Rebecca L. Boschee

Zombies for Breakfast was a light, entertaining read that was part paranormal romance and part romantic suspense with a liberal splash of comedy thrown in for fun. It even has some slight chick lit leanings as well, so it should appeal to a fairly broad audience. It took me a little while to get into it. I think this is mainly because it is written in first-person perspective in the present tense. I believe this marks the first time I've ever read a book written in this style, so it took some getting used to. I still don't think it will become a favorite style of mine, but once I got to the know the characters a little more and got into the meat of the story, I enjoyed it. It was also the first time I had read a paranormal romance centering around zombies, so I thought the premise was very unique and interesting. Much like the glut of vampires, werewolves, demons and other creatures of the night who inhabit paranormal romance, the zombies here are not the inherently evil, flesh-eating creatures of legend. Although their eating habits are a bit strange at times, their craving for human flesh is more of the sexual variety. They also don't appear grotesque, with rotting flesh falling from their bones, until they've reached a certain age or unless they don't get their “beauty sleep.” Then they can start to literally fall apart. There are also some older and less well cared for zombies who develop troublesome medical conditions which can make them rather hideous, but it's mostly played for laughs rather than being gross or disturbing. The zombies were created through the use of a special embalming fluid used only by one funeral home. Once resurrected, they are still similar to humans with a few caveats. Although they have a long life-span, it isn't infinite like with most paranormal creatures. Overall, Zombies for Breakfast was an intriguing and different kind of paranormal romance.

Payson is a pharmacist who got into her field of work to help people. Her job isn't all she thought it would be though, and she's tired of essentially being nothing but a pill pusher. She has a strong interest in natural remedies and tries to recommend them to her customers whenever she can. Payson has a zombie roommate and is one of the few humans who know of their existence. Despite this, she leads a rather bland, boring life, just trying to pay the bills, but everything changes for her when the pharmacy gets robbed twice in one night while she's closing, her roommate gets tasked with babysitting a hot newborn zombie who is having trouble adjusting to life after death, and one of Payson's co-workers turns up dead in a basement storage room of her apartment building. Suddenly, Payson finds herself as the focus of a murder investigation that's sure to make her look guilty and the target of a zombie drug cartel run by the oldest known zombie. She instantly goes from dulls-ville to more excitement than she ever wanted, but Sean helps to make all the trouble and life-threatening situations worthwhile.

Sean is a good man... err... zombie, who was a member of the military before dying way too young. Now that he's been reanimated, he has a serious case of claustrophobia, which is a big problem since zombies need to regenerate in a small, dark place for at least eight hours a day. I liked Sean's kind nature and that he didn't hesitate to step up and protect Payson from the dangers lurking in the shadows. In his human life, Sean was a very caring man and that nature carried over to his zombie life too. My only small complaint about Sean is that I don't feel like I got to know him very well. There isn't a whole lot of depth to his character until toward the end when he begins to tell Payson a little more about his human life and remember how he died. However, I recognize that this is sometimes a weakness inherent in stories written in first-person narrative, and otherwise Sean was a very likable hero.

The murder mystery was an intriguing element which kept me guessing as to exactly what was going on, and I was surprised by how it turned out. Payson's roommate, Eileen, is a hoot, as are some of the human pharmacy patrons and a few of the nicer zombies. I enjoyed the Arizona setting, although I have to admit that it felt a little more like small-town Arizona than Phoenix, so I had to imagine it being more on the outskirts of the city. With a familiar setting, likable characters, an unusual premise, a little suspense and lots of light-hearted fun, Zombies for Breakfast was an entertaining read that definitely left a memorable impression.

Note: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.… (meer)

Last Resort is a cute, lighthearted, sweet romance about two people who meet and fall in love while working at an upscale resort in Florida. Either the author has first-hand knowledge of the travel/tourism industry or she did her homework well, because I felt like I was with Lila and Jackson in the more relaxed atmosphere of a resort community. Of course, it's not always fun and games for the staff, but they do manage to carve out a little time here and there for romance and recreation. Although some of the situations are more grown-up in nature, the content of the story is very mild, which in my opinion, would make it suitable for most romance fans including teens and sensitive readers.

Lila is a nice girl whose two-timing ex not only cheated on her but ripped off her tuition money to go on a ski trip. Now she's faced with figuring out how to pay for the remainder of her education just when her boss decides that cut-backs are needed at the company where she works. Even though Lila was facing her own hardships, I thought it was really kind of her to volunteer to go on location at the resort so a co-worker who was in even worse straits could keep her job. Once there, she's initially somewhat out of her element, but she caught on fast and was really good with the kids at the resort day-care where she was assigned to work. Lila has a good heart and is nice to nearly everyone, but after her experience with her ex, she's not too trusting of Jackson. At first, she thinks he's just a player, but gradually, she begins to warm up to him. Still, when the circumstantial evidence points to Jackson possibly having another girlfriend and him having run off with Lila's money, she isn't too keen on listening to his explanations even though she still has feelings for him.

Jackson had been partners with his dad in a tour boat company, but with his dad having recently passed away, he's faced with some tough decisions about whether to continue with his father's dream of expanding the company. He goes to work at the resort to get away for a while and do some soul searching in a more relaxed environment. I liked that Jackson wasn't really interested in any of the other female staffers at the resort. Even though more than one of them was practically throwing themselves at him, he basically ignored them, but when Lila showed up, he was instantly smitten. His protective tendencies toward her were really cute. The way he kept coming to her rescue and simply looking out for her well-being was quite sweet. Jackson was equally wonderful with the kids too. In the end, I loved the choices he made about his business and could definitely see things working out great for everyone involved down the road.

Last Resort was a light, easy read that was still very fun and enjoyable. It would make a great beach read for the upcoming summer season. The cast of characters was likable and easy to root for. Even though some of the resort staff initially come off as rather shallow, most of them ended up showing that there was more to them than meets the eye. The conflict primarily revolves around Lila seeing Jackson in the same light as her conniving ex, which leads to several misunderstandings and her being a bit stubborn about letting him explain. This normally wouldn't work well for me, but in Lila's defense, all the stuff with her ex had happened very recently and was still fresh in her mind, plus there were a couple of antagonists working against her and Jackson behind the scenes, planting evidence. All this along with Lila finally admitting to herself in the last chapter that she hadn't been very fair to Jackson, made this trope much more palatable to me than it usually would be. Overall, I had a really good time reading Last Resort. I found it to be well-plotted and well-written, and although it was a relatively simple, uncomplicated story, I have to admit that sometimes it's nice to just slow down with a gentle read. It's like comfort food for the soul. This was my first book by Rebecca Boschee, but I'll definitely be checking out her other novels when I'm in the mood for something low-key.

Note: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.… (meer)