Logan addressed the pandemic squad up on the platform. “Sorry to break it to you. This is a free country. You can’t go quarantining people at will.”

“Wrong. Exactly because this is a free country, we can.”

There were some mumbles of agreement from the crowd, “That’s right” and “You got it” and “Try to stop us.”

“We live in a democracy. Let’s take a vote,” Carol suggested. “All in favor of quarantining Patient Zero, please raise your hands.”

Everyone, including a smirking Ty, raised their hands.

“Oh, come on,” Logan grumbled. “Really? You serious?”

“Motion accepted,” Carol said, wrestling the gavel from the mayor and banging it on the podium.

“Besides, Patient Zero doesn’t have to know she’s been quarantined. Just keep her indoors by any means necessary until she gets better.”

“Or she kicks the bucket,” somebody chimed in.

Nuts. The whole bunch of them. Down to the very last one.

“She’s not Patient Zero, people. Her name is Sky and she’s got the flu, damn it. Not Ebola. Just a common, garden-variety flu.”

“By our calculations, Patient Zero has been here almost twenty-four hours. We’re late on containment,” Carol said.
Logan shook his head in dismay. Man, like talking to a wall.

“You had her hidden away for a whole day?” Ty asked impishly.

“She was just sleeping on my sofa.” Logan realized his mistake right away and turned to Carol and the rest. “You are not burning my sofa. Are we clear?”

Whether it was clear or not, Logan didn’t know, because Carol ignored his words. “And we’ll be monitoring you,” she added while the rest nodded. “At the slightest indication you’re sick—”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ll quarantine me too, and if I don’t get better fast enough, you’ll shoot me and cremate my remains.” Along with the damn couch, of course. 

Carol rolled her eyes. “Don’t be silly.”

“Yeah, don’t be silly,” someone interjected. “We’ll autopsy you before that. Dissect you into tiny pieces.”

Jesus fucking Christ. Why couldn’t his neighbors have been the gearheads prepping for solar flares that would fry the grid? More kumbaya. Less ready to dissect.

“This is all your fault, Megan,” he said to his sister, who was sitting two rows behind him. “Couldn’t you have moved somewhere else? A normal fucking place?”

She just laughed. “You heard the lady. Keep Patient Zero indoors—by any means necessary.”

“Ha. Ha.”

“What? Skills too rusty to keep a woman indoors?” she asked.

“I can help,” Ty added. “Is she pretty?”

Gorgeous, actually. Big, dark eyes. Olive-colored skin. Delicate features. But that was beside the point too.

“Fuck off, both of you,” Logan muttered. Raising his voice, he addressed the crowd again. “You’re certifiable. All of you.”

“I totally agree,” Carol said. “We give you far too much leeway. Look at how flexible we’ve been about your toxic contaminants.”

 

Sky's the Limit (Doomsday Preppers, #1) by Elle Aycart
Rosa's rating: 5 of 5 iScream Cones

"How to survive a fashion fiasco."

I've been a fan of Elle Aycart since I stumbled upon her Bowen Boys series back in 2013. I had no clue what I was getting into when I decided to give Sky's the Limit a try, but I didn't question the author's talent. Where she leads I will follow. And she led me to a #DoomsDayMart in Paris-frigging-Minnesota. I admit it was very different from anything I've ever read before, but very entertaining too. By the time I turned the last page I was feeling comfortable with the 'preppers' and their crazy ideas and had become quite attached to the small town whose name shall not be mentioned.

Sky is a fashionista on a budget. Her dream to study and work in Paris, France is derailed when she accidentally ends up in Paris, Minnesota. A comedy of errors results in her being stranded with no cell reception. After being almost run over when the local #MountainMan couldn't see her, apparently wearing white from head to toe in the snow made her invisible, she wakes up in his house.

Logan would never admit it, but he's bitter. When he sees the gorgeous redhead dressed to kill, wearing her inappropriate designer duds with stilettos and not a hair out of place he mentally classifies her as a 'city girl'. He's learned the hard way that the remote location and lack of amenities make it highly undesirable for high maintenance females. Unfortunately, she's been quarantined and tagged #PatientZero by the pandemic squad and he's forced to endure her company. Not that he'd admit it out loud, but he doesn't hate having her around. Her sass and sense of humor, when faced with his crazy neighbors, has him reconsidering his initial opinion of her.

I kid you not, I literally laughed out loud to the point of tears on several occasions while reading this story. I don't know if there are real places and people like this, or if they are strictly from the author's imagination, but I enjoyed the hell out of the time I spent in their world. It was fun to visit in my head, but I don't think I'd survive with limited wifi and cell reception.

With this being only the first book in the Doomsday Preppers series, I'm excited to know that I'll get to spend more time with these quirky colorful characters. I've already been mentally matchmaking and I've picked out a couple who I hope to see paired up in the future. Fingers crossed that the bickering between them ends up being the passion of another kind. The line forms here...