The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams was an interesting take on a romance novel. Professional baseball player Gavin has messed up with his wife, Thea, and she has left him, taking his two twin daughters with her.  Gavin's friends get together and explain to him that if he wants to "woo" his wife back, he needs to start reading romance novels and figure out why they appeal to women. 

In general, I thought this was pretty good. It was funny.  The dialogue seemed real. There were lots of "if they just had an honest conversation, this whole thing would go away" plot points, but they really were plot points. The guys in the book club repeatedly tell Gavin that he needs to talk to his wife, but for a variety of reasons, Gavin won't do it. Thea's got some serious family baggage and that all contributes to a series of miscommunication events, as well.  I didn't even mind the precocious children, which is usually a complete cold shower for me.

I would say that I think the book missed an opportunity, though.  Real talk.  Minor spoiler for the book here: the precipitating event for the couple's separation in this novel was that Thea had been faking orgasms. I really thought Adams was going to talk about how, for some women, vaginal orgasms are not possible, and for 10-15% of women (10 - 15%) orgasm is not possible at all. Full stop. Not possible.  I thought Adams would talk about how women who don't reach orgasm still enjoy sex and the fun, closeness, and intimacy it brings.  I thought Adams might talk about OTHER ways women might reach climax other than vaginal penetration.

No.  Instead, she just had them have one good talk and *boom* Thea was able to have multiple orgasms in a matter of minutes. 

I honestly don't expect that romance novels will spend time on education and deal with real scenarios that people face in life.  I really don't. But this novel was going in this direction full force and then just ended in a traditional happy ever after manner.  I felt a bit conned, to be honest.

I'll probably read more Lyssa Kay Adams, but now I guess I'll just do a completely superficial, surface reading of her work since she clearly doesn't want to spend time dealing with important, hard topics.