No matter how sharp the sight, it is a human condition to see others perfectly but not oneself, unless a mirror is held in front of a person. The protagonist Clare Ballinger, in Queen of Broken Hearts, is such a person, and the ones who hold the mirror for her are her family and friends.
Clare is a divorce therapist who helps people get over their sense of loss and go on with their lives. Yet, Clare herself has lost her husband five years ago, and as cool and collected as she seems, she has difficulty relating to other men except as friends. Clare treats her patients usually in groups and in retreats. As she gets ready to open a permanent place on a beautiful property on the Alabama coast, her best friend Dory takes back her estranged husband called Son, someone Clare dislikes, to form a happy union, while Clare's daughter Haley's marriage breaks up. Clare has two men in her life whom she considers friends, but both men are interested in her. Rye Ballinger, the cousin of her husband who looks like him, and Lex, a northerner who owns and operates the marina. Lex's ex-wife Elinor is a high-end boutique shop owner. When Lex shows interest in Clare, Elinor tries to get Lex back, although she is the one who has left him. As Lex vacillates, Clare falls in love with him, even if she denies her feelings to herself.
The setting is Fairhope, Alabama, a southern coast town rich with warmth and gossip. The strength of the novel is in its diverse characters who are so human that a reader can visualize them one by one in front of his eyes. Even the secondary characters leave an indelible image like Clare's colorful mother-in-law Zoe who acts as the sage in the story. Most of the characters surrounding Clare have experienced the hurt of love lost.
Queen of Broken Hearts feels more like a human story of self-discovery than a romance novel, although some book stores stack it inside the romance section. The romance in this novel is skillfully woven through the plotline, making the reader want to read on, and the story lacks the titillating sex scenes that have little to do with the plot, which is a characteristic of the romance genre.
