Liv is nothing if not fiercely independent. She’s trained so hard to be the best pastry chef in Nashville but somehow her dream always seems just out of reach. She refuses to take her sister’s money to finally open a place of her own and settles for toiling in a restaurant where there’s a $1000 cupcake on the menu and an owner that preys on the female staff.

The very last thing she needs is for the stupidly handsome Braden Mack to waltz into the restaurant and try to impress his current girlfriend with her hard work. As expected, the results of the evening are disastrous. Liv is now without a job and Braden is without a girlfriend. But what they do have is some seriously off-the-charts chemistry.

“So you and Livvie are dating?” Rosie asked.
Water sprayed from Liv’s mouth. “God no.”
“That’s too bad. It’s been a long time since Liv had a man.”
“Rosie,” Liv whined.
Mack grinned again. “Is that right?”
Liv sat up straight. “I don’t want a man. I don’t have time for a man. They’re needy, clingy, and never keep their promises.”
Mack whistled. “Damn, girl. Who hurt you?”
“The patriarchy,” she deadpanned.

Braden Mack is known to be a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy. That’s something that he desperately wants to change. His plans take a very welcome and unexpected turn when Liv enters the picture. She’s a puzzle that he’s determined to solve. Because he knows that underneath the hard exterior she shows to the world, she’s the one that he’s been waiting all his life for.

She felt him swallow. Hard. “What else happens in this fantasy?”
“You rub my back.”
His muscles shifted, and anticipation danced along her nerves. His hand slid beneath the fabric of her shirt and began a lazy path up her spine. “Like this?”
“Yes.” She closed her eyes and curled her fingers into his shirt. He was hard beneath her touch. She was weak beneath his.
“Tell me more,” he murmured, voice strained beneath the rise and fall of his own labored breathing. There was no mistaking the tug of heavy desire in every exhalation.
“Maybe rub my neck.”
“Now you’re just milking it.”
She laughed, but then she went motionless as his hand slid up farther under her shirt. His fingers began to work magic against the tight cords of her neck. She tilted her head to give him greater access. “Are you trying to get lucky?”
“I already feel lucky.”
Her breath lodged in her chest. When she opened her eyes and looked up, she found the affection she’d heard in his voice also in his eyes, gazing down at her through dark pupils. Whatever they were doing—whatever was suddenly happening—it was monumental. Intimate. Hot. And so dangerous.

In Undercover Bromance, Lyssa Kay Adams not only continues to charm readers, she also takes on the serious issue of sexual assault.
She doesn’t treat it lightly. So even when the guys from the Book Club become involved, their humor and their humanity still shine through.

The attraction between the main characters is an electric mixture of love and hate. Liv is stubborn to a fault and yet fragile. Braden is overly protective and yet vulnerable. Together, their story had me laughing one moment and then swooning the next. And I may never look at roosters in the same way ever again…

From the moment Liv rebuff Mack in The Bromance Book Club, I knew their story would be entertaining. Spoiler alert (not really): it is!

As the founding member of The Bromance Book Club and one its last single members, Mack is ready for his own happy ending. But his abundance of charm has no effect on Liv, a no-nonsense sous chef with a serious mistrust of the opposite sex. It's not until Liv (reluctantly) accepts his assistance in taking down her despicable former boss that they grow closer and start to find common ground.

Undercover Bromance tackles real-world issues, giving the narrative a heavier, intense feel. I appreciated that the romantic storyline - while emotional at times - has a more lighthearted tone thanks to the enemies-to-lovers trope. There's a fiery, teasing rapport between Liv and Mack that straddles the line between annoyance and flirtation. Their constant bickering becomes this extended, lust-filled foreplay that builds and builds until it explodes with sexual tension. This book is thought-provoking, heartwarming, and steamy. Sooo steamy. I highly recommend adding it to your TBR list.

Huge thanks to Berkley for the free copy!

4 Stars
This was the follow up to The Bromance Book Club. LOved that book and this was also a winner for me. The idea of men cluing into what they think women want through the reading of romance is perfection.

