Review: Random Acts by Mia Kerick
Publisher: Dreamspinner
Where did you get this book: E-Arc from Publisher
Release Date: Out Now
“Bradley Zelder can’t find his way in life. After struggling for nearly a decade, he has yet to complete his college degree. Working as a school custodian, living in blue-collar Landsbury, MA, his love life is as empty as the rest of his existence. But on his way home after another disastrous date, his truck breaks down in upscale Oceanside. When he thinks life can’t get any worse, a man who is the epitome of Boston elite and everything Bradley finds attractive and intimidating helps him move his truck to the side of the road. Ashamed of his lot in life, Bradley almost lets the opportunity slip away, but he comes to his senses in time and tracks Caleb down.
From a random act of kindness, romance begins to grow, filling all the dark corners of Bradley’s empty life—until a random act of violence threatens to take it all away. Bradley must step up and be the man Caleb believes him to be. Caleb rescued him from a life without hope. Can Bradley rescue him in return?”
There was something about the style here that really distanced me from the characters when I started this book. It took me quite a bit into the read, about the midway point, before I was engaged with the men and their story.I really enjoyed the slow burn of the romance. I like when characters “court” and learn about each other and work to become friends before lovers, this story was a nice example of that. Bradley had a great attitude towards the memory of Caleb’s husband that also impressed me. These two men worked hard for their HEA, but it was definitely a rough road for them to get there.
There was an interesting flip of dynamics between the characters about half way through after Caleb is attacked and Bradley, who was a character that I had lukewarm feelings about, really shone with his actions and how he helped Caleb after the fact. I found the mystery aspect was a bit transparent but it wasn’t really the focus of the story. For me, that was the relationship so it didn’t really bother me that I knew who the bad guys were right away. Oddly though as the read went on I was expecting the events of the attack to be somehow connected to what had happened to Caleb’s husband. I’m glad I was wrong there.
Despite a slow start and characters that were intially tough for me to read this ended up being quite a sweet, if melancholy love story. I’m giving “Random Acts” a C