Book Review: Crazy Stupid Bromance | Lyssa Kay Adams | Bromance Book Club #2

How do we know when to let go of our past and heal? That is what Lyssa Kay Adams explores in the third book in the Bromance Book Club series, Crazy Stupid Bromance. The bromance crew is back and just as delightful as in the prior books. A friends-to-lovers romance with many subplots and compelling characters to fill out the story.

About the Book (Goodreads)

Alexis Carlisle and her cat café, ToeBeans, have shot to fame after she came forward as a victim of a celebrity chef’s sexual harassment. When a new customer approaches to confide in her, the last thing Alexis expects is for the woman to claim they’re sisters. Unsure what to do, Alexis turns to the only man she trusts—her best friend, Noah Logan.

Computer genius Noah left his rebellious teenage hacker past behind to become a computer security expert. Now he only uses his old skills for the right cause. But Noah’s got a secret: He’s madly in love with Alexis. When she asks for his help, he wonders if the timing will ever be right to confess his crush.

Noah’s pals in The Bromance Book Club are more than willing to share their beloved “manuals” to help him go from bud to boyfriend. But he must decide if telling the truth is worth risking the best friendship he’s ever had.

A hacktivist and a cat café owner decode the friend zone in this romantic comedy from the author of Undercover Bromance.

My Review

If you are new to the Bromance Book Club series, this is one that can be read in any order, though it is fun to read them sequentially since the main character in each book appears in some capacity in the prior one. Alexis Carlisle appeared as a side character in Undercover Bromance, when she stepped forward as a victim in the sexual harassment case against a celebrity chef.

In Crazy Stupid Bromance, Alexis is running her Nashville cat café ToeBeans, when one of her customers Candi approaches her to disclose a closer connection than Alexis could have imagined. According to Candi, an ancestry DNA test confirmed they are likely to be siblings sharing the same father. Candi has sought out Alexis to ask for her help—their father needs a kidney transplant urgently or he may die.

Alexis is shocked by the encounter and talks to her best friend Noah Logan, a former hacktivist. Noah has a secret of his own though—he has been in love with Alexis for years, but scared to act on it for fear of rejection or even worse, triggering trauma from Alexis’s past. Enter the men of the Bromance Book Club, who want Noah to finally share his feelings with Alexis. But is it worth possibly ruining the friendship Noah values so deeply?

There’s a lot going on in Crazy Stupid Bromance, between the story with Alexis and Candi, the father needing the kidney, the friends-to-lovers plot between Noah and Alexis, and the upcoming wedding for Mack (from the prior book). Meanwhile Alexis’s café is being targeted by a neighboring business and Noah has his own family troubles going on.

As always, I loved the characters and found the book to have a mix of humor, love, and serious moments. This book had the men truly delving into gaining a better understanding of toxic masculinity and challenging the way they see the world. On a light-hearted note, I loved the Bromance crew choreographing a dance for Mack’s wedding and found it brought the signature humor that readers love in this series.

Noah and Alexis had so much chemistry that they almost felt like they were already in a relationship, allowing the other plots to have time since we didn’t need to devote so much to seeing them get to know one another.

Absolutely charming!