Half Past Dead (Includes: The Blades of the Rose, Prequel; Guardians of the Dark, #1)

Half Past Dead (The Blades of the Rose Prequel)

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3.27 of 5 stars 3.27  ·  rating details  ·  284 ratings  ·  55 reviews
Two hot new talents push the boundaries of paranormal romance in this sexy, gripping novella that features dangerous heroes with an edge all their own.
Paperback, 289 pages
Published January 1st 2010 by Brava
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Community Reviews

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Rane
Review of The Undying Heart by Zoe Archer

Taking a step back, I finally got my hands on the prequel to the amazing The Blades of the Rose series. First, reading the prequel is not needed in order to read the BOTR books, this was really just a taste of the BOTR series and ZA’s style of writing.

Sam Reed is out for revenge, after being turned to the undead by a fellow officer, it’s taken three years for Sam to get his chance, and when he meets his old childhood friend Cassandra Fielding his plan...more
Monster
Someone must have told these women that zombies can't be romance heroes because they pulled out all the stops to prove that theory wrong. Half Past Dead is a pair of novellas. The first is The Undying Heart by Zoe Archer, a historical paranormal tale of Cassandra Fielding and Samuel Reed. Cassandra is a Blade of the Rose, a member of a mysterious guardian sect trying desperately to prevent magic from being used for nefarious purposes. Samuel is a victim of an evil man, killed on the battlefield...more
April
Free Kindle download. This book is actually two books in one — The Undying Heart by Zoe Archer, and Simon Says by Bianca D'Arc.

I'm not sure zombie heroes work for me in romance —as antagonists, yes; as protagonists, maybe only if sex with a human heroine isn't involved. Granted, it worked better than I thought it would, mainly because the authors made sure to stress that the undead heroes' bodies could heal until they were whole again, so that the heroines weren't making love to decomposing anim...more
Heather C (Darkly Reading)
Undying Heart by Zoe Archer:
Sam, once an officer in the British Army, has returned to England to track down the man who has destroyed his existence - Colonel Broadwell. Little does Sam know that someone else is also hunting Broadwell, Cassandra, his best friend's younger sister. But Cassandra is no longer a little girl and has been charged with tracking Broadwell for the Blades of the Rose - an organization focused on keeping powerful magic or Sources, out of the hands of evil men like Broadwell...more
Carrie
****Partial Review****

Review for Zoe Archer novella only.

If this story is a representative example of Archer's writing, I'm not impressed. The writing wasn't bad, just utilitarian, and at times overly dramatic. Archer definitely learned the "no vapid verbs" rule in high school English. No one in this story gets mad, they get enraged. They don't turn around, they spin. They don't mount a horse, they vault. And in the middle, literally in the middle, of an intense fighting sequence, the two protag...more
Kate Smith
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Sophie
These two books, The Undying Heart and Simon Says, are my first foray into zombie-themed romance. The premise of Simon Says was more what I was expecting from a zombie book, since it involves hunting and destroying zombies. The Undying Heart is the first book I have encountered that involves zombie love, and even—ick—zombie sex. Some of the contradictions involved in—ick—zombie sex are that although he is cold (being dead and all) he warms to her touch. And though he doesn't breathe or need food...more
Tara
I didn't read the whole book. I just read the second story, Simon Says by Bianca D'arc. I was reading another book and came across an excerpt from a book that starts out on Long Island. Since I don't know if I've ever read a book that took place where I live, I checked her her. It said the excerpt was from a book that was going to be released in March of 20101 and that this story was the prequel, but somehow I doubt it and I can't figure out now where I read that.

In any case, Mariana Daniels is...more
Jan
Feb 12, 2010 Jan rated it 3 of 5 stars
Shelves: yellow
The 3 stars is for the historical PNR novella "The Undying Heart" by Zoe Archer. It was a quick, compelling read. I thought Cassie and Sam's relationship was very sweet. I like the world the author created and would like to read more about it.
My only real complaint is that there were some words and phrases that I felt were too modern. They pulled me out of the story a bit, but I was able to get right back into it.