In this equally hilarious follow-up to "The Bromance Book Club," pastry-chef Liv Papandreas is fired by her egotistical and highly-influential boss after she catches him harassing one of her co-workers. As she fights to bring down her ex-boss, she finds an unlikely cohort in Braden Mack, a charming businessman and founder of the Bromance Book Club.

Lyssa Kay Adams did not disappoint! She gives us the kind of duo we want, but makes them just imperfect enough to be realistic. Liv's problems with her father carry over into her adult life, resulting in her automatic distrust in men. Liv is spunky and determined, which also means she is impulsive and stubborn. In her attempt at righting the wrongs done against her and other women, she accidentally becomes a victim blamer. Mack reads romance novels and looks to them for relationship advice--a practice that stems from his own issues with his father. Mack' hates what women have to endure just to be respected and he calls out Liv when she goes too far and acts rashly during their mission. But even he is slow to take his own advice, is overprotective and a little less-than-honest when it comes to who he is (two things which Liv hates about men).

The Bromance Book Club seems almost too good to be true--a whole crew of men who are super pro-feminist?But why shouldn't more stories show us what a world like that could really be like? Instead of just one hero, this book has several--sure, the men, but most importantly, the women who fight back.

And God, this book is funny. So funny. The cheese-loving-despite-his-stomach-disagreeing Russian finally has a name! But will he get a book?? There aren't many references to the romance novel the club is currently reading to help shed light on Liv's and Mack's situation, something I actually enjoyed from book 1. Regardless, still a great sequel and I can't wait for more.

C/W: sexual harassment, unwanted sexual advances, domestic abuse.

While I enjoyed the first book in this series, I certainly didn't love it like everyone else. I didn't really like Liv, the previous MC's sister, at all either. She was incredibly stubborn and overprotective to me. Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled when she was the lead character for book two. She proved to be just as irritating in this one - maybe even more so since we were in her head.

I enjoyed Mack as a character and thought he was way sweeter than his "smooth guy" persona implied from the previous story. I loved how quick he was to use his resources to help Liv take down the shitty restaurant owner she previously worked for. 

I didn't read the synopsis of this one fully and was really just excited to see how book two would go, so I wasn't fully aware that this had the heavier topic of sexual assault/harassment at the forefront. I didn't realize it was central to the plot for whatever reason. I just couldn't read it.

Also, the first book had cute inserts from the romance that the book club was reading, and showed how it related to the story itself. This book didn't have that in the first third (it probably would come into play later as they did their sting operation) but I wasn't enjoying the book enough to push through and find out. The Bromance Book Club itself didn't really appear as much as I'd like either.

Usually with companion series, I'm happy to try the next book if I don't love certain elements of the first one. There are plenty of instances of this working for me. As long as it's not the author's writing style itself, I will assume the next plot or central characters will resonate more with me. Unfortunately I was enjoying this one even less and never felt compelled to keep reading, despite Mack's charm grabbing me a bit. I'm not sure I'll read the upcoming books in this series because clearly something isn't clicking or connecting.

The Bromance Book Club series has fast become my favorite romance series ever! Hilarious, sexy and intelligent I hope there are many more installments!

I didn't think I could love another story more than Bromance Book Club. Lyssa Kay Adams has spoiled me, but I'm so happy that she has done it again with Undercover Romance.

From Bromance Book Club, Mack was a character that I was really intrigued by. He had this outward personality, but with this underlying enigma. And then paired together with Liv? Oh man. You know that this was going to be an amazing book. Their angsty enemies-to-lovers chemistry was something that I knew I needed, and I'm so glad I had the chance to read this!

The plot had a serious topic, one that I wasn't sure about when I first read about it. But you know what? It's life, and it's real. And with #metoo, it's very, very important. I'm glad that Lyssa talked about it, because we all need to be uncomfortable now and then to learn about reality.

