable. I struggled to care when they were in danger, and their romance felt too rushed, flat, and easy.

There just wasn't any *meat* in this story, nothing juicy and emotionally resonant, which shocked me, because Dade has always had a deft hand at crafting stories that drip with chemistry and satisfying tension between compelling leads. This story had the potential for a full-on bloody zombie apocalypse, and I wasn't nearly as engaged as I was with her book about an actor and a fanfiction-writing cosplayer. How does that make sense??

Also, there were moments that were supposed to be funny or cute that just made me cringe with embarrassment or roll my eyes, and the sexy moments were altogether lackluster.

I can appreciate that Dade wanted to try something new, and was clearly striving for a different tone, and some of the supernatural world-building stuff was interesting. But, as a whole, this was a book that I had to force myself to finish, and it took me over two weeks, when usually one of Dade's books is a "finish-in-two-sittings" sort of read for me. Thoroughly disappointed that I didn't enjoy it more, and I sadly won't be recommending it to any friends or customers.

This was a very different book than I usually read.
This is my very book that deals with zombies.
It was an interesting break from usual wide genre of reading.
Some parts were amusing and others were over my head.
I did like the vampire inclusion.
I think zombie lovers will walk like the dead with this book.

Cute story about two neighbours working together during a zombie outbreak. I liked our leads Edie and Max. There was a lot of action with the zombies and an interesting world where supernatural creatures also exist. I felt the romance went a little too fast. Would have like a slower build up and more tension. Still a fun book and worth a read. Thanks to the publishers for the opportunity.

Zomromcom was a surprisingly great romance! I honestly had no idea what to expect when I started this book, especially because zombies are definitely not my jam but this book totally worked for me.

I fell absolutely in love with the main characters Edie and Chad aka Max plus the cast of side characters were all super fun, too. I would definitely say that this is a paranormal/romantic comedy but like I originally said, this author totally made it all work and it was so much fun to read.

Edie saves her clueless neighbor Chad aka Max from a zombie attack, but then the two pair up as a team. Little did Edie know that Max is actually a vampire. They must work together to figure out why there was a breach in the containment area that they live in. Max is sword wielding vampire and a Edie is a cleaver carrying bad ass.

The romance is perfect and I loved the banter between Edie and Max. They turned out to be the perfect zombie fighting pair on the streets with heat between the sheets.

I just really enjoyed Zomromcom all the way around and think that others are also going to love it, even if they're like me and don't think that zombies and romance are the perfect combination because this author is clearly amazing and made it super fun!

Expected Publication Date: August 5th 2025.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Berkley publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

If you’re someone who has been complaining about every book being the same you’ll be happy to hear that this book is different from everything else on the market right now. You can say a lot about Zomromcom but you can’t say it’s not full of original ideas.

The first 30% of this book had me hooked. Edie is a badass grown woman who has witnessed traumatic violence but still keeps her kindness and care for others. Chad (not Chad? Gaston? Max?) is her broey next door neighbor who isn’t exactly as he seems.

Oh and did I mention they’re living through a zombie apocalypse?

The action kicks off right away and I loved these two teaming. The tension was great, and the setting was really interesting and cool. But as the book got further along, and the world kept expanding, it all felt like a little too much.

There is a LOT of world building here. And not all of it totally makes sense. There are zombies on the loose, a bunch of walls and containments zones, and every kind of magical creature you can think of. As the cast of characters grew I found myself wishing we were back in Chads lair with just our two main characters.

The ending also felt rushed though I enjoyed the set up for future books in the series.

All in all, Zomromcom is a lot of fun. It means heavy in the Com aspect and the characters banter even when they should be planning for survival. But it did make me laugh out loud a couple of times.

🧟‍♀️💄✨ ZomRomCom by Olivia Dade was an absolute hoot and a half! Huge thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC—I had such a fun time with this one!

From the very first scene—plus-size, overall-rocking Edie fending off a zombie with a burrito—I was cackling. This post-apocalyptic romantic comedy is bursting with puns, pop culture, found family, and a grumpy vampire named Max (aka Chad) who moonlights as a beauty influencer with a love for bold fashion.

Between zombie attacks and steamy banter, this story delivers heart, hilarity, and a wild ride with lovable side characters. My only gripe? Max’s... fondness for using French in the bedroom. 😬 It was a bit ooh la la nope for me.

Still, I’m giving it a solid 4.5 stars. That cliffhanger? I need book two immediately. 🧛🧟‍♂️💕

3.25⭐️/2🌶️

Thank you NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review! This book was hilarious from the first page. Max and Edie are just the perfect duo with their grumpy sunshine dynamic.

Absolutely loved the plus size FMC rep and she is such a confident badass. Edie is brave and passionate in contrast to Max’s sassy, brooding nature. The banter made me laugh out loud and was pretty creative to a point. The romance progressed a bit faster than I expected and I didn’t feel a strong emotional connection between them.

The plot was pretty interesting as they work together to discover the source of the outbreak. Also I loved all the side characters, it was such a cute group. However, I wish the pacing was better and it felt a bit slow at the beginning with too much going on at the end. Overall this was a funny, entertaining read.