Short Review: I laughed. I cried. I cheered. This book is a warm giant Christmas hug. All the stars and plus extra.

"Because you love her enough to say you're sorry."

Long Review: I have read and loved all the books in the Bromance series, but I think this one is my favorite. The books in this series age like fine wine....or cheese ;) iykyk. In this one, we follow Colton Wheeler, country music super star in his quest to win over the love of his life. All the bookclub guys are back and helping Colton along with only a few hilarious mishaps along the way.

I loved everything about this book. Having just gone through a bad break up, the quote I shared above really hit me hard. This book came at the time I needed it the most and I am so thankful it did. Get it on your Christmas must read list.

Country music playboy, Colton Wheeler, is used to getting his way when it comes to the ladies until he meets Gretchen Winthrop. The two shared an incredible night together but then Gretchen hightailed it out of there in the morning, and the two haven't spoken since. A year later, Colton and Gretchen find themselves in a bit of a rut. Colton's music career is on the line, and Gretchen, an immigration attorney, is desperately trying to fight for her clients while keeping her practice afloat. When her wealthy, estranged family comes to her with a proposition that'll allow her to better help the community, she's hard-pressed to say no. All she has to do is convince Colton to be the face of her family's whiskey line. To her surprise, Colton agrees to consider her offer, but there's a catch: she'll have to go out on a date with Colton. The more time the pair spend together, the more they can't deny the spark between them. But they both will have to confront their pasts if they hope to have a future together.

I have this habit of finding Christmas, or holiday books in general, a bit cheesy, but Adams had me eating my words. I thought this was so adorable. I loved Colton and Gretchen right from the start. You could tell they had such great chemistry, and I loved how Colton would tease Gretchen to get a rise out of her. He was playful but protective of her, and it was sweet watching how much he cared about her, especially when it came to standing up to her family (who were terrible.) Gretchen was a bit Scrooge-like at the start, but I admired how she let herself be vulnerable and open up. One of the highlights of this series for me is the friendship between all the boys, so I loved all the interactions between them here as well. If you're looking for a steamy read this holiday season, I highly recommend checking this one out.

The men of Bromance series have been so lovable and Colton was such a gooey MC. Gretchen was a harder to love, totally understand she had family troubles but she was a bit extreme for me. Overall, the book was fun but not my favorite from the series. We didn't see as much interaction with the bookclub as the other books which is my favorite part of the series.

I enjoyed the narration and wished there was another narrator for the holiday book in the story. There wasn't enough change in the voice distinct the stories.

Thank you @netgalley @berkleyromance @prhaudio for a copy of the book.

It's the Christmas season, but Gretchen, an immigration attorney, is having none of it. Her estranged and dysfunctional family puts on a glamorous show for Christmas - but all without heart.

Country superstar Colton Wheeler is trying to reignite is career, but he's without inspiration and can't stop thinking of an acquaintance he hooked up with last year, Gretchen. As Colton schemes ways to capture Gretchen's heart and change her Scrooge-like hatred of Christmas, the Bromance Book Club guys and their ladies will do all they can to help.

I loved this Christmas story from the Bromance series. Adams doesn't shy away from heavier topics like abuse, but she does come through with the requisite happy ending.

So I think this one might be my favorite? It was just so FUN and we'd gotten to see Gretchen and Colton individually in the previous books. Plus we get to see recurring characters like Liv and Alexis. And since we've already gotten to know Gretchen and Colton a little, we get to go DEEP into their plotlines. While I wish we'd focused more on Gretchen's law practice, I enjoyed the whiskey angle as well. Plus it doesn't hurt that it's a teensy bit Christmas-y! And as always, Lyssa brings the steam and the DRAAAAMA. Overall a really solid romcom that you could totally pick up as a standalone.

*Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

A Very Merry Bromance
Bromance Book Club Series - Book 5
By Lyssa Kay Adams

Berkley - November 2022

Contemporary Romance


Colton Wheeler's current lack of a love life was apparently matched only by his lack of music magic. He had thought he and Gretchen Winthrop might be at the beginning of something beautiful, but those thoughts had been dashed by her eagerness to escape his presence. He hadn't had any relationships since Gretchen, and now he was also at risk of losing his music career. The powers that be weren't impressed by his most recent submissions, and he had to agree to work with a songwriter and improve his muse. He might currently have no romantic entanglements, and a tanking career, but he did have his family - both his by birth, and the extensive Bromance Book Club guys, wives, and growing families.

Gretchen may be a Winthrop by birth, but she wasn't by choice. She didn’t allow the fluke of her birth to dictate her career or choices. She was a lawyer helping families stay in America, and together. Sometimes it felt as if she wasn't helping anyone, but learning of an opening to work with the family foundation, Gretchen was willing to do almost anything. Even see Colton again.