Overall? Undercover Bromance delivered the same romance, comedy, and punch as Bromance Book Club. I loved every minute, and I think that I loved this one more.

*Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.*

There is something about Lyssa Kay Adams's group of male friends who read romance and give each other plenty shit I find utterly charming and endearing. I loved Gavin in book 1, The Bromance Book Club but wasn't entirely happy with Thea, his wife. I also wasn't a huge fan of her sister Liv and was more than worried that I would hate her. And honestly, I did. At least in the beginning.

When Liv loses her job, she blames hunky Braden Mack although her boss is the asshole who fired her for witnessing abusive behavior towards a co-worker. She holds on to that grudge like nobody's business. Good guy and bar owner Braden even offers her a job, but nope, Liv is a pastry chef and she won't be caught tending a bar. She wants to out her ex-boss who isn't just a simple asshole but an sexually abusive one to boot. Braden is totally on board with that.

Liv is such an abrasive, cranky heroine that you wonder if there is anything that would light up her day. I started to warm up to her when I realized how wounded she was and how distrustful of men. However, it's thanks to Mack's thick skin that didn't make him run the other way when it came to Liv, that made her soften up to him and that in turn made me fall in love with her. She was fighting her attraction tooth and nails but it was hard to resist a good man like Braden Mack and I loved seeing her lighten up.
She smelled like rum and tasted like a mistake, and he didn’t fucking care.

Of course there is a secret Mack hides and it's being hinted at throughout the story. I start to get a little tired of this plot tool authors use to keep the secret hidden in the characters mind to keep up the suspense, especially if it is being repeated ad nauseam. Thankfully, this author was pretty good at keeping it balanced and I wasn't too aggravated when it finally came to light.

Now Braden Mack was the bomb dot com. He was charming and funny and oh so romantic. He felt so deeply behind his happy-go-lucky exterior and only wanted someone to share his life with. He also had a slightly unhealthy obsession with a chicken's reproductive organ which provided some comedic relief.
“I’ve made a decision.”
“Good decision or bad decision?”
“Probably bad.”
“My favorite kind.”
He inched closer, bringing his body flush against hers. “What is it?”
She set down her glass on the shelf and turned around in the heat of his half embrace. “You and I are going to have sex.”
He smacked his hand across his chest. “I’m officially scandalized. Are you suggesting we rub our cloacas together?”

He couldn't tame his protective instinct sometimes which led to him telling his group of friends something that Liv asked him not to share. I thought that this could have been handled a little bit better. It felt a little glossed over.

I enjoyed Undercover Bromance more than The Bromance Book Club. I'm never easy on the heroines but Liv totally caught me by surprise with her toughness yet gooey center. The boys gave me lots to laugh and swoon about and the suspense and romance packed into this story kept me invested until the end. Now I'm looking forward to Crazy Stupid Bromance which will pair up Liv's friend Alexis and nerdy computer genius Noah.
“Hey, Liv?” She looked down, ready for another smart-ass comment and, frankly, desperately in need of it.
“What?” He brushed his thumb over her knuckles.
“My chest is yours anytime you need it.”
This was the Mack that scared her most. This sweet, charming version of the man who tried so hard to pretend he didn’t have a care in the world.

The second book in the Bromance Book Club is even better than the first! The story of Liv and Mack is not the only plot point. The second is their attempt to band together to take down Liv's boss. This book is the complete package, a little sexy, very funny, and full of love. I can't wait for the third!

While I loved The Bromance Book Club, I didn’t enjoy Undercover Romance as much. I found it lacked the charm and intimacy that I loved in the first book. Undercover Romance follows Mack and Liv but I felt we didn’t focus enough on their relationship and more on the bigger plot of bringing down the villain.

This books is heavier because it focuses a lot on workplace sexual harassment and predatory behavior. I commend the author on writing on such a tough topic but the book felt awkward and clumsy as it tried to combine this heavier topic with funny banter in the romance.

