The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

Narrated by Andrew Eiden and Maxwell Caulfield

1st Standalone in a Related Series. RomCom with Serious Undertones.

I absolutely adore the premise of The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams. I have always said that men should read romance if they really want to know how to treat a woman, and this was a perfect demonstration. I also love a book where a married couple finds their way back to each other. Due to my own personal situation, this book hit me in the feels as well as made me laugh.

Gavin Scott is a famous baseball player. He is so busy with his career and his team, that he doesn’t realize he is neglecting his wife. When he discovers that his wife has been faking big Os since they got together, he is so butthurt that he he leaves when his wife tells him to after not speaking for weeks. Apparently she has been miserable for a while and never told him.

“Do you want to fight for your marriage?”
“Yes.” Jesus, yes. More than anything. And shit, now his throat was closing again.
“What are you willing to do?”
“Anything.”
“Do you mean that?”
“W-w-what the fuck? Of course, I mean it.”

Gavin has a stutter that has affected his confidence his whole life. Thea was the one who loved him because of his stutter, not in spite of it. But due to an accidental pregnancy with twins, their relationship was fast-tracked. 3 years later, she hates the baseball life and she’s been faking it. When Gavin moved out, her sister moved in to help, and she was like the devil on Thea’s shoulder. Ugh, I hated her. But I LOVED all the professional sports guys who step in to lend Gavin a hand. They’ve all been through it.

“Everyone ready?” The guys nodded, mouths full. “Good. First rule of book club?” They finished in unison. “You don’t talk about book club.”
What. The. Fuck.
Gavin looked around for a hidden camera. This had to be a prank.
“A book club? That’s your grand plan for saving my marriage?”

Haven’t you ever wished your guy would read some of your books and get the fucking hint? Damn, I wish all men were required to read romance. Sigh….

I loved Gavin. He wanted to make his wife happy so badly but he had no clue how. He was really clueless…but what really annoyed me was that IT WASN’T HIS FAULT. SHE is the one who has been lying for all this time. How would he know that she’s not happy if she was going to lie about it? And don’t even get me started on her sister.

“From the moment I first saw you, I have been half a man, because you’ve always held the other half of me.”

Likes:

Such a fun and unique premise!
I loved the guys in the club.
Gavin was a sweetheart who loved his wife so much.
I loved the way the historical novel they were reading weaved through the book, including the narration. “Courting the Countess” was cheesy but added some lighthearted humor.
I loved that he had a stutter and how she helped him through.
The Russian made me laugh.
I usually don’t love 3rd person books, but honestly I didn’t even notice it. Sometimes it makes you feel detached, but here, perhaps because it was a male narrator, I never felt that.
The Nashville setting. (My son lives there, it was nice to recognize what they were talking about).
It was over-the-top silly at times (the feminist men) interspersed with some pretty heavy moments. They balanced each other well.
That cover!

Dislikes:

Liv. Thea’s sister was so hateful to Gavin and so selfish. I couldn’t stand her.
I thought Thea was way too rough on him. The marital problems seemed way more like her fault than his.

The Narration:

I am so glad to hear a not- overused narrator and love him. I especially enjoyed that there was a different British author for the “Courting the Countess” scenes. I definitely hope to hear more from both narrators.

The Down & Dirty:

I really enjoyed this unique and fun audiobook. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said men need to read romance! The Bromance Book Club was a good mix of emotion, laughs, silliness and fun, but it tackled some pretty serious issues. I loved the book club guys and I am so excited to grab the next in the series, Undercover Bromance.