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 … 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.
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As soon as I read the back cover description of “The Bromance Book Club” by Lyssa Kay Adams, I knew I had to read it. A group of men – cocky athletes and powerful businessmen, at that – reading romance novels to try and better understand the women in their lives? The potential for hilarity seemed enormous, and thankfully, this book more than lived up to my expectations in that department. However, there is also a lot of heart to this book. For example, main character Gavin’s relationship with his young daughters is very sweet, and he comes across as a pretty great guy in general. Yes, he made some mistakes, but I appreciated that his love for his family was clear and that he was willing to do whatever it took to fix things with his wife, Thea – even if that meant listening to his friends and reading romance novels (aka “the manuals”).
Gavin’s wife, Thea, was also a wonderful lead character. She was smart, independent, loving, and determined to finally forge her own path after setting aside her dreams of a career as an artist to try and be the perfect baseball wife and mother. I particularly loved the scene when Thea confronted Rachel, another player’s wife who seemed to delight in torturing Thea and making fun of Gavin. Thea was like an avenging angel, strong not only in her defense of Gavin but also in defending her own choice to finish school and pursue a career of her own. I really admired Thea for standing up for her beliefs and her right to choose what made her happy. Who cared if most of the other players’ wives chose not to work outside the home? Thea is her own person, and as long as it works for her family, she should be able to do whatever makes her happy.
In addition to the wonderful main characters, I really enjoyed the “book within a book” that Gavin and his friends read during their book club, entitled “Seducing the Countess”. The excerpts that were included as part of this book were very entertaining, and I would love to read that story in its entirety too. All of Gavin’s nicknames for Lord Benedict, the hero of “Seducing the Countess”, were incredibly amusing, and made me laugh out loud a number of times.
Overall, I loved “The Bromance Book Club” and can’t wait to read the next book in the series. I hope Gavin’s “frenemy” Mack ends up being the main character of that book. He was hilarious here, and I loved the way he and Gavin bickered. Mack came across kind of like an overgrown teenage boy a lot of the time, but his heart seemed to be in the right place. Thea’s sister, Liv, was a lot of fun in this book too, and I can’t help but wonder if she would make a good match for Mack. There certainly seemed to be an attraction on his side when they met for the first time.
*ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss. All opinions expressed are my own.
With its quintessentially American setting, The Bromance Book Club is a funny, bittersweet unfurling of what it means to be married; what it means to be a sister, and a daughter and a reader. I laughed out loud when I realized just what the book club were up to. The bros offer droll advice on everything from toxic masculinity, to the best in pumpkin spice lattes, to how to look yourself up on Pinterest. But it is the reading aloud in this story that ultimately wins my heart, and shows that everything worth knowing — can be learned from romance.
There was no way that I was NOT picking up this book. The blurb is so intriguing. Men reading romance to enhance their understanding of the world? I’m in. This was a sweet and sexy story and a little heartbreaking. In highlighting the aspects of romance that make it so great, it makes me appreciate the genre that much more. Backstory is everything!
The author moves back and forth between the story of the h/H and the book the hero is reading (a regency romance) with fluidity. This is really a two-fer because the book within a book is compelling as well and I would encourage Ms. Adams to complete Courting the Countess.
This is the kind of fun rom-com that makes me smile and yearn for more.
Thank you to Penguin Random House for this book in exchange for an honest review.
Gavin Scott is a major league baseball player for the Nashville Legends. He thought he had it all – a beautiful wife, twin daughters and a house they loved. However, the night of his biggest career achievement becomes the night when it all falls apart. Gavin finds out that his wife, Thea, has been faking it in the bedroom for years. His pride is hurt and he’s unable to talk to her about it. Instead, he moves into the guest room and gives her the silent treatment. Thea asks for a divorce and for Gavin to move out and he realizes how big a mistake he’s made.
Living in a seedy motel, his self-imposed punishment, and drinking himself into oblivion, Gavin realizes he desperately wants his family back. Several of his teammates, including his best friend Del, show up at his hotel room with a solution. He can join their secret romance book club and learn how to win Thea back. The other guys have experienced their own marital problems and reading romance novels has helped them learn to be better husbands. Gavin is shocked but reluctantly agrees in hopes of saving his marriage. The guys start him on Courting the Countess, a book with a very similar plot to Gavin’s life.
