A Very Merry Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Headline Eternal and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

Country music’s golden boy Colton Wheeler felt the most perfect harmony when he was with Gretchen Winthrop. But for her, it was a love him and leave him situation. A year later, Colton is struggling to push his music forward in a new direction. If it weren’t about to be the most magical time of year and the support of the Bromance Book Club, he’d be wallowing in self-pity.

It’s hard for immigration attorney Gretchen not to feel a little Scrooge-ish about the excess of Christmas when her clients are scrambling to afford their rent. So when her estranged, wealthy family reaches out with an offer that will allow her to better serve the community, she’s unable to say no. She just needs to convince Colton to be the new face of her family’s whiskey brand. No big deal…

Colton agrees to consider Gretchen’s offer in exchange for three dates before Christmas. With the help of the Bromance Book Club, Colton throws himself into the task of proving to her there’s a spark between them. But Gretchen and Colton will both need to overcome the ghosts of Christmas past to build a future together.

My Opinion

I have read this book as a standalone but I was still able to enjoy it. Throughout this book Gretchen's family annoyed me, but it was not enough to put me off the book. If you have followed me for a while then you will know that I am a fan of a festive novel at any time of year. Overall I thought this was a wonderful, festive book and whilst it was predictable it was done in a sweet way.

Rating 4/5

I was so happy when I was given this book to be able to read a review and it did not disappoint. It was fun. It was happy it was such a good combination of female found family and male country singer and just the dynamic that the romance bookclub have is absolutely divine you had Bromance you had love there was both sections with his friends and also with a couple which drew everything in together and just painted a really good picture. I think the way that The author describes things and makes you feel very emotive in the book towards a lot of the characters is perfect and the character aux was spot-on. It was slow. It was steady I would 100% recommend

The first bromance book club read and now I need to get them all. I loved following Coltons journey and second chance at love. I laughed out loud and there were some steamy moments that were perfect.

I’ve read every book in this series and the quality doesn’t dip as it goes on. If you’ve enjoyed this series so far, you’ll enjoy this one immensely.
This time round, we’re following book club member and country music star Colton Wheeler. After a steamy night at a fellow book club member’s wedding, Colton is left lining for Gretchen Winthrop, but she’s not interested. When she walks back into his life a year later, they both need to deal with what they actually want and the obstacles in their way.
This book has the same heart and humour as the others and was a really enjoyable read that I whizzed through in no time. There is perhaps less of the book club in this one than previous entries but actually I thought it worked well the way it was used.
Great fun, will read more!

I loved reading this one. I just love this kind of books.
4 stars read for me. I love this author snd her writing style.
Thanks to netgally for this arc.

It is a well written novel, with punchy dialogue that rings true, and the descriptive writing brings the scenes to life.
A book that stands out from the crowd. The characters and the setting are written exceptionally well.

I do enjoy these kind of Christmas romances. This one is another in the Bromance Book Club series and it focuses on Colton Wheeler, a country music star who is going through a bump in his career, and Gretcher, who is very dedicated to her job and has a horrible family to contend with. They get together at their friends' wedding, Colton wants more but Gretchen runs. And then they get together later.

This one didn't hit for me as hard as the others did. The Bromance book club were more there to cast judgement on Colton, which I did normally agree with in the other books in the series but they did seem to be picking up on Colton for things I thought he had a right to be upset about. Gretchen did reject him and then meet up with him a year later to ask him to do something (it was a mutually beneficial arrangement but I still think it was cheeky) and she did throw him out after the big event in the book happened. With good reason but still. It felt like sometimes the book club was calling Colton out on certain behaviours to feel like it was acknowledged but then never really addressed again (like how he got Gretchen to go out on a date with him in the first place). I just wish I could have seen the book club being a little more actually supportive rather than judgy and giving hugs and calling that support. The book club was used more in earlier books from what I remember and I found it missing here.

I did like Gretchen and Colton, both separate and apart. They both had their flaws and their strengths but they also had good times together and I really enjoyed seeing the two of them tease each other and get on well together, even if they had a rocky time getting together in the first place. I thought they did well together and I would have liked to have seen more of them as a settled couple, but the pacing of their romance was good and I liked their little epilogue together.

