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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
This is a solidly entertaining series! Having enjoyed the other books, I was excited for Undercover Bromance. I loved Noah, and I though he and Alexis were so sweet. However, something about the pacing of this novel felt a little off to me. There might have been one twist and turn of drama too much? Work drama, family drama, couple drama-- it was a lot. I lost track of our leading couple for a little bit because there was so much extra happening in both of their lives. And I can always always use more of the Book Club! Definitely still worth reading if you were a fan of the other Bromance Book Club titles, but not as cohesive as the first two books in the series.
Let me start by saying I'm a huge fan of Lyssa Kay Adams and owe her a debt of gratitude for helping me survive 2020. Most of us have had a rough year, at the very least, and both Bromance Book Club and Undercover Bromance were delightful books that helped me get my mind off of things. I'm looking forward to the Russian's book next (and hope for books about Del and Malcolm? Please? ;) Even if they are prequels!) but this one just didn't do it for me. (spoilers below)
Nothing really sizzled between Alexis and Noah, and I think a lot of it's because we didn't get to see their friendship grow and the tension build between them all of the months they've been best friends. I really missed that--the previous books really delivered it. The steamy scenes were good but not as good as in the previous two books. I also missed the humor. I laughed a couple of times during this book but it was so emotional and dramatic that I cried much more than I laughed. It's always great when an author makes you feel but I went in expecting more laughter after the previous two and saved the book to read on my birthday for that reason. All of the books have dealt with heavy issues, which I love SO much, but this one felt really heavy-handed on the issues.
Adams takes on toxic masculinity in such a refreshing way, but I didn't that as much in this book. At least the men were called out on it, and I loved how the book club gathered around Noah to represent positive masculinity (probably my favorite part of the book), but I really liked how it was handled in Undercover Bromance and how we saw some learning going on. I do appreciate the complex relationships she introduced, and how Noah and Lexa challenged each other's behaviors, but they really didn't get to see each others' breakthrough moments, which would have made it more meaningful.
I also didn't like how Noah's hacktivism was treated as a mistake, as something childish to overcome, etc. at some points in the book. The hacker angle is what attracted to me to him in the first place (aren't we all wondering where the heck Anonymous has been all this time?) and him saying that he did it to spite his dead father just ruined that angle. That's almost saying he thought it was wrong to even do, even though he may have prevented further death.
Then the stuff between him and the family friend... I just don't buy it. I love his positive masculinity but the complicated relationship just needed more development. It's an important story to tell--men can be abused by other men in various ways, men may not stand up to their abusers either--but Noah chastises Lexa for not doing anything and claims to do things all of the time when he doesn't address this in his life at all. There was too much going on to really explore this issue. I appreciate Adams trying to include it but it seems like there were too many issues to really go deeply into any of them. Relationships with abusers are complex, for sure. I'm not sure I like the idea of his mom allowing the friend back in their lives, and I think we need more to the story before accepting that.
I also missed the "nerdiness" promised between the two. There were more mentions of banjos and country style living than actual nerdiness. I'm not sure I get Alexa, either. I related to Liz and Thea much more. I really just feel sorry for her. I love the work she's doing but I don't understand her personality as well as I did the previous two leads. I liked her in the previous book and I love her shop, what she does for the community, etc. but I don't get a sense of her through her dialogue.
It's a good book! I enjoyed it. I still would've read it if I'd known all of this, but I wouldn't have chosen to read it when I did had I known its mood would differ so significantly from the others, though.
Nothing really sizzled between Alexis and Noah, and I think a lot of it's because we didn't get to see their friendship grow and the tension build between them all of the months they've been best friends. I really missed that--the previous books really delivered it. The steamy scenes were good but not as good as in the previous two books. I also missed the humor. I laughed a couple of times during this book but it was so emotional and dramatic that I cried much more than I laughed. It's always great when an author makes you feel but I went in expecting more laughter after the previous two and saved the book to read on my birthday for that reason. All of the books have dealt with heavy issues, which I love SO much, but this one felt really heavy-handed on the issues.