Thea has issues of her own. She met Gavin shortly before he was called up to the majors. They had an intense beginning that resulted in an unexpected pregnancy. They were married within months and Thea left college to take care of the girls. Thea has put Gavin’s career before everything else, including herself. She has put up with comments from the other WAGs (Wives and Girlfiends) that she didn’t earn her spot as a major league baseball wife, that she trapped him into marriage by getting pregnant and that she isn’t as committed as the rest of them. Gavin’s reaction to her admission of faking it is the breaking point for her and she has finally started to feel like her old self. Her father, who was absent for her childhood, is getting married for the fourth time. Her mother warned Thea on her wedding day that Thea’s marriage to Gavin would end in just the same way hers did and Thea’s sister, Liv, has channeled all of her feelings toward her father against Gavin. Can Thea work through her childhood issues to really give Gavin another chance to win her back?
This was a cute, funny and romantic story. Picturing these alpha males reading romance novels was adorable. It’s a really quick, light read. My one issue was that so many of the problems they had stemmed from Thea remaining quiet and expecting Gavin to just “know” what was wrong. However, it was great that this book showed how both parties in a relationship are responsible for nurturing the relationship instead of making Gavin “the bad guy”. This book not only explores romantic relationships but also friendships and family dynamics. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The Bromance Book Club
Lyssa Kaye Adams
https://www.facebook.com/LyssaKayAdams/
Release date 11/05/2019
Publisher Berkley
Blurb :
The first rule of book club:
You don’t talk about book club.
Gavin Scott’s marriage is trouble. The Nashville Legends baseball star has recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. His reaction to the revelation is the final straw for 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 called 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 beloved wife.
My review :
When men band together, will it be enough to put back the broken pieces of a relationship shattered by secrets and lies …
I am so focused on reading historical romances with sometimes a detour to paranormal’s, I kept delaying my reading of this one book, as I do not read contemporary books anymore except for Mrs Annabelle Costa, until I could not any longer put back my reading as its release date is tomorrow.
I confess i was even surprised to be immediately sucked in the characters’ story as I landed in the peak of their most dramatic moment in their couple’s life.
But cherry on top, the book which is figured to help the hero understand and sort out how win back his wife is an historical romance.
It was such a fun read, between the quips and pokes of the books club members, alternating with “extracts” from the book which were sandwiched by the progression of Gavin and Thea’s relationship.
When most of the blame was at first put on Gavin’s shoulders, it takes two to make a couple and two to make it fail.
Gavin is a nice and very in love with his wife fellow, he just preferred play ostrich instead of facing his marriage’s issues, until they exploded to his face.
While Thea let her marriage change her in a sanitized version of herself, forgetting her own dreams and hopes. Yet, the situation spiraled out of her hands and turned ugly when both pride and past scars were added to the game.
t was an awesome clever read filled with humour but also a good dose of optimism and introspection as each will have to walk half the path to meet at the middle.
5 stars
I was granted an advance copy by the publisher Berkley via Edelweiss, I rightly preordered my own copy after finishing my reading.
Here is my true and unbiased opinion.
https://www.facebook.com/429830134272830/posts/495745351014641?d=n&sfns=mo
The Bromance Book Club is a hilarious, whip-smart, sexy rom-com that deserves all the hype. The premise of the book is unique and brilliant and should be a thing in real life. In The Bromance Book Club, a group of men reads romance books to better understand women and to improve romantic relationships. Romance books are written mostly by women, for women, and they center around women’s issues and desires, so the premise actually makes a lot of sense. It also provides a lot of hilarity and makes for a fun reading experience.
Gavin and Thea’s marriage is collapsing, Thea wants a divorce, but Gavin wants to save the marriage. To help him, his male friends initiate him into their secret romance book club, believing he could learn a thing or two about relationships from a Regency romance. At first, Gavin thinks the idea is ridiculous, but the more he reads the book, the more he learns about himself and his relationship with Thea. This book made me laugh, swoon, and fervently turn pages. I adored it, and I cannot wait to read more books in the series.
I really liked this book. This read is a delightful combination of cuteness, sweetness, humor and deep emotions. I found myself fluctuating between laugh out loud moments and instances that will simply have your heart melting. I loved Gavin so much and I thought Thea was easy to connect with and super relatable. In my opinion the things that really made this a book not to be missed were the adorable storyline idea behind it and Gavin. A very, very good read.
I read the synopsis for The Bromance Book Club, and immediately knew that it was a book I needed to read. A contemporary romance that centers on two married individuals who are having a rough time? Sign me up! You hardly see any romances that deal with married couples, and this book was so refreshing.
