Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

32 reviews

drraytay's review against another edition

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I think I would’ve loved this book if I was 21 but at 31 this was a nightmare. Way too much emotional manipulation painted as romance and chivalry.

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mtnest's review

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emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I have seen this book all over the book community. I was dying to read it as it seemed right up my street. I was right. This book should be hyped up. It was funny, cute, a small amount of spice – the whole works. 

This book has two points of views. The first is Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott. He’s recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always been faking the Big O. After he finds out, he loses his cool and it was the final straw on the already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce and Gavin realizes he has let his pride and fear get the better of him. Gavin is desperate and he finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville’s top alpha men. With the help of their current read: Courting the Countess, a steamy Regency novel, the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. But it will take a lot more than fictional words and flowers to get his girl back. The second point of view is Thea Scott. She has been married for three years and even though she loves her husband, she hates some part of his job. Mainly having to socialise with the other WAGs. See, she isn’t like the rest of them who plan their life around being a WAG. She is a mother first, a mother who gave up her dreams of being an artist three years ago when she got pregnant with twins. She has to be a solo parent for 50 percent of the year whilst Gavin is away and she hasn’t told him she doesn’t like going to all the social events that Gavin goes to. She is trying to make sure that her girls don’t witness any of the fighting as she grew up witnessing her mum and dad fight. Will she be able to forgive Gavin? Will she ever give him the Big O? 

I think this story is adorable, and so heart-warming. For a story that I was expecting a lot of spicy in, we didn’t get it but it was made up with a cute and fast-paced storyline with the portraying of the real issues of marriage and you know having to keep the marriage alive by working on it and being open and honest with each other. I loved the twins I think they were adorable and having Thea see the fact that one was like her and one was like her sister when it came to the family dynamic was sweet and heart-breaking at the same time due to the fact that Thea was working so hard to avoid that. I have seen that this book is a series and I really hope that Thea’s sister get a book and I would have loved to seen more of Del in the future. 

Overall, I loved the MCs and the storyline was realistic but also funny, like all I’m imagining now is grown men saying they are going the pub or the gym but instead they are going to the basement of someone’s house to read romance books to try and impress their significant others. However, I do think men should read some romance novels because why not. I am looking forward for the next one in the series. 

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thesmutsister_emma's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Here's to Breaking the First Rule of Book Club.

I'm not going to lie. I was worried about this one. I was soworried in fact, that I broke my own habits and rather than buying the whole series at once, I only bought the first book. I can (thankfully) say I was pleasantly surprised. I truly loved this book and have to have the rest of the series PRONTO.

The Characters
Thea: Look girlie pop... I loved you. And I loved you because I saw WAY too much of myself in you. With my parents' divorce just finalized November 15th, I truly related to the way Thea felt about her father. I liked seeing the way she handled everything because my parents' divorce has impacted me as well. It was interesting watching one of my worst fears at this point play out in a way and see the way that I as a person might deal with it. Thea honestly had just as much character development as Gavin did and it was something that made me happy because in these situations, it's easy to put all of the blame on one party, but the fact that Thea made it back to who she truly feels she is meant a lot to me.
Gavin: I honestly liked Gavin a lot. I felt like he was extremely dense and prideful at times, but I liked his character. Once he was willing to let go of his manhood and be vulnerable. I honestly liked him more than Thea 😅 I was worried that he was never going to wise up and do it, but we were able to get there.

Things I Loved
I loved the way that Thea dealt with Gavin, just in general through the whole thing. I also really liked the rest of the Bromance Book Club so much. They were amazing and I honestly can't wait to read about the rest of them.

Things I Didn't Love
I think my biggest problem with the book was how long it felt like it dragged out. It was very realistic, but it felt to me as though it went on for ages.

The Final Verdict
I feel like this will end up being a book I read over and over. I loved it so much and plan on coming back to it as a comfort read.

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marpaige's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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kingrosereads's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A second-chance contemporary romance between a late 20-something married couple. 

