Mini Reviews ~ Zombie Thanksgiving by Rusty Fischer + Pumpkin Spice & a Body On Ice by Willow Monroe

Zombie Thanksgiving 

Zombie Thanksgiving: A YA Paranormal Story 

by Rusty Fischer 

Pages: 24 

Publication Date: 1/10/14

Source: Bought myself  

Purchase: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis

It's Thanksgiving and all Cassie wants to do is sit in her dorm room eating cheesy poofs and binge watching a Horror High marathon on HitFlix. That's when Rex, one of the members of the Zombie Job Corps, shows up, wanting to clean her floor. With nothing better to do, Cassie helps him... and finds a friend for Thanksgiving break. And just in time, too, seeing as a zombie outbreak is starting and Cassie has to decide which side to fight for: the good zombies... or the bad!    

Going in, I knew Zombie Thanksgiving was only 24 pages so I tried to prepare myself for an extremely short story. The writing was so good, but it was still just way too short for me though. 

It's good that Zombie Thanksgiving left me wanting more but also bad because I had so many questions. I would have liked more background on the zombies and the main characters. What happened to them next? I might never find out!!  

This is why short stories, in my opinion, are so difficult to pull off. Readers want them to accomplish A LOT in a short amount of time. I'd rather not read one that ends on a major cliffhanger, which Zombie Thanksgiving does. So if you're okay with cliffhangers, give this one a go. Otherwise, you might end up pulling your hair out wondering what happens next.  

Pumpkin Spice & a Body On Ice 

Pumpkin Spice & a Body On Ice

Dixie Cupp Diner Mysteries

by Willow Monroe 

Pages: 88 

Publication Date: 10/15/15

Source: Bought myself  

Purchase: Amazon 

Synopsis

Cupcakes and murder - a recipe for disaster! 

Starla Cupp lives her life on purpose, and it shows. She owns the best diner in Virginia, has the best friends in the world, and she's the reigning Cupcake Queen of Sugar Hill's annual dessert festival, which is only a couple of weeks away. Life is pretty darn good until she finds Nadine Krump, her arch-nemesis, dead on the railroad tracks behind her diner.

Now she's famous for something besides her cupcakes, and everyone's pretty sure that Nadine's death was no accident. With the sexy new police chief breathing down her neck and a possible killer among her close group of friends, Starla has to figure out what happened, prove herself innocent, and win a cupcake contest before the real killer gets away with murder. 

A fun holiday mystery for everyone!

Starla Cupp and her best friend, Poppy (I love her name!), run the Dixie Cupp (yep, spelled with two p's) Diner together. I love their friendship; they're truly best friends who support each other. It's so nice to see two strong women supporting one another - no tearing each other down going on here! Just really refreshing.

At first I thought the town of Sugar Hill was a cozy one where everyone knows everyone but quickly discovered while everyone does know each other, they don't necessarily like each other. There are a lot of secrets floating around, and it's anything BUT a cozy little town. There are some serious shenanigans going down.

I laughed when the police chief, who's a major health nut, gets roped in by the mayor to judge the annual cupcake contest. There went Starla's hopes of keeping up her winning streak!   

I loved Starla. She says she doesn't just let things happen to her - she says she lives life on purpose, and I really love that motto. Starla made me want to start living my life "on purpose" and stop feeling like everything is out of my control.

The twist was a surprise. I might have seen it coming a tad, but I was left guessing there for a while.  

I just really really want more of these characters and searched to see if the author is planning on it. Not sure at this point, but I think chances are good. I definitely want more Starla!   

I also bought a book by the author called Mall Santa Murder for 99 cents because I enjoyed her writing so much. 

So happy to have been able to scoop up Pumpkin Spice & a Body On Ice for free! I feel lucky to have discovered such great characters and writing!