Overall Rating: 5 Stars
Title: Undercover Bromance
Author: Lyssa Kay Adams
Series: Bromance Book Club #2
Format: ARC provided by Netgalley in Exchange for an Honest Review
Synopsis:
Braden Mack thinks reading romance novels makes him an expert in love, but he’ll soon discover that real life is better than fiction.
Liv Papandreas has a dream job as a sous chef at Nashville’s hottest restaurant. Too bad the celebrity chef owner is less than charming behind kitchen doors. After she catches him harassing a young hostess, she confronts him and gets fired. Liv vows revenge, but she’ll need assistance to take on the powerful chef.
Unfortunately, that means turning to Braden Mack. When Liv’s blackballed from the restaurant scene, the charismatic nightclub entrepreneur offers to help expose her ex-boss, but she is suspicious of his motives. He’ll need to call in reinforcements: the Bromance Book Club.
Inspired by the romantic suspense novel they’re reading, the book club assists Liv in setting up a sting operation to take down the chef. But they’re just as eager to help Mack figure out the way to Liv’s heart… even though she’s determined to squelch the sparks between them before she gets burned.
Review
I don’t often laugh out loud while reading books, certainly not nearly as much as I did while reading this book.
I feel like I have to apologize to my husband, because the majority of the reading of this book was done at night after he was already asleep and I could not hold in my bursts of laughter. I annoyingly felt the need to tell him what exactly I found so funny and read him passages from the book. He took it like a champ, though, and humored me with a grunt of acknowledgment.
Liv. Is. Everything. She’s one of my new favorite book girlfriends.
Normally characters like Liv are relegated to secondary character status (I’m looking at you Reagan from Fangirl), in fact, I wasn’t expecting Liv to have her own book after reading the first book in this series. To be completely honest, I didn’t even really like Liv all that much in the first book, but I absolutely ADORED her in this one.
Her attitude, her spice, her fierce determination, her unapologetic fighting instincts paired with her sarcastic sense of humor made for SUCH an entertaining read.
And then there is Mack.
There is so much to love about him, but I think what I adored the most is that he’s not your typical playboy. He’s confident without being arrogant, he’s got swagger without being a douche, he’s strategic without being manipulative, he’s a feminist without the excess.
He is the Book Boyfriend we all deserve and he certainly deserves someone as kickass as Liv.
Can we get a “hell yeah!” for a bookish romance between two people who deserve one another?
There is such a beautiful balance between these two characters. Where Liv’s ferocity can border on overwhelming, Mack is the calm to her storm without tempering her – he simply redirects. It was so satisfying to read.
Between these two characters, it’s no wonder this book has jumped to a favorite spot.
I could’ve easily enjoyed every page of this book if there wasn’t a plot because I loved the characters so much, but the entire storyline was so important and understandably (and necessarily) frustrating at times.
This entire series, to be honest, is so full of female empowerment, even though it revolves around a group of high-powered male characters. I. Love. That.
Butterfly Rating: 5 Stars
Re-read Worthiness: YES
Bookshelf Placement: I NEED THIS
Book Boyfriend Rating: 5 stars
I can’t wait for my copy to come in!!!
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It’s SO good!
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I’m almost finished with this. I think I’ll finish today. I have to say, I couldn’t stand Liv in the first book and it is taking me a long time to warm up to her this time too. It’s hard for me to understand someone who’s initial reaction to everyone is to mean. But, I think maybe the tides are turning for me now towards the end.
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I didn’t like her in the first book, but I honestly loved her right away in this one. I think because I think her meanness is hilarious.
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I think I would have come around if in the end she’d had to own her meanness and really need to win back Mack.
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I don’t often read reviews for future books in series if I haven’t read them yet, but your review has me so interested in meeting these characters! I recently added this series to my Goodreads list, hoping to read them soon!
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I’m actually the same way most of the time, but when I saw this book on Netgalley, I was like “OMGIMUSTREADTHISASAP” … then after I read it, I knew I had to sing its praises. I can’t wait to reread it!
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