Thank you, NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

With a title like Zomromcom you have to know going in that this isn’t going to be the most romantic read of your life. This is going to be a fun time, and it was! Some of the dialogue was a bit cringey and then when the two main characters first got together it felt a bit rushed to me, like is this really the time!? There are threats all around! But the relationship between the two main characters did grow on me and I ended up loving them together.

I did not realize going in that this was the first book in a storyline, so I was a bit startled to be left on a bit of a cliffhanger. In the end I was invested in the outcome and characters and can’t wait to continue on to find out what happens next.

"Zomromcom" had the potential to be such a winner for me. Competent, funny FMC (with fat rep and ALSO SHE'S "OLDER" than him????? YES MA'AMMM), super dreamy vampire love interest who is also very funny and an enormous grump? A zombie apocalypse? The two protagonists teaming up to save the world? Falling in love despite the hurts and pains of their respective pasts? A vampire who's got MASSIVE stamina and also is very much into his partner's pleasure? And Olivia Dade's wonderful writing?
I was sure I was going to love it.
Unfortunately, I didn't as much as I hoped.
I adored the first half, mind you. The slow-burn aspect, the first explosive kiss, the steamy bits, Edie and Max in general... I adored all those aspects so so much.
Unfortunately by the second half I was too impatient to keep up with the plot and I got bored. It might have been this slump, or maybe I don't know, something was missing for me. I was interested in Edie and Max almost exclusively (which is very unusual for me) and the plot lines weren't gripping enough to keep my interest. I ended up skimming to the parts I wanted to actually read.
Again, this might have been a me issue.
I did love the first half of the book. I adored both Edie and Max so much. Their romance was SO DAMN precious and lovely and did I mention HOT AS HELL?
So, solely for that, "Zomromcom" will be getting three stars.
But apart from that... Oh well. Never mind, better luck next time, I guess?

Many thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

This was one of the funnest rides this year! Zombies, vampires, faeries, trolls… an apocalypse, and a hilarious adventure of survival! I laughed out loud so many times, giggled unexpectedly, and never thought I would connect with these otherworldly characters the author actually manages to make seem extremely down-to-earth. The action was steady and the characters so well formed. The banter was the best and the story kept me engaged from page one. I can’t wait to read more by this author! Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for this fabulous ARC read. All opinions are my own.

This is from my Instagram review post!

Zomromcom by Olivia Dade 🧟🩷💚 I love Olivia Dade’s books and was super excited to see her write a paranormal romance! It comes out tomorrow August 5th! It was so funny and a ridiculous and unhinged (complimentary) reading experience.

I listened to an ALC from the @PRHAudio Influencer Program. The paperback copy was sent to me free from the @BerkleyRomance Influencer Program. Grateful to be part of both! Thank you! I did a bit of tandem reading but primarily did the audiobook.

The audiobook is narrated by Joy Nash. I liked her as a narrator for Edie the main character, but her voices she did for all the other characters were just okay for me. I could have gone without the fake French accent for Chad/Gaston/Max if I’m being honest. They weren’t bad necessarily and it didn’t make me not enjoy the audiobook or anything… but it didn’t make me like love the narration, ya know?

The book drops you into a world that is already mid zombie crisis and other supernaturals exist and are known to humans. You kinda figure out the world as you go along. During a zombie breach, Edie finds out that her dude bro neighbor, Chad, is actually a vampire named Gaston Maxine Boucher (Max). They stay in his safety bunker together to wait out the breach… and things escalate from there.

The funniest part of the book is Edie making up songs to the tune of Gaston’s song from Beauty and the Beast and singing them at Max. Never let him know a moment of peace 🤣.

The hottest part of the book is that the spicy scenes typically also involve certain vampire activities 🩸🧛🏻‍♂️.

Would definitely recommend if you like paranormal romances or a fun over the top slightly ridiculous time. I had a great time reading it!

I’m devastated that this book a miss for me. The premise sounded really exciting (True Blood meets The Walking Dead meets a romcom), and I can tell the author had a ton of fun writing it (and the burrito-as-a-weapon concept is incredible!).

The main reason this didn’t work for me was the world building. I had to double check that this wasn’t the second book in a series, because it’s presented so matter-of-factly with such little explanation that I felt like I must be missing something. We’re told, in rapid succession, that there are not only zombies and vampires, but werewolves (who were bred to kill the zombies), fae, all sorts of other creatures, and *soulmates,* and humans are aware of them and just kind of chilling. It was also very hard to suspend my disbelief that anyone would live in such close proximity to a literal zombie infestation just for cheap housing, which made it really hard to understand Edie’s motives.

