“Oh, how I love a good bromance. Ben and Matt. Brad and George. And don’t get me started on literary ones. I write them all the time, love them.” That is a quote I found on Jill Shalvis’s website, along with this lovely pic.
And she does – write them, that is. Damn good ones. In fact, Shalvis’s ability to write stellar bromance is what brought me back to reading romance novels. I know, crazy, right? But let me back up a little to get us all on the same page…
Picture it: me in the late 2000s, reading paranormal and mystery/suspense almost exclusively. I’d burned out on romance in the early ’90s, and while I still caught an occasional Nora Roberts (or J.D. Robb), I really didn’t “do” romance anymore. They were too dated, too cheesy, too flowery and gushy.
Fast-forward a few years and enter Kindle Gal, aka Lover of All Things Shalvis. She asked/recommended/commanded that I read Rescue My Heart (Animal Magnetism, Book 3) for the blog. I will admit at first I was skeptical and a little nervous. What if I hated it and KG and I didn’t share the book love? Fortunately, I absolutely LOVED it! Then I devoured the rest of the series as well as Shalvis’s other series. Her books were so much more realistic and modern. The heroines are zany and kooky and make me laugh and smile. And the heroes? Whoa! They are TDF. I found myself enjoying the interaction between the men as much as the romance. Yes, it is true … For me, it is all about the bromance in a Jill Shalvis read.
I’ve invited Kindle Gal to reminisce with me about our favorite bromance moments in the Animal Magnetism series to get us ready for the release of Still the One (Book 6) on Tuesday, April 7th. After all, KG introduced me to the world of perfect alpha heroes created by Shalvis, so it only seemed right to share this post with her. We had the hard job of studying up for this, slaving through rereads of gorgeous hero after gorgeous hero. I know, I know … It is a tough job, but someone has to do it, right? 
Emily: Thanks again for recommending these books to me, KG. I’m totally Team Shalvis! As you know, I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by her, but I have special love for the Animal Magnetism series. So let’s start at the very beginning…
The first book in the series is (appropriately titled) Animal Magnetism. This is Brady and Lilah’s story and our introduction to the small town of Sunshine, Idaho. Brady was foster brothers with the town hotties (and blood brothers) Dell and Adam Connelly. He is back in town to visit, though his brothers have ideas about making him stay. I LOVED all the interaction between the three “brothers” in this book. Like their not-so-gentle ribbing of each other in this scene where Dell is offering Brady Adam’s old living quarters:
Adam’s expression didn’t change, but he slid his eyes to Dell in a go-there-and-die look.
“Cameron,” Dell said. “Pretty little thing, too. Only there was a …. misunderstanding. She thought they were exclusive, except Adam here doesn’t really know the meaning of the word. So Cameron broke in one night and tried to convince him she was his one and only. With handcuffs. Adam walked away from her after that. Actually, he ran away like a little girl, but he doesn’t like to talk about it.”
“She had a fucking taser,” Adam said tightly. “You always leave that part out.”
“No, we understand,” Dell said nodding. “She’s terrifying. All five foot two inches of her. It’s been six months,” he said. “And he still twitches at the sight of a stacked blonde…”
Kindle Gal: LOL! And you are so welcome, Em. I am happy to take credit for converting you into a Shalvis fangirl. Go Team Shalvis! 
Yes, I agree … The love between the brothers in this series is palpable, always. Even during moments like this:
Is it weird to hope my own three sons have as close of a relationship when they get older?
Emily: NO! I so agree! I love these three together! They step it up another notch in Animal Attraction, Book 2. Belle Haven Animal Center owner and hottie vet, Dell, and his sexy receptionist, Jade, get their story in this book, but it is also where we get more brotherly one-liners and caring moments. Like after Jade manages to knock Dell over in a self-defense lesson:
And then she was gone.
Adam looked at Dell prone on the mat. “She flatten you?”
“Yeah.”
Adam just shook his head.
I can just feel the love, HA!
KG: Gah! Adam!! I know you love him as much as I do. Here’s one of my favorite bromantic moments in Animal Attraction, when Adam learns that Jade is pretending to be Dell’s fiancée … without telling Dell:
“I’ve got the Moorelands in room two,” Dell told him. “Want to come in with me?”
The Moorelands were clients of Adam’s. They’d brought in their seven-week-old Labrador puppies.
“First exam?”
“And vaccinations. Eight puppies. You can help.”
“Maybe you’d rather have someone else. Say, your fiancée.”
“How many times do I have to tell you, crack kills brain cells.”
