Swooooooooon! What a fun addition to the Bromance Book Club. I didn't expect to like Colton as much as I did!

Available just in time for the holidays, Lyssa Kay Adams gives us a cozy romance for the Scrooge in all of us.

Her fifth book in the Bromance Book Club series, "A Very Merry Bromance" follows book club member Colton Wheeler. The handsome country singer is hopelessly in love with Gretchen Winthrop, a stern immigration attorney who is doing everything in her power to distance herself from both the holidays and Colton. When Gretchen's family uses her ties with Colton as a power move against her, the country singer quickly realizes why she hates the holidays and discovers the reason she said no to him nearly a year before.

In true book club fashion, this title follows one of our hopeless romantics along with a corresponding cozy romance. I would have loved to have more scenes involving the book club boys, but when they do show up, the scenes are golden.

perfect for anyone looking for a christmas romcom that's not *too* christmasy.

the vibes:
- second chance
- reverse grumpy sunshine
- forced proximity
- found family
- very self aware of typical romance book tropes
- funny banter between colton and the rest of the guys in the book club
- set in nashville

any book set in the bromance book club series is my happy place and i would happily read any more books set in this universe

A Very Merry Bromance is the cure for those of us who love Christmas, but find Christmas romance books a touch too… sweet. Don’t get me wrong, this book is very sweet, but it’s also hilarious and has steamy parts.

Both the hero and the heroine are career-driven, but that doesn’t stop them from finding love with each other. Gretchen, the immigration lawyer, doesn’t have to sacrifice her life goals in order to settle down. No, this Christmas book is about her opening up, finding love, and maybe a little bit of a better work/life balance.


The “grumpy/sunshine” trope is a favourite of mine, and this book delivers beautifully on that front. This book can be considered a “reverse grumpy/sunshine”, because unlike typical books with this trope, it’s the woman who’s the “Scrooge.” The banter between Colton and Gretchen is hilarious and cute. Everyone except for Gretchen knows immediately how perfect they would be for each other, but of course, it takes her a little time to acknowledge this.

Like with the other books in this series, we get absolutely adorable scenes with the Bromance Book Club. This time, they’re trying out a geriatric yoga class–and even the professional athletes are struggling to keep up. It’s hilarious!

The only thing that disappointed me in this book is that the author incorporated chapters from a Christmas romance book that Colton has asked Gretchen to read. I wasn’t invested in this subplot, but fortunately there were very few scenes, and they were extremely short. That said, they weren’t wrapped up at all! There was no conclusion. I didn’t care enough to lower my rating because of this, though it was a tad annoying. I was reading an arc from Netgalley, so I’m wondering if maybe there was a quick wrap-up that accidentally got dropped in that version?

All in all, this is a hilarious, romantic, and sweet (but not too sweet!) Christmas romance.

Fun holiday romance, obviously perfect for this time of year. I like like Colton and Gretchen's dynamic - the country superstar struggling with his music, and the dedicated immigration lawyer struggling with her silver spoon past. Their relationship worked and I like each character's journey to accepance and happiness.

I had forgotten just how much I love this author and this series as I hadn't read them in a while. I have been in such a reading slump, but this helped pull me out of it. I absolutely loved Colton and his talent and passion for music and I thought he and Gretchen had fantastic chemistry. I also loved how he was protective of her when it came to her family. This was a fantastic book!

This book centres around book club member and country singer, Colton (cue in drool) who has been hung up on Gretchen ever since they hooked up at their friend’s wedding a year ago. Grtechen has her hands tied up with her immigration law firm and her estranged, wealthy family begins to contact her with their own agenda.

The thing I love most about these books is the banter between the guys. The things they say to each always have me in stitches, so I just wished there was more of that in this novel! However, I did enjoy the romance and Colton himself with his sweet gestures was swoon-worthy.

