The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

The first rule of book club:
You don't talk about book club.

Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott's marriage is in major league trouble. He’s recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it’s the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he’s let his pride and fear get the better of him. 

Welcome to the Bromance Book Club.

Distraught and desperate, Gavin 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, a steamy Regency titled Courting the Countess, the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. But it'll take a lot more than flowery words and grand gestures for this hapless Romeo to find his inner hero and win back the trust of his wife.

( From the synopsis)

My thoughts:

Heart-warming... It's great to know, or rather have a bookish confirmation of something I have always believed in, there are good men out there, who care about their families, wives and children, to the extent of doing whatever it takes to make their marriage work.

Gavin is a professional baseball player who spends a lot of time travelling for work. Thea, his wife of three years, is understandably upset about the situation. She put her career on hold and has done her best to blend in and become a worthy member of WAGs - wives and girlfriends of the players of her husband's baseball team. Thea feels she is losing herself and is forgetting the dynamic, non-conformist, independent, artistic girl she used to be. Then, one night, after her husband's greatest sports triumph, the big secret is out: Thea has been faking her orgasms, and Gavin refuses to speak to her for a month. Thea asks him to leave, which he does, adding fuel to her childhood fear of being abandoned by people she loves the most.   Gavin is distraught and ready to do anything for Thea to give him a second chance. His teammates approach him with a unique solution. Gavin is to become the newest member of a secret book club for alphamale athletes who try to understand the mysterious women's language by reading and discussing romance novels. The bros already have the right book in mind: Courting the Countess, a cute Regency number that perfectly matches Thea and Gavin's situation.

I loved the premise of this book - the Book club scenes with their witty dynamics and serious deliberations on the merits of pumpkin spice lattes and the dangerous message of The Little Mermaid where the main character 'has to literally change from one species to another in order to be with a man'. All the laughs aside, these men meet together and try to help each other learn to save their marriages and relationships by listening and communicating with their loved ones. A few times in the book, Gavin is surprised to find out things about Thea, and she asks 'How come you didn't know that?'' Because I'm not a mind reader'. He keeps saying 'Talk to me. Tell me what you feel , tell me what is important for you, help me to understand what I can DO to show my love'. Gavin is such a wonderful mixture of sweetness, determination, willingness to learn and strength. Thea got pregnant very soon into their relationship, and although their twin girls are absolutely adorable and mean the whole world to them, becoming parents is a huge step in any marriage, and a big change in couple dynamics. It helps if you have already addressed (or at least are aware of ) your issues with your parents' dysfunctional marriage. It also helps to trust your partner to put your family and your relationship first, above anything else.

The Bromance Book club may be a quick read of an entertaining rom-com, but it is also a very relatable tale of second chances and family dynamics and I am really looking forward to the second book in the series.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Berkley for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest opinion.