Queen of Broken Hearts

by Cassandra King

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.

Genres: Fiction, Southern, Chick Lit, Romance, Audiobook, Contemporary, Womens Fiction

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

CASSANDRA KING, who has been called “the Queen of Southern storytelling,” is the author of six novels, Making Waves, The Sunday Wife, The Same Sweet Girls, Queen of Broken Hearts, Moonrise, and The Same Sweet Girls' Guide to Life, as well as numerous short stories, essays and articles. Moonrise, her fifth novel, is set in Highlands, North Carolina. A native of Alabama, Cassandra resides in Beaufort, South Carolina, with her husband, writer Pat Conroy.

Reviews

[Elyse Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook......[mental health break]....narrated by Laura Hicks
I’ve never read or listen to a book by Cassondra King until now.

Enchanted unpaved streets - little cottages are hidden from view making them look safe - huge magnolia and oak trees- an historic town - a little utopia in the middle of the deep South in Alabama. A perfect society!....Ha....

Divorce women are starting out on a new journey and therapist Clare Ballenger has focused exclusively on helping these divorce women mend their broken hearts and land back on their feet stronger than ever.
As we get to know Clare more intimately, we soon realized that she does not follow the same advice she gives to her clients. The last thing she wants is to fall in love again since suffering the loss and grief from when her own husband died in a tragic accident.

There are numerous characters - yet easy to keep track of them all.
Clare has two men interested in her: Rye who was her husband’s close friend and Lex, a Yankee from Maine.
Dory is Clare’s best friend —- but Clare can’t stand her wealthy husband named Son.
Haley is Clare’s daughter - married to a jerk named Austin


So....mostly it’s the women in this novel whom this story centers around. Between the writing - the dialogue- and the exaggeration ( in a good way)....there may be many relationship problems going on — but we definitely get that SOUTHERN BELLE COMMUNITY FEELING in this novel.

A little long - some parts I liked more than others - I laughed out loud several times- I drifted off at times too- (too much chatter about ‘doves’ and their white wings), but for whatever reason - I mostly liked it -( nice garden-listening)...
Lightness - sweetness - a little gripping (not ‘too’ much- haha: not too much)- and a happily ever after ending. 🙂

3.5 rating

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Queen of Broken Hearts" by Cassandra King is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It is poignant, uplifting, tear-jerking and insightful.

When I opened the book to the first page, my heart plummeted. First person point of view – not my favorite. And I'd just finished another review book in first person that I most definitely did not like. Not only was this one in first person, but present tense – a double whammy. To say I started reading with a negative attitude in place would be a truism.

Then the story took over and I forgot about the point of view. While the present tense did occasionally intrude, the story was so well written that I couldn't count that against it. Like "Steel Magnolias" or "Fried Green Tomatoes", this is a story of the deep South, but it touches on themes that affect us all.

The story is set in a small Alabama coastal town and centers around Clare, a therapist who's got her own problems. Clare, a widow, runs group sessions and retreats for women going through divorce. Her work is everything to her, even taking precedence over the two men who want her as more than just a friend. She can dish out advice, but when it comes to taking it herself, Clare has more than a few problems.

Full of quirky characters, "Queen of Broken Hearts" will make you laugh and cry, cheer and boo, but most of all, it will make you keep reading to the very end. The story has a touch of romance and all the angst you can handle as you get a peek at the lives of the inhabitants of Fairhope. This one is definitely a keeper.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Today I finished the LONG, 412 page novel by Cassandra King (who happens to be the wife of Pat Conroy, one of the most talented writers living today---If you have never read The Prince of Tides, it should be on your short list-----) called The Queen of Broken Hearts. The novel is set in Alabama and is filled with deeply drawn, flawed, but lovable, characters. The protagonist is a widow, in her late 40's or early 50s, whose husband died in the woods near their home, when the gun he was carrying went off. That is all we know until nearly the end. Was it suicide or an accident? There was no foul play. The couple had been madly in love but there were demons that, perhaps, needed tending. Claire is a therapist who counsels women going through divorce. She runs retreats for these women to help them mourn the loss of their marriages, and to find a way to move on. Claire's best friend, Dory, Dory's husband, Son, and two men who vie for Claire's heart play pivotal roles in the story, as does her mother in law, Catherine-Zoe, and her step daughter, Hailey, whose own marriage may not be all she thought.
I loved the descriptions of the thick and plush Alabama countryside, with its unique odors of warm marshes in the deep south, odors which no one can quite imagine if they have not been there. I have, so I could easily relate to the descriptions. There is so much love and caring among these characters. I felt part of their community, felt their losses and joys for the time I spent reading the novel. The book could have been shorter, but I supposed King needed to make it lengthy to include all her detailed descriptions, dialogues and backstories. It was a good book, though not as great as the ratings might indicate.

