*Spoiler free*
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.
I have been incredibly eager for Crazy Stupid Bromance. I was so pumped for Alexis’s book, but if I’m being completely honest, I was in it for Beefcake. But, best friends-to-lovers, a cat café, a surprise sister, and a computer genius all in one book sounded like something that would be right up my alley. And I would get more Beefcake content. Trigger warnings: death of a family member, grief, surgery
I liked this book just as much as the previous two! It was definitely more serious than I was expecting, and there were a couple things I didn’t totally like, but there was still so much that I loved.
I knew going in that I was already really, really liking Alexis, and reading it only made me love her more. She sacrifices her own feelings to make people around, loves any scruffy animal she can get her hands on, and is learning how to stand up for herself. There were parts of her that I just got and watching her become even stronger was amazing.
I was less sold on Noah going into this book, but I came out of it loving the heck out of him. He’s got all this anger bottled up, but he’s also the sweetest guy and best friend. He loves Alexis, and while the romantic way was amazing to witness, the way he loves her as a friend was almost even better. Plus, he’s got this air of nerdiness that is just downright awesome.
The overall plot was one I feel kind of divided about. Overall, I loved the emotional journeys that both Alexis and Noah go through. They need to let go of their anger, and harness, at the same time. They need to stand up for themselves, but also let the people around them help. Plus, Alexis finding out she has a secret sister is all kinds of interesting.
But, I was not a big fan of a lot of the new side characters. It was weird, because I usually love characters like these! And I usually really love, or if not love, really appreciate the complicated familial relationships this book has. But, I just could not stop being irritated by Candi, Cayden, and even Elliot. I think I could learn to love Candi, and I kind of hope she gets her own book, but I found myself so frustrated with her. I think I kept waiting for things to go wrong or the other shoe to drop. I felt like the question of whether or not something bad was going to happen with this certain plot aspect was dragged out a bit too long. I got frustrated with the characters and I couldn’t fully enjoy the complicated relationship dynamics happening.
The Bromance Book Club wasn’t a huge part of this book, but the parts they were there for were amazing. I wish there was a bit more resolution in that part of Noah’s story, it’s still so awesome seeing these guys have a romance book club. Plus, it adds so much fantastic humor to the book. The Russian is comedy gold most of the time haha.
While there might have been some things in this book I got a bit irritated by, there was still a whole lot I loved. Adams writing makes it easy to fly through these books and I fall so completely in love with the main characters. Plus, there’s a ton of Beefcake! I love that grumpy cat. Really, this book was very solid and I really, really liked reading it.
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