Also, I found that the lovable book club members lost their charm in this one. In the first book, they felt realistic. Just a bunch of guys who read romance novels to learn how to be better partners to their women. In this one, suddenly they feel like some kind of billionaire kingsmen group ready to take down a evil villain. They just happen to have an ex-cop investor and a genius hacker guy who may or may not be an assassin for the government. Every time the hacker guy found information they needed to track down someone, I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes. I understand that most of them are incredibly rich and well-connected but it made everything seem pretty ridiculous to me.

Overall, this lacked the charm and sweetness of the first book. With Gavin and Thea, I felt like they were a real couple with real problems. Sadly, I didn’t feel that connection with this book.

***4 STARS***

FULL REVIEW MAY ALSO BE VIEWED ON LAIR OF BOOKS, THIS REVIEW WILL GO LIVE ON 3/15/2020 8AM EST & LINKS WILL BE ADDED HERE.

MY REVIEW...

Isn't it awesome how we didn't have to wait long for more of our fave characters? In The Bromance Book Club we met Mack & Liv who are probably two of the unlikeliest characters you'd imagine shipping & yet their banter made the chemistry undeniable. Mack has always been charming, women find him attractive and easy to talk to. He had yet to find the one who'd stir in him feelings of wanting to settle down but always eyed married life/kids with admiration & keen interest. He's the member of the Bromance Book Club dishing out advice and now he finds himself on the opposite side of the fence. Liv has moved out of her sister Thea's home & is working at her dream job in Nashville as a Sous Chef. The only/last interaction she had with Mack was when finding out he'd helped himself to her leftover Chinese food at Thea's. Liv is a feminist who views Mack as a self appointed Romance expert. She knows all about the book club & isn't interested in being the next female he can rescue. When Liv discovers that the Chef aka her boss has been sexually harassing one of the other Sous Chefs, she sets out to expose him.

Content Warning: Sexual harassment, Domestic Violence, sexual assault, gaslighting, alcoholism

We follow Liv as she attempts to gather evidence to bring to light & stop him from ever taking advantage of his position. Mack gets wind of her cause & asks to join her on the mission to which she begrudgingly accepts. This of course leads the Bromance Book Club's to their next read...a Romantic Suspense! We get to see the Book Club guys back at the table discussing toxic masculinity, this time helping Mack recognize where he's going wrong with Liv. Sometimes throwing the script away is necessary in order to win the heart of someone who doesn't trust easily & has been hurt in the past. We see Mack & the fellas become allies with regards to stopping the sexual degradation of women in the workplace. We also see both Mack and Liv sort through their own personal baggage, emotions tied to their parents and upbringing. It was interesting and at least for me, very relatable to see how toxicity stemming from childhood can have an impact on your own relationships as an adult. My only wish was for there to have been more of the courting aspects of this relationship. This follow-up was definitely more focused on bringing down the villain which I enjoyed but also would've loved more of Liv & Macks fun flirtattious interactions. Nonetheless, it was a really good time seeing some of my fave characters back on the page. Also, was anyone else cheesy smiling when we learned "The Russians" real name?  I wouldn't mind seeing him get a story arc...Jussayin

This review will go live on The Blogger Girls on March 16, 2020.

“The founder of the Bromance Book Club, the man who believed the manuals had all the answers, who thought he knew everything there was to know about love, brought down by a woman.”

I wasn’t a fan of Liv in The Bromance Book Club, but as soon as I realized Mack would be her love interest, I was much more excited to get my hands on this book. And I was NOT disappointed with the banter and the sparring between them.

I’m not going regurgitate the plot, you can find all that in the blurb, but this series is so much fun! So far, the men have all been my favorite characters. I love the relationships between them and how they are constantly putting forth the next love-life intervention for whichever member is struggling at the time. Even recruiting new members in dire need. You have Mack, who is the orignal founder of the book club, but still can’t find a meaningful relationship. Of course Liv is his latest heroine to rescue. I haven’t been a huge fan of the heroines of this series, and I still struggled to like Liv. She did eventally grow on me once I better understood her. Mack, had his own issues and his lie was completely predicatable and even understandable. Of course, as expected, Liv did not see it that way. Luckily for Mack, the Bromance Book Club is always ready to swoop in and assist with another “grand gesture.”

