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Life After a Zombie Apocalypse
Love and Other Cures for the Recently Undead follows a teenage girl who awakens from a two-year blackout to find she has survived the apocalypse but is now one of the undead. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I was talking to a friend about zombies and zombie apocalypses. She’s more of a horror writer and was working on a post-zombie apocalypse story about an ex-zombie who still had cravings for human flesh. But my thought was that if there were ex-zombies, those people were probably really traumatized—it’s where my mind naturally goes. And it was that thought that made me start to really wonder what life would be like for those left over from a zombie apocalypse, what sort of things they’d struggle with on a daily basis, and how they’d cope with everything they’d gone through and lost. I’ve always been passionate about psychology, so this became something of an interesting thought experiment.
What is it that draws you to the paranormal romance genre?
I like the freedom it offers. As I mentioned before, my main interest is in the psychological and I feel like a treasure trove can be explored in paranormal romance. There are the interpersonal and social issues between the main love interests stuck within the broader context of something extraordinary with its own psychological baggage. In CeCe and Derrick’s case, they had to bridge the gap of trust and forgiveness while navigating the trauma from being ex-zombies.
What was the inspiration for Cece’s traits and dialogue?
I love tennis, so I made her this phenomenal tennis player—the type of player I could only dream to be. Because CeCe is so dedicated to a sport and having this identity as an athlete from such an early age, it shaped everything about her and who she is. For her to lose that, it was like losing half of herself. She doesn’t know who she is anymore and has to get to know herself in a way she never has. It’s this feeling of being disconnected that dictates her traits and dialogue moving forward in the story.
Can readers look forward to a follow-up to this novel? What are you currently working on?
I did leave it open for a sequel, and I really love CeCe and Derrick so I’ve definitely been thinking of how the story would continue. Right now, though, I’m working on another paranormal romance that involves a serial killer, who is definitely not one of the main love interests.
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CeCe wakes to a reality she can’t fathom and realizes it’s probably not a good idea to fall for the guy who bit her and made her one of the undead.
But in this post-apocalyptic world, everything she’s known and understood has changed, including the path to love.
This is going to be your next favorite story, so hurry and buy it now!
Love and Other Cures for the Recently Undead
At its core, Love & Other Cures for the Recently Undead is a gritty, emotional, and strangely tender post-apocalyptic coming-of-age tale. We follow CeCe, a teenage girl who wakes up from a two-year blackout only to discover she was among the Infected, essentially the undead, during the downfall of civilization. As she tries to rebuild a life in a world that has changed beyond recognition, she confronts loss, trauma, guilt, and, unexpectedly, the guy who bit her. It’s not just a zombie survival story, it’s about identity, healing, and navigating the ugly mess of grief and rebirth.
I wasn’t prepared for how raw this book would hit. The opening chapters aren’t action-packed in the usual undead thriller way, but they are claustrophobic and gut-wrenching. CeCe waking up in darkness, confused and crushed under bodies, is horrifying, not because of gore but because it’s so human and real. Ramsay doesn’t rush the emotional recovery, and I appreciated that. You really feel CeCe’s pain when she realizes her mother didn’t make it, that her best friend and boyfriend are missing, that she’s been gone for two years and everything she loved (tennis, high school, her future) is shattered. That kind of slow-burn horror hits harder than any jump scare.
The writing style is simple but effective. Ramsay keeps things clean and fast-moving, even when the plot slows down. There’s a lot of introspection, especially in scenes where CeCe returns to her old school as part of the Rehabilitation Program. Those moments of being surrounded by other damaged kids with missing limbs, haunted eyes, and weird silence hit me like a punch to the chest. And the subtle tension with Olivia, the hostile Survivor, is quietly terrifying. But where the book really surprised me was Derrick. The boy who infected CeCe? It turns out he’s been cured, too. And somehow, this book manages to make you feel something when they meet again. Confused anger. Loathing. Maybe even curiosity. I didn’t want to root for him, but I found myself leaning in.
What really stood out was the emotional weirdness of returning to something familiar that’s now unrecognizable. Ramsay captures that eerie feeling of trying to go back to normal when “normal” is gone forever. When CeCe walks through her school, sees her old tennis team photo, or opens her ex-boyfriend’s locker. Those moments are small, but they carry so much weight. And it’s honestly heartbreaking how she’s just expected to rejoin society, do her homework, eat her weird canned spaghetti, and pretend everything’s fine. It’s not. It never will be. And that tension between survival and actual living is what keeps the book from falling into cliché.
Love and Other Cures for the Recently Undead is for anyone who’s ever felt like a stranger in their own life, or tried to rebuild something that doesn’t quite fit anymore. It’s not a light read, but it’s oddly hopeful in its own way. There’s still love. There’s still friendship. And there’s still that weird human ability to keep going, even when everything’s broken. I didn’t expect to care this much about a girl with a zombie bite. I’m glad I read it.
Pages: 235 | ISBN-10 : 1957295821
LITERARY TITAN 