My inspiration for Mick & Moira & Brad was the romantic comedies of Hollywood classics. I wondered whether, in our presumably enlightened but admittedly distressed age, lovers can like as well as lust after each other. Can’t we all get along? Might we actually enjoy each other’s company – even when we have all our clothes on?

I thought the book managed just that. My models were Myrna Loy and William Powell (aka Nick and Nora Charles), and Tracy and Hepburn.

Apparently, the judges of the Independent Press  and the Amor Romance Novel Awards agreed it was worth the effort. Reader’s Favorite and Booklife reviewers, as well as colleagues who generously gave their attention as beta readers, appreciated the humor.

Mick & Moira & Brad is a #MeThree romantic comedy!

So I was dismayed to see an online review that lamented the book fell short of expectations and just wasn’t funny:

Most of the dialogue between all of the characters came off as courteous and very rarely had strong emotion to them. I was looking forward to the fact that this was a romantic comedy, yet I seemed to have missed any humor that might have been intended. 

But courtesy – mutual respect, if you will – was very much the goal of the exercise! I recognized that in trying for civilized discourse I might disappoint readers who crave a good, snarky fight. But in this story, none of the characters throw things or even slam doors.

And some of the humor is between the lines!

– paperback giveaway –

These three are so generous with their story they’re giving away 10 paperbacks.