Thea and Gavin have been married for a few years, but have hit a rough patch in their marriage. Thea is now asking for a divorce and Gavin is feeling completely lost. What happens next is both hilarious and so heartwarming. Gavin’s teammates (he’s a professional baseball player) and some of their friends initiate Gavin into their book club. This is a secret book club where the men read regency romances to try and find why or where their marriage went wrong. I loved Gavin’s reaction when the men in this club try to talk him into the book club. I was laughing out loud so much!
The way the regency romance, Courting the Countess, that Gavin is reading mirrored what was happening with his relationship to Thea was so creative and I loved both of the stories. Gavin and Thea’s story really resonated with me. Marriage is A LOT of work and these two people who obviously love each other so much can’t get past this bump in the road. Communication is the key to any relationship and I loved that both Thea and Gavin had to work on themselves before they could actively work on their marriage together.
I immediately fell in love with Lyssa Kay Adams writing style and the “bros” who were part of the book club. To have men discuss relationships and help each other out when one of them is having a rough time was so sweet and also very very funny! There were parts of the book where I was laughing out loud because the situation was so hilarious. But then also parts that had me crying because I felt the anguish that both Thea and Gavin were going through. I can’t recommend this book enough, and I am already counting down to the next book in the series – Undercover Bromance.
**ARC provided by Edelweiss and Berkley in exchange for my honest opinion**
Lyssa Kay Adams’ The Bromance Book Club is a funny, sexy and heartfelt second-chance love story of romance and bromance. It begins with Gavin Scott, a baseball player, who finds himself in hot water when his wife, Thea, asks for a divorce, especially after finding out she has been faking the big O. The Bromance Book Club comes to his rescue. The alpha men coach Gavin on saving his marriage with advice on everything from toxic masculinity to how to look yourself up on Pinterest, but their insistence that he reads a steamy Regency novel titled Courting the Countess shocks him the most. He soon discovers it’ll take more than flowery words and grand gestures for him to regain Thea’s trust as they work through their issues. The Bromance Book Club has a mixture of laughter and swoony moments. Lyssa Kay Adams cleverly weaves excerpts of a Regency romance to create a courtship between Gavin and Thea with the interferences of Gavin’s book club, creating a delightful mixture of humor and down-to-earth characters. I received a complimentary ARC by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
3.5/5
I really wanted to like this one more than I did.
The premise is such a cute, original idea and had the potential to be both hilarious and heartwarming. A MLB player, married for 3 years with twins, discovers that his wife has been keeping a big secret from him (I won’t give it away) and suddenly his seemingly “perfect” life is upended. She kicks him out, he wants her back. Enter his teammates, who introduce him into the Bromance Book Club, their romance book club dedicated to helping them navigate their love lives by gleaning advice/wisdom from fictional books.
While it has its moments of hilarity and heart tugs, I just didn’t connect well with the H/h and felt parts were a bit cheesy and more along the lines of an outrageous rom-com movie script. Both characters had some emotional baggage that I felt was hurried through and wrapped up a bit too easily.
Not a bad book, others may love…just not great for me.
Thanks to #Goodreads and #PenquinRandomHouse for the ARC.
This book broke me out of a terrible reading slump. The premise is fresh, the author’s voice is fun, and I loved every minute of it.
Adorable, original, second-chance, romantic comedy
When major-league, second baseman, Gavin Scott, discovered that his wife, Thea, had been faking orgasms almost the whole of their three-year marriage, he was overcome with humiliation. He hid out in the guest room, ignoring Thea for over a month, until she shocked him out of his self-pitying funk by ordering him to move out. It suddenly hit him, like a fastball to the head, that he’d totally blown it with his wife. But apologizing and begging for another chance got him exactly nowhere. Thea wanted a divorce.
Thea was madly in love with Gavin when they got married when he was 26 and she was 20. Unfortunately, they had only been dating three months when she got pregnant, and they rushed into marriage. It was not the most promising way to begin their life together. Complicating matters even further, shortly after their shotgun wedding, Gavin was called up to the majors, and he has been on the road most of the time ever since. As far as Thea is concerned, however, their unsatisfying sex life is not their main problem, or even Gavin’s one-month, bruised-male-ego sulk. Those were merely the final straws. For three solid years, she has turned herself inside out to put in a solid performance as a good little Stepford, baseball wife in order to fit in with the snooty wives of the other players. She dresses conservatively and fake-smiles a lot at team-family events, and she dropped out of college without completing her art degree to shoulder the one-sided burden of raising their twin girls practically on her own. But, in spite of her endless sacrifices, Gavin takes her for granted, is emotionally unavailable, and she’s not even sure that he ever truly loved her.
