Steamy and funny. This felt like a new twist for me, and I like that it's about what happens after the wedding, instead of before.

This was a nice surprise, I was excited about it!It was refreshing and so cute. Thea and Gavin were great characters!I loved this second chance romance in marriage.It's the second book I'm reading about a marriage couple and I loved it!!

I loved the friendship Gavin and his guys have and how they helped him!It was fun and sweet.Generally I devour it, it was fast paced,lighthearted and so fun!I enjoyed every minute of it!

I cannot wait to read more books from this author!

Funny, heartwarming, second chance romance! I will say the conceit of the heroine having faked it in bed for three years struck me as a little farfetched at first, but the way the story used it as a jumping-off point to have the couple address their long-running lack of communication felt real and authentic. Can’t wait for the next book!

This was super cute! I'm usually not a big fan of second-chance romances but I've been reading a lot more lately and really enjoying them. I liked Gavin and Thea and I really enjoyed them getting to know each other again and falling in love. It's nice reading about a man who actually tries to get his wife back. Side characters were fun. I would read more books by this author!

4.5 stars

When I went into this book, I was crossing my fingers that the execution of it and the writing style matched how great the synopsis was. I'm so glad the book held up to how good it sounds, and it's definitely a memorable romance I'll be recommending!

My primary concern about this book was that since it's about a married couple with kids, I wouldn't be able to relate to it or enjoy it since they're several years ahead of me on the maturity scale. Attached to that, I was hoping this wouldn't become a women's fiction book about fixing a marriage with no steamy scenes. Quickly, both of my fears became obsolete. The fact that this book follows characters who are already in a relationship makes it so much more real. Rather than two characters living out a dolled up romance, this is about a relationship that's dead and both characters having to fight to reanimate it. It's different than anything I've ever read and was so interesting and realistic and human. In addition, the scenes of Gavin and Thea interacting with their kids were SO wholesome.

I jokingly told my friend while I was reading this that it reads like what a Nicholas Sparks book would be if Nicholas Sparks books were actually good. It talks about family issues--both in their current relationship and in their childhood trauma--while also being a cuddly romance about two adults rediscovering each other through honesty. This book was SO soft because Gavin was making an effort to be attentive to Thea's needs and insecurities, and watching them reblossom to one another was so heart warming and emotional.

The writing of this book is spectacular in all areas except one. I loved when the author would delve into the character's backstories and they way she wrote their dialogue and all the humor that was folded into the Bromance Book Club. I especially loved how this book was a mix of real-time action with scenes interspersed from the regency romance book the men were reading. The reason I took off .5 stars, however, was there were moments in this book where the characters would randomly get on a soapbox about feminism that didn't match the context of the conversation at all. There were seriously some paragraphs that read like an essay for a women and gender studies class rather than a romance book because it wasn't subtle at all. The men in the book club are self-aware about feminism and toxic masculinity, which is good, but it wasn't subtle at all and ended up sounding like fan service to other women reading the book because those random feminism rants didn't sound authentic to the men's voices at all. But a part of the book I did like is that Thea, the wife, was strident in her independence and her feminism, which I enjoyed way more than when the characters went off on tangents about the male gaze and the patriarchy.

But overall, this book was so addicting and enjoyable. It was quick and sweet but also the perfect amounts of meaningful and realistic. I love any romance book that takes the shininess away from relationships and delves into real human lives, and this book definitely fits that category. I can't wait to pick up a copy when it comes out!

Now, we have all read the stories of a woman trying to get her man back, and her friends all helping, right?

Well, this refreshing story from Lyssa Kay Adams is a wonderful role reversal with our guy Gavin desperately trying to win back his woman, with the help of his fellow male friends - and romance books.

Add the fact that they are married with children, it just added a whole other layer to their story.

We are so used to the perfect sports stars with the perfect everything, it endeared me more to Gavin that he has a stutter. When I thought I couldn't adore him anymore, I learned that and realised I could!

Thea - man at times I just wanted to tell her to wake up and smell the roses and stop chastising Gavin for past mistakes, and see the man who is front of her. I got frustrated at her that she blamed Gavin for everything, when she had been hiding behind fake for so long and never said anything to him.

Oh, and please, do NOT get me started on her sister Liv. I wanted to jump into the book and tell her "why are you still here? Just be quiet for goodness sake". However, I am looking forward to her story in the next book, and I hope I will like her more.

Gavin's teammates were funny, wonderful men. They made me laugh, they made me sigh. It was great to see their take on things from the books they are reading to how they are relevant today.

