Review - I Saw Zombies Eating Santa Claus (A Breathers Christmas Carol) by S.G. Browne (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Zombie/Post-Apocalyptic
Size: 208 pages
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: October 30, 2012
ISBN: 978-1476708720
Stand Alone or Series: Sequel to Breathers
Source: Goodreads First Reads
Rating: 4/5 stars


I got a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review through the Goodreads First Reads program. Thanks to Gallery Books and Goodreads for allowing me the opportunity to review this book. I read Browne’s book Breathers when it was released a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I was really looking forward to reading this book as well. This ended up being a fun, yet short, zombie Christmas read. It was gory, disturbing, entertaining, and even a bit heart-warming.

This book picks up where Breathers left off. Andy is being held in an experimental facility. This book is mostly about Andy escaping from that experimental facility and then returning to rescue some friends. In between this he meets a sweet eleven year old girl who mistakes him for the one and only Santa. She wants nothing more than for her mother to spend some time with her once in awhile and Andy is determined to help her out.

This was a fun read but pretty short, it took a little over an hour to read. This is full of the wit and dark humor Browne is known for. It was a very well written and engaging story that was hard to put down.

As with Breathers this is a zombie book with gore, violence, dark humor, and surprisingly some heart as well. Parts of the book are laugh out loud funny and others are disturbingly gory...in between all of this the story is surprisingly touching.

Andy is a loyal and courageous zombie who knows how to live his unlife better than most live humans life their lives. Along the way he reminds a mother of her duty to her daughter and reminds us all of the true meaning of Christmas spirit.

Overall a great read, I really enjoyed it. This is a truly unique, if somewhat disturbing holiday read. Recommended to zombie fans and those who enjoy dark humor. Full review to follow.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Zombie Reading Challenge
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge

Review - A Clockwork Christmas by Jenny Scwartz, J.K. Coi, PG Forte, and Stacy Gail (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Steampunk Romance
Size: 692 KB
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: December 5, 2011
ASIN: B005Z1C47Q
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 4/5 stars


I got a copy of this book to review through NetGalley(dot)com. This book consists of four novellas which all have themes of steampunk, romance, and Christmas holidays. All of the novellas were decently written, although some of them were a bit too romancy for my taste. My two favorite stories were This Winter Heart by PG Forte and Far From Broken by JK Coi.

- Crime Wave in a Corset by Stacy Gail (3/5 stars)
This was my least favorite of the bunch. It involves a lady theif who is captured by one of her former targets. He puts a clockwork watch on her that is supposed to kill her unless she can deliver the item she stole from him by Christmas. Of course they fall in love. The story was well enough written, but seemed to be mainly an excuse for erotic love scenes between the two leads than any additional story.

- This Winter Heart by PG Forte (5/5 stars)
A woman returns to her noble husband after years of estrangement; the twist to the story is that she is returning with their eight year old son after thinking she could never have children...but for different reasons than you might think. The writing and description throughout this story was absolutely beautiful. I completely fell in love with these characters and the story. There were a ton of steampunk elements to this story and it had a good mystery woven throughout.

- Wanted: One Scoundrel by Jenny Schwartz (4/5 stars)
This was the story of a young woman suffragette seeking a young man (scoundrel) to represent her woman's rights platforms in men's clubs. The story was very well done and covered a number of issues outside of the main romance. There was also a very intriguing world of politics and allegiances built throughout the story. The romance between the two main characteres was sweet, somewhat innocent, and ironic. The whole story made me smile and I really enjoyed it.

- Far From Broken by JK Coi (5/5 stars)
A prima ballerina has been brutally tortured because of her husband's secret position as a government spy. This story tells about her recovery as she is put back together and becomes something part-machine and super-strong. Much of the story is about how her husband is trying to help her recover and earn her forgiveness for the secretive actions that lead to her capture and torture. This story had a lot of wonderful elements to it; politics, experiments, excellent streampunk elements and a sweet rekindling of romance between husband and wife. It was very well written and I enjoyed reading it a lot. At the conclusion I was really hoping to read more stories about the wonderful adventures that this couple would have.

Overall a solid collection of stories. All of the stories have wonderful steampunk elements, but also rely heavily on romantic plot elements. Some of the sex scenes are very graphic, so definitely for adult audiences only. Overall I enjoyed the collection and am glad I read it. It's a solid collection of stories with both a Steampunk and holiday theme to them. Just a warning to steampunk fans, this is more steampunk-romance than anything else.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 100+ Reading Challenge
- Get Steampunked!
- E-book Reading Challenge