#bromance book club

[dinkleyreads]

I can buy myself flowers, but you can buy me romance books if you want to

📖: set on you by amy lea, crazy stupid bromance (#3 bromance book club) by lyssa kay adams, bridgertons by julia quinn.

headers cr: to @titiesyoo on twitter

[seeleybooth]

Undercover Bromance by lyssa Kay Adams

“He crossed his arms. "wait. I thought you said I was going to fall madly in love with you. Now I don't care about you? Make up your mind." She winced. plot hole. "You think you care about me because you're the type to fall in love. But you don't really care about me." "so your fear isn't that I'll actually fall in love with you, just that I will think I'm in love with you." She looked sideways. "Yes." He gazed down at her, the corner of his mouth tilting in a reluctant smile. "Damn, Liv, you're complicated.”

[lucienarcheron]

Hello! I just wanted you to know I started the bromance book club series after sent you recommend it. And I’m loving it so far! I just finished the second book, and while the plot is predictable, I just love seeing the bromance and men going crazy over the women they love lol the Russian has been hilarious, and I’m excited to get to his book!

Hello darling!!! YAYYYYY I'm so happy to hear that! I adore that series and it's just so fun and wholesome and hilarious! Books 3 and 1 are my top favorites and then books 4 and 5 are second place and then Book 2 gets third place haha.

Vlad's book is so adorable. I hope you keep loving them!!

Keep letting me know how you like it!! ☺️♥️

[lendoeescrevendopradedeu]

BROMANCE BOOK CLUB — LYSSA KAY ADAMS

SOBRE HOMENS, ESCRITO POR MULHERES

Adivinha quem lembrou da conta?

Vamos falar de comédia romântica, aproveitar o hype de dia dos namorados e fazer a recomendação e a resenha de Bromance Book Club ou em português Clube Do Livro Dos Homens.

O resumo da fofoca toda eu te digo é já: Gavin, o jogador de futebol americano, está em apuros porque a esposa Thea quer se divorciar dele após ele ter tido um surto básico só porque descobriu que ela fingia o orgasmo. (Será que eu posso usar essa palavra aqui? Bom, é o nome científico mesmo). Pra salvar o casamento, os jogadores do time ajudam Gavin a entender como mulheres pensam através de livros de romance.

Um detalhe aleatório, mas que me deixou com vontade de realizar a leitura, Gavin é gago. Nunca li nada que o principal era gago.

Qual foi minha opinião enquanto lia o livro? Bem, se você gosta de filmes bem sessão da tarde, com passagens de humor para descontrair o leitor, esse pode ser o seu livro. Se você procura algo profundo... não vai ser aqui. E de verdade? Algumas vezes ninguém quer pensar tanto assim enquanto lê.

O que posso dizer, o livro entrega o que promete, referências de livros românticos, homens agindo como homens escrito por mulheres (o que aliás não é uma crítica, minha ilusão não tem nada a ver com a autora), e gestos românticos estupefendos.

Nota final que eu dei no skoob: 3.5

[unreadpoppy]

Y´all, i´m not a fan of romance novels but jesus, Lyssa Kay Adams put god knows what in the Bromance Book Club series that I read those books so fast. Like first book? Done in 3 days. Second? Two and a half. Third? I started today and I finished it today. What the fuck? These 30 year old with daddy-moomy issues are getting to me man

[theraininthestars]

Review of The Bromance Book Club

Hi darlings, today I bring you the review of the book series: The Bromance Book Club The series consists of 5 books, soon 6, written by Lyssa Kay Adams.

The first book is called Bromance Book Club and was published in 2019.

As a note: Bromance refers to the platonic relationship between men who have an emotional closeness as if they were brothers.

In the first installment, we have Gavin Scott, one of the best players in his American baseball league, dedicated to his work, he spends his days training and going to promotional events. However, his life in his house is the opposite. He has missed so many of the twins' events and dates with her wife, Thea, that it force her to file for divorce. Desperate not to lose his house, his daughters, and most importantly, the love of his life Thea; Gavin gets drunk in a hotel room where his teammates, and other strangers, find him. They reveal to him that they are willing to help him fix his marriage on the condition that he is completely honest about his life with them. Gavin accepts, and that's how he enters the Bromance book club. The rules of this club: 1. Never talk about the book club 2. Be honest with all club members 3. Read the book.