This book is about a man, Gavin, he’s a MLB player and he’s married to Thea, the mother of their twin 3 (or 4)-year-old daughters. After 3 years of marriage, Gavin finds out that Thea has been faking their orgasms since they married. Gavin’s reaction to this discovery is to move into the guest room and give her the silent treatment for a month. Then Thea kicks him out and he leaves. Enter the comedic relief. Gavin’s friends come to the rescue with their all guys romance book club. The club that helps the alpha men of Nashville figure out their women. Gavin uses what he learns from his friends and romance novel to help win his wife back. 

The concept of guys reading romance books to better articulate their feelings and understanding their partner’s motives and emotions sounds like a great foundation for a romcom, but this unfortunately fell flat. 

I’m hard pressed to call this a “romance”. Sure there’s a couple, they have sex 70% of the way through, there’s a last minute conflict,  there’s a grand gesture and a HEA but geez it was anxiety inducing. The realism was stressing me tf out. It’s about two very immature people who got married too quickly and for all the wrong reasons. Gavin, fearing he’d never find a woman like Thea, uses their unplanned pregnancy to lock her down in a marriage. And Thea who clearly has issues with marriage pretends everything is fine and is upset that Gavin isn’t a mind reader. The first time Gavin leaves when Thea tells him to, I can forgive Gavin, and it was childish for Thea to “test” him like that when she’s never been open and honest about her past. But it was clear that leaving was a trigger for her, so every time that Gavin would wordlessly leave after an argument to process his feelings, it would piss me off. Like reassure your partner you just going to calm down and you’ll return.

Thea blames Gavin for putting her dreams on pause to raise their children and being a good baseball wife. No where in this book did it mention Gavin forced Thea to drop out and keep her from going back to school. He makes a SHIT TON of money, they have more than enough resources that could’ve helped Thea get her degree at any time. And I get parenting is hard and is a lot, but the girls are gone all day at preschool and have dance lessons a few times a week. If you’re not comfortable with a nanny, then hire someone to do the housework? You have the money for it! Like I hate when rich people do this shit. 

For 3 years, Thea has kept back her past trauma of her father constantly cheating and leaving and her mother taking him back. She’s also pretended life as a baseball wife was fulfilling and that the other spouses weren’t treating her like crap. How is Gavin supposed to know any of this?

The weaponized incompetence was sending me through the roof. Gavin doesn’t know where the towels are kept in the house they’ve lived in for 3 years?! And he does all these very superficial things that are supposed to magically fix their relationship? NO. This book should’ve ended with them starting couples therapy. Because all their problems weren’t magically fixed. 

From context the kids are supposed to be 3, but they act and talk more like 4-6 year olds. Which is a HUGE pet peeve for me in books. Mostly, I would’ve respected the book more if these were just two college kids that fell madly in love over a few months and got married and either didn’t have kids yet or had kids after they were married. Using an unplanned pregnancy as a reason to get married is such a stressor and problematic situation. 

And the book points out the misogyny, heteronormative expectations, and gendered roles but does nothing to challenge these things? And Thea is such a “pick me girl” and “I’m not like other women cause I wear converses and band t shirts”. She thinks she’s better than the other spouses because she assumes she’s the only one with dreams and ambitions. 

It’s a cold day in hell when I sympathize with an incompetent “alpha” dude. Don’t get me wrong, Gavin and Thea are both equally at fault for their relationship’s downfall, but dammit! It gets stars for being real in that sense. I didn’t like the realism, but the realism is done well and is realistic for a heteronormative couple. The problems with marriage and kids too quickly is a problem many people face. Do I want it in my romance novels? No. But I digress. It was also a little funny. The book club guys had their moments (the the fart jokes were excessive). Only a few grammatical errors. 



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mandaraffe's review

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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a_libra_library's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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sydapel's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

been wanting to get into this series for awhile now, and it really delivered on the deconstruction of masculinity, especially as it relates to attitudes about romance novels. Adams really gets to the heart of what is appealing about romance, the mutual healing of two characters who are able to support one another's emotional needs. However, while I liked the romance element of this, the third act break up felt rushed and forced, and honestly unnecessary. 

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courtnoodles's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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