Guest Review by Sammy
Buy Link: Zombie Wonderland
Author: Piper Vaughn
Length: Novella

Rating: 5 stars

I couldn’t stop myself from kissing him again, slow and deep. I poured all of my gratitude and longing into that kiss, pulling away only when the need for air demanded it. “Thank you. Not only for this, but for remembering me tonight, for rescuing me and protecting me. For saving me. I don’t think I would have made it without you.” Ross grinned at me and brushed the hair off of my forehead with gentle fingers. “You saved me too.” “Yeah,” I said, remembering. “I guess I did.”

It’s Christmas Eve and Emery is keeping the diner open for one more hour. Emery, a undiscovered artist, waits tables each day, waiting…hoping that the beautiful man with the dark eyes, will return again. He knows his name, Ross. He knows that each time he came he would sit just there in the back booth and write. Every once in a while, Emery would glance toward Ross and catch him staring…at him. So begins Zombie Wonderland by Piper Vaughn and before it slides to a screaming halt, these two men will run for their lives, chased down by mindless zombies intent on tearing the flesh from their bones. During the frantic race for their lives, Emery will find the strength and rage needed to kill the creatures, endure countless horrific scenes of cannibalism, and fall in love. Say what? That last one caught you didn’t it! Yes, Zombie Wonderland is a love story…a fast-paced, well-written, crazy ride of a romance!

When zombies begin to attack the city, Ross goes to the diner to rescue Emery. As their night together unfolds, they race against time to reach the cabin that Ross had inherited from his grandfather, an ex-military survivalist. The cabin, a veritable fortress, is their only safe haven. After battling countless undead, running for their lives through the woods, and stealing a second car after theirs runs pell-mell into an accident zone, they arrive. Once inside, they are able to stop, take a breath and explore not only what has happened to the outside world, but also what the night’s events now mean to them. The need to explore each other, coupled with the realization that the possibility of a relationship had actually existed for both of them prior to that night, propels them into each other’s arms where they cling to each other and the fragile beginning of love.

This was a great story! Vaughn keeps this little story humming along, throwing one nightmare after another at her two main characters. Told from Emery’s point of view, we are sucked into his terrifying world and carried along with him as he alternately panics in fear and clings to the only man who has ever meant anything to him—and he has no idea if those feelings are returned. Vaughn does not leave us to wonder very long. Through her deft hand, we watch as these two men do everything within their power to keep the other alive and then fall…hard into each other’s arms, the only place either feels truly safe. I loved these two men—Emery sweet and kind, unaware of his own worth and Ross, the classic hero, who swoops in and saves the man he has longed for from afar. I highly recommend this story to you! Zombies, Christmas, and Love—could it get any better than that!