I really wanted to like this one, but I found the dialogue to be really cringey and the worldbuilding to be rather convoluted.

This was very fun. I don't think I liked it quite as much as some of Olivia Dade's contemporary romances, but I still had an absolute blast reading this and I'm looking forward to the next book.

Going in with zero expectations was maybe the best idea I’ve ever had. It was definitely a surprise but a pleasant one. It was one hundred percent fun and fast-paced. As an Olivia Dade fan, this one was a no-brainer for me. Honestly though, just what a wild ride. I almost can’t explain it. I can’t wait for the next one to learn more about how this world works!

Edie tries to save her annoying bro neighbor Chad from zombies but it turns out he’s been only pretending to be Chad and he’s really a super hot vampire who intends to save her. Together they must put together a plan to save the rest of the population.
Cute premise, Gaston jokes became tedious. Easy read while I had the flu. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC - my opinions are my own.

Why I read it: Olivia! Dade! My first Olivia Dade was her Lovestruck Librarians series, followed by the Spoiler Alert series (love), and also AT FIRST SPITE, the first in the Harlot’s Bay series (seriously love). Zomromcom is Dade’s first foray into paranormal romance so you know I had to request it when it went up on NetGalley. (Thanks to the Berkley and NetGalley for the advance copy; this is my honest review.)

Review #insixwords: This was fun. Want book 2!

More:
*Books with zombies can often veer toward horror and dystopian, but this was not that. Even though the zombies are super fast. Dade has a fun, lighthearted style with her contemporary books, and that felt like it carried over here too.

*The world here doesn’t just have zombies—it has so many supernaturals. Vampires, demons, werewolves, fae, witches, enhanced humans.

*Our main character Edie attempts to save her dudebro neighbor Chad from a zombie with nothing more than a wrapped burrito, but surprise, Chad isn’t human and he’s not Chad. He’s a vampire. Named Max. (Technically Gaston.)

*The number of times Edie trolls Max by singing Gaston songs is truly wonderful. A real highlight.
While Edie and Max live in an area that’s especially designed to keep zombies out with walls (they cannot climb) and moats (they cannot swim) but somehow zombies have gotten in through the heavily guarded pass zones and the usual government response isn’t happening.

*Max would be content to stay in his underground bunker and wait things out, but Edie wants to warn her fellow neighbors in the containment zone. And Max isn’t about to let her go off by herself. (She can take care of herself but also he has preternatural speed and a massive secret crush on Edie.)

*We’ve got grumpy-sunshine vibes, and Max is definitely a secret cinnamon roll.

*The people they meet along the way are so much fun. I love them.

*But also, this story isn’t done and there’s clearly another book. There is a resolution to this book! Max and Edie get their happily ever after. The next book appears to be about the oracle (World’s Okayest Oracle, yes please)

Recommendation: If you’re already an Olivia Dade fan, yes, pick this one up. If you haven’t dipped your toe into the paranormal romance pool and would like to, Zomromcom is a good one—it leans into the rom com.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing this book, with my honest review below.

Zomromcom is exactly the book I needed to help the easing out process for my irrational fear of zombies (though by no means are these zombies not scary). The story was fun, the chemistry was hot, and the characters were adorable and unique - which I’d hope would be the case given the title of the book!

Set in a future where supernatural beings are living amongst humans, or at least known by them (including ‘enhanced’ humans), Edie lives in a containment zone that surrounds a compound holding zombies. That may sound crazy but she lost her parents twenty years before to a zombie attack and she feels like their shared house is the last thing she has of theirs. That all sounds sweet but understand that she also has a neighbor, Chad or Euro Chad, and a tenuous sense of safety due to a precious breach of the zombies. The story opens with what appears to be another breach which results in Edie only having a burrito as her weapon against the zombies and the discovery that Chad is actually a vampire going by the name Max (real name Gaston). That all sounds kind of crazy and the story just gets crazier from there as Max tries to help Edie warn her neighbors (though he is all about encouraging her to watch out for only herself) and that journey not only finding the pair meeting new and quirky supernaturals, but also discovering this breach has to be by design.

This is by no means a traditional tale as you can tell, but that’s what made it so much fun! Touchpoints of ‘reality’ are that Edie and the supporting cast can be absolutely hilarious and Max and Edie have a steamy romance (maybe not realistic but I’m here for it). I didn’t realize this was the start of a series until the end, but I’m so excited to see what will come next given the characters and premise - I’m also hoping we get some more world building since I’m very curious and that was somewhat thin. Warning: you will snort and laugh loudly, so read this in relative privacy unless you have enough time to explain this book, which you may need to to spread the joy.

Thank you to Netgalley, Olivia Dade, and Berkley for the E-ARC!

