Black Dog Bay, Delaware, just made headlines when it was featured in a travel magazine as the place to go if you need to move on from a breakup. And that’s just what Summer Benson needs – to move on from her breakup and her life. Her boyfriend just left her after planning to propose because he realized she was “too good” for him. The world now knows her as the flight attendant who saved a little boy from tragedy. But all Summer wants is a quiet place to recover from her wounds – both physical and emotional. She never expected to find love in the process.
Cure for the Common Breakup is Beth Kendrick’s first installment in the Black Dog Bay romance series. Known for her cutesy love stories and chick lit writing, this book fits that bill completely. This is a book about working through life’s hard moments and the value of a great support network.
I give Cure for the Common Breakup 3 out of 5 stars. Kendrick’s great writing style is completely overshadowed by plot holes and kitschy love story moments worthy of a Hallmark movie. Summer’s injuries from early in the story aren’t nearly as bad as the writer makes them out to be given how quickly Summer recovers – you can’t go from burns on your back in the ICU to wearing regular clothes (hello bras!) and leaning against a car seat for hours without major pain. We also see little reference to bandages or scars through the remainder of the book. I also found the saccharine romance between Summer and her newest love interest overly quick and against the nature of the characters – both discuss how they don’t want a romance and are against this from happening…yet let it happen so quickly. I love a small-town romance, but this was a bit too far into the Hallmark movie territory.
This book would be best directed to audiences over 13. With discussions of sex and disaster resulting in bodily injury, this is best for more mature audiences. Also, I should offer a trigger warning for plane crashes – I was not prepared for that early in the book, but it didn’t impact my overall feeling for the book. This would make a great book club selection – there are so many points to discuss in Summer’s decisions.
I chose Cure for the Common Breakup for the US States reading challenge prompt “Delaware”. Many of Kendrick’s books are set in Delaware, including the entire Black Dog Bay series. I was excited to get a lighter read with this prompt after reading so many more serious books with heavy topics the past few weeks. If you’re looking for a good book set in Delaware, check out the weekly agenda for more suggestions!
This post contains affiliate links.
What I’m Reading
- Current print book: Toxic Prey, John Sandford
- Current audio book: PS, I Love You, Cecilia Ahern
- Book I’m most looking forward to: Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert
Read With Lindsey 