The pacing and plot of the book was again something which had great potential but fell down a little in the execution. Colton dealing with his career and Gretchen's reluctance to committ at the same time? Great! Gretchen wrestling with her family at the same time as dealing with what she wanted to do in the future? Perfect! But both of these character arcs were picked up and put down and squashed in at the end and just the whole thing just felt a little rushed. The actual arcs were great but the execution was a little lacking.

It sounds like I hated this book and I absolutely didn't. The writing style was easy to get on with, I enjoyed the main couple and was rooting for their romance and I enjoyed revisiting this series. But some things were a little rushed, some things were skipped over and the pacing of the whole book wasn't my favourite. So it's probably not my favourite one of this series, despite loving the grumpy-sunshine trope.

3.5 stars!

As easy and joyful as the other books in the Bromance series, this weaves the elements from the other books through nicely, including character backstories as well as the camaraderie between the male book club members, whilst remaining festive and true to the heart of the series. I really like how Adams plays to much to what I like about romance, with tropes and great characterisations, but isn't afraid to shy away from big real world issues like the divide between the rich and poor in society and immigration. The chemistry between characters was great, and the "fake book" was very engaging - I would read that alone!! Another great continuation of the series.

Unfortunately I failed to realise that this isn't the first book of the series and Unfortunately I struggled to follow it a bit because of this. However, I think this book was written really well regardless and the characters were great.

Argh, I just adore this series. even with a character that didn't particularly stand out in the previous book, I adored Colton, but for this book, he was a relatively generic hero compared to Gretchen, She was the stand-out character for me, as well as the usual found family, feel that all these books have. With all the warm and fuzzies that Christmas romance books have, with an added sprinkling of cowboy romance, great banter, and deeper topics this was another great book in the series.

In this book we follow Gretchen she is not a fan of Christmas. She green up with a wealthy family and tends to hate them for it and the way she was brought up and she wants to change that especially with the work she does. She gets an offer from her family where she can be part of the board if she gets a music star be the face of their brand. But the only problem is the music star in question is Colton, the person she had a one night stand with and she’s not all that happy about this situation.

Colton on the other hand is thrilled. He believes Gretchen is the one that got away. He is currently dealing with his music label and trying to find new sounds and he’s a huge fan of Christmas so when Gretchen offers him this offer there is some rules that include a date.

This is very much the grumpyxsunshine trope and I am here for it. Colton is adorable and just wants to make everyone happy. He adores Christmas and wants Gretchen to fall in love with the holiday too. Gretchen has a past that she doesn’t like to bring up but meeting Colton, she gives in to her vulnerable side and lets herself be helped for once.

My first bromance book club book and it wont be my last. I adored every second off it. Colton was so cute and Gretchen was a wonderful woman who just wants to do what’s right. A wonderful christmas story that will get you right in the feels featuring two characters who have a lot of chemistry, banter and just overall the care they have for each other and others was just so lovely to read.

God I love these books!

I think the bromance books sre one of my favourite romance series -a high bar and one they very much deserve. I love the relationships that the characters have built over the books. The basis of that in the guys friendships is just so refreshing to read.

Colton and Gretchen's story was brilliant - grumpy/sunshine turned exploring self worth and vulnerability is what we like to see. They have a great banter, they have realistic setbacks considering their histories and they clearly want to be together which makes the whole book very endearing.

This did have a great happy ending, I do wish we had seen a flash forward of Colton on tour though, singing songs he wrote for her. I could also have done without thr final act break up but I will admit that made more sense in this book than in most where it happens.

Vlad was back to his perfect side character role. He dresses up as Santa for the grand gesture. Perfection.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for a free ecopy of A Very Merry Bromance in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this installment in The Bromance Book Club series and flew through the first 75% of the book. However, I didn't really enjoy the end of the book. I didn't find Gretchen's family relationship dynamics and problems believable.