Adam flashed a rare grin. “Didn’t you wonder why Leanne didn’t play grab-ass with you this morning? It was because your receptionist turned herself into your fiancée.” Adam slapped him on the back. “Congrats, by the way. I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“Shut up. You’re making this shit up.”
“Are you kidding?” Adam asked. “No one could make this up. It’s too good…”
Oh, but wait … It gets even better during the exam!
“No worries.” Adam slid Dell a look. “There’s a lot of firsts going around here today.”
Dell ignored him and bent over the puppies. There were four brown, two black, and two white Labs, all in various stages of mewling and climbing over each other, tails wagging, tongues out.
“It’s just that we’ve been so frazzled with our daughter’s engagement,” Donna said, stopping the biggest pup from climbing on top of his siblings like a circus performer.
“A lot of that going around,” Adam said.
Dell gave Adam a look that said quite clearly Shut up or die. But Donna smiled at Adam. “Someone you know just get engaged?”
“As a matter of fact,” Adam said, “Dr. Connelly here—”
Dell stepped on Adam’s foot and ground into it a little bit.
Adam drew a careful breath and stopped talking.
But it was too late. Donna had caught the scent of a possible engagement. “Doctor?” she asked Dell. “Are you engaged?”
“He is,” Joe said.
Everyone looked at him in shock. Joe shrugged. “One of your clients in the waiting room was talking about it as she left.”
Adam started to laugh, but Dell put more weight on his foot, and Adam turned it into a cough.
“Oh, this is so lovely!” Donna said, clapping her hands, then leaning in conspiratorially. “You probably don’t know this, Dr. Connelly, but just about all the single women in the country have their hearts set on you. You’re going to break them all with this news.”
Adam coughed again, and Dell took his weight off Adam’s foot because he felt a little woozy. And he was sweating. Christ, this was ridiculous. “The puppies,” he said. “Let’s concentrate on the puppies.”
Adam smirked.
Emily: HAHAHA! I love them so much! These are the scenes that really steal the show for me in a Jill Shalvis book.
Let’s move on to my favorite book of the series: Book 3, Rescue My Heart, aka Adam and Holly’s story. Here is another fun scene with the original Sunshine trio of hotness. Dell and Brady are tiptoeing around a broodier-than-usual Adam. Dell even lets Adam “steal” his sandwich and eat it in front of him:
Dell sighed as Adam finished it. “How do you know that Jade made it?”
“Cuz you barely know where the kitchen is, much less how to use it.”
Adam opened a bottle of water and drank deeply. When the last drop was gone, he swiped his mouth and studied his two brothers, who were in turn studying him like a bug on a slide.
“Jesus. You two need a life.”
“Actually,” Dell said slowly, as if speaking to the village idiot, “we have lives. We’ve been thinking that you need a life, but you appear to be getting one. Want to talk about it?”
Still with the fucking kid gloves. Adam shook his head and slid him a look, because, really, since when did they talk about feelings? Without a word he turned back to the refrigerator and eyed a plate with three chocolate cupcakes on it. Nice. He pulled it out and went to work on the first cupcake.
“Those are mine, too,” Dell said.
Adam finished the first cupcake in two bites and when Dell didn’t stop him, he went for another one. “Wouldn’t want to upset the crazy person,” Adam said. “Best to let him have the cupcakes.”
Dell sighed again.
Adam licked the last of the chocolate off his fingers and handed over the empty plate before heading for the door.
“I think he’s fine,” Brady said to Dell.
“Could’ve told me that before I let him eat all my fucking food,” Dell muttered.
KG: LOL, poor Dell. How about this scene, after Dell stitched up Adam’s shoulder because “he’s not big on clinics”:
“My stitches,” Dell said as he finally set the bandage. “My bandage. This means don’t touch. If you want to touch, you call me. If you don’t think you can manage that, I’m going to put a cone around your neck.” He slid a look at Holly. “Soldiers are the worst. They don’t rest, they don’t listen. They think they’re invincible.”
She nodded.
Dell turned back to Adam. “So, to recap: touch my stitches or my bandage and I’ll kill you. Got it?”
Adam sat up. “So I should remove the bandage and stitches myself, then?”
Even while in immense pain, Adam finds a way to piss his brother off. That’s bromance at its best, folks.
So after we got the three brothers’ stories, Shalvis made us happy dance when she continued the series with Holly’s brother, Griffin Reid, and his love interest, Kate. Rumor Has It (Book 4) is my favorite Animal Magnetism book (so far), and while the romance between Grif and Kate was fan-freaking-tastic, the fact that his BFF is Adam made it even better.
