Review originally posted in May of 2013 on Fiction Vixen by Angela.

Love Only Survives by Renee Charles
Dystopia/Fantasy Romance
Published May 24, 2013 by Wild Rose Press

Only Love Survives is a typical girl meets boy love story set against a zombie plague. Lol, okay so it’s not so typical, and this is the exact reason I picked it for review. I recently read another zombie romance that I really enjoyed and was excited to find another release by a different author set in a dystopian type world where the H/h must find love amidst the rubble of civilization.

Megan Fletcher is working her way to Las Vegas in hopes of helping find a cure for the recent outbreak of the zombie plague. As a woman who was bitten and survived she believes her immunity might be the very thing that could help bring about a solution to the problem. While making her escape from a group of zombies she is rescued by another loner on a mission. Sam Woods is travelling across the country in search of his kid sister. Before the world went crazy he was a corporate mogul, used to champagne, caviar and beautiful women. Now he just wants to find the only family he has left and get back to his well stocked cabin where they can be safe. When he meets up with a headstrong woman bent on keeping her secrets and going her own way he realizes he just might not mind a travelling companion.

I’m finding that I like zombie romances. Something about discovering love at the end of the world as we know it intrigues me. Things I wouldn’t normally like in a romance I find acceptable here. Things like insta-love and a short build up to the romance would normally be on my complaint list, but for some reason they’ve worked in the few stories I’ve read in with this trope. Megan and Sam definitely share an instant attraction, I think at first it was because there weren’t any other options and they were a little hard up for sex, but I did believe their chemistry. While they get along and even thrive in each other’s company now, they would have never been compatible in their former lives. She was a simple school teacher who valued her students and he worked himself to the top of the corporate world telling people what to do and how to do it. He meets his match with Megan, who won’t do everything he says and is hell-bent on getting to Las Vegas, even if it means she’ll have to walk there all by herself.

I liked that Megan wasn’t a pushover. Even in a world gone mad she’s strong and her own person. She’s slow to completely rely on Sam even though she desperately wants to. She keeps her cool, doesn’t freak out and always has a plan when she goes anywhere. In his protectiveness Sam tries to control her actions, but I think this was his natural inclination. That didn’t bother me like it usually would, maybe because he was always willing to concede in the end and even when her secret comes out about being bitten he never turns from her or acts like an ass. They have a lusty relationship, but the sex scenes never felt forced or just thrown in for shock value. I like that, it made me believe their eventual affection for each other even more. They made a good team and worked well together. It’s weird, but while they were on the road, scraping up supplies and trying to figure out what to do next I was right there with them thinking about what I would do in that situation. You know, just in case of a real zombie apocalypse.

Only Love Survives was a quick read, with a sweet romance in spite of the gory plot line. The ending was lovely and I will be sure to look for more from this author.

Favorite Quote:

Sam captured her face in his hands and plundered her mouth. There was no slow, gentle permission seeking that should be present in a first kiss. They were past that. It was hot, wet and demanding, which she met with demands of her own. God, she could argue with that tongue even without saying a word.