UNDERCOVER BROMANCE took everything I liked about THE BROMANCE BOOK CLUB and put it into a book that featured a plot I actually appreciated. It’s one of my favorite things – a second-in-series that is better than the first in distinct and measurable ways! (You know who else did this and continues to do it? Alyssa Cole. Every book in the Reluctant Royals series is better than the one before in ways that you can actually describe and quantify. So good!)

Here’s the thing. I liked THE BROMANCE BOOK CLUB – obviously, I liked it enough to pick up the sequel. But you’ll notice I didn’t write about it here. I loved a lot of things about that first book but there’s no getting over the fact that it happened to be a romance novel whose primary plot line involved people not communicating with each other, which is my second-least favorite central plot theme. (My least favorite is secret baby books, and I could yell about THAT for an hour (and did, once, on a fairly memorable author panel a couple of years ago, apologies to the entire audience who expected a VERY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE)). I just need more external conflict in my books than ‘I can’t bring myself to talk about something’. So. With that said, UNDERCOVER BROMANCE delivers. It’s got the stuff I liked in the first book – the romance book club! The analysis and interpretation of tropes and plots by unexpected characters! The really great side characters (one of whom from the first book is the heroine of this book, actually)! And then it adds in a plot with plenty going on. There’s a villain! Action-y bits! A full-on naked tackle of a bad guy! I don’t even usually LIKE romantic suspense, to be honest, but the best thing about this series is how inside-baseball it is for people who love romance. Lyssa Kay Adams knows her tropes, and she’s using them in really meta ways, which I love. It’s a sly breaking of the fourth wall to find men discussing their own toxic masculinity, talking out loud about the dark moment, and understanding when and how to (and who’s going to) make the grand gesture.

I liked a lot of stuff in this book – the chickens! The bar manager! The action sequences! The sex scenes! – but I want to talk about one moment that particularly stood out for me. A thing I really, really love to see in romances is men physically supporting each other. I wrote about it in THE WORST BEST MAN, and there’s another great moment in UNDERCOVER BROMANCE that features the hero’s male friends literally hugging him while he’s upset, something we rarely see. (PS: the absolute master of this is Grace Burrowes, who wrote a scene between a historical hero and one of his male friends involving a hug that I STILL think about after reading it YEARS ago.) Teaching men that touching each other is okay is a Big Thing for me – it’s just one of my personal pressure points – and so I get really excited about seeing it in popular fiction. I have a lot of thoughts about genre fiction being the zeitgeist for cultural change – if things are normalized in the fiction you read for escapist fantasy, it’s the first step to normalizing it in your everyday view of the world, because you recognize it as the way things ‘should be.’ That’s probably a talk for another time, though – maybe another author panel!

My only quibble with this otherwise great book is how relentlessly hetero it is. The group of ‘alpha males’ invested in romance novels is really good about their language and their approach to stuff – there’s no uncomfortable joking, which is great (and says something about the bare minimum of expectations we have, unfortunately). But. In something with such a deft analysis of romance novels and the culture that surrounds them, I would love to see a little more awareness of what’s missing. There’s absolutely no LGBTQIA+ characters identified in the text, which means there is no opportunity for Adams’ very smart characters to take a moment to reflect on how traditional romances don’t always reflect modern reality, or the changes in the genre that have come about more recently to showcase diversity. Every book the book club reads is m/f – which is fine! – but gosh, I’d love to see them notice that others exist, because there’s plenty of talk about them deciding which book to read. All that said – this book is from a traditional publisher, and traditional publishers are notoriously a little behind on stuff like this, so I GET why it’s not in there and nobody noticed that maybe it could be. I just wish somebody had said something. This book is so good about noticing so much about romance that it feels like a noticeable omission.

What a timely book that dealt with serious topics such as sexual harrassment, metoo, toxic masculinity. I love this series and the guys in the Bromance Book Club. I loved that they read a romantic suspense which is a genre that I want to read more thanks to this book.

I will be featuring this series in my Summer Reading Guide. I will also feature this book in a guest post on meta romance novels.

I thought this was pretty fun, much better than the first book in the series. I enjoy enemies-to-lovers and characters teaming up to take someone down, so this was definitely in my wheelhouse. Braden is also an appealing hero and I liked that he has to learn that romance isn't one size fits all women. Liv's internal struggle was also believable, and they had good chemistry.

