Review: Prose Before Bros by Cathy Yardley

Title: Prose Before Bros
By: Cathy Yardley
My Copy: From Author
The BookWhisperer's Rating: 

Nothing about being a librarian prepared Thuy Nguyen for such a wide variety of casseroles. Or life in a small town. Or becoming a farmer.

But what can she do when her catastrophe-prone best friend begs her for help? After all, Maddy has always been there for Thuy. It’s time to return the favor.

It’s simple really, all she has to do is: learn everything about farming ASAP, save her BBF’s family business from disaster, and avoid being caught staring at Maddy’s biker brother, and his muscles, and his smile, and his soulful, sexy eyes.

Oh yeah, and she should definitely not fall in love with him.

Easy, right? . . . Right.

I’m going to be honest and admit that I struggled with this book.  However, I will say that I want to applaud Cathy Yardley for bringing a new kind of lead woman to the forefront!  Thuy is not your average main character; an Asian woman who has a darker past than most, Masters in Library Science, and isn’t afraid of helping her best friend raise her new baby and run a farm and not know how to do any of it. Other than the above, that is all that I could praise Thuy for.  I found it hard to believe that she would be attracted to Maddy’s brother in any way, especially after finding out her background with her family.  She seemed a little lost in most of the book except for when she was at the library.

All - Thuy, Maddy, and Maddy’s brother, Drill just fell short in all occasions.  I struggled with how non-badass Drill truly was and how after meeting Thuy, he questioned everything about the gang that he was ‘loyal’ to. Drill went back and forth with his mindset of, “Should I do what is right or should I do what is wrong?” And, after making wrong choices, he was surprised that his gang turned on him.  Why in the world would he tell the gang’s President that he inherited half of the farm land, knowing that the gang was in financial trouble, and be surprised that they scheme to take the money.  

Maddy was such a small character in this book but her very last action made me sigh.  I won’t go into it but I was hoping for something else, something better for her.

I wish I would have loved this book – I really do.