The Bromance Book Club

By: Lyssa Kay Adams / Narrated By: Andrew Eiden, Maxwell Caulfield

Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins

As someone who squiiiiiints at Contemporary Romance? Imagine my delighted surprise with this!!!

Is it just me, or does anyone else around here feel like, when an author dreams up a Contemporary Romance and makes one of the Points of View from the Hero’s perspective, things go all whonky sideways? It’s like the Heroes are all sappy, Uber-romantic, and they WANT to talk about Feelings, and they WANT to talk about the Relationship. Forgive me, but that’s just soooo not how I’ve experienced Men… and I’m currently on Husband #2. Yeh yeh yeh, he’s a Keeper -BUT- it took yeeeeeears of training, and boy! am I tired!

But still, recently Book 3 of the series went on Sale, and it’s been purchased as this here Book 1, The Bromance Book Club, has been sitting in m’ Library for, like, forEVER. So, it just felt like it was finally the right time to give it a Listen. You know, see if Poor Impulse Control was at play, and now I’ve got yet aNOTHer audiobook (Book 3) that I’m NEVER gonna get around to.

Right away, however, with our Hero Gavin stinkin’ drunk and puking his guts up as Alpha male-types come to his rented abode to help him out, I was kinda sorta smitten. I’m into Regency Romance, you see: The Rake, The Gentleman, The Corinthian. NOT the Hurlin’ Pukin’ Moanin’ Drunk… sooooo… I was enchanted from the get-go. EsPECially cuz? When the Alpha males ask? Nope, this guy ain’t talkin’.

Turns out that’s his problem. Or, uhm, ONE of his problems, and there are many. But this Group O’ Guys? They’ve juuuuust let Gavin in on a little secret: They’re part of a book club (Number one rule of book club? NEVER talk about book club!) that was formed cuz every. single. one of them has been in Gavin’s shoes in their own relationships before.

The twist? They read Romances to learn how to manage relationships. And for Gavin? A Regency has been chosen called “Courting the Countess’ because the Guys have decided that’s what Gavin must do: Start from square one, court his wife, Thea, again.

Thea, our other Point of View character, has different plans. She’s had it with Gavin, and she haaaates who she’s become in her three years of marriage. And as Gavin is a baseball player whose star is on the rise in the Major Leagues, everything has fallen to her as the guy is never around. When he is? They’re grunting to each other, or they’re politely exchanging information regarding their three-year old twins (One thing? The kiddos are written like they’re three-going-on-thirty… just sayin’…). Even worse? The WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends) haaate Thea cuz she’s kinda done her own thing, but it had gotten to the point where she’d chucked her high-tops, chucked her tattered t-shirts and leggings, and? She’d started wearing PASTELS!!! I mean, good cow! or what, man?!

The rest is the most delightful unspooling of a guy trying to break down to break through. It’s of Thea working to build a life for herself, trying to remember what her dreams were before she’d gotten knocked up, gotten married, become a star’s wife.

And it’s the most charming Asides/Excerpts taken from “Courting the Countess” that Gavin’s DESperately trying to learn from. Andrew Eiden’s narration is topnotch as per usual. This book is heavy on the female characters, and Eiden doesn’t botch any. And when Thea gets scrappy (And drunk), she’s kinda sorta a bit of a hoot. I must admit, however, that tho’ Eiden, ADMIRABLY, carries the bulk of the audiobook, narrator Maxwell Caulfield steals the show with his rendition of “Courting the Countess”. I know I know I know, that’s not fair, especially considering Eiden has to carry more than his Fair Share considering the book gets somewhat randy and kinda sorta graphic at the end (Believe it or not, my toes did NOT curl! I thiiiiink it’s cuz sex is soooo much of what ailed Gavin and Thea to begin with that I listened with Interest rather than Extreme Embarrassment…). But I gotta tell ya, Caulfield sounded like he was reeeeally enjoying how author Lyssa Kay Adams crafted her Regency snippets. He just sounded like he was having fun.

And that’s ALWAYS a gas!

Definitely fun, and this wound up not only being immensely enjoyable, but downright satisfying as well. Adams layers her story, even switches things up at the end so that we see that Gavin isn’t the only broken person in the relationship but that p’raps Thea needs some healing to do prior to having a healthy relationship. Which is a relief from Gavin-Bashing…

Grand story-crafting, memorable characters, Dudes Worthy of Love and Respect, and dude! it made me snort with laughter every now and again.

And whazzis? Was there even a tear at the corner of m’ eye at the end there?

Yesssss, but I SWEAR it was just a glimmer. I’ll let y’all know when a Contemporary makes me flat-out bawl…!

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