Have you ever read a romantic comedy? I just did...and I liked it!

Last year I met Rich Amooi at an RBC meeting.  It was a quick intro, and then, as I am prone to do, I forgot about Rich and our meeting (no offense, Rich).  Well, earlier this month I got an email from Rich to see if he could plan any activities around Recycle Bookstore.  After a few back-and-forths, we got him scheduled to do a book signing during the Campbell Farmers Market on June 4.  As you know, we have a lot of authors come to Recycle during the Farmers Market.  Downtown Campbell gets super busy on those Sunday mornings.  So, case closed, right?  Not so fast.  I got a hold of one of Rich's books (Rich, did I buy it? Or did you give it to me?  I can't remember).  Now you know I have read a whole bunch of very good books recently.  And they've all been contemporary or literary or women's fiction (I'm not crazy about that last classification; but that's what the publishing experts call it).  Rich writes romantic comedies.  The one I decided to try is called Kissing Frogs.  It's definitely not a genre I have read before.  But based on KF, I will be reading more!  I really enjoyed this.  What did I like about Kissing Frogs?

1.  It is laugh-out-loud funny.  I'm not going to quote any of the passages.  Humor is usually something that you find funny in the moment.  The retelling doesn't normally work.  Just take my word for it. You will be laughing.
2.  The humor does not make the romance any less romantic.  I definitely cared about Sara and Ian.  And the book still follows the "rules" of a romance.
3.  Almost all of the story takes place in Campbell.  And a whole bunch of eateries (and drink-eries) that I have frequented are mentioned (including Orchard Valley Coffee, where we had our Vanessa Diffenbaugh RBC meeting).
4.  There is one non-restaurant spot that is mentioned that I kind of enjoyed.  It's called - wait for it...wait for it...) - RECYCLE BOOKSTORE! That was way cool.
5.  Sara has a series of blind dates that are an absolute crack-up.  Since the last time I dated anyone other than my wife was around 1968, I don't have any current experience with blind dates.  So I'm guessing that these are at least slightly exaggerated.  But maybe they're not.
6.  As I tend to do (see my reviews of the Jennifer Skully/Bella Andre series, The Billionaire Mavericks), I love older people.  Ian's grandparents are great.
7.  Even with all of the comedy, Rich was able to force a few tears and chills from me.  I know it's not that hard, but it still happened.  In fact, there was one scene where I started to laugh and then realized it was not a laughing matter.  I immediately came out with a double "Oh, no!"
8.  I loved the cover (see below).
9.  I definitely connected personally to a few of the goings-on.  In one scene, Sara's dog, who goes crazy when she hears the word "cookie," does some damage when Sara accidentally says the word at a very wrong time.  We have friends who used to have a dog that did the same thing.  Somebody (I won't mention his/my name) used to say that word out loud whenever we were at their house.  The dog would then run to the place where his treats were kept.  It's a miracle that we're still friends.  And there's another scene where Ian's father calls from Florence where he is standing in from of The David, going on and on about what a magnificent piece of art it is.  I was nodding my head.  I was blown away when I saw The David.  It brought tears to my eyes.

That's about it.  Kissing Frogs is a very fun, enjoyable, and quick read. All of those things, in fact, have led me to ask Rich to be one of our RBC authors.  In fact, because it's such a quick read, I am bringing him to the RBC in October.  We've already got Sheldon Siegel coming, but that one's on a Sunday.  Rich's book gives our members who can't do a weekend book club meeting the opportunity to still come that month.  Whether you attend or not, though, I'm pretty sure you will enjoy Kissing Frogs.