One of the most attractive factors of these novels is the emotional connection between the men. I think the author manages to reflect very well how these connections where priority is given to mental health, self-reflection and making them take responsibility for their actions help men improve as people.

Another aspect that I like is the tension between the couple. This being a relationship of a married couple, it helps a lot in feeling comfortable with the dynamic between the characters. Unlike other books, this is a couple who already know each other and understand the other person's body language. The romance between the protagonists is well structured. The scenes denote chemistry and a very beautiful connection that has been created in those three years of relationship, but it also denotes an introduction to a new dynamic between them that improves them as couples and people.

Something I loved was the inclusion of the protagonist's stutter. The author managed to include it in a very natural way and make it feel like an important part of the relationship between the characters. At the same time, how they work together as parents and deal with their relationship problems. I still think they need to polish a lot more, but they have reached the stage where they are both open to working on their relationship.

Futhermore, a strong aspect of the book is the development of the characters, I feel that they manage to recognize their flaws and grow from them. The only thing I would like is to see if these changes are not simply to preserve the relationship and that there really is a change in both of us. A mention of Gavin managing his athletic career better with Thea's projects and even the inclusion of couples therapy.

An extra is that I enjoyed tje comedy. There are too many lines that made me laugh, the comedy is good in this book (even if it is “accidental”).

Now what I didn't like. Oh, the things I disliked about this book.

Let's start with the first thing, the “inclusion” of a hispanic guy in the story. First of all, the spanish is written poorly in the book, it would be appreciated if an editor would notice that. Reading Yan Feliciano's scenes left a bad taste in my mouth.

Tip: Do not publish texts that use languages ​​that you do not master, or that you do not have someone that is a native/dominant of the language that can give you feedback about it.

Second, the generalizations of men and women. There are so many times characters mention like “Men love it when women…”, “…it's kryptonite for any woman,” and “Every woman remembers this…”. It is uncomfortable and arrogant to have these generalizations.

And finally, the characters of Liv and Mack.

Let's start with Liv, she is more justified in acting rude and pushy, because she is afraid that her sister will end up hurt. I didn't appreciate how she tries to antagonize the main couple, considering they have daughters together. However, she is a good element to create tension and obstacles in the relationship.

But Mack, he is one of the most unpleasant characters I have ever read. No spoilers for the second book, but how offensive, cynical, arrogant, arrogant and hateful he is ruins most of the scenes. At first, I thought he was going to be a character who would clash a lot with the protagonist, but they would have form an honest and self-deprecating friendship. But in the Thanksgiving scene, I realized that he is just a man who likes feeling superior and the attention he gets from knowing that “he hasn't done anything wrong.” The simple mention that everyone lets him do it because “it doesn't mean anything”, but before that one of the characters' wives mentions that she dislikes him because of his attitude. It gives me the feeling that he would be the type of person who claims to be a feminist, but he manipulates his partners to make them think that “they” are the problem for not appreciating him.

The book was a disappointment, but I would recommend it as a fun read. Yes I would give it 4 stars for the romance, friendship and character development. And as on the scale of hot scenes I would give it a 3. It has very good scenes between the protagonists and fulfills itself as a romantic comedy book. But, I would have liked to see the beginning of this book club, instead of seeing it already established.

Have you already read this saga? What did you think of the first book? What did you like about this book? What did they dislike? Have you read other Lyssa Kay Adams novels? What do you think of a book club for men to improve their relationships?

[emilysworldoffandoms]

What Am I Currently Watching and Reading? (February)

Star Trek: Enterprise (Season 2)

Re-watch: Merlin (Season 1) and M*A*S*H (Season 1 with my husband)

Currently reading: A Very Merry Bromance By Lyssa Kay Adams

[scorbleeo]

Book Review: Isn't it Bromantic?

Bromance Book Club (Book 4) by Lyssa Kay Adamas

Source: Google Images

With his passion for romance novels, it was only a matter of time before Vlad took up the pen to write a novel the Bromance Book Club would swoon over.