This book was just alright, it was a cute concept. I just never really got into. I am a more true romance reader and this felt more like YA or something.

Last year when I read The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams, I knew I had to know more about Braden Mack. I was so happy to hear that his book would be next in this series. I'm happy to say, Undercover Bromance was just as great as the first book for me.

Braden Mack is the leader of the Bromance Book Club. He's an unapologetic romance lover and I adored him and his fun loving personality. Mack always gets the girl, but he never seems to keep her. When Mack is on a date with his current girlfriend (that isn't going great) he see's Liv again. Liv is Thea's sister and Gavin's sister in law (the couple from book 1).

Liv is a tough nut to crack. She's got trust issues when it comes to men and she's a bit snarky and headstrong. When Liv witnesses her boss sexually harassing another employee and gets fired for it, she decides to she needs to take him down. And Mack decides to help.

Instead of a historical romance, this book follows a romantic suspense, which went perfectly with the theme of Mack and Liv's story. I loved these two together and I especially loved Mack. I enjoyed learning about his past and seeing all the things that make him tick. He and Liv are a bit of opposites attract, but it works for them. Even though she's hesitant to be with him, when she finally gives in, it's magical.

If you're looking for a fun book that will make you laugh out loud, this book is for you. I loved all the crazy antics, the book club aspects, and the farm that Liv lived on. I also loved that amongst the lighter aspects of the book, it tackled a few serious topics as well. This book has so much heart, is entertaining, funny, and steamy and I truly love this series! I'm looking forward to the next one!

I was completely intrigued by concept of the Bromance Book club. It is adorable that there is a book club/support group for men who secretly love romance novels and their ability to help them in their quest to find or keep the women in their lives. I have not read the first book in the series which is about a hockey player winning back his wife with the help of the romance novel, but I will eventually.

The story line in this is a little more on a serious note than a majority of the romance novels I read since our heroine is fighting a man in power that has used his position over the years to manipulate women into sexual relationships with him. It is very much a #metoo type story and delves into how everyone should be a feminist, men included. It also touches on how even as a woman you can alienate other women with judgements while you are trying to help. Good messages but a bit more serious than I usually go with my fiction.

Good thing there is enough humor throughout the book to compensate for the seriousness of the topic. Liv and Mack are both wicked sharp and have great senses of humor. I really enjoyed the banter between them and how each tried to get under the other’s skin.
“God, you’re like an annoying chin hair that grows back no matter how many times you pluck it. You rip the bastard out, and then ploop, two days later, there it is again.”

Mack has had a lot of lovers, but he has never really fallen in love. He is possible looking for the right girl and he has a knack with women but Liv is a tough nut to crack and he is having a hard time breaking through a few of her walls not to mention getting past the guard rooster at the place she lives. He is everything she is not looking for in a man, if she was looking for a man in the first place, which she definitely is not.
“Face it, Mack. You’re a walking Hallmark hero.”

Good thing Mack has his book club for backup and they are going to help him win the girl and take out the douchecanoe that is trying to blackball her in the restaurant scene.

I will say that the book club has a few characters that totally steal the show. The Russian for one was fantastic with or without cheese and I’m hoping he gets a book. Noah too needs a book. He isn’t currently in the book club, but appears to have an interesting life situation happening.
“Why exactly do you have this?” As Liv and Hop got settled in the back, Noah eased out onto the street.
“All IT professionals have one.”
“You work for the CIA, don’t you?” Liv said from the back.
“The CIA can’t operate domestically.”
“Which is a totally natural response.”
“The NSA, on the other hand …”
“I can’t tell if you’re joking,” Liv said.
“No one admits if they work for the NSA, Liv.”

Undercover Bromance is my first book by Lyssa Kay Adams, but I’m ready to check out some of her others after this. It is fun and full of shenanigans. I enjoyed her quirky characters and how some of them stole the show anytime they were on page.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for the ARC for review. This in no way has effected the content of my review.

Braden Mack has worked hard to put his past behind him and become a successful businessman in Nashville. The only thing he wants in life is to have a serious girlfriend--the future Mrs. Mack--and thinks he has everything figured out about women through his secret weapon/not-so-guilty pleasure: romance novels.

