Zomromcom (Penguin Publishing Group) - Softcover

Dade, Olivia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0593818202 ISBN 13: 9780593818206

Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group, 2025

Inhaltsangabe

An Instant USA Today Bestseller!

Teaming up with your neighbor during a zombie outbreak is a no-brainer, but if it turns out he’s a vampire . . . the stakes couldn’t be higher, in this infectious new paranormal romance from the USA Today bestselling author of Spoiler Alert.

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.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Lifelong nerd Olivia Dade has held various rewarding jobs over the years—librarian, high school teacher, Colonial Williamsburg interpreter—but is thrilled to have finally achieved her ultimate goal of wearing pajamas all day as a hermit-like writer and enthusiastic hag. She currently lives outside Stockholm with her delightful family and their ever-burgeoning collection of books.

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Teaming up with your neighbor during a zombie outbreak is a no-brainer, but if it turns out he’s a vampire . . . the stakes couldn’t be higher, in this infectious new paranormal romance from the USA Today bestselling author of Spoiler Alert.

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.

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1

Armed with a burrito, Edie rounded her car and sprinted to intercept the zombie.

She'd prefer to be carrying the knife she brought with her on her daily zombie-scouting walks or the cleaver she sometimes used to cut her soaps. Both weapons would actually kill zombies-by cutting off their heads or carving out their hearts, two of only three ways the creatures could be slain-rather than simply sprinkling them with medium-hot corn salsa.

Too bad Chad would be a headless corpse before she could grab either weapon.

People used to picture zombies shuffling slowly toward their victims, arms outstretched as they droned about brains, braaaaaains, but a secret, ill-fated government experiment had proven everyone wrong. She'd seen their startling, terrifying speed for herself almost exactly twenty years before, back when she was eighteen, as she'd spotted the first gaunt, gray-pale creature racing silently on all fours toward-

Didn't matter. A burrito was what she had. Thus, a burrito she would use. Somehow. Even though the various self-defense courses she'd taken had neglected sufficient coverage of the tortilla-wielding martial arts.

Her sweet idiot of a neighbor stood on the unlit front porch of his dilapidated brick rancher as the sun dipped below the horizon and shadows stretched to swallow him. Chad wore headphones and didn't react to her shouted warning. No one else came running to help either, and no matter what happened, no one would. There were eleven homes on their cul-de-sac, and only two were currently occupied. Hers. Chad's.

She was the only one who could save him. Or at least attempt to save him.

Oh gods, she didn't want to die. But she couldn't let someone else-anyone else-perish while she ran to rescue herself. Not again.

The creature was only a dozen long strides away from Chad now, lunging upward and onto its hind legs in preparation for the kill, elongated teeth yellowed and sharp and bared, claws outstretched to rip Chad's head from his absurdly broad shoulders before cracking his skull open like an egg and slurping down the tasty yolk of a brain.

She skidded into the zombie's path, panting and terrified, and kicked it in the chest with every ounce of her strength and desperation.

Mistake. Big mistake. The creature stopped, true. But it stumbled maybe a half step back and to the side, that was all, while the impact numbed her entire leg and jolted her off-balance. As she struggled to stay upright, to assume a defensive stance, the zombie growled something hoarsely-

Bonjour? That couldn't be right.

-its red-rimmed eyes now fixed on . . . her. Which had been her intent, but still. Shit.

She swatted it across the snout with her foil-wrapped burrito.

Its stare narrowed, empty of anything but feral rage. As she took several hasty steps backward, the creature stalked forward, slowly now, still upright.

It could tear her to pieces whenever it wanted. It had time to play with its food.

Like her, Chad had cleared all vegetation from a sizable area surrounding his house. No attacker could approach without being seen, because even a last-second warning was better than none. But that meant the nearest climbable tree was maybe twenty, thirty feet away.

She wouldn't make it. She had to try.

Even though she probably wouldn't survive this encounter, every moment she distracted the creature would allow Chad time to finally clue in to what was happening right beside his freaking front porch and run for his life. Preferably up a ladder, where the zombie couldn't follow.

He could call the hotline then. Sound the alarm. Alert everyone else in the Containment Zone to take shelter and wait in safety until the government helicoptered in sufficient troops to remedy the breach and eradicate the zombies once and for all.

After a final shout of warning to Chad, she turned to run as the zombie bent

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2025
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0593818202
• ISBN 13: 9780593818206
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 417
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Penguin Random House Ireland; penguinrandomhouse@penguinrandomhouse.com; ; 1745 Broadway; New York; 10019; USA
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Friedensallee 273; Hamburg; 22763; Deutschland