This was my first Christmas read of the season and while I’ve loved the Bromance series I’ve read so far, this one was just fine. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t overly good or memorable, unfortunately. I liked Colton enough, and Gretchen was fine too but she made it a little hard to like her. Maybe that’s just a me problem being a little over the trope her character kind of follows, but I just couldn’t help but roll my eyes at her and her actions sometimes. ⁣
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I did absolutely love the peeks into the lives of our well loved characters and their families from the previous novels. I will say that I didn’t love Colton and how the beginning did feel like a dirty blackmail ploy to get Gretchen to date him - it just felt kind of icky. I seem to be in the minority for not loving this book, but it just really wasn’t my fave. Take it or leave it, but if you love the series then definitely check it out for a dose of our beloved characters.

The number of times I actually shouted out loud "Oh my God, I LOVE this book!" while reading is uncountable. There were so many great moments of grumpy/sunshine banter and I was 100% HERE FOR IT.

Honestly, this book could have been 100 pages longer, showing more of the Bros, Colton's family, Gretchen's backstory, and how things were going to look in the future. DEFINITELY more of the former couples, I would have ate that up!

It was still a fantastic romance with just enough Christmas to get the season started (for me) but not so smothered by it that I feel like a Hobby Lobby threw up on me.

I loved Colton & Gretchen's romance. It didn't play out exactly how I had expected but it was so good. The spicy scenes were SPICY, the romance was perfect. I had the BEST time reading this book.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! I was so excited to receive an ARC of this because I read the rest of the series and fell in love. I really related to both characters, which meant it was extra heartbreaking watching them fight so hard for each other and against each other. I would recommend this book to every person on my Christmas gift list!

Absolutely LOVED this. I will be DEVASTATED when she no longer writes about my favorite group of bookclub men. Colton is a sweet baby angel and deserves all the love. I loved Gretchen and Colton’s banter. It’s a grumpy/sunshine with a splash of family drama. One of the best holiday without feeling too holiday reads I’ve ever read. 100% recommend to everyone. Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for the opportunity to read this in exchange for a review.

I have mixed feelings as I write this review. There were things I liked about this book and things that I didn’t. But that can be said about this entire series-some of the books are fantastic-like book 1 and the Russian’s book, and others, not so much, like book 2. I think my biggest pet peeve with this one was how unlikable Gretchen, the main female character was. She was meant to be the “Scrooge” of the story but she just comes off as just plain awful. She’s mean to her staff, condescending to people and just overall not nice. She does have some growth of character over the course of the story but not enough for my liking. Colton, on the other hand, is a dream. He is sweet and open and willing to put everything on the line for her and his relationship with the bros is what keeps me coming back to this series.
Gretchen has never loved Christmas. Mainly because her family has never had time to really celebrate because they were always too busy so there wasn’t much holiday cheer and now that she works as an immigration lawyer her clients don’t have much so she doesn’t think it’s right for her to celebrate now either, plus they can’t pay much so she doesn’t make much, despite her family background. Colton is a country superstar who loves all thing’s Christmas and he’s decided to make it his mission to get Gretchen to fall for Christmas and for him this year. But can Mr. Sunshine get Ms, Grinch’s heart to grow?
I like that Colton has finally gotten his own book after being a supporting character with his sunny personality and womanizing ways in the past few books. Now he’s finally found the woman who can match his banter and their chemistry is off the charts.
Overall this was another good addition to the series and I can’t wait to see what comes next. Thanks to Berkley Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review

This book is perfect for any woman who has been told or made to feel that she was less than a man, especially if that man was her brother and it was her family making her feel that way.

A beautiful love story between a country music singer and a bourbon heiress who is not part of the family business so that she can work in immigration law.

I loved everything about this book - it gave all of the romance feels and all of the Christmas feels

The Bromance Boys are back and it's time for Colton's story. This was a festive addition to the series that I really enjoyed. Gretchen and Colton have a great grumpy/sunshine second-chance romance that was sweet, funny, and emotional. I'm a fan of the Bromance Book Club series and some of my favorite parts are when the guys get together to talk romance books and relationships.

Another bromance WIN! Colton the country singer and relentlessly glass-half-full type of guy tries to win over Gretchen the Christmas-hating lawyer. Lyssa Kay Adams not only manages to yet again deliver a steamy romance but gives us an intelligent conversation with the tropes we see in romance novels and the positive influence they can have in relationships. The perfect kickoff to the holiday season!

