Title: How Hard Can It Be? by Robyn Peterman
Publisher: eKensington
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Comedy
Length: 265 pages
Book Rating: B
Review Copy Obtained from Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
What happens when an accountant decides to grab life by the horns and try something new? Apparently a pirate named Dave, a lot of pastel fleece, and blackmail—just to start with…
Visualize and succeed, Oprah said. I was sure as hell trying, even if my campaign to score a job as the local weather girl had ended in a restraining order. Okay, TV was not my strength. But a lack of talent has never stopped me before. Which is why I’ve embarked on a writing career. I mean, how hard can it be to come up with a sexy romance?
Leave it to me to wind up in a group of porno writing grannies who discuss sex toys and apple cobbler in the same breath. Also leave it to me to leak an outlandish plot idea to a bestselling author with the morals of a rabid squirrel. And only I could get arrested for a jewelry heist I didn’t commit—by a hunky cop whose handcuffs just might tempt me to sign up for a life of crime. Maybe I’ve found my calling after all…
The Review:
Robyn Peterman’s debut novel, How Hard Can It Be? is an outrageously funny novel that will keep you laughing out loud as Rena Gunderschlict discovers that writing a romance novel is nowhere near as easy as she thinks.
Accountant Rena Gunderschlict is looking for a career change. Her attempt to become a weather girl ended with a restraining order, a few hours in jail and a spot on the local news. When she decides to try her hand at penning a best-selling romance novel, Rena joins a romance writers group where she meets four porno writing grannies. When she discover that best-selling romance author Evangeline O’Hara has been blackmailing the octogenarians and stealing their ideas, Rena comes up an outlandish plot to derail Evageline’s career and save her new friends from her evil clutches.
How Hard Can It Be? is an over the top and absolutely hilarious story. It is absurd and unrealistic but that is what makes it such a fun read. The dialogue is witty, delightfully raunchy and rather obscene. The situations Rena manages to find herself in are totally ridiculous but hysterically funny.
Rena is a charmingly flawed heroine and she has a heart of gold. The grannies are quirky but quite loveable. Rena’s love interest, Jack, is definitely swoonworthy. He does not blink an eye at Rena’s antics and he is so sexy! Evangeline, the villain of the story, is overblown, larger than life and I could not wait to see Rena take her down. She is the type of character that everyone loves to hate.
While How Hard Can It Be? is mainly a comedy, there is also some depth to the plot. It is a wonderful story about friendship and loyalty. There is an underlying theme of acceptance as some of the characters learn to embrace all aspects of their personalities. And of course, there is also a delectably steamy romance between Rena and Jack.
How Hard Can It Be? is one of those books you read for pure entertainment value. It is a fast-paced and zany romp that is as sweet as it is funny. I enjoyed every silly moment of it and I am very much looking forward to Robyn Peterman’s next book.
