The Key to Survival

A Zombie Apocalypse Love Story, Book 4

By: Kate L. Mary

Narrated by: Rebekah Tyler

Length: 3 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

After finding her fiancé in a compromising position, Jane heads to a private island resort in Key West to clear her head. There she meets Austin - six years younger than she is and the exact opposite of her fiancé in every way - he seems like the perfect prescription to cure her heartbreak. But everything changes when the virus that had previously only been a minor nuisance morphs into a full-blown epidemic. Three miles from the mainland and surrounded by ocean, Austin and Jane believe they’re safe from what’s happening in the world, but a virus knows no borders, and it isn't long before other guests start coming down with the illness.

Zombie isn’t a word that anyone likes to throw around, but it’s the only explanation the couple can think of when one of the other hotel guests tries to eat Austin’s face off. As things go from bad to worse and Jane leans on Austin more and more, she soon finds herself wondering if her little trip to Florida wasn’t just the key to her survival, but also the key to finding a man who will love her the way she deserves.

©2017 Kate L. Mary (P)2018 Kate L. Mary

Hell Hath No Fury!

A short novella from Kate on finding oneself all over again. In the opening chapters of a virus-inspired apocalypse, Jane discovers that her eleven-year relationship with her fiancé is over. Utilizing the prepared honeymoon tickets, she heads out to the private island resort in Key West to recover. Here she meets Austin, a younger man, good looking, and excellent company. The virus on the mainland is out of control with the death toll mounting. Many visitors on the island paradise flee back to the mainland in panic. Jane and Austin form a bond of friendship and survival as the virus crosses the waters, making itself known on the island. This is a story of two strangers coming together in a crisis, depending on each other for survival. Will there be time or even the opportunity for love? Another great story! I look forward to the rest of the series. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

A Zombie Apocalypse Love Story

This is a love story set during a zombie apocalypse. Good 3 plus hours short story. Likeable characters with a believable plot. I liked the narrator's voice and speed, BUT, the recording sounds awful in multiple spots as it did in Book 2 of this same series. Sounds like she is talking into a can. Horrible echo. Hope this gets fixed for future listeners.

Great Read

The Key to Survival (A Zombie Apocalypse Love Story #4) was a good read by Kate L. Mary. Jane heads to a private island in Key West to clear her head after finding her fiancé in a compromising position. She then meets Austin, who is the exact opposite of her fiancé. Everything changes when a virus that turns into a full blown epidemic. They believe there safe until Zombie's start invading them too. I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more by the author.

Too short but good.

Kate L. Mary is one of my favorite authors. I love this story, the narrator not so much...she read too fast, had to slow it down a bit. and the story was a bit short and very rushed at the end.

Cute

I’ve listened to several of Ms. Mary’s books and have enjoyed them all. It’s short stories like this that make me wish there were longer version if the reader/listener were interested. How Ms. Mary can write lots of post-apocalyptic stories and have them all unique from each other is WOW!

I think the narrator did a good job. I liked how natural her speaking voice was, and the variety of voices made it easy to tell who was who. The only downside was that for the majority of the book, she sounded like she was too far from the microphone. Strangely, it was chapter seven in which she sounded even further away, but then it went back to “normal.”

Questions/Comments:

I couldn’t help but notice that the author seemed to mention Austin’s long hair and tattoos a lot. Was it just me? Like whenever Jane was thinking of him or looking at him, it was always his long hair and tattoos.

When Jane found out that her family and friends were all dead, the way the story was written kind of made it seem like Jane didn’t really care. Like I didn’t feel the emotion from the character or narrator that told me she was upset or devasted by the news, other than the author writing that Jane was upset or sad. It just came across as being more of a nonchalant kind of situation.

I’m not familiar with how an island gets electricity and water. If they need to take a boat to the island, it would have to have its own source of both, correct? I’m just wondering how that part worked, who was running it, etc., if them to still have both months after the world ends.


I received this free audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting Zombie Romance

Fun, quick, zombie romance read. Jane finds her fiancé cheating a week before their wedding, so she rushes off alone to her honeymoon on an island and doesn't communicate with anyone back home for weeks. She's in a booze haze, when the news starts reporting more and more mysterious deaths. Turns out zombies are on the loose! Luckily, there's a hot, slightly younger guy that she connects with, but there's also still the cheater ex-fiancé who she was with for 11 years, so Jane is unsure about what she wants for her life. Austin was a good guy to be stranded with during a zombie apocalypse; some sweet and sexy times. For the most part, the story is entertaining and I liked the characters. The ending is okay, but as with other Mary books, I would've liked more to the ending. This series is fun because the reader gets a glimpse into how different characters contend with the zombies. I've enjoyed each book I've read in this series so far.

I listened to this story on Audible. The narrator did a good job; she fit the characters well.

Jane and Austin!

This was my first zombie type listen. A huge fan of TWD, this was a good quick listen. I think so of the folks got what they deserves except maybe one person. I love the steam between Jane and Austin. The story was exciting and I enjoyed it. Narrator did a great job.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
AudiobookObsession

Not sure about a love story?

Ok so this is my 3rd listen in this series and each one has been wildly different.
our heroine winds up in a resort island after she catches her ex with another woman. While there, the zombie virus outbreak happens and even in isolation, the guests are not safe.
Consequentially she finds herself ready for a little hot steamy island romance before the end but then find out her ex is still alive and decides to join her.
Again, no epilogue and no follow up on the other previous characters - so it's still a standalone left open-ended and a HFN I guess 🤷