How Hard Can it Be? by Robyn Peterman
Contemporary Romance
January 17, 2013
Kensington

Reviewed by May 

Favorite Quote: “We have a new neighbor named Mr. Asstastic”

One night Rena decides to follow Oprah’s advice and visualize her success. Bored with her accounting job and in need of money, Rena has decided she wants to become a romance writer. Because seriously – how hard can it be? She joins a romance writer’s group after hearing a famous bestselling author is a part of it – but what she finds is not at all what she expected.

“I’d never write a guy into my book with a pecker the size of a miniature sweet pickle.”

She quickly finds herself blackmailed, making friends with older (erotica writing) ladies in the group, and ghost writing for the ancient and terrifying Evangeline O’Hara – the famous writer herself. Evangeline gobbles up the (heinous) romance that Rena pitches as her great idea and next big thing.

Not only would there be conjoined twins and time traveling vampire warlock pirates with erectile dysfunction, there would be halitosis, club feet, lice, pirates who preferred animals and blow up dolls, venereal diseases, dirty fingernails…

As Rena works she finds that the evil Evangeline is blackmailing everyone in that writing group (and others in town as well) she becomes determined to ruin the insane old woman and help her newfound friends as well. Indeed Rena finds out the truth about a lot of things, lets out her own brand of crazy, has run-ins with the hot new cop in town, and tries to find her way. Miss Rena may just find romance, new friends, and a happily ever after too.

“Rena and I would be delighted to come.”
Had he emphasized the word come, or did I have sex on the brain? I decided to ignore him. My inner-slut was starting to invade my brain. Looking at him only made the problem worse.

I took a chance on this book, something about the blurb just made me chuckle and while I figured it was more than likely going to be a fail or a dnf (did not finish) I wanted to still give it a shot. What I found was an absolutely hysterical over the top romantic comedy that I could not put down. The entire cast of characters, not to mention the insanity of the romance novel that Rena writes, had me laughing and flipping pages as fast as I could. Delighted, charmed, entertained, and pleasantly surprised all describe my reaction to this book.

I sit here and struggle to explain why this silly book works, and what I can come up with is simply that the author goes for it without apology. She has written a book about a heroine who has no real talent for writing but finds herself having to very quickly write a romance novel. There are hijinks and silly jokes, fairly raunchy humor and crazy situations plenty, but it is consistent.

This isn’t a realistic look as life as an accountant who wants more, nor is it a tell-all about how to write a romance novel. It’s a comedy with strong romantic elements and an outstanding cast of characters. I loved that we really got to know this entire ensemble cast, and how their stories all came together. One of my favorite parts was the crazy novel about a vampire warlock time traveling pirate that Rena writes with the help of her new friends. We got a few glimpses into that story…

Pirate Dave grabbed his throbbing tally whacker in agony, raised his eyes to the heavens, and screamed for all he was worth. “Why me? Why have I been cursed with a Johnson that won’t go down?”

Rena herself was an awesome leading lady too – I really liked that while she walks on the crazy side of life, she’s a self-sufficient, kind, and strong woman as well. Ok so she pulls crazy stunt and is making a mess things but she isn’t dumb, predictable, or annoying. The author did a great job with Rena.

“Rena…”
“Yeah?”
“You’re not crazy in a bad way. You’re crazy in a good way. The kind that everyone wants to be around and wishes they had,” she said.

Of course we have to mention Rena’s love interest – they have a great meeting and his interest in her I found refreshing. He isn’t playing games or pretending to not be into her – he’s genuinely interested.

“We’re going to date,” he announced grandly.
“Date?” I tried unsuccessfully to bite back my grin of delight.
“Yes, Rena, date. We will date and I will sweep you off your feet so thoroughly, you will very rationally decide to give up Vinnie and spend the rest of your life with me.”

Jack really made a good match for Rena, and I liked how their relationship progressed over the course of the story, though of course it wasn’t the only part to this book.

As much as I enjoyed this book, it won’t be a must read for everyone. If you aren’t in the market for this kind of a book or don’t enjoy really funny contemporary romance with a strong cast of supporting characters then clearly this isn’t for you. This is a very fun romantic comedy and it hit all the right notes for me by really going for the over the top silly and not apologizing for it or toning things down. I look forward to the next book in this series (seriously – can’t wait!) where Rena’s roommate will get her turn and we will all get to re-visit the wacky writers, Rena, and the rest of the crew. I look forward to many more laughs from this author.

Grade: A-

Recent Reviews:
Wicked Little Pixie – 4.5/5
Book Reviews by Sus – 4/5
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