The blurb says, “‘Tis the season for a Bromance Book Club matchmaking mission!” Lyssa Kay Adams’s latest book, A Very Merry Bromance, was released last week. Sandie Herron is a big fan of this series, and she’s ready to share her review of the new book. Thank you, Sandie!

A Very Merry Bromance
Written by Alyssa Kay Adams
Bromance Book Club, Book 5
Kindle version
Publisher: ‎Berkley (November 1, 2022)
Pages:  368
ASIN: B09RPLM8K8

When Mack and Liv got married in Nashville among their good friends and members of the Bromance Book Club, their friends Colton Wheeler and Gretchen Winthrop fell into each other’s arms for the night.  Only the next morning, Gretchen quickly left Colton’s motel room.  It’s now been a year, and they haven’t spoken to or seen each other since despite Colton’s many efforts to do so.

Gretchen is an immigration attorney working mostly pro bono in Nashville and trying desperately to make ends meet.  It’s almost Christmas when Gretchen’s brother summons her to return home to Homestead, where AOC Whiskey is made.  Yes, it turns out that she’s one of those Winthrops, the ultra rich family who founded the distillery in the 1800s, only she’s never participated in running the business, preferring to help others more financially downtrodden.  Yet her brother Evan informs her that a spot on the family’s charitable foundation board will open up at year’s end, which she very much desires, and it’s hers, if she’ll encourage Colton Wheeler to be their next celebrity spokesperson.

Colton is a country western singer living in Nashville and managing to stay down to earth despite the millions he’s made recording music.  He has no clue why Gretchen ran out of his room, and he’s thought of her every day since.  His buddies in the Bromance Book Club, where they use romance novels as manuals, all have ideas and suggestions as they choose a Christmas romance to share.  Colton worked on some new music for his record label which they hated and reminded him of his contractual duties while suggesting many changes.  He’s drowning his sorrows at a dive bar when Gretchen walks in.  Stunned, he talks with her about “the entanglement” as well as the proposed ad campaign. 

Colton says he’ll consider the sponsorship if she’ll go out to dinner with him, and she reluctantly agrees.  Despite her dislike for Christmas, they enjoy dinner at a Christmas festival where family secrets begin to come out of the shadows, as Colton learns she has never really had a true family Christmas, so he decides to show her the real deal.

On a whim, Gretchen takes Colton to her family home for their Christmas gala.  Once Colton sees the Vanderbilt-sized mansion with a dozen trees surrounded by ropes, he begins to understand.  Colton defends Gretchen’s lifestyle and choices to her family, but they take every opportunity to belittle her.  It is more important and more urgent than ever for Colton to show Gretchen that he loves and respects her, but her family makes that as difficult as possible.

I love how the author brings together romance, comedy, and sex with love, family, and friends.  She combines daily activity with the deeper issues of family and self esteem.  This book centers on Christmas and how differently Gretchen’s family of origin and her new family with Colton and his friends celebrate and cherish (or not) the holiday, which is a metaphor for life.  In the end, I could not put the book down and read late into the night as Colton and the club performed one more Christmas miracle.