Elena Konnikova has lived her entire adult life in the shadows. As the daughter of a Russian journalist who mysteriously disappeared after speaking out against government corruption, she escaped danger the only way she knew how. She agreed to marry her childhood friend, Vladimir, and move to the United States, where he is a professional hockey player in Nashville.

Vlad, aka The Russian, thought he could be content with his marriage of convenience. But after four years, it's become too difficult to continue in a one-sided relationship. He joined the Bromance Book Club to learn how to make his wife love him, but all he's learned is that he deserves more. He's ready to create his own sweeping romance--both on and off the page.

The Bros are unwilling to let Vlad forgo true love--and this time they're not operating solo. They join forces with Vlad's senior citizen neighbors, a group of meddling widows who call themselves The Loners. Just when things finally look promising, the danger from Elena's past life intrudes, and the book club will face their first-ever life-or-death grand gesture as they race to a happy ever after.

ISBN: 9780593332771 (2021) | Source: Goodreads

Wondering if This Series was Even Worth My Time

My enjoyment for the Bromance Book Club series is slowly diminishing as I get through each book... Honestly speaking, I don't know why I am still reading this series because I have so many issues with the way Adams wrote these books.

First of all, this is the fourth book in the series and every single book seems to follow the same template. I have no problem with the template but if an author is going to write a series of books and to read the subsequent books, you kind of need to read them chronologically, the author should not be using the same template in every single book. Do people actually like how repetitive the books are?

Secondly, Adams has some kind of continuity problem. When it comes to her side characters, you can see their personalities but when some of these side characters become the main characters, they (mainly the male leads) began to feel like carbon copies of each other. Take Isn't It Bromantic? as an example, Vlad always had a slightly childish side to him in the first couple of books but when it's suddenly him as the main character, it felt like I was reading another "Russian". There's simply nothing worthy of connecting to Adams's characters at all because they constantly feel like different people in different books.

Now focusing more on this book, I have questions. In the beginning of Isn't It Bromantic?, Vlad mentioned that Russians are very emotional people, is that true? You know what, literally everything that Vlad and Elena mentioned about their Russian culture, I wonder if that was accurate... And why is this book so dramatic? It is so redundantly dramatic or at least, that drama came out of nowhere. It isn't even like with the second book where Liz was doing everything to take her ex-boss down, that drama felt natural when it was happening because everything throughout the book made sense and led up to it. Whereas for this book, it felt like Adams just needed another dramatic subplot at the last second and hastily included it in her book.

Can I also please just say, there is no chemistry between Vlad and Elena at all. The second they started making out, I gave up reading it, I was just speeding through it to get the book over and done with. I seriously thought Vlad had way more chemistry with Colton even back in the third book, and I am not referring to the platonic kind.

My last complain, I promise. Lyssa Kay Adams is not a romantic genius. I really dislike how the members of the bookclub always claim that they know romance, I'm sorry but their creator don't know romance. The way they talk about conflicts, grand gestures and whatnot... Oh my gosh, it's Adams crowning herself as a romantic genius and that irks me because her concept of romance is narrow-minded. I actually disagree when the boys were telling Vlad that he needed a conflict in the book he was writing, as if Vlad and Elena's special six-years marriage isn't conflict enough. Remember what I said about Adams writing the books in this series with a template? She further confirmed it for me here.

If you ask me, this series could have ended as a duology. The more Adams write for this series, the more it's feeling like a cash grab. I cannot read the next book now so I will give myself time to breathe. However, when I do decide to pick up book 5 and find out it is not the final book, I will DNF this series without reading the next book.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

[coollovebibliophilethings]

A Very Merry Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

Title: A Very Merry BromanceAuthor: Lyssa Kay AdamsSeries: Bromance Book Club #5Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)My Bookshelves: Christmas, Contemporary, Contemporary romancePace: MediumFormat: eBook, NovelYear: 2022 I always love a good grinch and sunshine trope. I mean grumpy and sunshine is brilliant, but when you add in the Christmas grinch factor? It makes it…

[rruhlreviews]

Book Review - The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

I must preface this review with the fact I have a certificate in women and gender studies.

Some context is important when discussing the success of this book. This novel was a blockbuster on BookTok, so we need to examine what makes something a sensation for the BookTok audience. The basic elements of a BookTok success are a high concept, diverse representation, a heavy emphasis on tropes, and use of contemporary language and/or pop culture references. Strong plot or character arcs are a secondary focus of the BookTok audience.

