Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Secret Book Club – Ein Liebesroman ist nicht genug

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Secret Book Club – Ein Liebesroman ist nicht genug by Lyssa Kay Adams

56 reviews

lenaricharz's review against another edition

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lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I wanted to read this series because it has been all over the book community. I was dying to read this book; the Russian has been a big part of the book club and has the personality of a golden retriever and I was excited to see about him and his wife and this was NOTHING like I was expecting. It was adorable and sweet but at the same time, made me want to bawl my eyes out.

This book has two points of view. The first is Elena Konnikova and she has lived her entire adult life in the shadows. As the daughter of a Russian journalist who mysteriously disappeared after speaking out against government corruption, she escaped danger the only way she knew how. She agreed to marry her childhood friend, Vladmir and move to the United States where he is a professional hockey player in Nashville. The second point of view is Vlad, aka The Russian, thought he could be content with his marriage of convenience. But after four years, it’s become too difficult to continue in a one-sided relationship. He joined the Bromance Book Club to learn how to make his wife love him, but all he has learned is that he deserves more. He's ready to create his own sweeping romance both on and off the page. The Bros are unwilling to let Vlad forgo true love and this time they’re not operating solo. They join forces with Vlad’s senior citizen neighbours, a group of meddling widows who call themselves The Loners and The Bro’s partners. Just when things finally look promising, the dangers from Elena’s past life intrudes and the book club will face their first-ever life-or-death grand gesture as they race to a happy ever after.

I still adore these men and these characters and the friendship. I haven’t read a lot of marriage of convenience, and he falls first. I love Vlad. I love this broken man who is writing an adorable romance book and just wants to be loved. I loved that Lyssa wrote a book where a man is a virgin and was saving himself for his WIFE. And that it’s only been her. I was swooning. I loved the mystery aspect that Elena was having and I’m glad we got to know who was behind her father’s disappearance. I just love that Vlad was like don’t do it, but if you are going to do it don’t die. I love that these men were like pull your shit together Vlad and get your wife and that they knew the book was their story and knew about the roadblocks but didn’t want to push him too much.

The only thing that I didn’t like was the miscommunication throughout the book – if both of them had been honest in the beginning, the third act conflict wouldn’t happen. The third-act conflict wasn’t needed. It personally drives me nuts and it keeps happening in this series.

Overall, I liked how fast paced this book was, and I loved Vlad and I’m intrigued on whose story is next.

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jessversteeg's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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mayo_confessionary's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Look, the male lead was amazing (sweet and cute), but the background for the female lead keeps being to dark for what the book is about. Also this has the introduction for the worst character of this series: Cheese man, I hate him, despise whenever he appears.

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thewellbitch's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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yvo_about_books's review against another edition

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4.75

Finished reading: July 1st 2023

"There’s a big difference between letting someone go because you have faith that they’ll come back to you and letting someone go because deep down you’re convinced they won’t. One is an act of love, the other an act of fear"

I still can't believe it took me this long to discover the Bromance Book Club books, but now that I've started reading them I can't stop. The previous book was a bit of a letdown, but I had very high hopes for Isn't It Bromantic? because I love Vlad's character. And guess what? This is without doubt my new favorite of the series! I absolutely adored this story, and it was a perfect fit for me despite the sexy time. I love a good slowburn romance, and that is exactly what this sequel delivers. We also (finally!) get another book within a book element again, and it's a WWII fiction story at that so a double bonus. Vlad (the Russian) was already such a great character in the previous books, but I've grown to love him even more in his own story. Elena made for such a great character as well, and I really enjoyed getting to know them better and watch them grow. Sure, they are both extremely stubborn, which can get a bit frustrating... But as a whole somehow it didn't bother me too much. There was so much to love in Isn't It Bromantic?, including the banter and bond between the book club members, the Cheese Man, the Loners, the mystery around the disappearance of Elena's death, the book, the Russian food... And I can go on and on. I loved every single minute of this sequel, and it's one that is going to be hard to beat for the title of favorite of the series. I'm still looking forward to Colton's book though!

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what_karla_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

4.5/5 stars
1.5/5 spice

Oh sweetness... this love story was just super sweet and heart-wrenching. Probably my favorite of the series so far.

Tropes:
Marriage of Convenience
Friends to lovers
She nurses him back to health
Hockey player MMC
Cinnamon roll hero
Slow burn
Found family
Dual POV

Vlad is that rare jewel of a man who is super sensitive, sweet, kind, and selfless, wrapped up in sexy hulk of a package. I was so happy to read his story and how Elena and him grew up. I felt for them both. Even though there was miscommunication that sparked the discord that lasted years, it was still worth the journey. The last few chapters had me in a chokehold. But I knew the Bromance Book Club would come in with the grand gesture. I seriously love these guys. Down with toxic masculinity and misogyny! Give me more sensitive and empathetic men, please 🙏🏽 Also...I want a Cheese Man in my life 😫

I should probably mention that the spice was there, but it was sweet and emotional. I rated it low because it was more about the connection and not as descriptive as the other books in the series. But it worked for the storyline and was just so...🥹🥹

Highly recommend for fans of friends to lovers with marriage of convenience.