I just really enjoyed The Bromance Book Club, and look forward to more.

I really enjoyed this one! I don't normally read a lot of contemporary romanced but the cover of this really caught my eye and I figured I would give it a try. I enjoyed all the characters and the premise was very realistic and not over the top dramatic which I liked.

Strike out at 30%/NR

I baseball punned!

This is my first experience with this author and I want to stress that her writing is not bad. This is a case of it's not you, it's me. Clichéd, I know but in this case it's true.

I requested this and went into it truly believing it would be comedic. A bunch of baseball players reading romance in secret in their man caves to keep their partners happy? Comedy gold, right?

Not... exactly. At the 30% mark, not even a snicker from me.

But, if you are looking for a second chance/rekindling the romance in a marriage that's seen better days then I highly recommend it. The tone was far more serious than I expected and I simply wasn't able to temper my expectations.

That coupled with the fact that Gavin doesn't have much meat on his fictional bones character-wise, nothing I could sink my teeth into at any rate, and his estranged wife Thea wasn't a likable character all added up to my interest waning.

I also found the historical novel within a contemporary novel concept odd and somewhat jarring.

However, as always my opinions are my own and YMMV.

An ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. Overall, the premise (marriage in trouble, guy friends all talk openly about masculinity and the ability to show emotions, strong friendships and family relationships) is amazing. I loved the characters, the setting, and there was a lot of really great dialogue that was laugh-out-loud funny. I even enjoyed the book-within-a-book, Courting the Countess, that the guys' book club was reading to help Gavin relate better to his wife.

My one minor quibble (and it's truly minor) was sometimes when the book club would get together, the dialogue between the men to discuss the issues was unbelievable. Malcolm, in particular, sounded more like Gloria Steinem giving prepared remarks than a man discussing life with his bros. It was a little off-putting since it didn't seem natural.

Otherwise, I loved it. I can't wait for the next book in the series. It reminded me a lot of Man Hands by Sarina Bowen and Tanya Eby. It has a light, fun plot that's still mired in real emotions. Highly recommend!

I really enjoyed this book! I loved both Thea and Gavin, I thought their motivations and characterizations were both really fleshed out. The resolution to their problems also developed in a realistic and believable way. I can't to read the next one!

The Bromance Book Club is great fun - a sweet, easy read spiced with some hilarious scenes. This is the first book in a series featuring a group of Nashville alpha males determined to save their relationships through an outrageous plan - reading romance novels to better understand their wives.

Gavin Scott plays second base for the Nashville Legends. He is having a terrific year - until his wife Thea confesses that she has been faking it in bed. Gavin is angry and moves into the guest room, refusing to speak with Thea for weeks. The way she sees it, this is just one more situation where they are unable to communicate, unable to see each other. She kicks him out and asks for a divorce. Gavin is devastated.

Enter Gavin’s best friend, Del , who’s got a plan to save Gavin’s marriage. He takes Gavin to a secret meeting where Gavin is tossed a book:

“Courting the Countess,” Gavin read slowly. He ground his molars and looked up. “Is this a joke?”

“No,” Del said.

“This is a romance novel... I can’t believe you assholes. My life is falling apart, and you’re making fun of me.”

“I thought the same thing when Malcolm brought me in,” Del said. “But it’s not a joke. Sit down and listen.”

Gavin returned to his chair. “You guys read romance novels?”

“We call them manuals,” the Russian said.

The fellas explain to Gavin that they read romance to learn to “be more comfortable expressing ourselves and to look at things from their [the women in their lives] perspective.” Gavin is not convinced until the others tell their stories of marriages rescued from the abyss, so he decides to take home Courting the Countess and see what he can learn. The book club agrees to coach him as he courts Thea and tries to save his marriage.

Gavin and Thea married three years earlier, after quickly falling in love (and conceiving twin girls). Thea dropped out of art school and immersed herself in motherhood and with the wives and girlfriends of the other team members. It has not been easy for her, what with struggling to keep her own identity and single-parenting while Gavin travels with the team. Thea is done making concessions for others, done changing herself to fit the expectations of a team wife. When Gavin starts to court her after coaching from the book club, she is mad and confused. He gets her to commit to trying again for a few months, until the holidays. She agrees but doesn’t see much hope.

The Bromance Book Club is one of the funniest books I’ve read this year. Turns out it’s pretty hilarious reading about alpha men reading (and studying) romance novels, and the author does a wonderful job writing the scenes with the book club members. Ms. Adams deftly interweaves chapters from Courting the Countess into the story so we get to see Gavin’s reactions to a regency romance and his attempts to mimic some of the hero’s moves. It’s funny stuff.

But there are also some serious sides to the story. Thea and Gavin rushed into marriage and parenthood and Thea was not prepared for the requirements of being a team wife - she didn’t even know how to play baseball. Gavin loves Thea but seems to be fairly oblivious to her struggles, and he has a way to go to be a true partner for her. Thea has issues still lingering from her own broken childhood and has a hard time believing Gavin would rather stay and fight for their marriage than just be free.

The book is not without some flaws. For one, the twins can only be about two-and-a-half and yet, their speech is much more like that of four- or five-year-olds.  I was also disappointed that Thea never took responsibility for her part in her and Gavin’s bedroom issues. It’s 2019 and she should have spoken up right away and done some coaching of her own.

Flaws and all, it was still a fun, clever story that I’m delighted to recommend. There are more stories to come from The Bromance Book Club series and I’ll be picking those books up too!

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I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
I enjoyed this book so much! I wouldn't say that I loved it, but I was a fan of it and will be recommending it to others who I know will love it! I'm not big on second chance romances or contemporaries, but there has been so much hype with this book that I felt like I needed to get in on the ground level. It has such a good premise!
I think this book's strengths are its characters. I think that Gavin and Thea both have very valid motivations behind their actions and feelings, and I think the author did a good job of showing us just enough of their pasts to help us understand that. You root for them to get back together, you get frustrated when they JUST WON'T KISS ALREADY. The side characters helped the story as well, and I found many guys on the baseball team to be hilarious. I can't wait to see if books come out about them.
Something I didn't like as much as I wanted to was the excerpts of the romance novel within the book. I kind of felt myself skimming those to get back to the real story, even though I know that the book is meant to mirror what is happening in the story. I liked the book overall, and maybe it was because this is a contemporary or maybe it was because I can't personally relate to these characters, but something held me back from completely loving the book. Don't get me wrong, my Kindle is filled with highlighted quotes from the book, but I know that this book wasn't necessarily meant for me. That being said, I know plenty of people who will love this book and I will definitely be spreading the word.

OMG this was everything!

I don’t know if I fully have the words to describe just how perfect this book was for me, but I will surely try.

Married couple Gavin and Thea have been having a rough time with their relationship. Gavin, a professional baseball player, has been absent lately due to his career, leaving Thea home alone to raise their young twin daughters alone. Add in the fact that one passionate night leads Gavin to discover that Thea has been faking it in bed, and a whole other slew of issues unravels that leads to Thea asking for a divorce. Down on himself, Gavin luckily gets a little intervention from a group of his buddies that let him in on their little secret; they have their own book club where they read romance novels to help them understand women better, allowing them to be more present in their relationships. Shenanigans ensue, including a bargain, a courtship, and a whole lot of swooning.

I just really loved this book. Gavin was so sweet and willing to try and do anything to get his wife back, and all of the guys in the book club were funny and likeable in different ways, that it is very clear there will be companion novels. Thea was also a great heroine. She’s strong and knew what she wanted and she wasn’t going to take any crap from Gavin or anyone else in her life.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that this book had an established relationship. Established relationships are one of my favorite tropes in any novel, especially romance novels, because while it’s nice to see how a relationship forms, it’s also so nice to just be thrust into one that already exists and see how the dynamic effects the rest of the plot. I love that Gavin and Thea started out so rocky, but after some discussion and some interesting terms, they both decided to work on their relationship. I love that Gavin wanted to win her back so badly because he truly loved her and wanted to be better for her and their kids. I also loved that Thea wasn’t so easy to give in and Gavin had to really work hard. It showed growth in their relationship and it really allowed them to talk about things that matter and get to know each other again.

Really, this was just the perfect, emotion filled read that had angst and fluff and laughter and I CANNOT WAIT for the next book in this series!

*Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Oh, I loved this so very, very much. I loved that it's a romance between married people, and that Gavin has to learn how to be a good partner to his wife. I love that there's a group of men who have recognized the power and importance of the romance novel, and instead of disparaging them, have realized that there is good information about relationships to be gleaned from these stories and are using them as research tools. Somehow this book managed to be both steamy and have scenes featuring hard and even just average days in parenthood and marriage, and they fit together perfectly. This was just so good, and I can't wait for the next.

This book was everything I wanted, everything I needed, and more.