Adams takes on toxic masculinity in such a refreshing way, but I didn't that as much in this book. At least the men were called out on it, and I loved how the book club gathered around Noah to represent positive masculinity (probably my favorite part of the book), but I really liked how it was handled in Undercover Bromance and how we saw some learning going on. I do appreciate the complex relationships she introduced, and how Noah and Lexa challenged each other's behaviors, but they really didn't get to see each others' breakthrough moments, which would have made it more meaningful.
I also didn't like how Noah's hacktivism was treated as a mistake, as something childish to overcome, etc. at some points in the book. The hacker angle is what attracted to me to him in the first place (aren't we all wondering where the heck Anonymous has been all this time?) and him saying that he did it to spite his dead father just ruined that angle. That's almost saying he thought it was wrong to even do, even though he may have prevented further death.
Then the stuff between him and the family friend... I just don't buy it. I love his positive masculinity but the complicated relationship just needed more development. It's an important story to tell--men can be abused by other men in various ways, men may not stand up to their abusers either--but Noah chastises Lexa for not doing anything and claims to do things all of the time when he doesn't address this in his life at all. There was too much going on to really explore this issue. I appreciate Adams trying to include it but it seems like there were too many issues to really go deeply into any of them. Relationships with abusers are complex, for sure. I'm not sure I like the idea of his mom allowing the friend back in their lives, and I think we need more to the story before accepting that.
I also missed the "nerdiness" promised between the two. There were more mentions of banjos and country style living than actual nerdiness. I'm not sure I get Alexa, either. I related to Liz and Thea much more. I really just feel sorry for her. I love the work she's doing but I don't understand her personality as well as I did the previous two leads. I liked her in the previous book and I love her shop, what she does for the community, etc. but I don't get a sense of her through her dialogue.
It's a good book! I enjoyed it. I still would've read it if I'd known all of this, but I wouldn't have chosen to read it when I did had I known its mood would differ so significantly from the others, though.
Favorite book of the series so far! Cozy, romantic, adorable, highly recommend this series for a feel good, women-empowered by men read. I’ve listened to all these and love the narrator!
Yasss!! I’m so happy!! Crazy Stupid Bromance had all of the elements I loved in book 1 and that were missing in book 2. We get the Bros from Bookclub helping Noah get his happily ever after and we get snippets from the Bookclub book, which were some of my favorite things from Bromance Bookclub. Also Lyssa does such a great job of writing a romcom with depth. I love this series so much! Can’t wait for the next one!
Honestly, these Bromance Book Club novels are about all my brain can handle right now. I keep starting books but nothing is sticking and I haven't been reading...I've been anxious, what can I say? I wonder why. Anyway. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Four stars for CRAZY STUPID BROMANCE, by Lyssa Kay Adams, her take on the friends-to-lovers trope. I listened to the audiobook.
This one is about Alexis, Liv's friend from the last novel, and Noah, Mack's cyber security hacker friend. It's cute, but there is a conflict between Noah and his father's old military friend that I thought was unnecessary and distracting from the main romance storyline and plot (Alexis' long-lost biological father shows up in need of a kidney donation). Overall, it's sweet and funny, and there is a scene where the bros go to a spa and don't know whether they should shower or get naked in advance of getting massages that had me cracking up!
Maybe this will give me the spark to start reading more again. Fingers crossed.
This one is about Alexis, Liv's friend from the last novel, and Noah, Mack's cyber security hacker friend. It's cute, but there is a conflict between Noah and his father's old military friend that I thought was unnecessary and distracting from the main romance storyline and plot (Alexis' long-lost biological father shows up in need of a kidney donation). Overall, it's sweet and funny, and there is a scene where the bros go to a spa and don't know whether they should shower or get naked in advance of getting massages that had me cracking up!
Maybe this will give me the spark to start reading more again. Fingers crossed.
Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for access to an early copy!
3.5 stars. This wasn’t on par with the first one in the series at all. It could be the trope - friends to lovers is pretty tricky to navigate. The extra drama - secret family, kidney donations, random business rival literally named Karen with no resolution... it was a little busy. The romance novel part of the book seems almost just sprinkled in afterwards to make it related to the series; he didn’t even finish the book by the end of the novel. They didn’t have sex for the first half or more of the book, then the sex they did have was literally like 3 chapters of only sex. It was so much at once, even for someone who loves a good sex scene.
