Sweet Dreams!

I had the pleasure of diving into Joss Ware's Beyond the Night over the weekend and had some pretty strange apocalypse dreams as a result! I guess that's what I get for reading this sort of thing before bed.

Have I mentioned that I love apocalyptic stuff? Lurve it! And this one has romance and zombies to boot! No, not zombie romance, a romance with zombies. In a post-apocalyptic future. And it rocks! Even better, it's the first in a series with books two and three (Embrace the Night Eternal and Abandon the Night) both hitting shelves in the coming months (Jan 12, Feb 9, and March 9, respectively). And I've just read that Ware is working on a fourth book to be released in 2011. Awesome!

And where did I read this, you might ask? On Julie James's blog, where she's giving away Joss Ware's new book. Here's the link if you want to enter. The tidbit about the fourth Envy book is in the comments section: Ware joined in the discussion about the books and shared that yummy little piece and more.

So, here's a bit about Beyond the Night, though I swear it won't do it justice!

Dr. Elliot Drake and his friends were exploring caves in Sedona when the world ended. All of them lost consciousness only to awake and find that fifty years have passed. And they've not aged one bit. That was six months ago. Now they've found a group of teens that may finally lead them to Envy, the largest known society of survivors. Their hope is to find someone who has lived through the event and can explain to them what has happened.

Jade has only ever known this world. When she meets Elliot, nicknamed "Dred," she is sure that he is hiding a dark secret. But she never suspects the truth. Jade has fought to survive this long and she's not planning on stopping long enough to let this man into her heart. In a world where everything seems lost, though, hope may be the one thing they have left.

Ooh, I really liked this book. I started it Saturday night and finished it Sunday just after noon. And then I wanted to rush into the next one! Ware has created a captivating world with incredible detail. Beyond the Night is a great balance of romance, paranormal, and post-apocalypse zombie-ridden future.

And you know what? Readers are eating up the apocalypse! I've heard it said that zombies will never overtake vampires because zombies just aren't sexy, but I can tell you that books with zombies can be very sexy. Joss Ware has done it, and she's not alone. Romatic Times Book Reviews devoted part of their January issue to post-apocalyptic fiction, discussing the trend in sci-fi/fantasy, romance, and even in teen fiction as well. As far as I'm concerned, this is one trend that can stick around 'cause I doubt I'll ever get tired of it. Throw zombies in the mix and I'm a happy camper!