Lyssa Kay Adams hits a home run with The Bromance Book Club, a contemporary romance about a husband and wife who learn to reconnect using the power of romance novels.
Due to an unexpected pregnancy and their subsequent marriage, Gavin and Thea Scott never had a chance to enjoy being newlyweds. After each lackluster intimate encounter between them, it becomes clear to Thea that something needs to change. At home with twin toddlers and a husband whose MLB career took off like a rocket, Thea very much feels like a single mom. When Gavin is home, he’s a man she doesn’t really recognize. When she brings up divorce, Gavin realizes he’s had his head in the sand for too long. He’s determined to save his marriage and make Thea feel loved and appreciated.
Enter the Bromance Book Club, a romance book club made up of Gavin’s fellow athletes who see romance novels as a way of understanding and improving their communication with women. The setup may seem farfetched, but it’s too charming to resist. The men think their current book club pick, Courting the Countess, may hold the secret to Gavin and Thea getting their groove back.
Readers who enjoy a heartfelt second-chance romance, especially between a married couple, should get their hands on this book immediately. There’s nothing wrong with beautiful, single and unattached twenty-somethings finding love, but the added stress of running a household with troublesome twins fully and truly embodies the romantic complacency that can happen in long term relationships. A first love is a beautiful thing, but how do we make that love last when life dishes out so many curveballs?
Adams creates a cringe-worthy look at modern romance with Gavin being too busy and Thea being too exhausted to do more than just go through the motions. It feels a little too real in the best way possible. Gavin is a likable hero whose cluelessness gets called out by not only his wife, but by his fellow book club bros too. There are some wonderful scenes of introspection as the men break down romantic scenes in romance like “the grovel” or “the big misunderstanding,” comparing where they’ve messed up in life and how romance can teach them to be better communicators. And as Thea regains control of her life and finds her voice, her arc becomes a wonderful and empowering lesson that it’s never too late to change course and make adjustments for the sake of your own happiness.
The Bromance Book Club is truly a novel for dedicated romance fans. Readers will be delighted at all of the meta winks and nudges to the genre we love so much. I can’t wait to see what the Bromance Book Club will read next and how it’ll help shape their next happily ever after.
