Ella The Slayer by A.W. Exley

The flu pandemic of 1918 took millions of souls within a few short weeks.
Except it wasn't flu, and death gave them back.

Seventeen-year-old Ella copes the best she can; caring for her war-injured father, scrubbing the floors, and slaying the undead that attack the locals. Vermin they're called, like rats they spread pestilence with their bite. Ella's world collides with another when she nearly decapitates a handsome stranger, who is very much alive.

Seth deMage, the new Duke of Leithfield, has returned to his ancestral home with a mission from the War Office — to control the plague of vermin in rural Somerset. He needs help; he just didn't expect to find it in a katana-wielding scullery maid.

Working alongside Seth blurs the line between their positions, and Ella glimpses a future she never dreamed was possible. But in overstepping society's boundaries, Ella could lose everything – home, head and her heart… @goodreads 

This was a fun book! I love Ella being bad @ssed!

Just as the nation planned armistice celebrations after the war came the most devastating attack. The flu pandemic of 1918 struck and in just a few short weeks from September to December, millions of people died. We all pulled together to nurse the sick and bury the fallen.

Except it wasn't the flu.

And they didn't stay dead.

Ella is of course a retelling of Cinderella. She is a maid to her stepmother and stepsisters. Ella's has some best friends that work with her. Ella is also the towns exterminator. They don't want to kill the dead so Ella does this herself with her fathers katana! Her father is home in a catatonic state after the war. But Ella does what has to be done and she does it well. She doesn't like it but it is what it is.

And she also meets Seth deMage while she is out riding the fence one day. He's the Duke of Leithfield and they hit off perfectly. He will be her Prince Charming of course. But he's a good guy that is still in the military and working to get rid of the zombies too.

Seth is with Ella on one of her missions and he finds out a little bit more about her.

Seth followed, his brow furrowed. "Why did he call you? Why did he not deal with it himself?"

"Because I am their exterminator." My position in the village was that simple. When you cannot face beheading the friend who turned up on your doorstep, even though they are salivating to take a bite from your succulent flesh, you summon the girl who carries the sword. The girl who was always different, the girl suspended between two worlds, neither servant nor gentry. Born a girl, but raised as a boy. Some called me Ella the Slayer, but it is not a compliment. I would give anything to not have to carry out the gruesome job that life had thrust upon me.

I loved the story and I'm glad it had the happy ending. Well, for the most part =)

Happy Reading!

Mel ♥ 

GOODREADS REVIEW 

AMAZON REVIEW