The Bro-Magnet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Guest Review by Chris
copy sent for review, but all opinions are our own
Official Summary: Women have been known to lament, “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.” For Johnny Smith, the problem is, “Always a Best Man, never a groom.” At age 33, housepainter Johnny has been Best Man eight times. The ultimate man’s man, Johnny loves the Mets, the Jets, his weekly poker game, and the hula girl lamp that hangs over his basement pool table. Johnny has the instant affection of nearly every man he meets, but one thing he doesn’t have is a woman to share his life with, and he wants that desperately. When Johnny meets District Attorney Helen Troy, he decides to renounce his bro-magnet ways in order to impress her. With the aid and advice of his friends and family, soon he’s transforming his wardrobe, buying throw pillows, ditching the hula girl lamp, getting a cat and even changing his name to the more mature-sounding John. And through it all, he’s pretending to have no interest in sports, which Helen claims to abhor. As things heat up with Helen, the questions arise: Will Johnny finally get the girl? And, if he’s successful in that pursuit, who will he be now that he’s no longer really himself?
What did you like about the novel?
I enjoyed the humor and the friendships.
What did you not like about the novel?
I felt like at times the story ran slow.
Who was your favorite character?
Johnny’s neighbor, Sam. She knows Johnny so well and is always trying to help him with girls. Sam adds a lot of the humor.
Did you like the romance?
Yes, but it was frustrating waiting for them to be honest with each other.
Did you like the writing style?
Yes, it was easy to follow.
What did you think of Johnny?
He is a great friend. He was a nice guy, but too eager to please when it came to dating.
Were the characters well-developed?
Yes, I understood who they were. They felt realistic.
What do you take away from this book?
You should be who you are. If you aren’t honest, then you cannot expect your partner to be honest.
I like the line "always a best man…never a groom." I'd like to read this male POV romance.
This sounds like an interesting new twist in literature! 🙂
It's too bad that the story felt slow in some parts. I always hate when that happens.
Nice for a change and it tells us everything we need to know but I'm not too sure I'd like this style of review for every book as whilst it worked well here I'm not sure it would work for all genres.
I like the review style. Simple easy to the point and for people with short attention spans (that would be me) I can glean what I need to know!
I've enjoyed the other stuff I've read by this author. I'm glad this one was good as well.
I like the review format you used but maybe you should do like a paragraph at the end or something talking about how it made you feel. Like this is short and to the point, but I didn't FEEL your emotion. So I have mixed feelings about the style. (Hope you don't mind me being honest!)
It's fun to change up the format of your review sometimes. I like this. The questions get right to the heart of the matter. Great review! I totally agree, you have to be honest with someone you want to be involved with. 🙂
I read this book last year and adored it! I also read the sequel and it was so great. I really appreciated the humor. Glad you liked The Bro Magnet, Chris!
Fun review style! I like that it's direct and to the point, though I'm not sure how much you liked/didn't like certain parts or the book as a whole. So maybe adding a star rating would help us see in what tone the review should be taken. I don't think I ever noticed this book before but I'm not sure it would be for me, though.
The summary of this book instantly reminded me of the film 27 Dresses! I'm glad you were able to enjoy it despite some of the slow aspects! I like the new format you've guys decided to do your reviews, it's gives a nice quick insight into the book! 🙂