Format: Paperback
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Page Length: 352 pages
Publisher: Berkley (March 10, 2020)
Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mr. Darcy‘s Rating: “You have bewitched me, body and soul.”
A Chasing Mr. Darcy Review
I am obsessed with this book series, and Undercover Bromance is my favorite in the series!
Here’s a plot synopsis from Amazon: Braden Mack thinks reading romance novels makes him an expert in love, but he’ll soon discover that real life is better than fiction. Liv Papandreas has a dream job as a sous chef at Nashville’s hottest restaurant. Too bad the celebrity chef owner is less than charming behind kitchen doors. After she catches him harassing a young hostess, she confronts him and gets fired. Liv vows revenge, but she’ll need assistance to take on the powerful chef. Unfortunately, that means turning to Braden Mack. When Liv’s blackballed from the restaurant scene, the charismatic nightclub entrepreneur offers to help expose her ex-boss, but she is suspicious of his motives. He’ll need to call in reinforcements: the Bromance Book Club. Inspired by the romantic suspense novel they’re reading, the book club assists Liv in setting up a sting operation to take down the chef. But they’re just as eager to help Mack figure out the way to Liv’s heart, even though she’s determined to squelch the sparks between them before she gets burned.
Truth be told, I wasn’t a huge fan of Liv going into this book. I didn’t care for her attitude in the first book in the series, and I wasn’t holding out much hope for her to redeem herself in book two. I did, however, like Mack a lot in book one, so I was hoping the like and dislike would balance each other out. After finishing the book, I can say with certainty it is my favorite of the series so far. I completely adore Liv now that I understand her better. She’s prickly on the outside because her parents have always let her down, and the only person she can truly count on besides Thea is herself. She depends on herself, she stands up for others, and she fights the battles others are afraid to fight. She’s a bad ass through and through, and never has my opinion been so reversed on a character. I wish I could be more like Liv because Liv stands up for those who need it.
I love Mack even more after this book too. Mack isn’t without a troubled past as well, and he has his own set of parental disappointments. Mack wants the perfect relationship, so much so that he pushes too hard. Liv is the first person who really upsets his balance and pushes his boundaries, and that connection they have is both intriguing and frustrating for them both. I really enjoyed the way he tried to romance Liv, her resistance to his romance, and ultimately, the softening of both of their hearts to each other. Mack learned a relationship can be perfectly imperfect, and Liv learned to share some of her burden with others.
I also really liked that this book addressed sexual assault head-on, and showcased powerful women taking down a sexual predator. Mack helped, sure, but at the end of the day, it was the survivors who did what was necessary. Liv learned a lot about what it means to be a survivor and how to best help those living with the pain of sexual assault every day, and it was truly an educational moment when Liv victim shamed one of the survivors. The story used it as a learning opportunity for her character, and I hope it can in turn be a learning opportunity for someone reading the story as well. Victim shaming is never okay, but I think showing what it looks like will help people learn better behaviors. In Liv’s scenario, she didn’t even realize what she was doing qualified as shaming, and if we don’t utilize those teaching moments when we have them, people will never grow and change. Liv grew and adapted in her quest to take down the predator in this story, and her character growth was fabulous (As was Mack’s).
I cannot get enough of these characters. If you like romance books, endearing characters, or just reading in general…I truly believe this series is for you!
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