The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

e-ARC, 352 pages           

Release Date: November 5, 2019

Published by: Berkley
Read from: October 20-21, 2019

Bromance Book Club, #1

Source: Publisher & Edelweiss (I received a copy of this book from the Publisher & Edelweiss in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.) 

TW: N/A

For fans of: Contemporary Romance, Adult, Reading/Books, 

     The first rule of book club: You don't talk about book club.
     Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott's marriage is in major league trouble. He’s recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it’s the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he’s let his pride and fear get the better of him.
     Welcome to the Bromance Book Club.
     Distraught and desperate, Gavin finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville's top alpha men. With the help of their current read, a steamy Regency titled Courting the Countess, the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. But it'll take a lot more than flowery words and grand gestures for this hapless Romeo to find his inner hero and win back the trust of his wife..

 

 

     I wasn't going to read this so early, but lately I've found that I ONLY want to read sports romances. And while this one isn't really about the "sports," its still shown in the book and I think that's what I needed. And even with this being the 3rd one I've read like one after the other, I still need more, but I'm not sure if this book hangover is going to permit that.

"All spouses become strangers to each other at some poine in a marriage," Del said. "All human beings are a work in progress, and we don't all change at the same pace."

4%

Gavin and Thea always had the perfect marriage.... Or so he thought. As it turns out, Thea has faked the Big O... And not just once... EVERY. TIME. He is furious and it's the last straw for Thea so she asks for a divorce. Desperate to find a way to fix things so he doesn't lose his marriage, he enlists the help of his friends. A group of Nashville's top men who make up the world's cutest book club. They use their current read to make sure Gavin can save trust of his wife and help his marriage survive.

"Men are idiots. We complain that women are so musterious and shit, and we never know what we want. We fuck up our relationships because we convince ourselves that it's too hard to figure them out. But the real problem is with us. We think we're not supposed to feel things and cry and express ourselves. We expect women to do all the emotional labor in a relationship and then act confised when they give up on us."

12%

Before this book, it's been a long time since I've read a book in 2 days. Especially when I've had to work. But this one was one I legit couldn't put down. It had everything I wanted right at that moment and I was so glad I had it. It was exactly what I needed at that time. It was hilarious (I WISH I had Mack as a friend like Gavin does omg) and sweet (man I loved Gavin) and the sports aspect was there, but there wasn't a lot of baseball words that I didn't know. (I don't really care for baseball.) Some things were a bit over the top, but I always expect that with contemporary romances so that didn't bother me too much.

"Book club isn't just about books." Malcolm nodded solemnly. "It's a brotherhood, man." "A way of life," one of the city officials said. Mack slung an arm over Wilson's shoulder. "An emotional journey."

13%

Which brings me to the writing style. I loved the way Adams wrote in some of the scenes from "Courting the Countess." I loved seeing the comparisons from their book club title to how he used it with his wife. For the way the author was able to keep track of what felt like two seperate books was pretty cool. I thought it was a cool concept that I haven't seen done before and the topic of the book was pretty cool. I have no idea how she came up with this idea, but I really hope she helps each guy (and maybe some new ones) in the Book Club with many different genres lol

"We are all the sum total of our experiences at any given time, and our reactions to things are shaped by them. Just like in romance novels. Whatever a character went through before the start if the book will eventually determine how they will react to things in the book." "But we're talking about my real life here. Not a book." "Same principles apply," Malcolm said. That's why fiction resonates with people. It speaks to unisersal truths."

32%

The thing that did bother me was the characters. I didn't really care for Thea and Liv. And it wasn't really Liv's fault that I didn't like her. It was more Thea's. She kept telling Liv all these bad things about Gavin and then wondered why her sister didn't like him. If that was all she knew, of course she wasn't going to think the best of him. Which then caused her to keep sticking her nose in their marriage and she didn't know how to pull back when she needed to. I also didn't like that Thea wasn't giving him a chance.... But that's all I'll say about that.

"Romance novels might be the manuals, but Pinterest is where they post the pictures."

55%

But overall, this was definitely what I needed at the time and although it threw off my TBR schedule, it really helped my Goodreads challenge by finishing it in two days lol And it really helped me by giving me a nice escape from everything I've had going on. This book may not work for everyone, with it being over the top and semi bad characters, but it did for me and I already want to read it again and then start on the sequel.

Overall, I give this