Zomromcom was my first Olivia Dade book and I had so much fun reading it! Even being 400 pages, I binge read it and finished it in one night. This story was filled with romance, zombies, humour and a grumpy vampire.

When there's a breach in the wall that contains the zombies, Edie is forced to hide with her neighbour in his underground basement in hopes of survival. He isn't who she once thought he was though, in fact, he isn't even human! All this time, the neighbour she thought was named Chad, a bro with not a lot going on, is actually called Gaston Max Boucher, and is a vampire. Even with her reluctance, Edie teams up with Max and together they work to figure out how the zombies got out and where to find the appropriate authorities to report the danger.

If you're a fan of grumpy x sunshine, well I have the perfect book for you! Edie, our FMC, never lets go of her kindness, even when faced with the potential end of the world and terrifying zombies. I'm a sucker for a sunshine character so I absolutely adored exploring the world with Edie. Then there's Max, who couldn't care less about anyone else, but intends on following Edie and making sure no harm comes to her. Their banter, Edie's remixes of the Beauty and the Beast Gaston song, and their care for each other was so fun to read.

I can't wait for this book and the eventual sequel to release! I had so much fun diving into this world and it's characters. While reading I kept getting the Gaston song stuck in my head, and now it's back yet again!

Ugh I love Olivia Dade! Her debut paranormal romance novel is giving me everything I could possibly want, and is just as fantastic as her contemporary romances. Her characters are so lovable, and I find myself kicking my feet and giggling constantly. She also has an ability to bring in seriousness when needed, and her novels aren't all fluff. She writes compelling characters, with interesting backstories, and you can't help but root for their happily ever afters. I truly hope Dade writes some more paranormal romances, because I ate this one up with a spoon. That being said, I'm sure Dade could write a romance novel about the dictionary, and I'd love it too.

I have been looking forward to this book every since I saw it announced and it did not disappoint! I think I got lucky with the timing of when I read it because wow did I need the message that it's ok to laugh and joke even when your world is falling apart. I think I have a new favorite trope which is plus sized women making fun of stoic and very serious vampires. We need a name for it. Maybe grumpy sunshine with fangs, curves and humor?

I loved the world building here. I was intrigued by the details I learned but also felt like the romance was the focus. I can't wait for the next book to learn more about this world. I love the idea of humans being the ones with fated mates. I must know more!

I’ve never read Olivia Dade before so I had no idea what to expect. This was cute all around but the writing style wasn’t my favorite and it took me a bit to get into.

Ummm...okay. I've read most of what Olivia Dade has written and I've enjoyed some of them a lot, and one or two not so much. This is very firmly in the "not so much" category. I honestly skimmed most of it because I just simply did not care. There's a LOT going on, and I think Olivia Dade bit off a bit more than she can chew with this kind of story. I'm all for a genre mush-up but this just did not hit for me.

Have you ever read a book that is so bonkers crazy that you just stare at a wall and ponder, what the heck did I just read?!? Then do I have a book for you 😂

In all seriousness I had zero expectations going into Zomromcom by Olivia Dade. Heck I didn’t even read the synopsis before reading this book. I just saw the cover and went a paranormal romance set during a zombie apocalypse say less. I will admit I haven’t had the best luck with Olivia Dade books. They’ve been hit or misses. Zomromcom however as wacky as it is definitely falls in more of the hit scenarios. Zomromcom is a fun mix of humor, action and romance. I promise you will be hooked from the very first chapter all the way through to end.

I really loved our MFC Edie, she’s relatable and genuinely cares about everyone around her. You can’t help but root and fall in love with her. Then we have our MMC Max, our grump in this grumpy v sunshine dynamic. He’s a vampire that may or may not be harboring a secret crush towards his adorkable neighbor Edie. I cannot stress enough how much I loved Max. He may act like a grump but he’s secretly a golden retriever boyfriend and I love him dearly for it. I love him and Edie together. Their protective nature towards each other, their tenderness and banter carry throughout the entire book.

Even though I enjoyed a lot of moments of this book I still found parts that I didn’t love. For a romcom this had so many side characters. Like I lost track of who everyone was amount of side characters. That’s not say some didn’t stick out. But I think in this books case less would’ve a meant more to the story. Also the dystopian world that Olivia Dade set up is a lot especially for a romcom. I had to go back and re-read some parts just to make sure I was understanding the SEC dynamics in this world. And for those looking for an easy romcom might hate that component.

Overall, even with those minor gripes I still had a ton of fun reading Zomromcom and I highly recommend it when it releases later this August. Bug thank you to NetGalley & Berkley Publishing for providing me an arc in exchange for my honest review.