A story about a baseball player sports-bro who has to read regency romance to be a better husband. This high concept is the selling point of this novel. What makes this appealing to BookTok? Toxic masculinity is a hot topic in society right now. Despite being parents, the characters are young, which appeals to the burgeoning new adult audience. We’ve got feminism and a strong female lead who loves art and activism. Sports romance is popular as well. I can see how an online audience who’s used to the jargon online would think the author was clever for using terms like “mansplaining.”

The premise was appealing and I was genuinely excited to read the book. I appreciate what the author was attempting to do! The part with Gavin doing the grand gesture and Thea playfully saying she wanted to was very sweet. Unfortunately, thepremise fell short of its potential for me. Contemporary romance isn't my typical read (though I have read and enjoyed it before), yet I went into this with an open mind. My reaction can best be summarized by: when I learned this was a BookTok fav, all of the criticisms I had made a lot more sense. BookTok is a site where trends change constantly and the media consumption cycle lasts a month if you’re lucky. How to market to this constantly shifting audience? Sell them bite-sized ideas. Emphasize tropes. A new take on the sports romance. Useless man fights for empowered wife. Unpacking toxic masculinity. Woke romance. Men are from Mars and women are from Venus, but it’s done in a feminist way this time, we promise.

Have I mentioned I don’t ascribe to the whole idea of gender?

I digress. My point is, the entire book seemed to be just these few tropes and premises. The narrative never got into the emotional depth I needed to make me care about the characters. Miscommunication as a plot device can be done well, but if you removed it from The Bromance Book Club, the entire narrative would fall apart. If the reader ever stops to wonder if men and women aren’t from two different planets, the narrative falls apart. I’m not making excuses for Gavin being oblivious to his wife’s happiness, but I must point out that Thea never communicated either. She told him to leave, so he did, then she was mad at him because he wasn’t supposed to actually leave.

The plot and characterization were weak. I was interested in Thea’s trauma, but it seemed to be glossed over to push a heavy-handed “strong woman” theme. It’s like a cake made out of all frosting. That’s the thing. BookTok wants easily consumed frosting, not a cake that requires a longer attention span or the contemplation of important concepts such as diversity and inclusion beyond a surface-level discussion. Being able to check off boxes on a representation clipboard doesn’t make a book a strong story, but that would be news to BookTok. I hate the term “woke” because it misses every single point of real social justice work, ergo it is the perfect term to describe the attempt at feminism in The Bromance Book Club, which didn't feel super feminist at all. Ultimately, the tension and comedy in the book rely on the belief that women and men are inherently different, and if you and your partner struggle to speak the same love language, it isn't a communication issue but a gender issue. Honestly, while reading, I kept thinking about the sitcom Home Improvement from the 90s which I know wasn't the intended effect. Mentally, I call this phenomenon "girlboss feminism," where the quest to create a strong female lead falls back on buzzwords and a couple tropes and ultimately has little new or interesting to say about gender.

The voice in The Bromance Book Club was a voice I recognized from other BookTok successes I’ve read. Its attempt to be witty was just edgy. The voice was self-aware, ironic, and almost felt to be poking fun at the genre as a whole, which made me wary of its sincerity. It's like when a musical has a character point out "why is everyone singing?" Personally, I'm a fan of just enjoying a genre without breaking the immersion. We’re all here to read it because we know and enjoy the general formula, and you don’t need to hit us over the head with anything. Additionally, there were sections where the author's voice bled through and it felt more like reading a rant about injustice than a story.

As a final nitpick, Courting the Countess used the phrase “male gaze” at one point and I was irked by the anachronistic language. It’s 1820, not 2020.

In conclusion, while the high concept and premise of The Bromance Book Club caught my attention, it fell short of its potential, trading a dynamic plot and characters for appealing buzzwords and a superficial attempt to discuss feminism. Because of the culture on BookTok which desires speed, surface-level representation, genre fiction that “isn’t like other genre fiction,” and easily consumed media, it was the perfect favorite for that audience. The book ultimately lacked sincerity to my eye. It felt to be showing off how not like other romances it was, and lost the heartfelt storytelling for me. TikTok as a site is all about flashy appearances with less depth.

