Isn't It Bromantic?

Starred review from May 31, 2021
The fourth rom-com—and possibly the best yet—of Adams’s Bromance Book Club series (after Crazy Stupid Bromance), sees beloved side character and pro hockey player Vlad Konnikov, aka The Russian, diagnosed with a gluten allergy, finally alleviating his intestinal distress and leaving him ready to step up as a hero. Nearly done with her graduate degree in Chicago, Elena, an aspiring journalist and Vlad’s estranged wife, reluctantly returns to the Nashville home she’s never shared with Vlad after he suffers an injury during the Stanley Cup playoffs. Elena and Vlad were best friends as children, but after a hurried wedding to get Elena a visa, they went their separate ways, each unsure of the other’s desires. In nursing Vlad through his recovery, meeting his friends from the Bromance Book Club, and making him his favorite Russian meals, Elena becomes more confident in her feelings for her husband—but unless he makes his own emotions clear, she plans to head home to Russia to pursue the truth about her father’s long-ago disappearance. Vlad must take the advice of the romance novels he’s read—and is now writing himself—to prove his worth and get Elena to stay. Readers are sure to fall in love with sensitive Vlad and root for him and Elena. This is an utter delight. Agent: Tara Gelsomino, One Track Literary.

July 1, 2021

Russian hockey player Vlad Konnikov takes his place as hero in this fourth installment in the "Bromance Book Club" series, in a take on the marriage-of-convenience trope. Vlad's childhood friend Elena is the daughter of an outspoken Russian journalist. When Elena's father disappears while reporting a story, Vlad and Elena marry so she can quickly leave Russia as the wife of the new NHL player. Vlad dreams that their marriage will become real, while Elena single-mindedly pursues a journalism degree, away from Vlad in another city. She's determined to finish her father's last story and then free Vlad from the marriage, which she's sure he sees as a burden. Resigned to missing out on his own happy ending, Vlad decides to take what he's learned from the Bromance Book Club and write his own romance novel. Vlad's book club friends and quirky new neighbors are sure it's too soon for him to give up on love. VERDICT Vlad is deeply romantic at heart, while Elena is haunted by her past and unable to move forward. The resulting love story is heart-wrenching but with lots of humor. It has plenty to offer for returning fans of the series and new readers alike.--Meagan Day, High Plains Lib. Dist., CO

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