Liv Papandreas has worked hard to put her past behind her and become a pastry chef. She takes nothing from no one. Not money from her sister, not her celebrity chef boss's bullying, nothing. But suddenly she loses everything when she encounters her boss sexually harassing a young hostess, and she finds herself without a job and blacklisted from the restaurant scene. Now, she only wants one thing: revenge, and to bring down this slimeball.

When Mack learns that he accidentally had a role in Liv's firing, and learns that it had more to it than a single dropped cupcake, Mack is livid when he realizes that someone he thought he knew and trusted is an abuser. Determined to stop Preston Royce and help Liv with her vendetta, Mack enlists the best people he know to help: one Bromance Book Club.

A thrilling second installment of the Bromance Book Club, the stakes are higher and the reasons are painful for a multitude of reasons. This book discusses in a considerable amount about abusive men--both in marriage/relationships and, sadly, in the professional workforce--and offers another insight into the #MeToo movement, how different women cope in different circumstances, and why the only way to combat this abuse and harassment is empowerment and education. While I personally think that Adams handled the subject matter in a tactful manner, again, that is only one perspective of such a complicated and convoluted topic. Those who have suffered abuse and harassment might agree or disagree based on their personal views and circumstances. Which is, in a sense, good because it means that this book can open dialogue, raise awareness, and present a broader worldview.

Undercover Bromance is another winner in this series! Enemies to lovers with a side of #metoo = a big hit. Mack and Liv have banter and chemistry for days. I so appreciated the continuation of the men's friendships and their support of women. The message for equality was loud, clear, and awesome.

Just as satisfying as the first in the series. Mack and Liv’s romance is paired with a #metoo storyline involving her employer. Having just read Catch and Release, I found myself holding my breath a little to see how the survivors’ story played out, given Liv’s outsider role, but I think it was well-told. And of course, who doesn’t love the Bromance Book Club gang?

Liv Papandreas had her dream job working as a pastry chef at an upscale restaurant in Nashville. Making the signature 1,000 cupcake was just one of the things Liv was responsible for. When Braden Mack, the founder of The Bromance Book Club brings his GF in for the infamous cupcake the night and Liv's life spiral into disaster. While going to grovel for her job she witnesses the restaurant owner sexually harassing one of the newer employees. When the employee won't come forward Liv decides to find a way to expose her ex-boss with a little help from Mack himself. An enemies to lovers story the two find themselves coming closer together as they work to bring an end to her ex-bosses behavior.

Review also posted to: https://books-and-brew.blogspot.com/

Didn't like this one as much as the first... was sort of bored? I liked that the book gave a voice to the #metoo movement, but I didn't love Liv. I was especially unimpressed at the big "fight" where a secret was revealed and she couldn't forgive him (not to spoil it.... but the secret was a big deal so I don't really blame him for not telling her right away). I know, not the point - every romance book has to have some conflict followed by a big resolution but this one just felt kinda weak to me. 3.5 stars

I am officially obsessed with the Bromance Book Club members.
*
Liv catches the celebrity chef owner of the restaurant where she works harassing a young hostess and gets fired when she confronts him. She knows she will need help to expose him, and it seems the only option is Braden Mack. Mack is the founder of the Bromance Book Club and thinks reading romance novels has made him an expert in love. But in helping Liv, he discovers that he's more in the dark than he thought. Liv is determined to squelch the sparks between them, but when the Bromance Book Club gets involved, that becomes very difficult.
*
After reading the first in this series, I was very excited for Liv and Mack to have their own story. This book dove deeper into the personalities and pasts of both of the leads and introduced some wonderful new characters and brought back our favorites. The banter was so fun, and I love Liv and Mack together. I can't wait to continue reading this series and learning more about the members of the book club!
*
I will be posting a review on my bookstagram page @the_infiniteTBR_list before pub day!

As soon as I finished Book 1 in the Bromance Book Club series, I was looking forward to Mack and Liv’s story in this next book in the series, Undercover Bromance. I wondered how the author would incorporate the romance book-running theme and I was not disappointed. Mack and Liv seemed like the most unlikely couple, but there is more to both of them than meets the eye. After embarking on a mutual project, their attraction is apparent to everyone around them. I came to love these characters through their banter, compassion, and backstories. I look forward to more books in this series. I describe them as fun, unique, and refreshing.