I didn't finish the Bianca d'Arc novella, because it didn't appeal to me. What I re...more
Netanella
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Raven Carluk
I was a little disappointed, because the plots weren't gripping nor was the sex fantastic. Both were a little lukewarm, meaning I was bored. The plot for Simon Says was intriguing, and I actually wanted more of the zombie attack and the science and the military screw up. But it was just too introspective, and the first part is all the main characters reminiscing. Zoe's story was better for the plot, but was just randomly sidetracked by sex. One time, the characters detoured just to have sex, doi...more
Jaime
The Zoe Archer novella is a good read for anyone already familiar with the Blades of the Rose series; the story is one that fits for the short format, and it follows the same general lines as the rest of the stories. Meanwhile, the Bianca D'Arc novella was good enough to make me want to seek out the novels in her Guardians of the Dark series - I love the idea of mixing paranormal with traditional military adventure romance. The only complaint I have with it is that it was paced very strangely; t...more
Crystal
Put your viking helmet on
Spread that mayonnaise on the lawn
Don'tcha know it's zombie stomping day...

So since there are only 2 stories in here, it's going to be either really good, or meh. It's really good. The reason I picked up this book was due to the Zoe Archer story - it's the first of the Blades of the Rose series. Took me a while to locate a copy as, for reasons I don't understand, local book stores have the main part of the series, but not the introductory short.

So anyway, H number 1 is a...more
Angie (Mind Malfunction)
I was looking for a 'Z' author for a challenge and came up with Zoe Archer's The Undying Heart. I was half way through when I realized I've read this story before. Ooops. Well, I didn't review it the first time, so here goes. The Undying Heart is a short story in the Half Past Dead anthology. This story takes place in the 1800's and is a historical paranormal romance. I don't like historical romances but I do like paranormal and urban fantasy, so this came out as a 2/5 for me. (view spoiler)[ Th...more
Michele Lee
Someone must have told these women that zombies can't be romance heroes because they pulled out all the stops to prove that theory wrong. Half Past Dead is a pair of novellas. The Undying Heart by Zoe Archer, a historical paranormal tale of Cassandra Fielding and Samuel Reed. Cassandra is a Blade of the Rose, a member of a mysterious guardian sect trying desperately to prevent magic from being used for nefarious purposes. Samuel is a victim of an evil man, killed on the battlefield by his comman...more
AH
When you think about zombies, you most likely visualize an animated brain eating corpse. This book highlights a very different kind of zombie, probably more frightening than any zombie we know, a zombie capable of intelligence and able to think and learn.

Half Past Dead is really two stories. The first, Half Past Dead is the prequel to Zoe Archer’s Blades of the Rose series. The second story Simon Says is by Bianca D’Arc.

Half Past Dead 2/5 stars

Half Past Dead is a historical romance. It sets up...more
Sandra
Two books, two authors I've read before, and yet combined they only achieved 3 stars.

Zoe Archer's Prequel to the Blades of the Rose was a bit entertaining, having already read the first 2 books in that series, I know that each book focuses on different Blades and Sources of Magic, this one was Cass Fielding and Zombies. If I'd read this one first I probably wouldn't have bothered with the series just cause the writing didn't totally capture my interest.

In Bianca D'Arc's Simon Says, first in the...more
May
This book has 2 novellas about zombies/undead folk. I didn't realize this when I got it- I just wanted it because Zoe archer wrote a Blades of the Rose story here!

Zoe's story was good- especially for the short format but I could have done with less love scenes, more blades stuff. She managed to pack a little adventure and it was fun to read about another blade battling an evil heir... Not necessary to be fan of series to read this, but I'd only recommend it to series fans anyhow.

The second stor...more
FredTownWard
Not Your Usual Zombie Romance Anthology

Of course, since I know of the existence of exactly one other zombie romance anthology Hungry for Your Love: An Anthology of Zombie Romance that isn't saying much, but at least Hungry for Your Love contains the large number of zombie romance short stories you'd likely be expecting. In contrast Half Past Dead contains only a pair of novella prequels to a pair of later zombie romance novel series.

The first and by far the most intriguing is Zoe Archer's "The U...more
Carien
The Undying Heart by Zoe Archer (part of Half Past Dead)

You wouldn't think so when reading the description, but this is a historical zombie story, which is very entertaining and nicely written. The story does lag a bit in the beginning, which is mostly because there's lots of explaining to do to understand the story. But I can tell you once it gets going it's going strong. The action and romance are nicely balanced and the story does it's job of kicking of a series: I want to read more!


