Random Acts of Kindness

By Dete A Meserve and Rachel Greco

The true-life tie in to Good Sam, the bestselling novel and Netflix Original Film: 

A disabled veteran in Oregon opens his front door to find that an anonymous Good Samaritan has left him a brand-new riding mower. 

In Oklahoma City, a woman who has just lost her job is amazed when a stranger sw

• Language: English
• Publisher: Melrose Hill Entertainment, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9780991449965

Dete A Meserve

Dete Meserve is an accomplished creator and producer of independent movies and award-winning television shows as well as a best-selling and award-winning novelist. As a key member of the executive team at Wind Dancer Films, Meserve has been one of the industry's major players in independent film and television production. She currently oversees worldwide business and creative properties for the film development, finance and production company that has generated over $4 billion in revenue from its properties, which include hit television series Roseanne and Home Improvement and feature films including Want Women Want (Mel Gibson), Where The Heart Is (Natalie Portman), Bernie (Jack Black), What Men Want (Taraji P. Henson) and Good Sam (Netflix). Meserve is also leading the company's growing kids and family brands, including the PBS KIDS series Ready Jet Go!, created by Craig Bartlett (Hey Arnold!, Dinosaur Train) with Meserve as Executive Producer, the stop motion series "Storywoods" with Lil Buddy Studios and Head Writer Carin Greenberg, and Not A Box, the animated TV series based on the award-winning book by Antoinette Portis. Meserve has produced numerous films and TV series and has been responsible for securing over $75 million in financing for film and TV properties. Her list of credits span award-winning television series such as Home Improvement and Saint George with George Lopez (Executive Producer) as well as hit movies What Women Want, the award-winning comedy Bernie (Executive Producer), The Keeping Room (Executive Producer), What Men Want (Executive Producer) and Good Sam (Producer). Meserve is also the author of the best-selling and multi-award-winning novel, Good Sam, as well as its sequel Perfectly Good Crime which won the Living Now Book Awards for "books that change the world," and the international bestseller The Space Between (July 2018). Her first novel, Good Sam, is in production, based on the screenplay written by Meserve, as an original film for Netflix for Spring 2019 launch. Her next novel, Random Acts of Kindness, co-written with award-winning journalist Rachel Greco will be published in March 2019. Meserve is at work on a fifth book entitled The Good City for Amazon Publishing/Lake Union. Prior to joining Wind Dancer Films, Meserve was Vice President of USC Radio, the University of Southern California's radio network. She began her career as Station Manager of the National Public Radio affiliate in Evansville, Indiana and Assistant General Manager of the PBS affiliate. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of PRX/PRI, producers and distributors of premier broadcast and podcast content. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and three children.

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 by Dete Meserve

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Published by Melrose Hill Publishing

www.DeteMeserve.com

ISBN- 978-0-9914499-7-2 (paperback)

ISBN- 978-0-0014499-6-5 (e-book)

Printed in the United States of America

PRAISE FOR

GOOD SAM

Meserve’s narrative has a… dry wit and well-conceived dialogue throughout. Kate’s relatable qualities of self-reliance tinged with vulnerability drive this gratifying mystery-romance about finding the good guys—and knowing when to recognize them.

—Publishers Weekly

In her debut novel, Meserve writes a… solid feel-good romance sparked with mystery.

—Kirkus Reviews

"If you are a Nicholas Sparks or Richard Paul Evans fan, I’m betting you will like author Meserve’s book Good Sam. Uplifting, heart wrenching, and a two-hankie read, this story is a winner."

—Cheryl Stout, Amazon top reviewer and Vine Voice

This story had everything from suspense to drama. And the heartfelt ending had us smiling for days.

—First for Women magazine

PRAISE FOR

PERFECTLY GOOD CRIME

A first-rate and undaunted protagonist easily carries this brisk tale. Kate is intuitive and professional, but it’s her steadfast compassion that makes her truly remarkable.

—Kirkus Reviews

Dete Meserve delivers a novel that is simultaneously mysterious, fascinating, and inspiring.

—BuzzFeed.com

A feel-good mystery… an enjoyable escape.

—BookLife Prize in Fiction

Books that are changing the world.

—2016 Living Now Book Award,

gold medal in inspirational fiction

In a story saturated with unexpected twists and shocking motives, Kate Bradley follows clues—and her heart—to discover that some crimes have powerfully good intentions.

—Sunset magazine

PRAISE FOR

THE SPACE BETWEEN

Chiseled prose gleefully weaves the protagonist through bombshells… A labyrinth of plot and character motivations makes for a thoroughly enjoyable novel.

—Kirkus Reviews

"The Space Between is a fast-paced novel that combines the best elements of suspense and romance. In this story of a broken marriage, Dete Meserve uses the mysteries of the universe to keep you on the edge of your seat as she weaves a tale that winds its way through the past and present to bring about a truly satisfying conclusion. Highly recommended."

—USA Today bestselling author

Bette Lee Crosby

"From tragedy to triumph, Dete Meserve’s new novel took me on a roller-coaster ride I’ll not soon forget. Coupling the mysteries of the night sky with an unthinkable domestic situation, this tale is stunning and unlike any I’ve read. The Space Between is a must must must read!"

—Heather Burch,

bestselling author of In the Light of the Garden

"As captivating and complex as the night skies that feature in The Space Between, this is a thrilling read. A precipitous shift in perceived reality causes everything past and present to be suspect. Meserve skillfully crafts all the elements of a superbly suspenseful page-turner."