It did not disappoint! I loved how much Colton liked and had feelings for Gretchen right from the very start. I also really loved their dynamic with him being the sunshine and her being the grumpy one! It was a nice change, if you also love this trope I recommend Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey as well! It’s another Christmas romance and Tessa is a romcom QUEEN.

Lyssa’s and her writing is one of the few that I will read third person for. I usually struggle with it but I never have that issue with Lyssa. I love the way she brings so much humour to her romances while having a good balance with romance and sometimes heavier subjects. Gretchen’s childhood broke my heart a little but I loved the way Colton made her laugh and bought her out of her shell!

It was so good to be back with the book club boys again, I really do enjoy their banter! While this is the fifth book in the series, you could definitely read this as a stand-alone. However I do recommend the whole series as it is one of my favourites.

Gretchen Winthrop has never enjoyed Christmas. Partly because her clients don't really have time to celebrate the holidays while they're getting deported, but also because her childhood Christmas's were filled with anything but joy and goodwill. Colston Wheeler, hotshot country superstar, lives for the festivities. And he's got his sights set on Gretchen to celebrate with this year, after spending a year pining for the only woman who's rejected him. But can this sunshine singer get his grumpy Scrooge to love Christmas, and him?

I love The Bromance Book club books. The stories are always gentle and welcoming, like a warm hug, with a big cast of likeable characters that have a real family feel to them. Colton had been building up to his own story for a couple of books now. He's been on the peripherals, showing his sunny, easy going nature and womanising ways so I knew it would take a strong woman to reel him in. Enter Gretchen - a smart, compassionate woman with a terrible family and a big chip on her shoulder who needs someone like Colton to melt her heart. Their banter is really good, with Gretchen giving plenty of one liners to keep Colton in his lane, and this just adds to their chemistry.

I liked the backstory involving Gretchen and her family, and thought overall the payoff was good. However, I would have liked to have seen more interactions between Gretchen and her brothers, and explore more of their very difficult relationship, to get a higher payoff for that ending. It felt a bit pantomime villain at times,and Gretchen's family is definitely not as well developed as Colton's.

However, overall this was another hit from me. Please give the mysterious Rowan the cheese man a book though - I need to see his backstory!

Whether you've read the rest of the books in this series or not, you can read this as a stand alone story, which is exactly what I did.
This has the grumpy/sunshine trope that I love so much but with a twist, as well as showing our characters and us the magic of Christmas.
It's also a second chance romance, if you are a fan of that.
This was such a quick and easy read that I looked forward to picking up evening.
There's nice banter between the two main characters and I actually wanted them to get together, which is always a good thing in books like these.
The characters are well written as well.
It is one of those Christmassy books that will certainly get you in the festive mood.
And I'll definitely be going back and reading the previous books in the series now too.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn't get into this story. The characters seemed so unlikeable. It did not get me into anyholiday vibes.

Lyssa Kay Adams does it again!
I absolutely adored this. We finally get Colton's story, and it so nice to have already seen his character development during the first 4 books, that we now finally get his romance moment. I just adore being with this characters. These books make me so happy and I really hope Lyssa writes more. I did find myself counting how many men are in the book club and how many books we have so far and I think we have 3 guys left. So I can't wait for their stories. But I adore Lyssa's writing style, and the characters, relationships, friendships and found families she builds. I can't get enough of them.
Highly recommend.

I really enjoyed this book, both character's back stories were excellently written and it was fairly easy to get into without prior knowledge of the series.

I would have liked a little more resolution of the Winthrop's story and see Evan get some serious comeuppance but I'm aware this could happen in a future installment!

I have loved this series so far and book 5 did not disappoint. This was a reverse grumpyxsunshine with the guy falling first, sprinkle in a little Christmas festivities and a lot of intense family drama and you have a really enjoyable romance.

This has the "showing the grump the magic of Christmas" trope which I really enjoy in a Christmassy romance but I enjoyed that it wasn't centered around Christmas, more around Gretchen's family drama. There was just the right amount of Christmas goodness throughout, including Vlad dressed as Santa 🎅🏻

This series just continues to be hit after hit. I'd highly recommend if you're looking for something Christmassy. 🎄