This book was cute, but I did not enjoy it as well as the Bromance Book Club. The romance between Liv and Mac lacked a certain spark.for me. Also, the Russian and his stomach issues has gone overboard...we get it! It was a nice second book in the series but it is hard to follow up the amazing first one!

Undercover Bromance follows Mack and Liv who appeared in the first book. Liv, a pastry chef at a famous restaurant discovers that the celebrity head chef is a a creep who has been sexually harassing various employees. As a result of her discovery she is fired and her and Mack team up with the help of the Bromance Book Club to take him down.

I have some complex feelings about this one, I feel like the complete love and adoration I felt for the first book made my expectations for this one a touch unreasonably high. I personally had issues with Liv and I understand that some of her characterization is completely intentional so that the author can give her some character delevopment as the story goes on and she becomes a more empathetic person with the ability to appreciate the nuanced complicated reactions some women have to assault. However, I found her off-putting, she was so judgemental and I think it made this intense assault plotline harder to swallow because initially Liv is incredibly judgemental towards survivors. Beyond that, which she does grow out of over the course of the novel, largely I just didn't connect to her overall and as a result I couldn't see what Mack was talking about when he mentioned how much he loved her or found her personality inticing. Mack was cool though and I liked him well enough. I always appreciate a male romantic and it was cool to see how him being "in love with love" kind of hinder him from creating deep genuine connections.

Another critique I had was the fact that the "manual" the book club was reading didn't play a large role in this installment in the series. I liked how the excerpts from the "manual" in the first book directly paralleled certain scenes and for me that aspect was sorely missed. I wished the book club got more page time and the members a bit more depth because they all blend together.

As far as the plot goes I think the book was tonally a bit strange as well because we're dealing with this really intense subject matter but then it's also a romantic comedy and it's fully of cheesiness and hilarious absurdities, so I think the dichotomy between the the light hearted nature of the writing and the sexual predator plotline made it hard to fully invest in the story for me. I wasn't engaged until about 60% in. Despite this as weird as it may sound this book was enjoyable and funny the same way it's predecessor was an I appreciate this author's silly sense of humor. This is a strange review because I thought it was an cool read but I had a lot of compliants.

4.25 stars

A story full of love and kindness, from two unlikely characters who work together for redemption.

I'll be the first to tell you, Liv Papandreas drove me up the wall in book one of this series. However, since I love a good redemption story, I wasn't too hesitant to read this one. There are moments in this one where she did drive me batty, but overall, I could see she was a good person, still working thru her daddy issues.

"I swear to fucking God, Liv, you are the single most frustrating woman I've ever known."
True. All true.

To counterbalance the crazy that is Liv, was Braden Mack. I didn't get a good read on him in book one, but he won me over quickly in this one. A heart of gold. Someone who did anything he could to help others, particularly those he was close to and those taken advantage of. So when he actions accidentally cause Liv professional turmoil, he goes above and beyond to right his wrongs.

The romance between the two main characters takes time to develop, but that made it more special. Mack showed thru his actions that he would do whatever possible to help Liv, and he did so because he truly felt bad for what happened to her, not because he wanted to get in her pants.

"Are you trying to get lucky?"
"I already feel lucky."

Another great thing about this story was the great cast of secondary characters. The twins, Ava and Amelia, reappear as their adorable selves. The bromance book club is hilarious in their shenanigans as always. And then you have Rosie and Hop who I adored and thought they played a good role in bringing the couple together.

I'm officially hooked to this series and can't wait to see what the author delivers next!

This was fantastic! While I enjoyed the first book, I wasn't super head-over-heels in love. This one is my favorite so far! It had everything I wanted and the relationship between the characters was fantastic. I really loved getting to know Mack and seeing the way he and Liv interacted on and off the page. I'll be excited to promote and recommend this next month!

I was borderline obsessed with Bromance Book Club and there was no way I was going to miss out on this story.

Love love loved Liv and Mack. She’s combative and cranky. He’s charming and slick. Together there’s loads of button pushing and enough chemistry to choke someone. I loved seeing the book club and Rosie is delightful.