Despite what I didn’t like, there were some heartwarming moments and some funny parts. The bachelor party massage had me laughing out loud. I teared up at a part or two.
It just felt really forced when the men discussed toxic masculinity and what not. It’s something I noticed in book 1 but was able to kind of explain away, but by the third book in the series these conversations should flow much more naturally.
3.5 stars. This wasn’t on par with the first one in the series at all. It could be the trope - friends to lovers is pretty tricky to navigate. The extra drama - secret family, kidney donations, random business rival literally named Karen with no resolution... it was a little busy. The romance novel part of the book seems almost just sprinkled in afterwards to make it related to the series; he didn’t even finish the book by the end of the novel. They didn’t have sex for the first half or more of the book, then the sex they did have was literally like 3 chapters of only sex. It was so much at once, even for someone who loves a good sex scene.
Despite what I didn’t like, there were some heartwarming moments and some funny parts. The bachelor party massage had me laughing out loud. I teared up at a part or two.
It just felt really forced when the men discussed toxic masculinity and what not. It’s something I noticed in book 1 but was able to kind of explain away, but by the third book in the series these conversations should flow much more naturally.
Another excellent outing of this series, perhaps my favorite yet. The foundation of friendship at the heart of the romantic relationship felt realistic and relatable, while the storyline around grief, survivorship, and complex family relationships was particularly enjoyable. So excited to see what Lyssa Kay Adams does next in this series!
I loved getting to know and hear more of Alexis's perspective in this book. Noah didn't totally do it for me in this book, likely because I didn't feel too connected to him from earlier in the series. If ranking the four, this would be either third or fourth in likeability.
This friends-to-lovers installment follows Noah, a computer programmer and Mack’s go-to cybersecurity guy, and Alexis, Toe Beans Cat Cafe owner and Liv’s best friend. Noah and Alexis met during the sting operation to take down Alexis & Liv’s former celebrity chef boss, and became friends and trusted confidants in the process. When Alexis learns shocking information about her past, she faces difficult decisions that impact the future of her long lost father and his family. Noah is there to support his best friend Alexis as his feelings grow stronger for her, and he’s unsure if the truth will bring them closer together or push her away. Meanwhile, he can’t seem to escape his hacktivist motives as a grieving teenager following the untimely loss of his father.
This book really packed the punch of emotions for me (CW: parent loss). Alexis lost her mother to cancer a few years prior, and Noah lost his dad as a teenager when he served in the military overseas. The way these two share a bond of losing parents too young and navigating grief together was beautifully captured in small moments the characters shared together. There was one conversation exchange where they both didn’t need to say the platitudes but both had an understanding of what they were going through that I completely related to. As someone who is nearing the fourth anniversary of losing my dad, I’ve absolutely had the same conversations with others who have experienced similar loss that these two friends shared. The transformation from friends to “more” really worked well for me as a reader, too. The struggle of wanting to take gentle care of their friendship while exploring stronger feelings was so relatable. Even though Vlad (book 4!) is likely my favorite MC, this story and their relationship captured my heart in a way that I was not expecting and was likely the most emotionally impactful so far in the series.
This book really packed the punch of emotions for me (CW: parent loss). Alexis lost her mother to cancer a few years prior, and Noah lost his dad as a teenager when he served in the military overseas. The way these two share a bond of losing parents too young and navigating grief together was beautifully captured in small moments the characters shared together. There was one conversation exchange where they both didn’t need to say the platitudes but both had an understanding of what they were going through that I completely related to. As someone who is nearing the fourth anniversary of losing my dad, I’ve absolutely had the same conversations with others who have experienced similar loss that these two friends shared. The transformation from friends to “more” really worked well for me as a reader, too. The struggle of wanting to take gentle care of their friendship while exploring stronger feelings was so relatable. Even though Vlad (book 4!) is likely my favorite MC, this story and their relationship captured my heart in a way that I was not expecting and was likely the most emotionally impactful so far in the series.