Queen of Broken Hearts

Cassandra King — 2007

The national bestselling author of The Same Sweet Girls and The Sunday Wife returns with another compulsively readable novel It's not easy being the Queen of Broken Hearts. Just ask Clare, who has willingly assumed the mantle while her career as a divorce coach thrives. Now she's preparing to open a permanent home for the retreats she leads, on a slice of breathtaking property on the Alabama coast owned by her mother-in-law. Make that former mother-in-law, a colorful eccentric who teaches Clare much about love and sacrifice and living freely. When Clare's marriage ends in tragedy, her work becomes the sole focus of her life. While Clare has no problem helping the hundreds of men and women who seek her advice to mend their broken hearts, healing her own is another matter entirely. Falling in love again is the last thing she wants. So when Lex -- a charismatic, charming, burly sea captain -- moves to town to run the marina, Clare insists they remain friends and nothing more. But even though she fights it, she begins to fall for him -- and then finds she has a rival, his estranged wife Annalee. A story infused with all the flavors, textures, and intrigues of a small Southern town, with a rich, resonant center, Queen of Broken Hearts is a bold step forward for Cassandra King.

Reviews

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Sep 30, 2021

This is a sweet and charming story about Clare, a woman who's endured her own heartbreak but makes a living as a "divorce coach" in a small southern town. Clare's mission is to help newly single women deal with their grief, anger, and loneliness. What her clients don't know is that Clare is dealing with grief and loneliness too. After the traic loss of her husband, Mack, Clare throws herself into her work and shuts herself off from any romantic entanglements. When two very different but very interested men come into her life, she is determined to keep both of them at arms' length as friends only. Meanwhile, Clare has plenty of other distractions. Her daughter and her best friend are going through marital problems of their own. Clare is also in the middle of building a retreat and counciling center for her clients. I frankly didn't expect to like this book but the author did a lovely job of creating very real people on the page and a setting that made me feel like I was in Fairhope, Alabama.