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A review by kenzieparks3
Crazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams
3.0
After really enjoying the first two novels in the series, I was looking forward to starting Crazy Stupid Bromance. I love the premise of the books: a group of men coming together to read romance novels as a way to improve their own romantic relationships. However, this book just fell flat for me for a number of reasons.
First, I generally found Noah’s character to be frustratingly defensive and possessive. I felt like every three pages Noah was “growling” about something new, whether it be helping Mack with his wedding, someone’s comment on his and Alexis’ relationship, or his past. I think that once scene that really solidified for me that Noah was just too much was when The Russian walked back into his own hotel room after giving Noah and Alexis the night together only to be on the receiving end of Noah’s anger because he didn’t call first. I realize this might play into the overall theme of Noah’s unresolved anger towards his father, but it crossed the line into “overly needy and possessive boyfriend” territory. Something which I honestly didn’t expect to see from any of the Bromance characters.
Second, I felt the intimate scenes did not live up to what was written in the first two books. This isn’t to say that the sex was to the point of excess or in places where it doesn’t advance the story line, but it felt sloppily written. As an example, I’m not sure why the clit is referred to repeatedly as a “nub”? Maybe it was this way in the first two books and I just never noticed, but it almost read the way I imagine teenage boys refer to women’s anatomy.
Finally, it just felt like there were some loose ends that never truly got resolved. Namely, we never got to see any further resolution between Noah and Marsh. I felt the ending largely tied the plot together with a realistic ending of Alexis cautiously moving forward with the Vanderpool’s, but was disappointed that the last we heard of Marsh he was running away like a scolded puppy after he punched Noah in the face. Perhaps I’m missing some subtext that I should have picked up on, but I largely fault Marsh for the incident and wish we could have seen some character development in him similar to what we saw in Hop in Undercover Bromance.
It certainly is not that the book was all bad. Overall I still largely enjoyed it. I thought the story of the kidney donation was well done, and reading the authors acknowledgement at the end talking about her lived experience with the subject made it clear that she really knew what she was talking about when she wrote those parts. I enjoyed the follow up from the last book about the survivors of sexual assault, and generally enjoyed the familial relationship development between Alexis and the Vanderpool’s. I also am very much looking forward to reading The Russian’s story as I think the epilogue in this one really set the stage for the opening of the next book.
First, I generally found Noah’s character to be frustratingly defensive and possessive. I felt like every three pages Noah was “growling” about something new, whether it be helping Mack with his wedding, someone’s comment on his and Alexis’ relationship, or his past. I think that once scene that really solidified for me that Noah was just too much was when The Russian walked back into his own hotel room after giving Noah and Alexis the night together only to be on the receiving end of Noah’s anger because he didn’t call first. I realize this might play into the overall theme of Noah’s unresolved anger towards his father, but it crossed the line into “overly needy and possessive boyfriend” territory. Something which I honestly didn’t expect to see from any of the Bromance characters.
Second, I felt the intimate scenes did not live up to what was written in the first two books. This isn’t to say that the sex was to the point of excess or in places where it doesn’t advance the story line, but it felt sloppily written. As an example, I’m not sure why the clit is referred to repeatedly as a “nub”? Maybe it was this way in the first two books and I just never noticed, but it almost read the way I imagine teenage boys refer to women’s anatomy.
Finally, it just felt like there were some loose ends that never truly got resolved. Namely, we never got to see any further resolution between Noah and Marsh. I felt the ending largely tied the plot together with a realistic ending of Alexis cautiously moving forward with the Vanderpool’s, but was disappointed that the last we heard of Marsh he was running away like a scolded puppy after he punched Noah in the face. Perhaps I’m missing some subtext that I should have picked up on, but I largely fault Marsh for the incident and wish we could have seen some character development in him similar to what we saw in Hop in Undercover Bromance.
It certainly is not that the book was all bad. Overall I still largely enjoyed it. I thought the story of the kidney donation was well done, and reading the authors acknowledgement at the end talking about her lived experience with the subject made it clear that she really knew what she was talking about when she wrote those parts. I enjoyed the follow up from the last book about the survivors of sexual assault, and generally enjoyed the familial relationship development between Alexis and the Vanderpool’s. I also am very much looking forward to reading The Russian’s story as I think the epilogue in this one really set the stage for the opening of the next book.