CURE FOR THE COMMON BREAKUP
Welcome to Black Dog Bay, a tiny seaside town in Delaware known as “the best place in America to bounce back from your breakup.” Home to the Better Off Bed-and-Breakfast, the Eat Your Heart Out bakery, and the Whinery bar, Black Dog Bay offers a haven for the suddenly single.
Flight attendant Summer Benson lives by two rules: Don’t stay with the same man for too long and never stay in one place. She’s about to break rule number one by considering accepting her boyfriend’s proposal—then disaster strikes and her world is shattered in an instant.
Welcome to Black Dog Bay, a tiny seaside town in Delaware known as “the best place in America to bounce back from your breakup.” Home to the Better Off Bed-and-Breakfast, the Eat Your Heart Out bakery, and the Whinery bar, Black Dog Bay offers a haven for the suddenly single.
Flight attendant Summer Benson lives by two rules: Don’t stay with the same man for too long and never stay in one place. She’s about to break rule number one by considering accepting her boyfriend’s proposal—then disaster strikes and her world is shattered in an instant.
Summer heads to Black Dog Bay, where the locals welcome her. Even Hattie Huntington, the town’s oldest, richest, and meanest resident, likes her enough to give her a job. Then there’s Dutch Jansen, the rugged, stoic mayor, who’s the opposite of her type. She probably shouldn’t be kissing him. She definitely shouldn’t be falling in love.
After a lifetime of globe-trotting, Summer has finally found a home. But Hattie has old scores to settle and a hidden agenda for her newest employee. Summer finds herself faced with an impossible choice: Leave Black Dog Bay behind forever, or stay with the ones she loves and cost them everything….
- NAL
- Paperback
- May 2014
- 336 Pages
- 9780451465856
Buy the Book
$15.00
About Beth Kendrick
Beth Kendrick is the author of The Bake-Off, along with Second Time Around, The Prenup, and several other women’s fiction novels. She lives with her family in Arizona, where she will be delighted to bake you some homemade brownies…and if you buy your cakes from the grocery store, she promises not to judge you.
Praise
“Beth Kendrick has reminded me once again exactly why I love her books so much. Cure for the Common Breakup is packed with humor, wit and a lot of heart. A charming and exceptionally entertaining story! I can’t recommend this book highly enough.”—Jane Porter, national bestselling author of The Good Wife
“Beth Kendrick has written a sharp, sassy, surprisingly emotional story that will make readers laugh out loud from page one and sigh from the heart at the end. Light and lovely perfection!”—Roxanne St. Claire, New York Times bestselling author of The Barefoot Bay Series
“Utterly delightful! Summer Benson will charm and disarm her way into the hearts of readers as easily as she does the residents of Black Dog Bay.”—Meg Donohue, USA Today bestselling author of All the Summer Girls
Discussion Questions
Louis L’Amour wrote, “There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.” Are there parts of your own life that bear this out? What do you think about this as a slogan for the town of Black Dog Bay and the heartbreak tourists? What other slogans might be appropriate?
Summer and Ingrid establish an unorthodox mentor-mentee relationship, in which they both learn from each other. What are the most valuable lessons each learns? Think about mentors you’ve had in your own life—do you think you changed their lives, even as they were changing yours? How so?
The Whinery provides humor, support, and a sense of community to women struggling to recover from romantic setbacks. If Jenna decided to open a second location of the bar in your town, what amenities would you add? What would your signature cocktail be called, and what would be in it?
Lavinia Leighton, the founder of Black Dog Bay, was saved from drowning by a big black dog, which often represents depression in Western literature. Profound loss can result in profound life changes and spiritual awakenings. In your own experience, which factors predict whether someone will “sink or swim” after an unbearable heartbreak?
Summer is a born adventurer in many ways, including her reckless approach to romance. Paradoxically, she uses flirtation and physical “intimacy” to keep men at a safe emotional distance. What makes Dutch different, in her eyes? What do you think he sees in Summer that makes him respond to her differently than to all the other women who have asked him out?
In some ways, Hattie Huntington exemplifies the phrase “money can’t buy happiness”. What do you think her greatest fear is? Her fondest wish?
Hollis tells Summer that the mystical black “ghost dog” appeared to her because she had turned a corner on her road to healing. Why do you think the dog appears to Pauline and Hattie at that particular moment in France? Do you think reuniting with Mies would have healed Hattie in the same way that reuniting with Pauline did?
Compile your own breakup playlist. Bonus points if you can sing every syllable at the top of your lungs while crying in your car at a stoplight.