Undercover Bromance is a fun rom-com and I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

I didn't think this one could be as good as the first one, but it was! Mack and Liv's story is full of heartbreak, adventure, secrets, and of course, a book club! Definitely worth the read.

In book 2 of Adams’ Bromance Book Club she deals with some timely #metoo issues as her guys prepare to take down a slime bag sexual predator celebrity chef restaurant owner. She gives readers an up close and personal look at the star of the book and founder of the Bromance Book Club Braden Mack who’s not the open book he pretends to be. He’s been living with a huge secret that not even his closes friends know about and it’s about to cost him his own HEA to a spunky, cranky, opinionated pastry chef who seems to be his total opposite. Fans will belly laugh one minute and wipe away tears the next in this emotionally turbulent fast paced page-turner, a mix of romance, suspense and comedy. The book stands well on its own but for the complete series picture it’s best read in order.

When Liv Papandreas needs help outing her dirt bag celebrity chef ex boss for sexual harassment she knows just who to turn to for help the man who helped get her fired.

Braden Mack thinks he know all there is about romance, he is after all the founder of the Bromance Book Club, that is until an unemployed pastry chef with an attitude literally turns his world upside down.

3.5 Stars

Let me start off by saying that I LOVED Bromance Bookclub! It was one of my favorite reads of 2019. And I was super excited for Undercover Bromance. I loved Mack in book one and couldn’t wait to get his story but this book just fell a little flat for me.

Lyssa does a great job of giving you a fun and cutesy read with depth which makes for a good romance in my opinion. But the love story felt rushed and a little unconvincing in this one. I think if it was a little longer so she could have flushed out the romance I would have been so here for it. And I was bummed that the Bromance Bookclub wasn’t a part of the story as much in this one. I really loved in book one that you got scenes from the book the Bookclub was reading, It really added to the story but you don’t get that in this book :(

Overall I liked the book but didn’t love it like I wanted to. I’m still excited for book 3 and can’t wait to see what trouble the Bromance Bookclub gets into next.

3.5⭐
"History was built by thousands of women who thought they were just housewives or just secretaries or just seamstresses until the day they got fed up and decided to fight back."

Summary
Mack is ready to settle down. But his next date not only leads to him being dumped, but getting Liv fired from her dream job at Nashville's top restaurant. That same night, Liv learns just terrible her boss was when she walks in on him harassing a young waitress. Liv is blackballed from every restaurant she applies to, she and Mack team up to get revenge and expose her old boss for what he is. But doing so may be more difficult than they thought, especially since Liv is reluctant to fully trust Mack.

Overview
➸ POV: 3rd Person from Liv & Macks's POVs

➸ Braden Mack: 30s, Owner of Nashville bars and clubs, Born in Iowa, Creator of the Bromance Book Club

➸ Liv Papandreas: 25, Pastry chef, Recently fired, Angry and snarky, Lives on farm, Younger sister to Thea

➸ Content Warnings: Sexual assault, Harassment, Abuse

My Thoughts
I did enjoy this followup to The Bromance Book Club however I feel like this book lost a little of the magic that I felt during book 1. I commend the author for trying to take on such a difficult and sensitive topic, however I felt like it took away from some of the elements I love most about this series - mainly the book club and friendship between the male characters. There was so much emphasis put onto the sexual harassment plot line, that the romantic development suffered a little. Which meant that I never felt the chemistry building between these characters. I thought the scenes where they baited each other to be extremely well written and steamy, but when Mack's protectiveness kicked in, it felt sudden and out of no where. I just wish we had gotten more time seeing these character develop together rather than so much on the external plot.