I do think there’s an audience for this book, and was happy to highlight it in my Summer Beach Reads post so that people can decide for themselves. I’m sad this wasn’t a higher rated read for me, but I’d definitely read future work by Olivia Dade! Thank you so much, Berkley, for the eARC, and for including me in your blog tour!

This was my first Olivia Dade book, and I didn’t really know what to expect going in, but I was pleasantly surprised by how fun, witty and quirky it was! It features a lot of what I’d call absurdist humor, so it could be a hit or miss depending on the reader’s mood. Personally, I found it quite enjoyable. I was cackling and giggling right from the beginning.

Bonus points for the body positivity and solid writing!

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing and Olivia Dade for the ARC!

I'm not usually a Paranormal Romance reader but I should've known the me and the genre were safe in Olivia Dade's capable hands. She has her own (ridiculous) unique spin on Zombie lore, in addition to a fresh perspective on the Fae, Trolls and other supernatural creatures. There is action and THE MOST ABSURD HUMOR and you can tell that she had the absolute best time writing this book. While we do get our HEA, we also end on a cliff hanger, which HOW DARE SHE? A character finding love in the midst of a zombie invasion all the while managing to banter with an ancient vampire was a quite the wild ride, but I was happily along for the journey!

As an avid reader of romance, I love that we not only see and read about a plus size woman, the woman is in her late 30's. Helps me relate better and I don't feel so much like a creeper reading about 20 somethings. Grumpy x Sunshine is one of my favorite tropes and the whole burrito as a weapon, I just can't. Zomromcom was quick fun read and I look forwrard to reading more. Thank you to the publisher, author and to negalley for allowing me to read such a delightfully fun book.

This was a seriously adorable book with a crazily cute premise. I'm not much for contemporary romance, but the added twist of it having fantasy elements was fantastic. The narrators did a great job of narrating the story while also using unique voices for each of the characters. A friend had hyped this one up to me after receiving a very early ARC, and I'm so glad she did! I'm not sure I would've picked this read out on my own but I'm so glad that I gave it a chance. I think this read will be great for my older teens in the library that have grown out of YA but aren't quite ready for adult fantasy/romance.

I love Olivia Dade. I eat up every story she puts out there. This, unfortunately, isn’t my favorite story of hers.

I loved the premise, but I think it was muddled. A romcom during a zombie apocalypse? Great. Adding in every other type of creature imaginable? Less interesting. Vampires, witches, fae, trolls… it felt like too much.

This book was such a fun and wild ride. The FMC is a plus size lady and doesn’t care about what anyone thinks about it either.

I enjoyed the heck out of the book y’all. It was spicy, hilarious, kinda all over the place but I didn’t mind it in the slightest. I do wish there was little bit more world building throughout the book but other than that, I’d say this was a solid read. I enjoyed both the MC’s, definitely had the grumpy/sunshine vibes going on. Max was the highlight of the book for me though. He literally couldn’t stay mad at Edie for more than 5 seconds at a time! 🤣

If you’re looking for a good Halloween romance to get you in the mood for spooky season than I highly recommend checking this one out!

ZOMROMCOM- OLIVIA DADE

I honestly was hesitant going into this one as im not a huge apocalypse/zombie person, but i was a huge fan! the book brings in so many elements of other mythical creatures and i never expected chad/max to be a vampire. the spice was on point, and the story line was really well executed. I love edies character, her heart and the fact that shes quirky, shes a bigger girl and shes so confident in herself at that. i cant wait to continue the story! i gave 4 stars jsut because there is a random pregnancy and i hate those in stories personally.

ZomRomCom by Olivia Dade is exactly what it sounds like:
A zombie apocalypse RomCom that’s equal parts quirky, chaotic, and surprisingly heart-swoony! Edie and her grumpy-neighbor-turned-centuries-old-vampire, Max, get thrown together in the middle of the first zombie breach in 20 years, and what follows is a mash-up of laugh-out-loud action, banter that bites (pun intended), and the right amount of paranormal spice.

This was such a fun read! It’s great anytime you want a wild escape, but especially heading into spooky season. It’s got the FALL movie marathon energy: a little creepy, a lot funny, and sprinkled with romance that made me grin.

If you’re an audiobook fan, I think you’ll love this one! The narration brings this world to life in such a fun way. The comedic timing is spot-on, the character voices are distinct and engaging, and it made my laundry-folding and car rides feel like I was right there dodging zombies alongside Edie and Max.

If you’re craving a paranormal rom-com that doesn’t take itself too seriously but still gives you characters to root for, this is your pre-Halloween treat!

What a perfect romcom!!!!

