The Bromance Book Club

Thea Papandreas Scott, the secondary protagonist of The Bromance Book Club, is an artist and the wife of professional baseball player Gavin Scott. As a mother to three-year-old twin girls, Thea juggles the pressures of parenthood, marriage, and the expectations placed upon her as a “baseball wife.” She married Gavin only three months into their relationship after becoming pregnant, and soon after, Gavin was called up to the majors, prompting Thea to drop out of college to care for their children.

A significant lack of communication is at the heart of Thea and Gavin’s marital issues. Thea faces judgment from the WAGs (wives and girlfriends) of Gavin’s teammates, who assume she became pregnant to “trap” him into marriage. In response, Thea transforms, abandoning her free-spirited nature and adopting a highly structured lifestyle to fit in. Despite this, she continues to feel alienated, and the pressure to conform leaves her feeling lost: “She got lost until she no longer even recognized herself” (21). However, Thea never confides in Gavin about the tension she experiences with the WAGs, choosing instead to maintain an appearance of perfection while silently struggling with her sense of identity.

Thea’s emotional distance extends to her past. She only briefly mentions her traumatic childhood—her father’s serial infidelity and her parents’ subsequent divorce—without explaining the deep scars of abandonment it left on her. When Gavin leaves after a heated argument, she interprets his actions as another abandonment, echoing the unresolved wounds from her past.

Throughout the novel, Thea begins to confront her dissatisfaction and express her unmet needs, from resenting her unfinished education to her disdain for the wall in their home that blocks the light. After asking for a divorce, she starts articulating her desires more clearly, shifting their dynamic. Although initially skeptical of Gavin’s attempts to fix their relationship, Thea eventually recognizes his efforts. She confronts her unresolved childhood trauma, realizing that Gavin is not a reflection of her father’s abandonment.

Thea reclaims her voice and identity as she moves toward honesty with herself and her partner.

The Bromance Book Club, named by Thea, is a group of successful men in Nashville who meet to read romance novels to better understand and express their emotions, as well as to view relationships from a woman’s perspective. The club’s primary purpose is to help members repair their struggling relationships, making it both a support group and a vehicle for personal growth. Most members joined after experiencing significant relationship issues, using the lessons learned from romance novels to rekindle their connections with their partners. The book club becomes a space where traditional gender roles are questioned and traditional masculinity is challenged, offering a unique view of male friendship and emotional intelligence. The book club serves as a sidekick to Gavin as he tries to repair his relationship.

Delray Hicks, or Del, introduces Gavin to the book club. A teammate and best friend of Gavin, Del joined the group after his wife, Nessa, filed for divorce. Now expecting their second child, Del’s relationship with Nessa was strengthened through the insights he gained from romance novels. Del approaches Gavin with care, often handling him more gently than the other members, but he is not afraid to call out Gavin’s mistakes, such as when Gavin kisses Thea without her consent. Del’s supportive but firm guidance shows how men can hold each other accountable while offering compassion.

Braden Mack, a Nashville club owner, is the founder and unofficial leader of the book club. Mack takes on the role of mentoring other members despite his own romantic struggles, as he has the most experience with romance novels. He shares a “frenemy” dynamic with Gavin, constantly teasing him but genuinely wanting to help. Mack is also the most outspoken member when it comes to addressing toxic masculinity, frequently challenging traditional gender expectations. His character represents the novel’s feminist voice, pushing back against societal norms while encouraging men to be more emotionally open and aware.

Vladimir Konnikova, or Vlad, affectionately known as “the Russian,” is a professional hockey player often used for comic relief. Despite this, Vlad frequently surprises the group with insightful and heartfelt contributions, demonstrating a deeper understanding of relationships than expected. His role as the group’s heart and perhaps its most supportive member offers a counterbalance to the more assertive characters like Mack and Del.

Malcolm James, an NFL running back, adds a calm and introspective presence to the group. Known for his deep and meaningful insights, Malcolm observes and shares wisdom when it matters most, reflecting the quieter, more reflective side of male friendships and emotional growth.

The book club also includes other figures like Yan Feliciano, one of Gavin’s teammates, Derek Wilson, a local business owner, and a few unnamed men. Together, the club acts as a cohesive unit, providing comic relief and emotional depth to the novel. They serve as Gavin’s emotional guides, helping him navigate his troubled marriage while offering the novel’s broader commentary on gender roles, masculinity, and relationships. As a feminist mouthpiece, the club subverts traditional notions of what it means to be a man, demonstrating that emotional vulnerability and personal growth are integral to both romantic and platonic relationships.

Thea’s family functions as one of the novel’s primary antagonistic forces. Their influence shapes Thea’s emotional struggles and complicates her relationship with Gavin. The trauma Thea experienced from her family’s dysfunction leaves her with deep-seated issues that she carries into her marriage. Her parents divorced when she was 10, largely due to her father, Dan, being a serial cheater. Dan’s nickname for his ex-wife, “Shotgun,” highlights the fact that Thea’s mother purposely got pregnant to marry him, creating an environment of manipulation and emotional detachment. Dan, now on his fourth marriage, embodies selfishness, while Thea’s mother is a “narcissist” who emotionally neglects her daughters. After the divorce, Thea’s mother berates her for expressing simple needs like hunger, demonstrating the cold, unloving dynamic that shaped Thea’s worldview.

After the divorce, neither parent wanted custody of Thea and her sister Liv, forcing them to live with their grandmother. While their grandmother provided a loving home, the abandonment by their parents left Thea and Liv with profound emotional scars, particularly trust issues in their romantic lives.

Thea finds some closure with her father, realizing that, despite his flaws, he never considered her or Liv a mistake. He genuinely loves them, but in his own self-centered way. This realization helps Thea understand her own trust issues, which mirror Liv’s struggles as well. Both sisters are afraid of being abandoned again, which creates a central emotional conflict in their relationships with men.

Liv is a complex character in the novel. She is supportive of Thea when Gavin is absent; she becomes antagonistic when Thea considers reconciling with him. Liv’s opposition to their reconciliation stems from her fear of losing her sister, illustrating Liv’s unresolved trauma. Liv’s actions, including actively trying to sabotage their relationship, reveal her internal struggles with abandonment and emotional security. Gavin’s patience and understanding shine through as he recognizes Liv’s motivations and forgives her. This reflects his growth and maturity in dealing with the emotions tied to Thea’s family.

Thea and Gavin’s twin daughters, Amelia and Ava, are primarily plot devices, illustrating the emotional toll that parental separation can have on a family. While the twins remain flat characters, their role in the story is significant as they symbolize the stakes of Gavin and Thea’s relationship. Their struggles with the separation emphasize the broader theme of how relationship difficulties ripple outward, affecting the entire family unit.