Planning some romcom reading for Easter weekend

While I am currently enjoying my page turning time with the Spring Into Horror readathon( already finished one book and in the middle of two more as of this writing!), I must take a bit of a mini-break next weekend.

Since we're all indoors due to the current health crisis, my Easter weekend plans involve watching a good movie with my family and reading a trio of romantic comedy type of books. Since one of them also has a sequel, this is almost a truly cinematic inspiration here!

First up is The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams, where baseball star Gavin Scott is in need of good advice to fix his ailing marriage. His wife Thea is not only sick of playing the role of happy baseball wife and deferring her own dreams in life, she also informs him about the lack of satisfying game play on his behalf when it comes to their love life.

With his family on the verge of divorce, Gavin is willing to do just about anything to make things right. Turns out that some of his fellow athletes have the perfect solution for him; reading romance novels. The literary group of the title uses the relationship plot lines in such books as Courting The Countess to become better mates to the women in their lives and they insist that this fictional fountain of emotional knowledge can work for him as well.

Gavin does give the book and it's points about romance a try with the results being more successful than he ever imagined. However, the time comes when he has to follow his own playbook and make all the right moves without a safety net at hand. Can Gavin be the romantic hero that his new found friends say he can be?

I do like the concept of appreciating the merits of an often misunderstood genre and even though I haven't read Adams' previous works, I get the feeling that there's some smartly written sitcom story telling that is worth tuning into here:

To that end, I've already bought the second book in this series(book three is due out in the fall), Undercover Bromance.  The unofficial leader of the Bromance Book Club is Braden Mack, whose charms don't quite match his ego when the opportunity to be of real help to a new lady in his life.

Pastry chef Liv(the sister of Gavin's wife Thea) decides to blow the whistle on Royce, the sleazy celebrity chef at her current job, which earns her a firing but no actual consequences towards the culinary creep.

Braden, inspired by the romantic suspense novel that is the new TBBC selection, insists that he can get the goods on the guy with the aid of his bookish crew. While Liv is suspicious of Braden's interest in her, she reluctantly agrees to let him and his buddies pull off this caper in order to take down Royce once and for all.

Yet not everything goes as planned and Braden's notion that he has all the answers is put to the test. Can he save the day or better still, realize that when it comes to life and love, he still has much to learn. I'm sensing a bit of an Ocean's Eleven vibe with this one, which should be fun indeed:

To round things off, I have Helen Hoang's The Kiss Quotient. Stella Lane is excellent with numbers at her job but not at dealing with people, which makes her mother's demand that it's time for her to start looking for a husband and producing grandchildren a problem hard to figure out.

Based on a casually callow suggestion from a co-worker, Stella decides to get some "practice" by hiring a male escort. Michael Phan answers the call but her nervousness about the whole thing leads her to asking him to take things slow.

Michael agrees, despite having a bad experience with a former client who got too attached to him. As they get to know one another, it becomes easier to reveal their inner insecurities and find themselves being accepted for who they truly are. How this unexpected relationship will last in the outer world among their family and friends is the real challenge that Michael and Stella face.

Having read The Bride Test(which is somewhat connected to this book) last year, I already know that I'm in for a good solid entertainment filled with heartfelt writing and an engaging couple to root for:

This may not seem like Easter themed reading, I know, but this holiday in my household is mainly an excuse to indulge in chocolate(sugar free, in my case) and besides, spring in and of itself is meant to be a romantic season.

So, with that in mind, I look forward to a happy Easter weekend of good reading with some fun romcom antics to keep me amused during this less than cheerful time in our lives. A little lightness is necessary to keep your spirits going and romantic comedy is picture as well as page turning perfect for such occasions: