Gavin is a major league baseball player who just had the best night of his career, followed by the worst night of his marriage. Realizing that his marriage to the love of his life Thea has been crumbling for some time is blow that he didn’t see coming and doesn’t know how to handle. Luckily, his friend Del is there to help, along with a group of the most powerful men in Nashville. Their secret? They’re members of a book group that reads romance novels to up their relationship game. And now they’re inducting Gavin. Meanwhile, Thea has had enough. Putting up with the life of a baseball wife while raising twin girls has left her drained, exhausted and wondering what happened to the rebellious artist she was when she married Gavin. Deciding it’s time to un-defer her dreams, Thea pushes forward on finishing her degree. But is there room for rekindling love in those dreams?
The Bromance Book Club is a fun fast read that will bring a smile to your face. Lyssa Kay Adams writing shines in the relationships between quirky and believable characters. While there were points in the novel that felt a bit more fantasy than others (a room full of alpha males who know and respect the phrase “toxic masculinity”?) it was an enjoyable fantasy to be lost in for a few hours. I’m not a huge fan of sports romance, but I am a huge fan of watching a couple that’s already fallen in love once fall in love all over again. Seeing a couple after the passionate first happily ever after find a real long term happily ever after was a nice change of pace from the typical girl-meets-boy fare. I’d be interested to see if this is going to be a series and where the author takes it from here.
Disclaimer: I received an advance reader copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

What a fun read. At first I was hesitant about the concept of the book but I'm so glad I decided to read it. The writing flowed, the characters were enjoyable and believable. I look forward to reading more from this author.

A sweet, (kind of) feminist story of a man learning to appreciate his wife when he’s faced with losing her. Major League Baseball player Gavin is shocked when his wife Thea asks for a divorce after three years. Sure, he’s been on the road a lot. And sure, she’s been taking care of their twin daughters and putting her own dreams on hold. But he thought things were fine.

Enter the Bromance Book Club, a secret group for men who read romance novels as a way to better love the women in their lives. They hand Gavin a regency homework assignment to read and discuss: Courting the Countess. As he reads the book and tries to woo his wife back with the support of his friends, he’ll learn about her and himself in the process.

The men in this book say woke things, such as their debate over whether The Little Mermaid is anti feminist viewing. And they seem to believe in women’s equality. But there’s still something that leaves an aftertaste of traditional gender roles in their behavior, despite the author’s attempts to feed whole paragraphs of feminist language into their conversations. Also, the book is much more about Gavin’s journey than Thea’s, even though they both have a lot to learn in their marriage.

But overall this was a heartwarming, funny, enjoyable read. It’s fun to watch Gavin figuring things out and Thea learning to let him in.

Life imitates art imitates life in this hilarious, touching rom-com. Gavin is a star baseball player. Thea is his wife, mother to his two daughters. The two have split after Thea reveals she's been "faking it" for the last few years. Gavin's ego can't handle it, and starts on a spiral of self-destructive behavior, only to be pulled aside by a group of guy friends, who reveal their secret: they read romance novels to help guide their romantic lives. Gavin is incredulous at first, but decides it's worth a shot to save his marriage. He manages to convince Thea to let him move back in and try to work things out, but in her mind, this is all lip service: she's moving on. As Gavin delves deeper in the world of counts and countesses, though, he starts realizing that not only does he have a big part to play in working on his marriage, but Thea has a lot of baggage to unpack before she can move forward, too. Now, they just have to work on moving forward together.

This is such a great idea for a romance novel! The whole "romance novel as relationship guide" is treated so well here; it's played for laughs, but with absolute respect to strong, smart female heroines and the "big secrets" about how relationships work. Gavin is a sweetly dopey guy going on his own voyage of discovery; he starts out pretty clueless, but sharpens his view of male-female relationships as the book progresses. Thea isn't a perfect heroine, which makes her so relatable. The writing is smart, funny, and gives readers a glimpse into the secret lives of Sports WAGs (wives and girlfriends), and dysfunctional family fallout. I loved it.

I was sent a link to download and read an ARC. Had my doubts but hard for me to pass up a free book. I'm glad I went ahead and read this one. The characters are extremely likeable, the writing humorous and a really feel good book. I will definitely look for more books by this author.

I was so looking forward to reading this book. The concept of a secret all-male book club, many of them athletes, was something I had never heard of before. And I imagined all kinds of fun. Sadly, that's not what I got out of the book. There was too much swearing for my like and the historical romance that book club was reading really was not my cup of tea. I found the story hard to read. And I found the characters hard to relate to without rolling my eyes.

I was not able to finish the book so I will not give a formal review on a retail site.

I am so glad I read this book! I was hesitant to pick it up because the premise of a man winning back his wife by joining a romance book club felt so prosperous. Additionally, the characters are about as unrealistic as can be (to me) but they both have these lovely oddities that left me feeling like they could be me or my friends. Gavin is a professional baseball player with a stutter, who is startled to learn that there are entire Pinterest boards dedicated to him. Thea is a WAG (wife and girlfriend) who gets a far off look when thinking about washi tape and prefers to wear her husbands t-shirts to sleep. BUT IT WAS PERFECT. The story of Thea and Gavin finding their way back to each other was sweet and sexy. Interspersed with their story are excerpts from the romance novel Gavin is reading. I felt like I was able to appreciate the story on two levels, as they are parallels of one another.

I did not love this book. While the concept was original, it felt very unlikely and the characters weren't very dynamic. Luckily, it was a quick read, but I have no interest in continuing further with this series.

I really wanted to love this book but I no matter how much I tired I merely just liked it. Everything just felt forced; the characters, the plot, the friendships. I kept getting jarred out of the book by the weirdness. Like the character that would just randomly forget to speak the language everyone else is speaking. That is not how being bilingual is at all! You may forget a random word or have to think of something in your native language and then translate it in your head and then say it out loud but you don't randomly forget to speak the current language you're speaking.

Again, I wanted to like this book but I just couldn't.

Funny as anything. I couldn’t put it down. A bunch of pro-athletes help one of their own learn to romance his wife by reading romance novels. Absolutely loved this!

This was such an interesting take on romance! Men joining together in a romance book club in order to better understand woman and help make marriages better -- I just settled in for the ride. It was so funny and fun! I loved the characters and the second-chance the romance and the brotherhood. I will definitely keep reading books by Lyssa Kay Adams and can't wait for the next in the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC of this book.

This book had so much potential! The premise of an all-male athlete secret book club reading romance novels and helping each other with their relationships is so fun but the execution was blah.

None of the characters, not even our leads, ever felt like more than a caricature and I found the dialogue super unrealistic to the point of taking me out of the story. Especially the one baseball player who spoke random Spanish for simple phrases like “what’s up” and “me too” but used English for everything else. That took me out of the moment so hard, it was like reading bad fan fiction about a bilingual character by someone who is not bilingual. He’s a super minor character but this detail really bugged me!

Thea and Gavin definitely have chemistry together, and I like the message of needing to communicate better and understand each other’s “backstories” to really get your partner’s needs but those are the only positives for me in this one, unfortunately. I wanted to like it more than I did.

It was a fun take on marital problems where the man has to learn his flaws as the protagonist and the woman wasn't without blame.

So this wasn't my favorite romance read. It had a lot of foul language and it felt like it took the characters a while to really get to where is was going. I liked Gavin and that he was willing to go all out to get his wife back and to get another chance. Thea was stubborn and it was hard to like her. She knew she had messed up in ways too and she was using her past with her father as a comparison to her husband (which I know can be hard not to do). I just felt it took her awhile to show that her past was what was holding her back and being reluctant to own up to that and give Gavin the chances he deserved sooner.
I did find the men funny and I loved that they were in a romance book club and tried to take things from books to help their marriages.
Cute book, but not for everyone.

This book was such a blast to read. I could tell by the blurb it was going to be good, and it didn't disappoint. Reading this book was such a fun time.

The premise of this story is fantastic and unique. Gavin Scott who plays pro baseball for the Nashville Legends is separated from his wife. Things are not good and all he wants is to be back with is wife and daughters. There were a lot of reasons these two separated, but Gavin finding out that Thea had been lying about having the big O when they were intimate was the straw that broke it. He's not sure what he can do, but a few of his teammates come to him with a solution.

His best friend talks him into joining this group of guys for a book club. Yes, a book club. Gavin doesn't know what do think of this... can it really work? Can he did this? He's so bewildered by it at first, but like he said, he's willing to try anything so he gives it a go.

Gavin has trouble taking direction at first, but as he starts seeing little improvements, he works harder. He talks Thea into temporarily letting him move back and hopefully giving it another go. Thea is pretty darn stubborn. She isn't going to be easily swayed. But once she sees that Gavin is really trying and making an effort, not just by his words, but by his actions, she starts to come around little by little.

Gavin was by far my favorite character of the book. He's a bit oblivious, but sweet, charming, and determined. I adored him. Thea won me over by the end, but her stubbornness got to me at times. Once I learned more of her backstory, I could appreciate why she was the way she was. And when she stuck up for Gavin at one of the baseball events I legit cheered outloud.

This is one of those books that had some serious subject matter, but for some reason, I couldn't keep the smile off my face while reading. This was a refreshing and original story that made me smile, laugh out loud, and swoon. I can't recommend this book enough! I'm so excited there is going to be more from this series, I can't wait!

I loved reading The Bromance Book Club! Gavin and Thea's story was so fun to read. I found myself laughing out loud at several points. I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

I thought I would love this book because of its unique premise. And I do really think this will appeal to many readers, particularly historical and contemporary romance fans. Personally, I didn't enjoy it for several reasons. First, there was so much usage of the F word. I can't stand the word except when extreme circumstances call for it, so when it is used in casual conversation and with such regularity it really bothers me. I understand the author was probably trying to make her male characters sound authentic, but I think there are other ways to do that than having them throw around the F word every few sentences. Second, I couldn't warm up to Thea or her sister. I'm all for strong female protagonists, but she and her sister were so extreme and unlikable I never connected with either of them. I hate when books are preachy, and whenever they were in a scene I felt the author was using those two characters to preach a political message at me. That's not what I'm looking for when I pick up a romance book. Also, Gavin himself was just an OK hero. The best word I can describe him is bland. Overall, I felt no emotional connection to Gavin and Thea's relationship. That, ultimately, is why I'm giving the book 2 stars. As a side note, the historical love story that the book club reads was a huge missed opportunity. It came across as needlessly cheesy when it could have enhanced the main story itself. In short, whenever I put this book down I never felt the need to pick it back up.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy through Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy through Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

I loved this book! Romance with a twist! I loved the mix of romance with feminism & modern thinking men...a quick, romantic read!

MY RATING: 3.5/5 STARS 

I received an ARC from Penguin Random House Canada in exchange for a honest review. 

This book was a very highly anticipated read for simply because of the title and the cover. It's gorgeous like any other Berkley Romance being published since last year so really? What could have gone wrong? For people who are not familiar with the story, it's existentially boils down to a wife of a major baseball player who decides that one day, her life has changed too much and not for the better. She lost her sense of self and believes her husband doesn't even love her so she decides to break it off. Well, also the fact that she kind of told him that she's been faking her orgasm the entire time they were together. Talk about buried down emotions and secrets.

This book's plot is very similar to another novel I read which is Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey. Now, Tessa's book comes out in January 2020 so really, it's Tessa's book is similar to this one? Both follow the trope of marriage breakdown and their complications and the difficulties of piecing things back together. I preferred how Tessa solved her couple's issues better. Why?

Because our main heroine, Thea, is forever right in this novel. It's definitely not her fault that she doesn't open up to her husband so they can create a deeper bond or a connection. And it's definitely not her fault if her husband decides to pack up and leave when every single sign she's been given to him since him trying is that he needs to leave her alone because she won't change her mind about the divorce. It was so frustrating for me to read because Gavin really loved Thea. He would have done everything to break down her walls so he could love her more but Thea, damaged by her relationship with her playboy father and cynical mother, won't ever do it. 

Until the last 20% of this book, Thea finally realizes she's not always right and Gavin was doing his best. But too little too late and I couldn't see Thea being painted as the victim any longer so I had to give this 3.5/5 stars.

MY RECOMMENDATION

It was a fun and light read. Hilarious in a lot of parts when Gavin's buddies all got around and I'm excited to see what Lyssa has in store for the next novel.

I can't decide whether I liked this book because it was quick and charming and sweet, or whether I hated it because it's the worst kind of pandering to women. (Y'all, he takes her to buy washi tape.)