Colton was dumbfounded when Gretchen approached with an offer to be spokesperson of her family's whiskey. Not only had he not known she was one of those Winthrops, and he never expected such a lucrative offer, but he was shocked to see Gretchen. And he was willing to implement everything he had learned from the Bromance Book Club to make the best of this opportunity.

A Very Merry Bromance is a touching reunion romance full of friends, family and healing. The coldness of Gretchen’s upbringing touches so much of her life. From her lack of Christmas decorations to her running from Colton. Colton is a hero determined to bring love, Christmas and music to Gretchen’s life. It was wonderful to see the Bromance group sprinkled throughout the story, with their families sharing in holiday traditions and helping these two finally come together. I look forward to the next Bromance Book Club book.

Kathy Andrico - KathysReviewCorner.com

Thank you so much PRH International for this jewel of a novel. The Bromance Book Club is back – and we are all the better for it!

”But then I realized you were just simply the loneliest person I’d ever met. I think maybe you still are.”

Country rock star Colton Wheeler hooked up with immigration attorney Gretchen Winthrop after their friends’ wedding. He fell for her hard – and she ghosted him. Now, a year later, they meet again when Gretchen needs his help. Gretchen is looking for a seat in her family’s foundation, a chance that would help her help the people in need, but her cold, privileged family wants something from her in return: she needs to convince Colton to become the face of their family’s famous whiskey brand. Her family has never valued Gretchen – or her work – and don’t think she can pull this deal off. But Colton jumps at the chance and with the help of his Bromance Book Club buddies he is determined to win back the girl. And bring Christmas cheer back into her life.

This series keeps getting better and better book by book! Once again Lyssa Kay Adams delivers a story full of heart, laughter and witty banter with just the right amount of heartache and hardship – so even though you are pretty sure you can expect a happily ever after in the end the road that leads there feels real and the outcome well-earned. This book – like the other books in this series – is an ode to friendship, family and love and this story shows that the family you find, not the one you were born into, could be just the right match for you - if you are brave enough to accept it. And as a huge Christmas person I was there for all the Christmassy fun!

A Very Merry Bromance will be released on November 1, just in time for the holidays!

Lyssa Kay Adams can do no wrong. This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2022, and it lived up to the hype! I will never get enough of the Bromance Book Club series. Please keep writing, Lyssa!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

Wow! This was the Bromance Book Club book that I didn't know I needed. When I first learned this would be a Christmas book, I was sad that it meant an incredibly long wait. But it was perfect. It surpasses the traditional Bromance book within a book by actually adding in A Christmas Carol as well as the Bromance Christmas romance, A Cold Winter's Night.

I have loved Colton Wheeler since he was first introduced. And seeing him in this story, he had even more depth than I knew.

After our introduction to Gretchen in Undercover Bromance when she was horrified by the $1000 cupcake, it should be no surprise that she is highly critical of income inequality and ostentatious displays of wealth. We get much more background on that in this book, as well as on her work helping undocumented immigrants. I loved the heart of this book.

This is a true grump-sunshine romance with mention of that and all the other tropes throughout the book. It's such fun. This book gets all the stars for me. I loved it as a Christmas romance, but it could equally be read anytime of the year.

Andrew Eiden is back narrating. Anytime I hear his voice, I think of this series. He is fabulous in these roles.

A great addition to the Bromance Book Club series and a perfect holiday read. It was so good. Colton was a great love interest.

3.75 stars

Famous country singer Colton and rich girl turned immigration lawyer Gretchen share a pile of friends and connected for an incendiary one night stand a year ago. But Gretchen comes from a truly awful family and shies away from trust and commitment. Despite Colton's efforts to have a relationship, she ghosts him. That is until her despicable older brother offers her a seat on the family charity board if she can get Colton to sign up to endorse the family whiskey.

Gretchen and Colton end up together and it's obvious to both of them their relationship is something special. But Colton meets her family and realizes why she avoids them and also the emotional damage they have inflicted.

Very readable, and the laughs among the male friends keep things moving. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Yes. Yes. Yes. This is everything I was hoping for and wishing for in this book. Lyssa Kay Adams did not disappoint, then again she could re-write a phone book and I would buy it. This story is a holiday romance but it didn't feel toooooo holiday romance - like reading it in July didn't feel weird. I love it. I can't wait for the audiobook!

My favorite book remains Vlads, but I'm impressed that the author is still able to keep this series going and I loved the Christmas aspect of it.

Technically this story is the 5th in the Bromance Book Club series, but it can be read as a standalone (which I know because I’ve never read any of the others!)