Trigger/Content warnings:
Death of parent (shared as memory), child

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booklovinmamas's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I’m attempting to tackle my backlist of books I’ve meant to read, including finishing the book series I’ve meant to read. One of those book series is Lyssa Kay Adams Bromance Book Club. It’s time for me to finish reading this series, especially since I love that it is about men being part of a romance book club. I read the first three books in the series and picked up where I left off: Vlad’s book, Isn’t It Bromantic.

Storyline/My Thoughts: I loved Vlad’s character in the previous books in the series and was happy to hear that the Russian Hockey Player would get his book. This man has been a favorite in the series because he may come off as an intimidating, touch hockey player, but when you get to know him, he has a soft, romantic side. I learned more about his other side in this book when I found out why he married his childhood best friend and that the man not only reads romance books but he is writing his own romance stories. Readers will get sneak peeks of what he is writing and how the other guys in the romance book club are assisting him with this story. That’s not the main focus of the story, though.

Vlad’s marriage is in trouble with his childhood friend, Elena. He married her to get out of Russia and keep her safe after what happened to her father, but she has decided she wants a divorce and to return to Russia. She’s been attending a university in Chicago for a few years while Vlad focused on his hockey career, so they didn’t have a typical marriage. Elena knows she’ll be deported back to Russia once they divorce, and she’s okay with it. The issue is that Vlad and Elena can’t admit they have feelings for each other. When Vlad gets hurt on the ice and needs help recovering, Elena steps in to assist him, but Vlad doesn’t understand why she wants to help when she wants a divorce, but he’ll take her up on her offer, even if he’s heartbroken with her leaving him. There is a lot of back and forth with these two characters fighting the fact they have feelings for one another. It’s obvious from their POVs how much they care, but they are stubborn, especially Elena.

Sometimes I wanted to go through the book and talk with Elena about how she was making a mistake leaving Vlad. The man cared for her from the beginning by marrying her to protect her, but she decided it was wrong and she couldn’t stay with him. The whole reason she wanted a divorce and to return to Russia made me upset. I could sympathize with Vlad on his feelings regarding her wanting a divorce after what this man did for her. He was protecting her and had obvious feelings for her.

I’m not a fan of miscommunication in romance books, which this book had from the beginning. It was a lot of not communicating between both MCs, and there were times I wanted to DNF because of it, but I kept on because I wanted to know if Vlad would get his HEA. I kept thinking he deserved better the whole time, especially with what happened at the end of this book. Vlad was at fault, too, when reading his POV when it came to miscommunicating with Elena. The man kept how he felt from Elena the whole time, and it took his friends in the romance book club confronting him about his feelings for his wife.

What I enjoyed about this book, which stopped me from DNFing, was my investment in Vlad because I loved his character from the beginning of the series. I wanted this man to get his HEA, and I enjoyed getting his POV finally and finding out this man is all about caring for others. It saddens me to give this book 2.5 stars. It’s only due to the miscommunication trope and Elena’s character not being lovable, which is why it gets such a low rating.

Standalone or Part of Series: It’s part of the Bromance Book Club series.

Steam/Spice: 🌶

Would I recommend this book? This book may have gotten a low rating from me, but other readers may enjoy it, so I recommend it to readers who enjoy the marriage of convenience trope and have read the other books in this series from Lyssa Kay Adams. If you are like me and don’t like miscommunication in books, then this book may drive you crazy, like it did me.

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alisonreadsitall's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It’s been a couple years since I read the first three Bromance Book Club books, so it took me a minute to remember what previously happened. It all quickly came flashing back after the first chapter and I came to the following conclusions:
Maybe

1. The Russian is a precious man who should be protected at all costs.🥰
2. I love a slowwww burn when it’s done right.
3. I need a black market cheese guy 🧀🤣

Overall, this book is adorable, goofy, and delightful! I can’t want to read the next one!

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booksareoxygen's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Out of all the Bromance Bookclub books this one is my favorite. It focuses on my favorite character, Vlad (aka the Russian) and we get to see a larger part of his story that we got a glimpse of in Crazy Stupid Bromance. In this friends, to marriage of convenience, to maybe something more relationship we get to see more of a few characters and what it means to have a family and a found family. 5/5

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