Book Review: Undercover Bromance

Undercover Bromance is the second instalment in the Bromance Book Club series. While you do not have to read the first novel to enjoy this second one, I wouldn’t recommend doing so as you’ll miss a bit of Liv’s backstory. Unfortunately Undercover Bromance lacked a few of the charms of The Bromance Book Club. Something that made The Bromance Book Club unique and set it apart from other romance novels I’ve read in the past was its inclusion of paragraphs taken from the book the book club was reading, and seeing how that mirrored the protagonist’s own experiences. This element was severely lacking in Undercover Bromance and it’s an element I hope is revived in the future novels. 

I also didn’t like the female protagonist nearly as much in this second novel. Liv is at times an extremely insensitive character and I had a hard time feeling empathetic towards her. Her up-bring is one that makes her reluctant to trust people, and while we should know more about it from the previous novel, I honestly don’t remember enough of Thea’s part of the story to feel I know Liv’s. I feel like we’re told why Liv is the way she is, and that doesn’t make for a compelling narrative. I need more exploration of a backstory before I can believe why a character is so guarded and untrusting. Mack was really the saving grace of the novel for me. He’s super sweet, and charming, and very easy to like. As for the romance, I enjoyed Mack and Liv’s chemistry in the first half of the novel and thought their back-and-forth was funny, but in the second half of the novel things got a bit too cheesy for my tastes. 

Some other criticisms I have is that Undercover Bromance also deals with some pretty serious subject matter, namely sexual abuse, and while it wasn’t handled poorly, it wasn’t handled well either. As I mentioned above, Liv can be an extremely insensitive character, but she is especially insensitive when it comes to her interactions with the survivors she meets. I do also wonder why the only foreign character in the novel, who doesn’t even get a proper name for most of it, was always the butt of the jokes. Had “The Russian” been a POC people would have been raging. 

Anyways, I think if you enjoyed The Bromance Book Club you’ll probably also enjoy Undercover Bromance. I personally have higher hopes for the third novel Crazy Stupid Bromance because I love me a nerdy love interest. 

Have you read Undercover Bromance? If not, do you plan to? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Happy reading 💗