What an excellent installment in the Bromance Brothers universe! In A Very Merry Bromance, we finally get Colton and Gretchen’s story. A second chance romance set during Christmas?! What more can a girl ask for? Gretchen and Colton had amazing chemistry from the start and Adams did a great job of writing Colton in a very friendly, flirtatious way while imbuing each of his interactions with Gretchen with sexual pining and tension.

I loved the focus on the sort of behind the scenes aspect of Colton’s music career as well as Gretchen’s work as an attorney. There is an added layer of Gretchen’s wealthy family, their whiskey empire laden with dark secrets. For the first time in these books, I think there was so much going on separately with each character, plus their burgeoning love story, that there was little room left for the guys. Rather than weave in excerpts from the book they were reading for book club, I think the story would have been better served with more scenes of the guys together.

One of my favorite aspects of this series is the way the men combat mainstream ideas about toxic masculinity and use what they’ve learned through reading romance to help each other out. The silly, at times, completely outlandish scenes from previous books are so much fun to read and add so much to each story. While there are some scenes of them together in this one (I’m looking at Vlad in his Santa suit), it wasn’t nearly as many as there typically are and I felt that loss.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and the highly recommend the series as a whole!

This holiday romance will leave you laughing and swooning! Definitely a must read if you've read the other books from this series. Colton's story does not disappoint!

4.5 stars

LIKES:
📝 funny, breezy, light writing
🐆 quick read
📑 very meta romance book excerpts
👥 dual-pov (Gretchen & Colton)
👩🏻‍⚖️ Gretchen is a guarded, fierce lawyer
🧔🏻‍♂️ Colton is an emotional country music star
🎸 country music vibes
🎄 Christmas energy!
👬 explores male friendship
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 + toxic family dynamics
💰 + wealth
☀️ grumpy-sunshine
⭐️ celebrity romance
🎭 ALL the drama!
🥹 emotional & heartwarming
•
DISCLAIMERS:
⚠️ dm me for TW
👎 sunshine guys are not usually for me
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VERDICT: a solid emotional grumpy-sunshine celebrity romance full of country music & Christmas vibes with ALL the family drama!

Colton Wheeler had a pretty wonderful night with Gretchen. But when he decides he wants something more from their one night stand, Gretchen flees. Colton hasn't seen her in over a year when she finally waltzes back into his life with something akin to a business proposal.

Gretchen hasn't had the best relationship with her family. But when her wealthy family decides that they want Colton as their ambassador for their whiskey line they turn to Gretchen to seal the deal. Gretchen doesn't want to be back in Colton's presence, but will do what's necessary to secure a position on the board of her family's business.

Colton's no young buck, and decides if Gretchen wants to snag him as an ambassador then she has to agree to go on a few dates with him. Gretchen finally relents and that's how these two slowly start to spend more time with one another and get to know about what makes each other tick.

A Very Merry Bromance was a fun addition to the Bromance Book Club series! It was great seeing the bro's together again. I was laughing quite a lot whenever they'd all be on the same page.

I enjoyed the dichotomy of Gretchen and Colton. Where Colton was all shine-y and had a ton of Christmas spirit, Gretchen was grumpy and less so inclined to even give Christmas a thought. These two were perfect for each other and I loved how patient Colton was in giving Gretchen the space she needed especially considering her strained relationship with her family (and d-bag of a brother).

Overall, I enjoyed A Very Merry Bromance and this series as a whole!

3.5 stars = Good +

A fun, Christmas-ish addition to the series. Grumpy/Sunshine is not my favorite trope, but I did enjoy how the author used it here. In the end, I wanted more - a more definitive wrap up on Gretchen's family situation, a clearer story around the book they were reading, etc.. There were a few threads that felt unresolved when I got to the end.

Series fans should not miss this, but I think newcomers might be better off starting with an earlier book where the Bromance Book Club is a little more central to the story to establish the hook and characters a bit more before you get to this one. (Language, sex)