Gavin is down and desperate, living in a lonely hotel room, when a small, tightly-knit group of his teammates rides to his rescue. They claim that they’ve all been in a similar predicament themselves with wives or fiancées, and they have a workable solution to offer him to get back in his wife’s good graces. They belong to their own private, relationship-at-risk, support group, which they call the Bromance Book Club. The only books they read together are romances, which they study carefully. “Romance novels,” they gravely inform Gavin, “are primarily written by women for women, and they’re entirely about how they want to be treated and what they want out of life and in a relationship.” The guys are determined, both for Gavin’s sake and the sake of the team—because he’s a depressed mess whose game is suffering—to help him salvage his marriage by learning how to be a better husband, the romance-novel way.
I love a good romantic comedy, and this one is simply terrific. Burly, macho guys hanging out together in a romance-reading book club, and acting as matchmakers to their clueless teammate, is a hilarious concept, and they provide a number of laugh-out-loud moments in this extremely original, reunion romance.
Both Gavin and Thea start out almost equally clueless about what it takes to build a solid marriage, but they both grow a lot in this book, individually and as a couple, as they gradually rebuild their broken relationship. It is particularly endearing that Gavin heartily repents his past unconsciously selfish ingratitude, and that he goes to such entertaining extremes to regain Thea’s respect and affection.
This is a slow-burn novel, and the eventual, well written sex scenes are both tender and sexy. That’s a big plus in a romance novel, for my particular taste.
This book is definitely a keeper for me, and I am very much looking forward to reading the next book in this series. The Bromance boys will make a second appearance, and they are a hoot.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 4 stars
Hero: 5 stars
Subcharacters: 5 stars
Romance Plot: 5 stars
Bromance Book Club Plot: 5 stars
Writing: 5 stars
Overall: 5 stars
An absolutely delightful book. Thea and Gavin have some really true to life issues. At first I was put out by Thea’s insistence that they divorce. It seemed like she didn’t really try to fix the problems. But as I kept reading, I really got where she was coming from. Such a wonderful story filled with humor (the nicknames for the book characters were hysterical!) and growth. This was my first time reading this author and I can not wait for Mack and Liv’s book!
Cute book. I liked the fact that this was a second chance romance in a sort between a husband and a wife. And the concept of studying romance books as a tool. Some parts moved slow and were skippable and didn’t seem to affect the story as a whole. Finished in 3 hrs. Gavin was the most interesting. Hated the sister, Liv. Felt the emotional wounds of the father were a bit too easily tied up. Cute overall book
At the start of this book, Thea and Gavin’s marriage seems to be on the rocks. Thea has asked Gavin to leave their house and he is bunking with a friend, getting drunk and being down. But then his best friend Del reveals a secret book club he has been a member of since his own marriage was trouble; a small group of men that – through reading romance novels and such – try to find what women want in a relationship and marriage. They offer to help Gavin repair his marriage to Thea.
I was curious as what to expect. Would these men just be reading romance novels and trying out idea’s on women? Actually, yes and no. The men in the club have (gained)amazing insight in the feelings of women but also what often goes wrong in a relationship. Communication, dreams that are set aside, backstory…. Gavin starts to realize his part in the failing marriage and what might have gone wrong. Just when I was just getting a bit fed up with Thea constantly getting back to the ‘it won’t work’, the story focused on her part in the marriage and I started to understand. What a great story. I loved this couple getting their second chance.
There was one thing that bothered me though and I have to say it. It is the timeline. Gavin and Thea met, she got pregnant and they got married rather fast. They got beautiful twin girls. But in the story it is about 3, max 4 years. So the girls should be around 2,5 or 3 years old. They behave like much older children. They go to school, have dance lessons and perform in a recital; plus the family has ‘traditions’. I can’t remember my toddler ever doing that. Their age really seemed off.
But: I loved the writing, the funny parts, the relationship between Thea and her younger sister Liv, the reluctant bromance between the book club guys. There were some hilarious moments. Maybe there will be a book about Liv and perhaps Mack?
Quote:
‘I don’t even know where to start.’ ‘We do,’ Del said. Then the guys all spoke at once. ‘Backstory.”What the fuck is backstory?’ ‘Everything, man,’ Mack said. ‘Backstory is everything.’
‘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 universal truths.’ (2019)