Equal parts comedy, passion, and wit, this book is perfect for fans of second chance romance, meta narrative, athlete heroes, and grand gesture moments.

A great book for everyone who needs a laugh and a smart feel good moment, but it’s a MUST for fans of the romance genre.

A NEW FAVORITE!

Absolutely fantastic! This book was hilarious from the first chapter and had me truly laughing out loud through the whole thing. I’m mad at myself for taking so long to read it. The novel the men are reading of course parallels Gavin and Thea’s lives and it’s the perfect pairing with their story. I also just adore the idea of men finding it okay to love things like romance novels and pumpkin spice lattes. It’s all incredibly feminist and I love it.

3.5 stars

This is my first book by this author and I was pleasantly surprised with this story! Bromance Book Club was a fun, new take on second chance romance with a twist...a bunch of men in a secret book club!

I really enjoyed the story between Gavin and Thea although I think her reasoning for kicking him out/divorce was a little extreme. However, Gavin’s ideas of winning Thea back were fun and the conversations with the other members of the secret book club had me laughing throughout the story. While some times I wanted to smack both Thea and Gavin with my Kindle, I thought the overall story was fun and cute.

Romance books sell more than any other genre, yet they’re often seen as guilty pleasures or dirty little secrets. As Del says in this book, “...toxic masculinity permeates even the most mundane things in life. If masses of women like something, our society automatically begins to mock them. Just like romance novels. If women like them, they must be a joke, right?” Yet, it’s these same books that this group of high-powered men use as self-help manuals to learn how women think, how toxic masculinity can destroy relationships, and how to shed it to win back their wives and girlfriends. The premise of a romance book club for men is laudable for its unique approach although it’s never explained how the group formed, they don’t hold regular meetings, and only half of the members appear throughout the book. Inexplicably, one of them is Braden Mack, a single flirt whose sole purpose seems to be to throw snarky and annoying roadblocks in Gavin’s path. Aside from the club, however, the story follows a standard romantic trope of a couple (Gavin and his wife Thea) who aren’t honest with each other and who will destroy their marriage if they don’t revisit their past (“backstory”) to acknowledge the baggage that stands in their way. It’s a fun and often frustrating read, and romance readers will enjoy the spin.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Berkley Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

I absolutely loved The Bromance Book Club. I was a little nervous that the best thing about it would the premise but I should have worried because this book did not let me down! It was laugh-out-loud funny and completely swoon-worthy. Such a wonderful second chance romance with lots of great feminist themes. This slid quickly and easily into my Top 5 for 2019 and I will be recommending to anyone who will listen!

Lisa Kay Adams launches her Bromance Book Club series with the story of MLB second baseman Gavin Scott and his soon to be ex-wife is he can’t find a way to salvage their marriage.

Gavin and Thea’s relationship had been a whirlwind romance and a hasty marriage not long after they found out Thea was pregnant with their twins. She fell in love with Gavin for him, not his baseball career and wasn’t prepared to be a Major League Baseball wife. She soon lost herself trying to be someone she was not, but worst of all she lost her groove and her big O.

When Gavin found out she’d been faking it since their twins were born, he lost his confidence and nerve. But he knows one thing for sure, Thea and his girls are his life. What extremes will he go to, to get them back?

Lyssa Kay Adams did a wonderful job of capturing my attention right from the start. The book’s title was intriguing, who wouldn’t want to know what men talk about in a book club? What kind of books do they read? I know, I know… they’re not supposed to talk about it, but it was interesting. And then the blurb made it all but impossible for me to not want to read and then the book itself and the regency novella that was included to boot were absolutely delightful.

Gavin definitely stole the show. Yes he hadn’t realized a lot of things about his wife, but they had understandably gotten caught up in their initial romance without really getting to know each other. But mostly, he recognized her as his soul mate wasn’t going to go down without a fight, no matter how much out of his comfort zone he had to go.

I just loved the men in the book club, they didn’t just add an important layer to the story they were fun and I hope we get to know more about them as the series progresses.

I’m always unsure whether or not to write about what I didn’t like but I think in this case since it pertained to secondary characters, it’s ok. I was not a fan of Thea’s sister who was flat out against Gavin and his attempts to reconcile WITHOUT knowing the cause of the problem. But I stalked the author and seen that she’s the heroine in the next book so I can’t wait to read and see how she’s converted to the romantic side.

The Bromance Book Club is book #1 of the Bromance Book Club series by Lyssa Kay Adams. It’s a standalone, contemporary romance, told from both points of view with a happy ending.