I don’t think it’s a secret that I am borderline obsessed with Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams. I was sent an early arc, devoured it, quickly named it one of my top 10 of 2019, and eagerly awaited the next book.
And when an arc of Undercover Bromance ended up in my greedy hands, it’s easy to say the same thing happened…except I think I love UB even more. {shhhhhhh, don’t tell BBC} So, when the lovelies at Berkley Romance offered me the chance to interview Lyssa, I couldn’t say yes fast enough.
Before we get to Lyssa’s answers, let’s check out the book.
Title: Undercover Bromance
Author: Lyssa Kay Adams
Pages: 320
Pub Date: March 10, 2020
Publisher: Berkley
Find it: PRH | Indiebound | B&N | Amazon | GoodreadsBraden 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.
Sounds good, right?
1. Please give the elevator pitch for Undercover Bromance.
The Bromance Book Club is back to help Braden Mack bring down a celebrity chef with a history of sexual harassment and to win the heart of a feisty pastry chef who’s been burned before.
2. Why do you love Liv and Mack and why should we root for them?
Liv and Mack both rely on tough exteriors and sarcasm to hide soft, tender centers. So they are pure fire at first—driving each other crazy with their stubborn ways and their whiplash banter. But they quickly begin to see the truth about each other and their individual vulnerabilities. Mack has a heart of gold, and Liv carries a lot of pain from a messed-up childhood. Together, they give each other strength to overcome things that they’ve been too afraid to face, and that will make readers cheer for their happy ever after.
3. What was the weirdest thing you googled while researching?
Do chickens have vaginas? It’ll make sense when you read the book, but I’m pretty sure my greatest contribution as an author will be educating the public about the reproductive systems of chickens.
4. Without spoilers, what scene was your favorite to write?
I can only pick one? There are so many scenes in this book that I loved writing because Liv and Mack are so fun together, but also because I’m tackling an issue I care very passionately about—giving women the justice that has too long been denied them. BUT, if I must pick one scene, I would have to say that it involves a bar brawl and a kiss that will curl your toes!
5. Which romance tropes are your favorite to read?
I adore second-chance romances because you jump right into all the feels. I also love reading marriage of convenience books in historicals. I love any trope that forces characters to unpack their baggage and fight hard for their HEA.
6. Are you currently working on anything?
Yep, and it’s top secret right now!!!
Speed {ish} round:
1. You find out that you’re being published for the first time. Describe the next 5 minutes.
I hug my daughter, call my mom, and squee with all my writing friends. Then I go buy a sheet cake because celebrating requires cake. It’s the rule.
2. What three things would you take to a desert island?
A book, a dog, and Excederin Migraine.
3. You can only read one book for the rest of your life. What is it?
Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. If you don’t think Dean Robillard is the swooniest hero ever, we can’t be friends.
4. Which book character would you want to hang out with?
Jo March from Little Women. I feel like she’d be the kind of friend you could share a pint of ice cream with and bitch about men.
5. What is the one thing about publishing you wish someone would have told you?
Yes, you really do need to know how to do Instagram stories.
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Lyssa Kay Adams read her first romance novel in eighth grade after swiping one from her grandmother’s book shelf and was hooked forever. After a nearly 20-year career as a journalist, her dreams of writing and publishing her own HEAs came true in 2015 with the release of her first novel, Seventh Inning Heat, followed by the RITA-nominated novella, Wild in Rio. Today, she writes full-time from her home in Michigan with a pesky, fluffy K9 assistant named Domino who spends most of his day snoring on her desk (that is, when he’s not burying things around the house). website | twitter | instagram
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Huge thanks to Berkley Romance for the opportunity and to Lyssa for taking the time.
Undercover Bromance is out today and the buy links are above.
Have you read either of Lyssa’s books? Did you love them as much as I did?
This was such a fun interview! I very much agree with the statement that celebrating requires cake! I celebrate all my achievements, no matter how small with some sort of baked good! And I love the questions you asked. I think the answer to the weirdest think Googled was hilarious, (and makes me so curious as to how that fits into the book), but I would never have thought to ask an author that question!
Thank you! I ask the same set of questions for every interview. Sometimes they do vary, especially if the author has been on the blog before, but for the most part, it’s the same!
Thanks for reading and commenting.