Love & Decay (Volume 1)
Author: Rachel Higginson
Pub. Date: Sept. 29, 2013
Acquired: Purchased.
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Zombies- as if that wasn’t enough to ruin any girl’s dream of a happily ever after.
A vaccination gone oh so wrong and a huge portion of the world’s population was turned into Zombies. Reagan Willow is forced out of her home when her parents become casualties of the horrid Zombie Apocalypse. With the help of her best friend Haley, they’ve become somewhat of experts on surviving the dangers of a world thrust into chaos and decay.
Reagan and Haley are on a vague mission to find somewhere safe to live out the remainders of their terrifying life when they stumble upon the Parkers, a pack of brothers that seem to have the survival thing down in a much more efficient and successful way than Reagan could ever have imagined. They are also protecting their eight year old sister, Page, and will do anything to keep her safe.
The brothers decide that Reagan and Haley need help with being kept safe as well, and as a group they set off to find the Zombie-free utopia Reagan is dreaming of.
Zombies are a daily problem, constantly threatening the lives of their group, but they’re not the only peril on the journey ahead. Militia groups of power hungry men are also a constant concern. And settlements of paranoid, suspicious people turn out to be just as hazardous.
Danger looms over every inch of the way, but Reagan, Haley and the Parkers are determined to get to their goal and remain together. Soon the Parkers become more to Reagan than just traveling companions and more than friendship starts to develop between her and Hendrix, the second oldest brother.
But at the end of the world, nothing can be as simple as life and death. Now, Reagan is going to have to schedule falling in love between hunting and surviving. Hopefully she can last long enough to find out if true love can still exist when everything else has started to fall apart.
Love and Decay, Volume One, is a compilation of the first six episodes in a twelve episode season. It is a Dystopian Romance Novella Series about Zombies, the end of the world and finding someone to share it with.
This story takes place over multiple episodes, with a release date every two weeks. Each episode is approximately 20,000 words.
~My Review~
The first time I picked this up, I just ordered episode one off of Amazon for free. Volume 1 was out but I wasn’t sure if I’d like it enough to commit to spending money no buying the whole thing. I can honestly say that as soon as I had the first episode finished, I had purchased Volume 1. And then, Volume 2. I don’t know what I would’ve done had Volume 2 also not been out.
If you’ve been following Captivated Reading at all, you know that I have a serious thing for zombies. I can’t get my hands on enough zombie stories. And if they include a life-or-death love story in there, all the better!
Right away I knew that I was going to love Reagan and Haley. These two are best friends trying to survive after a vaccine-gone-wrong-zombie-infested-world. Besides a strong love story, more than anything, I love when there is a strong friendship that I can root for. And these two have it! They were hilarious from the get-go and treat each other more like sisters than best friends. It’s amazing!
Now, as for the love story aspect of Love & Decay, oh my word. Those Parker boys are sure a force to reckoned with! And right from the start both Hendrix and Vaughn have their eyes on Reagan.
Hendrix. He is pretty much the kind of guy that a girl would need in this situation. He’s part romantic and part Neanderthal. But, only in the best way.
These stories come out every two weeks and I find myself pretty sad on the weeks that I have to do without a new story. BUT, they are well worth the wait!
After reading this, Rachel Higginson has become one of my favorite authors! I can’t wait to delve into some more of her work!
~My Rating~
~About the Author~
I was born and raised in Nebraska, but spent my college years traveling the world. I fell in love with Eastern Europe, Paris, Indian Food and the beautiful beaches of Sri Lanka. But I came back home to marry my high school sweetheart and now I spend my days raising our growing family. In those few spare moments I have, I am either reading or writing Young Adult Fiction, because I am obsessed with it.
Five other things I’m obsessed with right now:
1. My Kuerig Coffee Machine. Genius.
2. 90’s music. Oh man, the 90’s speak right to my soul.
3. Chocolate smelling body wash. Who doesn’t want to walk around smelling like a bakery?
4. Colored Chapstick. And if it’s Dr. Pepper Flavored, that’s kind of my nirvana.
And.
5. Spotify. It’s like the mixed-tape of this generation and I have probably three hundred hours of music on there. Can’t get enough.
