There Is No Surrender - Only Win Or Lose

SPOILER ALERT
This review is for those who have read or are familiar with the previous books, Zombies Don't Cry and Zombies Don't Forgive, or don't mind knowing some spoilers for them. Zombies Don't Surrender, however, will remain spoiler-free.
SPOILER ALERT

~Zombies Don't Surrender~
A Living Dead Love Apocalypse Story
Book 3
By Rusty Fischer
Amazon ~ Powell's

As the final volume in the Living Dead Love Stories opens, Maddy, Dane, and Stamp are still together, though barely, nestled safely inside the walls of Sentinel City, a stronghold designed to keep Zerkers out—and zombies in.

Maddy trains night and day, hoping to join Vera as a Keeper. Dane has been given Sentinel Support in the form a busty blonde named Courtney. And what of Stamp? Although Maddy’s dad has worked hard to rehabilitate him after his Zerker bite, he’s still not all . . . there.

When Dr. Swift inadvertently allows the zombies’ archenemy, Val, to escape from Sentinel City, Maddy’s world turns upside down. She and Stamp are Vanished—expelled from the safety of Sentinel City, no better than common Zerkers. Dane, a Sentinel now, escapes punishment and is assigned to ensure that his old friends never return.

As Maddy and Stamp stray from the safety of Sentinel City, danger mounts . . . and not just for them. Val has taken up residence in a seaside town and enrolled in another Normal high school. To outwit her and save Seagull Shores from all-out zombie Armageddon, Maddy must face her archenemy once again.

Only this time, she’s all alone . . .


Well, I was right in my last review: things sure go to hell in a handbasket in this one. Unfortunately, in more ways than one. I've been reading and reviewing this series for three years now, thoroughly enjoying Mr. Fischer's upbeat, campy, B-movie style and humor. But all good things come to an end, it seems, and so I delve into the final installment in Maddy's Living Dead Love Story.

Cath Wasn't Just a Simon Fan — She Was One Of The Fans

~Fangirl~
By Rainbow Rowell
Amazon ~ Powell's

A coming-of-age tale of fanfiction, family, and first love.

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan.... But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she's really good at it. She and her twin, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it's what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fanfiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can't let go. She doesn't want to.

Now that they're going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn't want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She's got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend; a fiction-writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world; a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words...and she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

If there was ever a book written especially for book bloggers to connect with and adore, this may very well be it. I highly doubt we'd be doing what we're doing if we hadn't felt passionate about what we're reading, so having a main character as passionate about stories and writing as we are... well it's practically a no-brainer that the community would fall in love. That being said, it's also a charming romance, a realistic look at college, and a heartwarming tale about family. Part nostalgia trip, part genuine good story, I couldn't help but be enthralled by this book.

Once Upon A Time, Dragons Used To Kidnap Princesses

~Princess Ahira~
By K.M. Shea
Amazon

Getting kidnapped by dragons on her sixteenth birthday was the best thing that ever happened to Princess Ahira.

After spending her life avoiding lectures and lessons, Ahira is thrilled when she is kidnapped and selected as a live-in-princess (Read: Servant) for a powerful dragon named Azmaveth. Her dreams of escaping royal monotony are dashed, however, when she realizes she will have to marry the prince that saves her. Tradition rules, after all.

Being a romance cynic, Ahira doesn’t consider marriage a fantastic future. So she decides to stay with Azmaveth until her brother, a prince, can sneak away from their kingdom to rescue her.

Life is interesting thanks to eccentric tenants of the dragon lands. As a live-in-princess Ahira meets Snow White and her seven dwarf uncles who have fallen asleep, Hanzel and Gretal who have locked an old woman out of her cookie cottage, and a miniature unicorn who has some pretty powerful magic.

However, there are a few negatives to Ahira’s new life. There’s Kohath, Azmaveth’s infuriating human steward; Azmaveth’s tendency to mis-make magic spells; Kohath; the ongoing epic battle between the dragons and the Valkyrie, magical warriors bent on dominion over magic; and Kohath.

Things get scaly when the dragons realize Azmaveth has unwittingly put their future in Ahira’s hands. If Ahira wants her happily ever after she’ll have to fight tooth and nail for it.


I admit, my main motivation for reading this one was to satisfy both the genre and key word challenges for April. However, I was also excited to read it after the description brought back memories of one of my favorite childhood stories, Patricia C. Wrede's Dealing With Dragons. With nontraditional princesses, intelligent dragons, and a few fairytale throwbacks, I eagerly dove in.

And soon wished I had just re-read Dealing With Dragons.