ARC Review: Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

“… it didn’t really live up to my expectations.”
~ Under the Covers

Liv has her dream job in a top restaurant. Or, at least it seems that way from the outside. Behind closed doors the celebrity chef she works for is less then charming and when she finds him harnessing a young waitress, she loses her job. Furious, she is determined to take him down and let the whole world see exactly what kind of man he is. But, she’s going to need help. Enter Braden Mack, founder of the Bromance Book Club, and pilferer of food that doesn’t belong to him. Together they concoct a plan to get justice for the women Liv’s ex-boss has hurt. But, it’s more than just a plot that’s emerging between them…

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, it introduces a really great concept: the bromance book club. A book club where men read romances, or “manuals” as they call them, to help give insight in to their own relationships. It’s such a great idea; it has such great comedic value, whilst also having potential for exploring the importance of romance novels and their value to people of any gender. So, now lets talk about this book, a book I was very excited to be picking up as it was one of my most anticipated of this year. Honestly, it didn’t really live up to my expectations.

So, there are plenty of really positive reviews out there for this book and having looked at them, I am most definitely in the minority, but this book really lacked something for me. It tries to tackle a really serious issue – sexual harassment. Something that is BAD. BAD. BAD. And dayun, if I didn’t know that before, I certainly realised that once I’d finished being bashed round the head with it in this book. Now, it’s not that I disagree with anything that was said in this book, the “good guys” all held exactly the same opinions as I did. However, I felt like I was being preached at, this book was childishly simple in its depiction of the “good” and “bad” guys. There was no nuance, the celebrity chef bad guy was cartoonish in his villainy just as the good guys were all the Lawful Good, Superman types who always said and thought the right thing. When I was reading it completely knocked me out of the story as I found it a little too perfect.

This perfection of everyone’s character is why I didn’t connect with this book, but that didn’t mean I didn’t enjoy as a whole. It had some great funny moments, and I loved seeing the bromance book club come together. As for the romance, I doubt they’l ever be my favourite couple, but they had some great moments together.

I will continue reading this series as I adore the first book and although this one didn’t follow through on the promise of book 1, there’s enough here that I want to continue reading.

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[about-author author=”Lyssa Kay Admas”]

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