The Bromance Book Club (Bromance Book Club, #1)

by Lyssa Kay Adams

“Backstory is everything.” “It means that whatever happened to your wife before she met you plays a role in who she is today,” Malcolm said. “We are all the sum total of our experiences at any given time, and our reactions to things are shaped by them. Just like in romance novels. Whatever a character went through before the start of the book will eventually determine how they react to things that happen in the book.”

“That’s why fiction resonates with people. It speaks to universal truths.”

More than anything, she feared that she would awaken some morning and realize her entire life had passed her by,’” he read. “‘That at some point, she had become less than. Less than w-w-what she used to imagine. Less than w-wh-what she used to hope for.

Irena lifted her hand, hesitated for a second, and then rested her palm against his cheek. The stubble of his day’s growth was scratchy beneath her fingers, but his skin was warm and soft. With a quiet groan, Benedict closed his eyes and pressed his face into her touch, like a flower turning to the sun. “I missed you so much, Irena,” he said. “I missed you too,” she admitted. With a groan, he lowered his forehead to hers. “I am at your mercy, Irena. From the moment I first saw you, I have been half a man because the other half belongs to you. End my agony, love. I beg you. Kiss me. Let me hold you. Please.” She would no sooner deny him the comfort he needed than she would deny a starving man food.

“You’ve spent your entire life believing one version of the truth . . . Have you ever looked at things from your mother’s point of view?” Liv reared back. “Why?” Because backstory is everything.

“You’ve been more than fair.” “Have I really, though? I faked everything with him, and it’s not because of anything he did. It’s because I’m broken, Liv. I’m scared to open up to him, really open up to him.

“It’s too late.” “Then you should be happy to know that I suffer for it. I have to stand back and see the woman you’ve become, the woman your sister has become, and know I can’t be part of it. I see your gorgeous daughters and know I can’t be a grandfather to them.” Thea let her hands fall to her lap as her mouth dropped open. “No, that doesn’t make me happy to know that. At all. It makes me really sad, because it didn’t have to be that way. You chose to stand on the sideline of our lives, to replace us over and over again with someone else.”