Here I am, turning an unrelated piece of writing into a rant about society after criticizing The Bromance Book Club for doing the same thing. But this discussion is indeed part of a larger concern of mine. I worry about BookTok's potential to influence a trend of declining quality in the fiction market. I worry about the negative impact on the mental health of its userbase, afraid to show or feel things against the status quo.

Maybe I'm just not in the target audience, in which case these criticisms mean little. Maybe I read it as trying to be more than it actually was. In any case, it just wasn't for me, and that's okay, and I'm free to pick up another contemporary romance with different themes. This book certainly achieved what it meant to achieve, given its success, which I respect.

[inlovewithquotes]

"You guys read romance novels?"

"We call them manuals."

-The Bromance Book Club

[seeleybooth]

Isn't it Bromantic? by Lyssa Kay Adams

“No.” He sat up and cupped her face. “That’s what I’m trying to say. When I joined the book club, I thought you left me because you didn’t believe I was good enough for you.” Her heart cracked. “Vlad—” He pressed his fingertip to her lips. “But I realized that I was the one who believed that. I’m still working on it. Even right now, there’s a part of me that is scared this is just a dream, that you’re not really here, that you couldn’t possibly feel about me the way I’ve always felt about you.” A tear dripped down his cheek. Elena wiped it away before pressing her brow to his. “How could you ever not know that you deserved to be loved?” “How could you ever think that you were just a burden?” She laughed thickly. “It’s sort of a miracle we’ve made it this far, isn’t it?"

“Maybe this is just how our story was supposed to be written.” She kissed him and wiped her cheeks. “So what do we do now?” Vlad tugged her back down to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. “We get up, take a bath together”—she mmm’d against his skin—“and we take it day by day for a while.” “I like the sound of that,” she said, burrowing closer to his warmth. He hugged her tighter. “It’s going to be okay now, Lenochka. Everything is going to be okay.”

[livrosempedacinhos]

Não há nada para ver aqui. Só uma garota de coração partido e uma lição aprendida.

Missão Romance, Lyssa Kay Adams.

[graphicpolicy]

Around the Tubes

Some comic news and reviews from around the web to start the day #comics #comicbooks

It was new comic book day yesterday, what’d you all get? What’d you like? Dislike? Sound off in the comments below. While you think about that, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web to start the day. Anime News Network – Manga Archive Organization Dedicated to Archiving Manga Materials Founded – Nice! The Beat – JHU is closing its Manhattan location, remains open on Staten…

[stratosvere]

And to never forget that love is enough.

[theraininthestars]

Reseña de The Bromance Book Club

Hola querides, hoy les traigo la reseña de la serie de libros: “Bromance: Club de Lectura para caballeros" . La serie esta constituida por 5 libros, próximamente 6, escrito por Lyssa Kay Adams.

El primer libro se llama Bromance: Club de Lectura para caballeros y fue publicado en 2019.

Como nota: Bromance se refiere a a la relación platónica entre hombres que tienen una cercanía emocional como si fueran hermanos.

En la primera entrega, tenemos a Gavin Scott, uno de los mejores jugadores de su liga de futbol americano, dedicado a su trabajo, él pasa sus días entrenando y yendo a eventos de promoción. Sin embargo, su vida en casa es lo opuesto. Ha perdido tantos eventos de sus gemelas y citas con su esposa, Thea, que la fuerzan a pedir el divorcio. Desesperado por no perder su casa, a sus hijas, y más importante, el amor de su vida Thea; Gavin se embriaga en un cuarto de hotel donde sus compañeros de equipo, y otros extraños, lo encuentran. Ellos le revelan que están dispuestos a ayudarlo a arreglar su matrimonio con la condición de que él sea completamente honesto con su vida con ellos. Gavin acepta, y es así como él entra al club de lectura de los caballeros. Las reglas de este club: 1. Nunca hables del club con otras personas 2. Sé honestos con todos los miembros del club 3. Lee el libro.

Uno de los factores más atractivos de estas novelas es la conexión emocional entre los hombres. Creo que la autora logra reflejar muy bien como estas conexiones donde se da prioridad a salud mental, autorreflexión y hacer que tomen responsabilidad de sus acciones ayudan a los hombres a mejorar como personas.