[Shelleyrae at Book'd Out · Rating 3 out of 5]

You need to read this in the garden with an iced tea or mint julep to sip on. The language is evocotive of Southern society and the environment and it flows with description and dialogue. The pace can feel a bit slow unless you have the time to enjoy it - its not a quick read. There is a huge cast of characters but interestingly it doesn't feel crowded as can often be the case. They are well developed and complex but the relationships between the characters and in general are really the heart of this book.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Queen of Broken Hearts was exactly what I needed at this time in my reading life. After an intense, and troubling read (not to mention an intense, troubling time in our nation's history), I wanted simply to enjoy a book. Enter Cassandra King. She is a good, Southern writer. Her characters are colorful (though somewhat predictable) and her plotlines are engaging.

In Queen of Broken Hearts, the protagonist, Clare, is a therapist working primarily with clients who are at crossroads in their marriages. She's more of a "divorce" counselor than a marriage counselor, often helping her clients to heal from their failed trips down the aisle. Professionally, she's on point. Personally, she's a mess. Still reeling from her husband's apparent suicide, Clare could use some introspection of her own. Queen of Broken Hearts is Clare's journey of reflection and of healing. Though the book takes a rather dim view of marriage, it celebrates sisterhood and the bonds among strong women.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great story I read this June!

Clare, widowed and a respected divorce coach, is building her dreams....a retreat for women who are divorced and ready to move away from they had and into a new life. Her friend Dorie, her daughter, her mother-in-all, all lead ad support her efforts. But each woman, especially Clare, must reach into themselves and accept what is.

My thoughts: This book could be a fabulous movie IF it has good screenwriters and a good leading cast. It's has so many unique characters, each dynamic and essential in the story. And the theme is one that needs to be discussed.

[Jayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been wanting to read something by Pat Conroy’s widow, Cassandra King, for a while, and I found this one at the used bookstore, so I grabbed it. Like Conroy, King writes about the ups and downs of relationships, and weaves a very good story. It would be unfair to compare her to Conroy, she was a writer long before she met him, so I’ll just say this was a very readable book with a satisfying storyline. Perfect light reading.

[Agatha Donkar Lund · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this one up because one of those what-to-read-next algorithms recommended King's The Same Sweet Girls to me and that one's always out at the library; I didn't know beforehand that King was married to Pat Conroy, who has his flaws as a writer but who I will also defend to the death, because I believe that he can turn a phrase like nobody's business. The first two lines of Prince of Tides still give me goosebumps after all these years.

But this is not about Pat Conroy, this is about Cassandra King, and sadly: King is no Conroy. While this book had the same twisted narrative structure, relying heavily on past-tense flashbacks to flesh out character and motivation, and the same dark, morbid, ultimately hopeful plot conventions that Conroy often relies on, the fact of the matter is that Conroy can flat-out write and Cassandra King can't. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it a whole lot, even if I found the protagonist completely unsympathetic; it was a page-turner and I wanted to know how she was going to screw up her life and the lives around her next, so clearly King's doing a little bit of something right.

But -- it's not even purple prose, because it's not that inventive. It was just a completely serviceable style of writing, and the plot and the supporting characters, at least, deserved better than that. Unfair to compare a writer to her husband, perhaps, but I can't help but do it -- Conroy's a master of the detail, a master of grounding a book so firmly in a sense of place that you can smell the salt marshes while you're reading his novel in Chicago, and I didn't get any of that with this book. I'll probably pick The Same Sweet Girls up if I ever manage to find it in at the library, but this was a disappointment. I wanted to love it, and I mostly found it boring and uninspired.