Here’s a scene where the guys are helping set up for Adam and Holly’s wedding:
Grif flipped him off.
“That’s anatomically impossible and politically incorrect.”
“I’d mess up that pretty face of yours,” Grif said, “but you’re getting married today.”
Adam smiled. “You’re afraid of Holly.”
“Hell yeah.”
Adam chuckled and rolled out the “Welcome to the Connelly Wedding” banner. He raised the nail gun and fingered the trigger but nothing happened.
“Shit,” Dell said, coming up behind them. “You don’t know what you’re doing with that thing.”
“Sure he does,” Grif said. “It’s a nail gun, not a condom.”
Emily: Yes, I was thrilled to meet Grif as well and loved his and Adam’s relationship. Like in this scene, where Grif has a bad migraine and is laid up in bed. Kate and Adam are discussing him while he (supposedly) sleeps:
“But you need sleep, too.”
“Oh, I’ll sleep.”
“How?” Kate asked.
He flashed a grin. “Trust me, I’ve been in worse conditions.” And with that, he rose lithely to his feet and walked into Griffin’s room, stretching out on the bed next to his oldest friend.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she heard Griffin mutter.
“Suck it up, man.”
“Jesus. Don’t say suck while you’re in bed with me. Don’t even think it.”
Kindle Gal: Loved that scene!
This brings us to Book 5, which introduced another family in Sunshine: the Stone siblings—Wyatt, Darcy, and Zoe. Wyatt is a vet who works at Belle Haven with Dell and Adam, and while Then Came You was another fun romance between Wyatt and another newcomer to the series, Emily (a vet intern), once again, the bromance stole the show for me.
Here’s a hilarious scene during a muddy rec football game that features all the hotties in Sunshine, including Wyatt and his BFF, AJ Colton, who also happens to be Darcy’s physical therapist:
At the half, Wyatt took shit for being late to the game from all the guys.
“We almost forfeited,” Dell said.
“Hey,” Wyatt said in his defense, “I had an emergency.”
His entire team gave him the stink eye.
“What emergency?” AJ wanted to know. “Because if anyone has an excuse to be late, it’s me, since my last patient was your sister, and I’m not sure who got more worked over, her or me.”
“You slept with one of your patients?” Adam asked.
“Forget that,” Brady said. “You slept with your best friend’s sister?”
“What?” AJ looked at both of them in horror and then turned to Wyatt. “No! God. I wouldn’t—”
“You don’t think she’s hot enough?” Grif asked.
“She is hot,” AJ said, and then grimaced at Wyatt. “No, I mean— She’s my patient, and—” He broke off when Dell, Adam, Brady, and Grif started laughing. Narrowing his eyes, he crossed his arms over his beefy chest. “You think that’s funny?”
“Yeah,” Dell said, straightening, still grinning. “You should see the look on your face, man.”
“Jesus, I’m sweating,” AJ said, and swiped his forearm over his brow. “You made me sweat.”
Best. Bromance. Evah!
Emily: I have a special place in my mind for the football games that take place in Sunshine with these men. Seriously.
But back on track, I loved the addition of the Stone siblings to this series and found Wyatt fit perfectly with the guys. You can see it in little things, like this scene, where Wyatt loses his glasses. Again.
I love these little moments that capture the friendships and relationships between the guys. And the best part? It keeps going! There are plenty more bromantic moments in Book 6, Still the One, where Wyatt has to deal with a developing relationship between his sister Darcy and his best friend, AJ. Bromance is taken to a new level when sisters – who are typically “off limits” to guy friends – are involved.
Click HERE to read my ARC review of the newest book in the Animal Magnetism series, Still the One, including more bromance excerpts and a chance to win a print copy.
If you haven’t read Jill Shalvis yet, Animal Magnetism is a great series to start with. And if you’ve read and loved her Lucky Harbor series but haven’t tried this one, get to it! I promise you will love Sunshine, Idaho, where it is definitely all about the bromance.
Animal Magnetism Series Giveaway
The lovely folks at Berkley are hosting the official blog tour giveaway for THREE full sets of all six books in the Animal Magnetism series. So cool!
First, enter the blog tour giveaway here:
Then click HERE for a special giveaway we’ve got just for our Kindles & Wine readers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental.
Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold, and visit her website for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures. You can also follow Jill on Facebook, Goodreads, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Twitter. The woman is EVERYWHERE!