If I Wasn’t a Romance Author, I’d Give The Bromance Book Club Five Stars
I haven’t been reading much lately due to quarantine brain, but I did make it through The Bromance Book Club. If you’re looking for a light, fresh, and fun rom-com, I’d recommend it.
It’s strange, growing up I was a total readaholic. We’re talking a book a day, easy. Then college hit, and I didn’t read for pleasure for two years after graduation. Fast forward six years and I was too busy growing and running a marketing firm to get lost in a novel.
Over the next twelve years I read maybe three works of fiction. Nowadays I have more time to read, and as an author, I read books as part of my workday.
The problem now is that as a romance author, it’s incredibly hard for me to turn off my internal editor. It’s rare for me to find a book that doesn’t periodically jolt me out of my reading trance with poor grammar, weird sentence structure, or character or plot holes. That makes it almost impossible to get lost in a book. GAH!
That also means any book that even comes close to keeping me sucked in is probably pretty good. The book I’m reviewing today is better than that, it’s damn entertaining.
The Bromance Book Club is Cute, Clever, and Charming
Lyssa Kay Adams’ novel The Bromance Book Club came very close to holding my complete attention. It’s a clever concept about a man trying to learn what his wife wants, and how to save his marriage, by reading romance novels. The main characters are relatable. And the tone is lighthearted rom-com and easy to devour, which I appreciated given the state of the world.
Overall, it’s a well-executed and well-written story. I especially enjoyed reading the Regency romance within the contemporary romance. Very clever and very well done. Though I couldn’t help but feel Regency was a slightly more comfortable genre for Ms. Adams.
A small handful of relatively minor issues brought this down a star for me. Most related to grammar, sentence structure, or paragraph organization. As a writer/journalist/editor for the better part of the last twenty years, I can’t not notice these issues—no matter how minor. They might not bother you one bit.
Same with my other issue with this cute story…One of the other male character’s main roles is to spout feminist diatribes about the romance genre to help convince the hero of its validity. While he’s spot on, he’s almost too spot on and his dialogue felt shoe-horned into the story. I think the author may have been going for a little humor. But each time that character spoke, it jarred me out of my reading trance.
Overall, these are minor quibbles, though. The concept is fresh and fun, the characters are relatable, and this book is well worth your time.
Grab a copy of The Bromance Book Club here.
Have you read The Bromance Book Club? If so, what did you think? Do you agree or disagree with my review? Please do leave a comment below.
Comments
Leave a Reply
*
Be the first to comment.