QUEEN OF BROKEN HEARTS

Author: Cassandra King ISBN: 1401301770 3/2007 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: HYPERION

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.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Surprisingly enough, I really enjoyed reading QUEEN OF BROKEN HEARTS. Why so surprised, you ask? Well, since for the past couple of years I have been on a paranormal diet, my reading something completely out of my comfort zone has made me more open-minded and refreshed my romance loving self. More importantly, QUEEN OF BROKEN HEARTS contains elements I never thought I would enjoy in a romance book. Who'd of thought that you can teach an old dog new tricks?

Focused on a middle-aged widow who is counseling folks that are going through or thinking about divorce in a small southern town, QUEEN OF BROKEN HEARTS challenged me to change my opinion of the standard heroine I have been so partial to. You know the one I mean—young, virginal, spunky but not worldly. Turns out a well developed heroine is exactly that, no matter what her age. Not that I want to read about someone in their 70's having fun in the bedroom (no offense meant to the 70's crowd), but all the characters in the story are so tightly put together that though I didn't forget about their ages, it didn't matter.

The other thing that I really like about this book are all the parallels and metaphors that I can apply to my own life and sense of other's lives. Sure, it's all stuff I know, but I don't think about it much because most of it is depressing. The situations portrayed here are also things that I like to pretend won't happen amongst my circle of friends, because it would be horrible. It's like having a front row seat to the destruction of marriages and friendships that happen every day.

QUEEN OF BROKEN HEARTS is not a book to be taken lightly. But, believe it or not, it's a celebration of survival and independence as much as it is a heartbreaker. There is plenty of joy here, though it comes at a price. (Which is funny to me because isn't that just like life?) Anyway, I came away from this book with a greater appreciation for the institution of marriage, as well as an understanding of the grieving process that happens when couples divorce. Not to mention the complications of trying to be friends with the opposite sex and the well meaning but often misguided intention of family and friends, "just trying to help."

So, if you enjoy a heavier read that could possibly resemble some aspects of your life, or the lives of those around you, QUEEN OF BROKEN HEARTS might be what you are looking for.

Shannon Johnson