Otro aspecto que me gusta es la tensión entre la pareja. Siendo esta una relación de una pareja casada, ayuda mucho en sentirse cómodo con la dinámica entre los personajes. A diferencia de otros libros, esta son personas que ya se conocen y entienden el lenguaje corporal de la otra persona. El romance entre los protagonistas esta bien estructurado. Las escenas denotan química y una conexión muy bonita que se ha creado en esos tres años de relación, pero también se denota una introducción a una nueva dinámica entre ellos que los mejora como parejas y personas.

Algo que me encantó es sobre la inclusión del tartamudeo del protagonista. La autora logró incluir de una manera muy natural y que se sintiera una parte importante en la relación entre los personajes. A la vez, como trabajan juntos como padres y lidian con sus problemas de pareja. Aún creo que deben de pulir mucho más, pero llegaron a la etapa donde ambos están abiertos a trabajar en su relación.

Otro aspecto fuerte del libro es el desarrollo de los personajes, siento que logran reconocer sus fallas y crecer a partir de estas. Lo único que me gustaría es observar si estos cambios no son simplemente para preservar la relación y que de verdad haya un cambio en los dos. Una mención de Gavin manejando mejor su carrera de atleta con los proyectos de Thea e incluso la inclusión de terapia de parejas.

Hay demasiadas escenas y líneas que me hacían reír, la comedia es buena en este libro (aunque sea “accidental”).

Ahora lo que no me gustó. Oh, las cosas que me disgustaron de este libro.

Vamos a empezar con lo primero, la “inclusión” de un hispano en la historia. Primero que nada, esta mal escrito el español en el libro, se agradecería que un editor se diera cuenta de eso. Leer las escenas de Yan Feliciano me dejaron un mal sabor de boca.

Consejo: No publiquen textos que usen idiomas que ustedes no dominan, o que no tienen conocidos que sean nativos/dominantes de la lengua.

Segundo, las generalizaciones de hombres y mujeres. Hay tantas veces que los personajes mencionan como “A los hombres les encanta cuando las mujeres…”, “…es kriptonita para cualquier mujer” y “Todas las mujeres recuerdan esto…”. Es incómodo y arrogante tener estas generalizaciones.

Y finalmente, los personajes de Liv y Mack. Comencemos con Liv, ella tiene más justificación en actuar de manera grosera y prepotente debido a que tiene miedo de que su hermana terminé herida. No apreció como trata de enemistar a la pareja principal, considerando que tienen hijas juntas. Sin embargo, es un buen elemento para crear tensión y obstáculos en la relación.

Pero Mack, es de los personajes más desagradables que he leído. Sin spoilers del segundo libro, pero lo ofensivo, cínico, prepotente, arrogante y odioso que es, hace que arruine la mayoría de las escenas. Al principio, pensé que iba a ser un personaje que chocaría mucho con el protagonista, pero haría que formará una amistad honesta y con autocrítica.

Pero en la escena de acción de gracias, me di cuenta que es solo un hombre que le gusta sentirse superior y la atención que obtiene al saber que “él no ha hecho nada malo”. La simple mención de que todos dejan que lo haga porque “no significa nada”, pero antes de eso una de las esposas de los personajes menciona que le molesta por su actitud. Me da la sensación que él sería el tipo de personas que dice ser feminista, pero manipula a sus parejas para hacerles pensar que “ellas” son el problema por no apreciarlo.

El libro fue una decepción, pero si lo recomendaría como una lectura divertida. Si le daría 4 estrellas por el romance, la amistad y el desarrollo de personaje. Y como en la escala de escenas calientes le daría un 3. Tiene escenas muy buenas entre los protagonistas y cumple como libro de comedia romántica. Pero, me hubiera gustado observar el inicio de este club de lectura, en vez de verlo ya establecido.

¿Ya han leído esta saga? ¿Qué pensaron del primer libro? ¿Qué les gustó de este libro? ¿Qué les disgustó? ¿Han leído otras novelas de Lyssa Kay Adams? ¿Qué piensan de un club de lecturas para que los hombres mejoren sus relaciones?