This is my first full length Olivia Dade novel, and it was filled with perfect humor/snark/banter (I love it when a woman keeps a man's ego in check) and great fat representation!

Things I LOVED:
- The zombies were humanoid, but didn't seem to be previously human. When we started, I was a little nervous during the first encounter that these would be previous humans that had been experimented on, which doesn't feel good to me as a reader. Instead, these are super soldiers created in a lab from several different genetic profiles (human and supernatural).
- Our FMC! I loved everything about her & all our characters, but I wanted to call out that our FMC, Edie, EATS. All our characters eat and have meals, but Dade specifically mentions her meals & her portions, and they are not "diet" meals. And this in no way hinders her ability to kick zombie booty during fights, her planning abilities, or her sexual prowess. For some people, they might not even notice, but as a fellow fat lady I did and I appreciate it wholeheartedly.

Things I didn't love:
- Nothing. As I read this, there wasn't anything that I wanted to change, from the pacing to the character development. I just wanted to learn more about every aspect of this book and world.

This was a huge bummer. The whole thing felt pretty cringe. You’re 20 years into a zombie apocalypse and you try to fight a zombie with a burrito? Now is not the time to be ~quirky~, grow up. Then for her to get mad later when Max sorta treats her like she can’t handle herself? You literally proved you can’t. These type of awkward, forced-funny situations occurred too often for my enjoyment. I do like Olivia’s style of writing, but this one did not hit for me. :(

I had a great time reading this one! It was funny and cute and a little icky (zombies, ya know). 100% worth the read and I pre-ordered a physical copy. Keeping my eyes on this author!

Olivia Dade knows how to have and write a good time while simultaneously making me realize she would have been the emotionally intelligent AP US History teacher and/or librarian I needed during late adolescence. LOL, but also *cries*. There’s something so special about Olivia Dade’s writing that makes you feel deeply seen and understood.
In the beginning of ZOMROMCOM, we are immediately plopped down like an RPG character into a scene involving our main character, Eden “Edie” Brandstrup, bravely trying to save the life of her “sweet, airheaded, himbo-ish” neighbor named Chad from a brain-slurping zombie. Chad, Edie realizes as the story progresses, is actually a super intelligent, super strong, and super hot (still sweet) vampire named Gaston “Max” Boucher (butcher en français!). Edie and Max team up, meeting new allies along the way, to prevent the spread of zombies outside the Containment Zone and solve the mystery of who is secretly behind the spread. They may end up falling deeply in love as well. Please read this book!
Dade expertly writes thrilling, action-packed scenes. She balances out these intense action scenes with humor. The dialogue between romantic love interests Edie and Max can get very deep, emotional, and super carnal at times, but is often also balanced with lines/moments of humor. The olfactory descriptions were so fun to search for and were very informative and relevant to the plot!
ZOMROMCOM is the best paranormal, human-vampire romance book I’ve read in the past fifteen years.

3.5/5 stars

This book was so silly. But there was a lot of heart shoved in there.

I do wish it was a one and done though. There's definitely some indication that another book is coming in this storyline.

3.5 stars

I think it's important to go into this one with the right mindset. It's a book that's meant to make you laugh and so no one should read this with the expectation of fantastical world building/a plot that fully makes sense. It was a bit too long for my liking (I can only take so much zombie killing and shenanigans) and the ending was very abrupt, but overall it was a fun read with a colorful cast of characters.

I mainly listened to the audiobook of this one and though it was an enjoyable experience, I'm not sure if I would have liked it more if I had read it with my eyes. Joy Nash is hit or miss for me and her performance as Edie was fantastic, but as Max I wasn't sold. I think sometimes her accents feel too over the top and it ends up distracting me from the story itself.

Zomromcom is a bonkers and silly read with characters you will root for and some very hot vampire sexy times (biting is involved, so if this isn't for you, you might want to skip this one). It doesn't take itself too seriously and neither should you. Just sit back and enjoy the ride!

Audiobook Review
Overall 4 stars
Performance 3.5-4 stars
Story 3.5 stars

* I voluntarily read and listened to a review copy of this book*

Edie is running for her life, literally. The zombies are attacking and luckily, her neighbor rescues her and takes her to his underground bunker. There she learns that her neighbor has built a safe haven. She also learns that he is a vampire, and his name isn't Chad! It is Gaston / Max. She and Max realize that the zombies plan to destroy the world and they are going to fight to the end to save it.
I am not a fan of fantasy or zombie stories. This had a good theme - overcoming evil forces, but I just wasn't invested in the story. There were a LOT of graphic scenes between Max and Edie, and a lot of gory fight scenes, as well. Not for me.