Jackie loved the first book in this series, so I knew I would probably want to dive into the Christmas tale. It’s all about Colton, a country star and total sweetheart, who is head-over-heels for Gretchen, a grumpy immigration attorney.

It was steamy and swoony and I loved every minute of this Christmas story!

What a joy! As a longtime fan of the Bromance Book Club series, this was the Christmas romance I didn't even know I was dying to read. I so enjoyed watching Gretchen and Colton's love story unfold, and the pleasing mix of frothy romantic interludes with all-too-relatable family drama. I look forward to recommending this like crazy for the holiday season!

Another bromance and another relationship that made me swoon a bit. This time it’s Colton - our fave country crooner - falling head over feet for Gretchen, immigration lawyer with unresolved family issues. Their grumpy v. sunshine romance was delightful and even made me tear up once or twice.

I've been holding onto this one for a while waiting until it is closer to Christmas. Colton was a side character in the other Bromance books and didn't really appeal to me but after reading his book, I think he has become my favorite! Sorry Gavin! Colton and Gretchen (Macks ex) had a one night stand the night of Max and Liv's wedding. She ran out on him the next morning, and he felt something different about Gretchen than he has other people. Gretchen wants nothing to do with Colton, she wont say why she ran out on him that morning, but she did. When her brother wants Colton to become the next spokesperson at the family company he enlists Gretchen to help.

Full review posted to links after embargo date.

A 3.5 star read rounded down. I think I’m coming to terms that this series is just never going to achieve what both I and the author would like it to. The whole premise is a great concept - men read romance novels to better understand what their romantic partners wants! - but most installments just can’t quite get to the point they’re trying to make. The romance novels are inevitably treated as a cheat code, rather than a path to understanding why women value emotional intimacy, and it’s irritating.

AVMB has a sunshine country singer hero with a grumpy immigration lawyer heroine and too many subplots. His career is floundering, hers is financially unstable, her family sucks and wants him to be their new spokesperson and she’s got to convince him to take the job or lose a spot on the family charitable board, his family was poor and he feels responsible for their wellbeing. None of these, minus the horrors of the US immigration system, are fully fleshed out (and as a side note - where were these Very Good Politics in that horrific second book?). Things are running along nicely and then the conflict at 85% is so ludicrous it almost defies imagination.

As much as Adams tries, there’s still a real undercurrent of misogyny and some homophobia, too: men “bitch jokingly” about how much women pack, Colton’s friends are horrified by his naked body, and how terrible Gretchen’s family is is reinforced by comparing the traditional gender norms Colton’s mother fits into and hers does not.

And look, I’m being nit-picky here. None of these issues rise to the level of making me not want to recommend this book. But when an author sets out to do this much work with their books and repeatedly falls short, it seems like the kind of thing one should point out in a review. I wish that the author and her team would put in the effort to really take these books over the finish line, and that’s all I have to say about it.

What's better than a new Bromance Book Club novel? A CHRISTMAS Bromance Book Club novel starring country singer Colton Wheeler and lawyer Gretchen Winthrop!

Colton has been pining away for Gretchen for the last year. He’s miserable and it’s starting to affect his music career. However, thanks to an offer from Gretchen’s family’s company, he might just get the chance to reconnect with her in time for Christmas.

Who knew that Colton and Gretchen’s love story began a few books earlier? Adams cleverly weaves their story through the events of previous novels (although you do not need to have read them to read this book). Bromance Book Club fans will definitely want to reread the series to see whether any clues to their relationship can be found (I know I do.).

Colton and Gretchen's opposites attract story was entertaining as Gretchen’s sarcasm continuously bounced off Colton’s sunshiny disposition without leaving a mark. As always, the Bromance Book Club members were on hand to offer their unique brand of advice and to participate in the obligatory and always entertaining grand gesture finale.

While I loved the main characters, I also really enjoyed the older supporting characters. From the kind Uncle Jack to the gruff bartender Duff, their life experience and wisdom nicely balanced out the Bromance’s romance novel based knowledge. I really hope to see them again in future books.

I was also thrilled by the return of Cheese Man. Though his appearance was brief, it was also romantically intriguing. Could he be the next person to join the Bromance?

The novel within a novel was also a pleasure to read. In fact, I wish there had been more of it. I need to know what happened next!

A Very Merry Bromance is a fun and festive addition to the Bromance Book Club series, which is sure to please Fred Cratchits and Ebenezer Scrooges alike.

MS. ADAMS DOES IT AGAIN. I don't know how she gets me to care so freaking much about each of these characters. And I don't know how she weaves together stories of romance and love with conflicts of such depth and purpose. I love this series so much. I am not even a Christmas-y person and I LOVED this one!