Liv is definitely a hard character to like and I can see why so many people were turned off by her. She is so angry and aggressive that it can be pretty off-putting at times. I feel like she was so quick to judge everyone around her and it took until the last page for her to ease up. While I appreciate Liv's snark and strength, her attitude definitely bordered (and spilled over at times) on annoying. I will say that if you read until the end, she does go through a large amount of character growth. But it takes the entire book for her to get there.

There were a lot of cases of unnecessary secrets and miscommunication sprinkled throughout this. Which is definitely not my favorite plot device... And after awhile I just wanted to shake these characters every time they lied or withheld information for no apparent reason beyond stubbornness.

But where this book really shines in the male friendships. I love the banter and camaraderie between this group of powerful men. I want so many more books following these characters and their bookclub. Noah was definitely a new favorite character of mine and was elated when I realized the next book is his story.

Overall I still enjoyed this sequel and adore this really fun romance series. I'm so excited that we're getting another book in this series this year! I can't wait to be back with the book club in fall!

Review is live on Goodreads and will be posted to my blog at 1pm on 3/14/20

I can't even tell you how much I love this book!
Braden Mack seems like he knows how to treat a woman, but he has a secret. He only knows what he learned from reading romance novels. As the founder of the Bromance Book Club, he has helped countless men save their marriages. But he has never found love, and can't figure out why.
Liv has her dream job working in a celebrity kitchen. The only problem there, is that she has a jerk of a boss who likes to take advantage of the help, in TOTALLY AWFUL WAYS! Liv calls him out on it, and loses her job because of that, and an incident involving Braden and his date.
Braden feels bad about what happens to Liv and wants to help. Liv has a hard time allowing this seemingly arrogant guy help her, and wants to do everything on her own. This hate to love romance may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it sure was mine. Maybe it was all the chicken jokes! :D
I thought the relationship between Braden and Liv was slow burn and realistic, and I enjoyed that. They both have their issues and problems, and they both question whether they would work, just like a real couple. I think that is what endeared me to this book.

If you want to know more of my thoughts, check out this reading vlog!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNSMlWgw_hI

In 2019 I read the beginning of a new series, The Bromance Book Club. It was fun and quirky and made me laugh. There was something oddly entertaining about a group of alpha males, mostly professional sports players, reading a romance novel and taking “pointers” from it. It was refreshing in a sense. So when I heard about book 2, Undercover Bromance, which was featuring my one of my favorite guys from book 1, was coming out I was thrilled. And while Undercover Bromance was good enough, for me it was missing some of the magic book one had and I can’t place why.

Undercover Bromance is about Mack and Liv, two characters we met in The Bromance Book Club. Mack is a brazen club owner that started the book club and Liv is the sister-in-law of one of the members. The two met in book one and Liv didn’t have the best first impression of Mack. But soon Liv finds she needs his help when she is fired by her jerk of a boss when she witnesses him harassing someone. As Mack and Liv work to uncover her former’s boss’s misdeeds, they also try to ignore their growing attraction. That is until the book club steps in.

I think one of the things I didn’t love about this one was the lack of the book club time. In book 1, we got a lot and that was the highlight of the story for me. That felt lacking in Undercover Bromance. The book club was a huge part of Mack and I just felt like it wasn’t a huge part of the story. Also, I didn’t really love Liv. As a couple, I loved Liv and Mack together (more on that in a bit) but on her own I found her more on the annoying side than anything. She was almost too “I can too everything alone” for my liking. What I did love was Liv and Mack together. When they both let down their walls around the other I found magic there. They had great chemistry and I was yearning for more of that in the book.

All in all not my favorite of the two books in the series but I am excited for book 3. There is something endearing about the book club that makes me want to come back for more and more and I plan to do just that with book 3, Crazy Stupid Bromance.

Thank you Netgalley for the early copy.

I loved The Bromance Bookclub by Lisa Kay Adams so I had to get her new book, Undercover Bromance.

I loved it just as much. Fun and entertaining. I enjoyed the characters. It was an easy and very enjoyable read. It had really good laugh out loud moments. It was super cute.