Plot wise, it’s heartbreaking and empowering and so many other emotions I wasn't quite expecting. This story will ring true for so many women and the commentary in this story had me balancing between white hot rage and utter despair. I admire the strength these women showed because even though they might be fictional, their narrative is not.

Overall, it’s a story I immediately wanted to reread. I can’t wait to flail about this with other people who have read it. And to the survivors: I believe you.

**Huge thanks to Berkley for providing the arc free of charge**

Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams is the 2nd book in her Bromance Book Club series. I really enjoyed the first book in this series, and looked forward to what Adams had for us in Undercover Bromance; and I will say this was as much fun or even better than the first book.

Braden Mack is our hero in this book, and you can’t help love him. He is not only charming, sweet and caring, but he is a gorgeous hunk. I loved Braden (Mack) and his book club friends, who are always there to help their fellow buddies. It is fun and at times humorous to see these hunks discuss romance novels, and make suggestions to each other how to handle women with care and love.

We meet our heroine, Liv Papandreas, as she works for a famous restaurant as a sous chef. Mack is being interviewed, when Liv accidently drops an expensive cupcake on his lap; Liv’s boss is incensed. When Liv catches her boss making sexual harassments to his hostess, she confronts him on his behavior and is fired. Liv finds herself out of work, and her nasty boss is making sure she will never work again in the restaurant business by telling lies about her.

Mack discovers this and tries to help Liv, who is Thea’s sister (heroine in first book) and Gavin’s wife; but at first, she is snarky to Mack. Mack is determined to help her, and enlists his book club friends to help bring down her ex-boss. In a short time, a slow build romance will begin between Liv and Mack, though I have to say for at least half the book, I really wasn’t crazy about Liv and her stubborn, arrogant and nasty treatment of Mack. But that does change in time, and they made a great couple (if she would open her heart to the perfect man). Mack was such a great hero, as you couldn’t help swoon over him, and we knew in time he would find a way to crack Liv’s shell.

What follows is a fun story, especially with the guys trying to help, and the hilarious situations they find themselves in. Lots of fun. I also enjoyed the relationship between Rosie and Hop, an older couple, who were Liv’s friends. Both Mack and Liv had their own family issues from their past, and they needed to move on from that. I also liked the story line focusing on women’s fight against sexual harassment and abuse issue, which is similar to the ”me too” movement.

Undercover Bromance was a humorous fun story line, very romantic, and a fantastic group of alpha’s that had me laughing throughout. Lyssa Kay Adams did a wonderful job writing this fun story, which you need to read. I know I will be waiting for the next book in this series.

Is it just me or is Braden Mack a total dreamboat? Even in the last book, his charisma swooned me but in this book, I was completely won over! I really enjoyed this romance novel, I finished it in ONE, yes ONE day because it was just so darn cute, I couldn't get enough!

Liv gets fired from her job as a pastry chef at one of the top restaurants in Nashville. She finds her boss, Royce who is a successful TV restauranteur and probably the worst kind of human known to man, sexually harassing women. She wants to bring this issue to light but he threatens and tries to make her life a living hell. On the same night Liv gets fired, she was delivering a dessert to the table where Braden Mack was sitting with his date. Braden was not expecting to see Thea's sister so distractions and accidents happen which is why Liv finds herself in Royce's office, waiting to have a talk with him when she witnesses something that will change her. Liv is on a mission to bring down Royce; Braden feels guilty that Liv lost her job, so they team up to bring down Royce.

Undercover Bromance is a perfect book to just sit back, read and relax over a weekend. I enjoyed the sarcasm, snarky humor. I found myself laughing out loud from the things Liv would say. Which is weird because I honestly could not stand Liv as a character, she was immature, made rash and impractical decisions, and acted like she didn't care about anyone but herself, but I loved her sarcastic and snarky comments, those were the best parts. I love it when a book can really make you hate a character at first but then by the end, you love that character because of the development - that is why I am giving this book 4 stars because I love it when the author adds character development within the story. Allowing the character to learn and grow from mistakes and experiences. And of course, Braden is his ol' perfect self, always trying to do what it takes to impress a woman! I loved learning about Braden's past experiences and how they have shaped him.

I would have loved to see a bit more romance in this book like the last book but overall I really enjoyed it! Highly recommend, I cannot wait for the next book!