GENERAL DETAILS
- Title: The Bromance Book Club
- Author: Lyssa Kay Adams
- Published: November 19th, 2019
- Publisher: Penguin Random House/Berkley
- Length: 352 pages
- Series or Stand-alone: 1st in an ongoing series
- Genre: Relationship/romance fiction
- Geographical Setting: Nashville, TN
- Time Period: Present day
BOOK SUMMARY
After Thea Scott asks her husband and Nashville Legends second baseman, Gavin Scott, for a divorce, Gavin is thrust into a world of depression and self-destruction. That is, until a group of well-known and powerful local men invite Gavin into a secret club in which they read romance fiction together, all in an attempt to be better partners and regain lost love. What unfolds throughout this book is a story about redemption mixed with humor that highlights the lengths we will go to mend relationships and families.
CONNECTIONS TO THE RELATIONSHIP FICTION GENRE
- This book focuses upon male-male friendships in a light and heartfelt manner, to the point where this is ultimately one of the most dominant themes of the book
- While there is a heteronormative romance element to this book, this book is not a typical raunchy romance read that focuses solely or mostly upon the romance (or sexual) aspect of the narrative
- The characters often make decisions that are not ones people would make in real-life, so there is an element of silliness to this book, which provides a nice counterpart to some of the more serious elements in this book (i.e. divorce and discussions about toxic masculinity, for example)
- Since this book is about a divorce, and the the two characters who are getting divorced have twin children together, this book also focuses upon parent-child relationships in the midst of trauma
- The wife in this book has a strong relationship with her sister, so there is a notable focus upon sibling relationships as well
- Throughout the plot there are regular heartfelt (and non-sexual) conversations that explore a variety of relationship dynamics
KEYWORDS AND THEMES
- Fast-paced
- Light-hearted
- Male-female relationships
- Male-male relationships (specifically friendships)
- Sibling relationships
- Family relationships
- Parent-child relationships
- Comedy
- Romance
- Divorce
- Sports (specifically baseball)
- Multiple character viewpoints
- Book clubs
READ-ALIKES (FICTION)
A note: Since sports culture is a prominent theme of The Bromance Book Club, I have decided to select books that include relationships within the context of modern sports culture.
Additionally, if readers enjoyed the first book in this series, then I would recommend the rest of the books in this series.
Intercepted by Alexa Martin (2018)
When Stars Collide by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (2021)
The Devil in Denim by J. M. Scott (2014)
READ-ALIKES (NON-FICTION)
There are several interesting themes within The Bromance Book Club, so I have decided to focus upon the following ones: Sports culture (baseball), divorce, and book clubs.
If you would like to read more about baseball: Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis (2003)
If you would like to read more about how to cope with divorce: Too Good to Leave, Too Bad to Stay by Mira Kirshenbaum (1997)
If you would like to learn more about book clubs: The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe (2013)
Hi Tiffany -
ReplyDeleteI was really surprised to see that you chose The Bromance Book Club for relationship fiction, but after reading your annotation, I think it fits! I know I’ve seen the series before and considered reading it. Would you continue with the series after reading this first one (or have you already)? I think it sounds like the book had a lot of potential to be part of the relationship fiction genre and I’m curious if that continues in the rest of the series or fizzle out to make the books more romance centric. I also like how you chose your fiction read alikes to all center around relationships in sports. I may have to try some of them!
I'm always astounded by how cute and creative writers in the relationship genre can get. This sounds like an amazing premise. I know the point of these annotations is to be objective, but as an interested reader I have to ask - did you enjoy the book? Find it well-written?
ReplyDeleteI have seen this book cover on TikTok quite a few times but I had no idea what it was about until I read your annotation! While this doesn't sound like something I would be interested in, I love how you made the connections to the relationship fiction genre. I was not too sure what this genre was but you helped me understand! :)
ReplyDeleteI've read the whole series! Great write up and I think your connections and themes really highlight why this book belongs in the genre. Great annotation and full points!
ReplyDelete