[Russell Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

I approached Cassandra King’s Queen of Broken Hearts with so much raw anticipation. I had just finished and loved King’s The Sunday Wife. I was eager to get caught up her in lovely prose and finely wrought characters again. In that respect, Queen of Broken Hearts does not disappoint. The novel is the tale of Clare Ballenger, a celebrated psychoanalyst specializing in divorce. We see Clare as she navigates her own relationships following her husband’s unexpected death. The book is full of insight into human interaction, dealing with grief, and the logistics of starting over. King has given us all a primer of life with this book. Using engaging characters, we take the journey willingly, eager to reach the outcome, knowing we will be enriched. But ultimately, I was not as enchanted with this novel as I was with The Sunday Wife. King chooses to tell the story in first person, present tense. This gives it an immediacy, an urgency. But darn it, there is so much backstory about each of her participants we, as readers, need to know, that she frequently lapses into past tense. And that’s where it bogged down for me. Yes, I know that all that backstory was needed, that I could never have understood Clare and her story without it. But just when the plot gets flowing nicely, it is interrupted by explanation of what went before. And that was a story killer for me. For others, I’m sure it won’t matter, so it certainly shouldn’t be a reason to not pick up this admirable book. And I truly recommend it to anyone who has suffered a divorce. One other thing, I love King’s irony in naming her protagonist Clare. For this woman who sees such clarity in others’ predicaments sees very little in her own. But go with her on her journey and find out if that clarity ever shows up for this aptly named character.

[Ashley Nobles · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was so much information in this book that isn't necessary and is kind of confusing because characters are mentioned like we are supposed to know who they are .Basically, you're just reading about a year in the life of this woman and nothing actually happens.

[Cindy]

I just got this book from my favorite thrift store for books. As I'm reading the reviews, I notice that there are two reviews that are exactly the same; one by someone named Alice, one by someone named Sharon Reyes. I left comments on both. What is up with that? Is this done to bring the star level up? It really makes me wonder about the book and about the author and I'm not sure I'll even read it now.
What do you all think about this???

[Claire Dobson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing earth shattering but an ok read.

[Sharon Huether · Rating 3 out of 5]

Southern women helping each other get over lost loves, bad marriages and hard times.

[Stephanie Ceman · Rating 1 out of 5]

superficial and full of cliche. The only point I appreciated being reminded of is that we choose mates who help us like ourselves

[Kaitlin Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good southern book

[Sabrina Wareham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first time reading a book by Cassandra King, and I wasn't sure quite what I was getting into. The book is about Clare, a widow who runs retreats for the brokenhearted. It is over four hundred pages and a beautiful kaleidoscope of places, people and their stories.

I really love small town books, especially ones set in the south. There is something warm and homey about them, and Cassandra writes in a way that makes you feel like you're living this slice of life with her characters. Even though I was too young to relate to Clare, Dory, Rye and Lex, and too old to pal around with Haley and Jasmine - nor did I relate to their stories - I still felt their emotions and laughed and cried right along with them.

There were a few standout characters for me that took an already great book and added some sass and fun to it. I feel like we all either know a Zoe Catherine or are a Zoe Catherine. She's fun, she's brassy and she takes no prisoners. She also has a lot of birds, which is my kind of quirky. Who wouldn't love the lady who tells it like it is and surrounds herself with birds? I could picture her and the exact tone of voice every time she sassed someone, but mostly when she was with Cooter, who was quite a character himself. Cooter and her peacock, Genghis Kan, had a long running feud, much to my delight. All of Zoe's birds also had historical names, which gave you such an idea of their personalities.

My other favorite character was Rye, the cousin of Clare's husband, Mack, and her best friend. He is that quintessential older southern man. But then he knew everything going on in town and was basically the town gossip. You could just picture his well dressed, well appointed self flitting through town, beloved by all as he gathered kernels of gossip to pass around later. He was not shy about it either.

The book was rich with feeling and I thoroughly enjoyed every page. It's the right kind of book to cuddle up with a good cup of coffee and chase the winter blues away. I'm keeping this one to read again.

[Holton Mody · Rating 1 out of 5]

Queen of Broken Hearts is a romance novel written by Cassandra King. While it seems that the author’s primary objective was to entertain the reader and give them an enjoyable read, the book itself was far from that. Not only did I find this book incredibly boring, but I also did not particularly like the “protagonist,” Clare, who seemed like she was always caught up in some petty drama in the small southern town that she lived in.
I unfortunately was not able to continue reading the book after failing to find any sort of a plot more than halfway through. Although the characters aren’t completely two-dimensional, their dialogue seems to be superficial and a waste of the reader’s time. The author does not do a good job helping the reader visualize what is happening in the book, which for me is one of the most important parts of a good book. Furthermore, the main character doesn’t really seem to do much in the book. She is a divorce counselor herself, but isn’t married at the moment. It seems that she talks a lot with the few friends she has, but a lot of her discussions end up with her trying to persuade her friends to do things that will benefit herself more than others. This makes it hard for me to want to root for her when she runs into trouble.
Overall, this book was extremely dull and I would warn anyone reading this review against reading the book, unless you want to fall asleep as quickly as possible. In my opinion it was a waste of both my time and paper. DO NOT read The Queen of Broken Hearts by Cassandra King.

[anonymousreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Ashlyn Dalley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the novel! It made me wish I could go on a retreat for women after I had my heart broken. It have real-life situate when it came to marriage and relationships. When I as reading this novel, I could feel the characters pain. Losing your boyfriend or husband to cheating is hard; especially if you have children with that person. Queen of Broken Hearts teaches that you have to find yourself and let go of pain.
That you can start over. There are people that go through the same thing. Queen of Broken Hearts themes could be: Forgiveness, starting over, letting go, being happy and in-love with yourself, overcoming death and relationships, and marriages. Also, being brave and standing your own ground, the power a woman holds. Also, men going through the same thing as women.

I highly recommend Queen of Broken Hearts.

[Stephanie Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heart-warming novel about the residents of Fairhope, Alabama in their individual journeys of love and self-discovery. The writing felt seamless—both in plot progress and character development. King weaved the plot back and forth from present to past with a healthy dose of foreshadowing about how her husband Mack died. Character development was robust, I felt like I knew each character and how they would respond. I enjoyed all of the eclectic characters but especially Clare Ballenger, the narrator and level-headed divorce therapist who fends off two hunky (but completely opposite) love interests: suave cousin-in-law Rye Ballenger and gruffy yet sensitive, Lex “Man of Maine” Yarmouth. I loved the dynamic and funny dialogue between Clare, her best friend Dory, and her daughter Haley, who dropped some clever marrying your cousin jokes with her mom. King even interlaced some relationship therapy tidbits that I found helpful, too! Although King had neatly wrapped ending, I wish the novel continued so I could find out if Austin ever got his due justice and how Clare’s new romantic relationship developed.

[Marilyn Flower · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed the read...liked being kept guessing about main character's romantic inclinations, though the amount of air time sort of gave it away. Lots of quirky characters i would have liked to spend more time with, including Rye and Zoe and Cooter. this is my first Cassandra King novel and I was pleased to find touches of the magic of Pat Conroy! Much was made of Tommy but he never made it "on stage." Some of the flashbacks were awkward, but the story kept moving at a nice pace. Very courageous themes about divorce and recovering a strong sense of self.

[Ginny Thurston · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was frustrating the whole way through. After reading how she got her ideas, I can understand why. Evidently, things kept happening in her life, and King just decided to throw them in and change the direction of the book each time. That is how it felt...too many interesting characters that never get developed. It was very disjointed, and the ending was not very satisfying. It had potential, but never made me care enough to want to continue, or if I started to care, the plot jumped somewhere else.

[Shannon Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in the South and featuring female friends who are sweet, sassy, quirky, and, above all, loyal to each other, this story gave me a "Steel Magnolias" feel, and I loved it so much! It focuses on love, loss, family, friendship, hope, betrayal, failure, second chances, and overcoming heartbreak. I laughed and I cried and I felt all the emotions in between. An absolute five-star read that I totally recommend!

[Dallas Strawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. My first read of Cassandra King. Very reminiscent of Mary Alice Monroe and Patti Callahan Henry.....the timing was a little all over the place; you learned reveals from the past then it kept going in the present then back to the past....and that bugged me after a while...but the writing is classic southern fiction. Can't wait to read more of King.

[Katie Karns · Rating 2 out of 5]

So this title describes me after I realized I spent so many hours reading this boring, pointless novel with its unsatisfying ending. The main character was so incredibly frustrating and dense, the epitome if "me, hi, im the problem its me". The peacock is probably the most interesting character in the book.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The queen in this novel is Claire who is a divorce counselor. Having lost her husband in a mysterious death, she has put her heart on hold for a long time. When her own daughter is in need of her guidance, she does her best to help her heal her broken heart and finds her own has healed as well.

[Angela McVay · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s hard to believe that I added this book to my TBR list in 2009, and I just finished it. It just goes to show that books have their own time and place. It’s a good reminder to go back and re-visit my TBR list and blow the virtual dust off to take a peek inside.

[Linda Nease · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this story of a divorce coach who is setting up a new retreat center while also dealing with her friend's reuniting with an ex the coach doesn't like, her daughter and her mother in law. Fun characters and great story!

[Jakima Price · Rating 3 out of 5]

all of the bird talk wasn’t quite necessary but i get the reason for the specific details. the back and forth with lex and clare got annoying after awhile, considering they’re all older and not in high school. also rye and clare’s relationship is interesting. overall nice read

[Jeannie Cloud · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and light hearted