Laugh aloud funny, Olivia Dade puts the Com firmly back in RomCom with ZomRomCom. She also puts the Zom first and foremost–this is a very bloody, harrowing book! I expected monsterfucking (which I got, I guess, if you're into vampires) but the focus really does feel like the plot over the romance. Which–great. Someone immediately grab the rights and turn it into a show.

Once my expectations for the book fell away, I had an amazing time, especially when more characters came into play.

No...one...

Unfortunately this one wasn’t for me. The opening chapters are clunky and I lost interest pretty quickly. I love that the MC is a plus size woman though

I have enjoyed some of Olivia Dade’s contemporary romances, and the cover and premise hooked me immediately. The book itself, however, feels quite literally half-baked. Like someone grabbed a bunch of theoretically compatible ingredients, did some test kitchen experiments, and pulled the final product out of the oven way too early. There was a lot of info dumping, and while the characters were fun, their attitudes and motivations made very little sense in context. This was a pretty chipper and goofy bunch of people, considering they’re living in a zombie death zone. Max was the most confusing to me. I couldn’t square his species characteristics (vampire) with his backstory (sad, no spoilers) or his attitude towards Edie (insert confused emoji here). This either needed to be almost entirely about Edie and Max finally getting to know each other and fall in love, with some zombie survival stuff thrown in, or a full-on paranormal with proper world-building, with the romance as a subplot. As it is, we got a lot of long-winded exposition and a relationship that felt spoon-fed to both the characters and the reader. There was a lot of spice, but the cake it was baked into, which should have been fluffy, fell flat.

3.5/5
The first line of this books just sets the tone immediately, a romcom set with zombies, vampires and other supernatural beings. The banter and humour is top notch. The characters are quirky.
Edie lives in a zombie containment zone. After losing her parents 20 years ago in a zombie attack, she tries to keep an eye out and protect her neighbourhood. Enter her weird euro bro neighbour "Chad" - who Edie saves from a zombie, only to figure out he's not who he says he is. Chad is actually a vampire and extremely lethal as well as hiding many secrets of his own. When the attacks continue, Edie and Chad go on an adventure to discover the bigger plot/ scheme at play and save the day.
This was a fun read. It started off a little clunky and disjointed for me and then built up nicely to a good flow.
Some structural issues in the writing and plot, but overall it was a good read! Love the representation of plus size heroines.

YIKES with all the respect possible, i am dnf’ing this one halfway through. i have read and loved every oliva dade yet and this being her paranormal debut, i was more than willing to tag along this genre shift but i don’t think it’s my cup of tea 🫣 now if that sounds perfect for you, i would i
highly recommend, she’s a great writer with laugh out loud moments and plenty of steam.

thank you netgalley and berkley for this arc, and i will not provide a public review currently! 💙

Zomromcom by Olivia Dade is a total gem—a perfect mix of humor, action, and heart that kept me glued to the page from beginning to end. This book blends zombies, vampires, and romance in a way that feels fresh and fun, while also packing in plenty of emotional depth.

Edie Brandstrup is a character you can't help but root for. She's brave, compassionate, and fiercely determined to protect others, even when the world is falling apart around her. When a zombie breach forces her into the middle of a life-or-death situation, she’s shocked to find that her seemingly harmless neighbor, Max Boucher, isn’t quite what he seems—he’s actually a centuries-old, incredibly surly vampire. Despite his gruff exterior, Max is surprisingly protective of Edie, and their dynamic is pure magic. The banter between them is sharp and witty, with just enough tension to make their blossoming romance feel irresistible.

The plot is fast-paced and full of twists, keeping you on your toes as Edie and Max team up to uncover a dangerous conspiracy to release zombies on the world again. Their journey is equal parts thrilling and funny, with a solid balance between high-stakes action and heartfelt moments. The romance between Edie and Max builds gradually, and it’s so satisfying to see them grow closer, even as they’re fighting for their lives.

What makes Zomromcom stand out, though, is the cast of secondary characters. The quirky, lovable allies they encounter add so much charm and humor to the story, giving it the perfect balance of lightness and tension. Dade’s writing is sharp, fast, and full of wit, effortlessly blending humor with the darker elements of the plot.

At its core, Zomromcom is about fighting for what—and who—you believe in, even when the odds seem insurmountable. Watching Edie and Max navigate their complex feelings for each other while trying to save the world from another zombie apocalypse had me hooked. The book’s ending (without giving anything away) is sweet and satisfying, leaving you with all the feels.

If you're looking for a fun, fast-paced, and surprisingly emotional read that mixes romance, humor, and a dash of danger, Zomromcom is the perfect pick. Olivia Dade has created a unique and wildly entertaining story that’s sure to make you laugh, swoon, and maybe even cheer.

Possibly my favorite Olivia dade ever which is high praise. I cannot wait for more books in this world. The world building is fantastic.