Paranormal romance at its most ridiculous – and heartfelt!  I adored Zomromcom, one of my favourite reads of 2025 so I’ve been waiting for this one and it’s just as fun!

WOO(R)SD has a brief prologue where Hugh and Gwen meet twenty-odd years ago. Then it’s off at a gallop, roughly the day after Zomromcom finishes.  Gwen and her bunch of misfit friends had succeeded in thwarting the zombie attack, but they needed help to find out how it occurred. Gwen and a couple of trolls approach Hugh Blacke, an esteemed member of the Ruling Council who had said all those years ago that she should call him if ever she was in need. Hugh remembers her very well, and off they go, trolls in tow, to find out how the zombies escaped the containment walls, and who was responsible, and what else could be coming. 

Gwen Wexloff is a very ordinary oracle. She has visions but they are more likely to be about whether or not a recipe works, than they are about world shattering events.  She has made herself a life by bartering her visions for the goods and help she needs, and she cares for her neighbours and builds community in the fringes near the containment walls. She is resourceful and kind, and also pregnant. Hugh Blacke is one of the elites. He is a half demon (complete with horns) and works for the ruling council. Apart from that one meeting twenty years ago, Gwen and Hugh have little in common, but they are clearly soulmates.

I won’t detail the plot as it’s such a ride. It feels very complicated to begin with, but Olivia Dade knows her stuff and it all makes sense as events unfold – and it’s breezy and very funny, in between action and danger. Cheese references and jokes are everywhere and I adored them all – especially the very smutty television show set in a world of cheese.

Hugh and Gwen have turbo-charged insta-love, as they are smitten AFTER A DAY,  and it’s so natural that I could believe it. Hugh is an absolute honey – honest to a fault, considerate of everything Gwen wants, a consent King 😉, and an increasingly powerful demon. It’s as if he has been waiting years for Gwen and now he has her, he’s all in. Gwen has a few more hangups than he does (and a pregnancy from a one-night stand) so she’s a little more cautious, but just as smitten. Action is split between the post-zombie drama, Hugh’s family, and their romance. It’s fast paced, action-packed and super-silly, in the very best ways. Perfect for an afternoon’s escape with some very hot and steamy demon action packed in.  Thank you so much Olivia Dade and Little Brown Group UK for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

Laura Black is a romance editor, reader and reviewer based in Queensland, Australia.