—Patricia Sands,

bestselling author of the Love in Provence series

"Dete Meserve’s The Space Between has it all. It is a story written with a knowledge of space, realistic characters you want to root for, romance, and a mystery with a satisfying ending. I predict that after you read the book, you’ll gaze at the stars and think of them in a new way."

—Judith Keim, bestselling author of the Fat Fridays Group series

Woven with the stars, this is an incredible story of love, betrayal, and the infinite power of hope. Suspenseful to almost the last page; I couldn’t put it down.

—Andrea Hurst,

author of Always with You

"Dete Meserve’s The Space Between hits all of the sweet spots: a smart and engaging female lead, an intriguing mystery, and elements of danger and suspense sure to keep readers turning pages long past bedtime. If you’re a fan of Nicholas Sparks or Kerry Lonsdale, grab this book!"

—Kes Trester,

author of A Dangerous Year

With the starry heavens as a backdrop, Meserve spins a fast-paced story about astronomer Sarah Mayfield, as she questions everything she believes to be true in the space between the heartache of her rocky marriage and the mystery surrounding her husband’s disappearance. This is Meserve’s best work yet, a romance wrapped in suspense that will keep readers guessing until the very end.

—Christine Nolfi,

bestselling author of Sweet Lake and The Comfort of Secrets

Title-Ebook

Contents

Also By Dete Meserve

Foreword

Introduction

KINDNESS AT ANY AGE

Fraternity Boys Surprise Twelve-Year-Old Cancer Fighter

Great-Grandma Delivers Free Lunches to Needy Kids

Boy Gives up Birthday Party to Honor Police Officers

Teen Wants to Change the World Through Inventions

FINDING PURPOSE THROUGH KINDNESS

One-Hundred-Year-Old Makes a Dress Every Day

A Sense of Home

One Woman’s Quest to Save an Entire Dog Shelter

Farmer Gives Away Harvest

Car Wash Changes Lives of People with Autism

CONNECTING TO OTHERS THROUGH KINDNESS

Disabled Veteran Receives an Unexpected Gift from a Secret Angel

Football Team Surprises Teammate with a Secret Play

Teacher Gives Lifesaving Gift to Student

Teen Gives up Marching Band Spot to Guide Blind Freshman

Veterinarian Goes Above and Beyond to Save a Pit Bull

For a Pediatrician and a Paramedic, Kindness Comes Full Circle

UNIQUE WAYS OF SHOWING KINDNESS

Sticky Notes Become Beautiful Gesture of Kindness

Bikers Protect Abused Children

A Labor of Love with Angel Gowns

Dad Finds a Brilliant Way to Use Leftover Crayons to Help Others

College Student Mows Lawns Free of Charge

KINDNESS MOVEMENTS

Friends Surprise Strangers by Paying for Their Groceries

A Compassionate Path to Reducing Homelessness

Adams Acts

A Year of Kindness

Layaway Angel Makes Acts of Kindness a Way of Life

Acknowledgments

Author’s Note

Author’s Note

Story Updates

ALSO BY DETE MESERVE

Good Sam

Perfectly Good Crime

The Space Between

This book is dedicated to

Good Samaritans everywhere,

who, through actions big and small,

bring light and hope into the world.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

—Aesop

Foreword

Rachel Greco

I love reading good news. 

I love writing it too, but as a journalist working at the Lansing State Journal, covering several communities, I have to be comfortable being a jill-of-all-trades. I don’t have the luxury of being choosy; I cover anything and everything: car crashes, fires, contentious school board and government decisions, deaths, dangerous weather conditions, and the occasional court case.

Still, every once in a while, I stumble upon someone helping a person in need, an extraordinary community effort, a heroic act, or a touching relationship that inspires people. I consider myself lucky because I’ve written numerous pieces about all those. In truth, they often get me through the sad and terrible things I’ve covered as a reporter. 

I always look forward to telling these stories, just as many readers look forward to seeing them. They inspire, lift people up, lighten the soul. Some of them restore our faith in humanity.

A few years ago, I met a single mom and her two teenagers, and their story did all these things for me. The family lived in Potterville, a small community outside Lansing, Michigan.

I met with them because one of the teens had written an essay about his mother and entered it in a national contest in hopes of winning the family a new wheelchair-accessible van. His mother needed one, he told me. The stroke she had suffered several years earlier had limited her mobility. The van she drove was fifteen years old and in bad shape.

I sat in their living room and listened to their story. Although the teens discussed their family’s need for a new van, they talked even more about their mom, who spent much of her time shuttling them to sports practices, games, and after-school activities. When the van broke down, which it often did, she always managed to scrape together enough money to keep it going, insistent that her children get where they needed to be.

She didn’t just need a new van, they told me. She deserved one, because there’d never been a time when she hadn’t put her children first.

We walked out to the driveway in front of their small manufactured house, all four of us, to take a look at their aging vehicle. The wheelchair lift at the back of the van was leaking hydraulic fluid and falling apart, and rust had eaten holes through the interior floor. In the winter, cold Michigan air rushed into the van, and from inside the vehicle, I saw the asphalt of the driveway below where the metal was missing.

I left the interview and drove back to work thinking about how gracious they were and how badly I wished I could help them secure that van.

The contest came and went. They didn’t win.

That’s when I received a phone call. The man on the line inquired about the single mother in need of a new van. 

Did she get it? he asked.

I told him she