Guest Review: Half Past Dead by Zoe Archer and Bianca D’Arc

Tracy‘s review of Half Past Dead by Zoe Archer and Bianca D’Arc

The Undying Heart by Zoe Archer

Samuel Reed had no idea magic existed, until it almost destroyed him. Thirsting for vengeance against the enemy who made him something less than human, Sam returns to England and crosses paths with Cassandra Fielding. His best friend’s little sister has become a fearless woman on a dangerous mission of her own. And against all odds, she sees past what he’s become, and stirs a desire he thought he’d lost forever…

When Cassandra and Samuel run into each other again they have no idea that it happens because they are both after the same villain. They soon discover that their missions are somewhat intertwined.

What they also discover is that the attraction that they felt years ago before Samuel went off to war is still simmering under their skin. But Samuel is not willing to get involved with Cassandra. He was killed and then reanimated with a voodoo curse and knows that he can’t be with the one he loves, but he can’t seem to stay away from her.

I have to admit, this was a hard story for me to get through. I liked the story in general but the whole reanimation thing just was constantly at the forefront of my mind. I felt I was always thinking, “just think of him as a vampire, Trac and it will be fine” cuz basically there wasn’t a whole lot of difference. Technically dead, but up and walking around. But the story itself was what kept reminding me of his deadness (ha). He was called a zombie and also was feared by townspeople, who came after him, but the people had no idea exactly what he was – just that he was evil. But he wasn’t. It was just an odd concept for my brain to grasp. The story also had some damn hot sex scenes but they ended up falling a little flat because of the thought of zombie sex. A bit of a squick factor.

From reading Ms. Archer’s website this is the first in s a series of the Blades of the Rose, of which Cassandra is a member. I wouldn’t mind reading more about the Blades…as long as there are no more Zombie’s involved.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Simon Says by Bianca D’Arc

Special Forces soldier Simon Blackwell ended his affair with Mariana Daniels three years ago, but he hasn’t stopped protecting her. Mariana has no knowledge of the dark, deadly creatures that lurk in the forest surrounding her clinic, or of the mysterious powers that make Simon the only one who can defeat them. But soon he’ll have no choice but to reveal the truth, and urge her to trust in an explosive passion that never faded.

Simon Blackwell is sent in with his Special Ops team to take care of a horrible threat to society – zombies. They end up taking out his entire team – and this is after they take out a whole Marine team as well. Simon is bitten but for some reason has immunity to the zombie bite so he doesn’t die. Because of his physiological issues he feels that he needs to stay away from the women he left 3 years earlier.

When Simon is hurt beyond what he can take care of himself he knows where he needs to go – to Dr. Mariana Daniels’ clinic. Mariana hasn’t seen Simon in 3 long years. When he’d left for his mission all those years ago she had hoped he would come back but she had never laid eyes on him again. She’s still wants the man she fell in love with, but is scared to put her heart on the line again. When Simon starts using Mariana’s house as a daytime base for his zombie hunts things start to heat up. But what will happen with their relationship when Simon is finished with his mission?

I very much enjoyed this story. I felt that it conveyed the emotions of the characters quite well and I could very much relate to the anxiety that Simon and Mariana felt at the time of their somewhat painful reunion.

For the zombie part of it – well, it was kind of graphic but not so bad that I wanted to stop reading. Simon was unsure of what exactly he was after being bitten but I never got the idea that he was anything less than human. Ms. D’Arc really pulled me into the story and I definitely needed to find out how things ended.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

FYI – The Undying Heart takes place in 1858 while Simon Says is a contemporary read.

This book is available from Brava. You can buy it here or here in e-format.