I mean that in the best way. I went on an unplanned reading hiatus of about two months while devoting my free time to election work, and I just needed something funny and light to get back into reading. The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams hit the spot.

The concept is this: a major-league baseball player’s marriage is in serious trouble. He finds out that his friends (including several other pro athletes) have a secret book club in which they read romance novels to get relationship tips.

It sounds cheesy, and it kind of is, but self-consciously so. Adams knows this plot is silly, and she leans into it. Comic writing is greatly underrated, I think in part because it’s so hard to make people laugh, and not many serious writers can do it. Although the plot itself is goofy, the characters nonetheless have realistic and relatable reactions and feelings. The book is also pointedly feminist, which I appreciated. I found the book delightful and exactly right for the moment.