I have to admit that when I see the cartoon covers on a Romance novel, I’m not really sure what I’m getting. I feel like they scream Women’s Fiction! but all reviews assured me that this truly is a Romance, so I dove in.

I really love this author’s voice and writing style.

This series is about a group of men, all of whom are either famous athletes, or billionaires, or millionaires, or nightclub owners…you get the idea. They’re our stereotypical Romance Novel Hero type guys. Very manly. Very alpha. And all of them are in a book club. A Romance book club.

They rock.

I enjoyed every guy. I enjoyed how each of them interacts with each other. I enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek play on how current Romance novels are viewed and how the guys handle it.

The hero is Braden Mack. But everyone calls him Mack. He’s taking his girlfriend out to a very expensive restaurant and he’s following his playbook: the romance novel playbook. He’s been reading romances since he was a teen and he is who all the guys go to for advice. He knows how to wine and dine, and he seems like the perfect boyfriend. So when he takes his girlfriend to this trendy fancy restaurant and asks her to basically be exclusive and serious, he orders her a special cupcake. It’s the house specialty. It literally has edible gold shavings. It costs about $1000. And Mr. Romance Novel Playlist can’t read the room. His girlfriend is uncomfortable throughout the whole evening. She’s an attorney and at one point she mentions that some of her clients could eat for a week for the price of one meal. Mack can’t figure out why she isn’t loving the meal/cupcake/over the top evening.

The celebrity chef who owns the restaurant comes out with the pastry chef who made the cupcake and it turns out he knows her! She’s his best friend’s sister-in-law! He’s so excited to see her he bumps her and throws her off balance and she drops the thousand dollar cupcake into his girlfriend’s lap. Oh holy yikes!

(this is all like chapter one guys, so I’m not spoiling anything!)

What happens next is a lot, but basically Liv the pastry chef is expecting to get fired. The celebrity chef is an awful human being. He yells, he berates them, he steals their recipes for his own cookbook…and as Liv finds out, he sexually assaults his employees. This is a difficult part to deal with. Liv overhears him berating the hostess Jessica for not telling him that Braden Mack was in the dining room that night, and then he says the old gem, “if you want to keep your job, you know what you have to do.” She pleads and begs him not to, and that she needs the job so please no…and Liv barges in on them. He’s got his dick out, Jessica’s in tears, Liv shouts at him and he fires her on the spot.

This is still the beginning. The majority of the book is Liv trying to take him down, and Mack feeling so guilty that she got fired, that he wants to help her. Obviously they fall in love 😉

They track Jessica down and try to convince her to quit and that Mack will give her a job at one of his clubs. But Liv just can’t empathize and gets worked up. Why won’t Jessica take them up on their offer? Why won’t she help them put her boss in jail? Liv really doesn’t get it. A book that was incredibly fun and enjoyable was overshadowed by the fact that Liv uses the hostess to try to take down the celebrity chef.

I feel like Liv needed to grow and she uses Jessica’s pain to do it.

I still really enjoyed this book, but that might be a deal breaker for others. It did bother me, but I see why the author chose that direction and why it was put in. The author’s voice and style really worked for me. I was able to see Liv grow and change and realize that she can’t blame Jessica for not putting herself in the spotlight to fight a powerful and rich man. Liv needed to see that.

The interactions between Mack and Liv were great and full of snark and witty banter. All the fun things you want when two characters are falling in love. I really really REALLY loved the fact that Mack’s friends were 100% in for anything to help him. They were probably my favorite part of the book.

Throughout the whole book, we see all the fun friends in their group, and we see how they really want to help. It’s a supportive and wacky group. I mean, see the tone change though? It really takes a great writer to have a fun group of friends while that heavy scene is in the background.

I would like to have seen Mack finally get why his girlfriend was uncomfortable with the $1000 cupcake. I would like to have seen Liv come to her senses a bit sooner in the book. But on the whole I ended the book with a huge smile on my face.

***ARC courtesy of the publisher Berkley