Simon Sa...more
Mandi Schreiner
“The Undying Heart” by Zoe Archer

Zombies are SEXY!!

Now, don’t go screaming and running off in all directions. Hear me out first!

The hero in this story is a zombie. That’s right – the big “Z” word. I don’t know what it is about zombies that freaks everyone out. Is it the fact that you can chop off body parts and they still live? They have no blood or breath? They are dead…..but not. In most books I have read, the zombies are the bad guys and in this book, zombies are definitely evil, but Sam Reed...more
Yodamom
I really enjoyed this book, the first story was my favorite. Did i think that zombies could be sexy before this book, no. This author Zoe Archer, wrote so well I wanted my own zombie. LOL The characters are well written and I wanted ore of the story. I will look for more writings from Zoe Archer.4 stars
The second story was less favorable towards the zombies portraying them as the flesh eating monsters we are used to seeing. It was a quick Romance with a predictable ending but still enjoyable. 2....more
Barbara ★
The Undying Heart by Zoe Archer ★★★★★
I'm not one for zombies but zombie Sam Reed isn't your average zombie. He has morals and hates the man who turned him with a passion. On his mission of vengeance, he reconnects with his childhood friend, Cassandra Fielding who is now an agent of the Blade of the Rose, an organization dedicated to destroying the Heirs of Albion, a group of people who abuse magic, turn people into zombies and kill people. The romance is sweet and the action is intense and dange...more
Vivianne
4 stars only for the first novel. Archer was good at telling a story,though spend short, it involves.
The author has used elements like magic, voodoo, posted a very romantic story, but not cloying. There are Zoombie but their history is very well constructed and adapted and brought to term over the narrative, even if it is the prologue of a series ... very very nice. I spent some enjoyable hours!!!! Really!!!
The second story I have nothing to do instead, I found a little thrown them is meaningle...more
Melissa Summers
While I do enjoy some paranormal, this was too out there for myself. The intimate scenes were very graphic..and involved a "zombie", which ruined all the words in the book following that part because my brain just would not accept that. I know, since zombies are fiction than the author definately can set the rules about what their bodies can be capable of, yet a bit explicit and far fetched for me to truly enjoy.
This book is 2 novellas, I had to stop after the first.
Diana
The Undying Heart is my first and last zombie romance. Admitting that I'm ignorant on zombie physiology, I still don't understand how a man, er creature, could be cold, have no pulse or respiration on one page and a hot, fully equipped lover on the next. It will remain a mystery since the author offered no explanation. I'm actually glad there was no rotting flesh involved, but I'm done with my short foray into zombie romance.
Ann  Lorz
I've had this book sitting on my shelf for a while and thought it was time to read it. I didn't much care for the Archer book. Her writing doesn't fit me. I did love the D'Arc. I've been a fan of her for a while and enjoyed her new series. I have two more books in this series and am looking forward to read them. Some might not like to read a book with zombies in it but don't let that stop you.
Amber
This is actually two books in one, a nice way to be introduced to the two different authors. I enjoyed the story line and coupling scenes in both. However I enjoyed the blades of the rose a little better, the story line was a little fresher take on zombies. Both well done and very entertaining and ummm arousing !
Renee (ren213)
I can't really rate the whole book because I only read the D'Arc story. I did enjoy that one, though and I'll be looking for more stuff by this author.
Ashley
I really like the Blade of the Rose series by Zoe archer. I mean how can you go wrong with historical paranormal romance? ....... You can't !
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Half Past Dead (Includes: The Blades of the Rose, Prequel; Guardians of the Dark, #1)
Half Past Dead (ebook)
Half Past Dead (ebook)
90866
Zoe Archer is an award-winning romance author who thinks there's nothing sexier than a man in tall boots and a waistcoat. As a child, she never dreamed about being the rescued princess, but wanted to kick butt right beside the hero. She now applies her master's degrees in Literature and Fiction to creating butt-kicking heroines and heroes in tall boots. She is the author of the acclaimed BLADES OF...more
More about Zoe Archer...
Warrior (The Blades of the Rose, #1) Scoundrel (The Blades of the Rose, #2) Rebel (The Blades of the Rose, #3) Stranger (The Blades of the Rose, #4) Devil's Kiss (The Hellraisers, #1)

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