rom com undead road trip

Zelda Watson is a 400-plus year-old elemental witch who needs to do some spells every now and then or she accidentally starts fires. She spent a couple of hundred years causing trouble all over, until an unfortunate accident elevated a prank to an emergency. No one actually died, but Zelda knew that people got hurt and children were traumatized, so she repented of her bad behavior and moved to California to open a yoga studio.

Peter Elliot is tall, dark, and handsome, and he shows up at Zelda’s yoga studio one night. He is a vampire, only 200 or so years old, and his whole past is a secret. Mostly from himself, as he is suffering from amnesia. He does have some of his journals, though, so he is starting to put together a list of places he’d been recently. He thinks that following his footsteps might help him remember who is really is and what happened to him.

Zelda is immediately attracted to Peter, but she’s reluctant to get too close to him. Peter needs a friend, but he doesn’t want to overstep. But Zelda has a car and a itch to take a vacation. She decides to head out with Peter to help him find out about his immediate past.

The trip starts out as road trips do, with stops for gas station snacks, and sketchy motel rooms, and to find tourists that Peter can feed on, and to go to the place with the animatronic chicken doing his clucking rendition of "Hit Me, Baby, One More Time.” But it’s not long before a note dropped at a five-star hotel inexplicably in a remote part of Wyoming lets them know that they are being watched. Which means that they’re on the right track.

But as Zelda and Peter get closer, Peter wonders more about his past. As memories start to trickle back, he starts to think that maybe he wasn’t a very good guy. Is this road trip through Peter’s past putting them both in danger? Or will the truth set them free after all?

Road Trip with a Vampire is a smart, funny romantic comedy that just happens to be the story of two undead individuals falling in love and dealing with their pasts. Author Jenna Levine brings the twists, the surprises, and the heat in this unusual love story, and I got completely sucked in.

I was reluctant to read a rom com about a vampire, but this story is filled with warmth, clever dialogue, and major chemistry. The story of the road trip is interspersed with snippets from both Zelda’s and Peter’s pasts, giving small glimpses of the people they used to be as they grow closer in the present. This journey is layered with secrets, and as anyone who has embarked on a personal journey of healing and understanding knows, the only way out is through.

I don’t think I would have picked up this book on my own. I love a good rom com, but I’m not of the Twilight generation. But here is the thing about Road Trip with a Vampire—it’s fantastic. The writing is superb, the story is compelling, and these characters are so relatable. If you’re a fan of witches and vampires, then read this because of that. If you’re not, read the book anyway. At the end of the day, it’s just a beautiful rom com and such a fun road trip.

Egalleys for Road Trip with a Vampire were provided by Berkley through NetGalley, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine.