With the “Random Acts” series, author Julia Kent has created a Marvel Cinematic Universe of sorts for “romantic comedy with an edge”. From what I can tell, characters move in and out of the books in the series and have interconnected lives. This is a pretty neat idea for a series of romance books. (Since I am not a romance reader, I have no idea if this is normal or not.) This is a review of the first book in the Random series.
In Random Acts of Crazy, a blondish, plump (NOT MY WORDS), poor girl from rural Ohio is driving down the road, minding her own businesses, when she sees a very handsome man hitchhiking. He is wearing an acoustic guitar and a collar, and that is all. She picks him up, and then she picks him up, if you know what I mean. After spending some time with the guy, Darla (Ohio girl) learns that the mysterious is Trevor, the lead singer from her favorite band! The band, from the Boston area, is called Random Acts of Crazy. Trevor is a wild man with a heart of gold, but his uppity ways bug Darla. She is still rocking a (SPOILER) flip-phone and doesn’t feel great about his rich kid problems. Darla and Trevor figure out that Trevor was hitchhiking because he was on peyote, and that he needs to get back to Boston somehow. Luckily, Random’s bass player is driving his BMW to rural Ohio to pick up Trevor. It turns out that he is also superhot. He has cheekbones and abs.
This was the first time that I read a romance novel, so I wasn’t sure where the story was going. If you have ever read a romance novel, you can probably figure out what is about to happen with Darla, Trevor, and bass player Joe.
The best part of the book was the setting. I thought Darla and her small-town life were interesting and relatable. The musings on class and poverty were unexpected and welcome. I also liked how the narrator POV jumped between the three main characters. However, the book was too heavy on edge and light on rom-com for me. Also, as a guitar player who went to law school, sometimes I thought the descriptions of guitar players and people who went to law school felt a little off. That could just be me, though. The book wasn’t for me, although I could see the appeal for readers who want an irreverent romance.
I meant to comment on this when I first read your review, and I’m sure those comments would have been insightful and witty. But I was distracted, as I often am these days. I am interested in why you read a romance and why this particular romance. But, In romance series, which are common, it’s not unusual for characters to pop in and out of numerous books. I’m very tempted to read this and see what I, a veteran romance reader, think.
ALL of your comments are insightful and witty, Emmalita!
I downloaded this book because it was a 1) free 2) romance 3) with positive reviews 4) that was reviewed as funny. I wanted to try a new genre because you can only read so many Jack Reacher books at once. Random Acts of Crazy might still be free in the Kindle store if you want to check it out.
I downloaded it for a mere $2.99 last night. I am crazy busy this week, and it sounds like just the thing for unwinding, but not overly taxing my poor beleaguered brain.
If you want to try really good contemporary romance, try pretty much anything by Julie James or Ruthie Knox. Something About You by Julie James or How to Misbehave by Ruthie Knox are good starting points.