tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454157855134089057.post-18521630973484858502008-04-28T09:24:00.005-04:002008-04-28T09:36:13.375-04:00<a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_4JiD6kGRQNk/SBXQU8g4MZI/AAAAAAAAAbo/jPGtkDv7Rec/s1600-h/queen+of+broken+hearts.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5194286803501724050" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_4JiD6kGRQNk/SBXQU8g4MZI/AAAAAAAAAbo/jPGtkDv7Rec/s400/queen+of+broken+hearts.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />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 problems 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 the run the marina, Claire insists they remain friends and nothing more. But even though she fights it, she begins to fall for him only to find she has a rival, his estranged wife Elinor. A story infused with all the flavors, textures, and intrigues of a small Southern town, with a rich resonant center, <em>Queen of Broken Hearts </em>is a bold step forward for Cassandra King<br /><br /><strong>The story behind the story in an interview with Cassandra King - </strong><br />Are their parts of this book that you drew from your life experience? Is that always the case for fiction? Was it the case, in particular, for this book?<br /><br />Almost everything in the book I drew from personal experiences, which has been the case with my other fictional works. QOBH came about this way: As was revising my last book, my sister's twenty-year marriage was falling apart. My own divorce, years earlier, had been bad enough, but witnessing my sister's grief and being able to offer little comfort was a different kind of agony for me. At a signing in Atlanta several months later, serendipity intervened, and the idea for a book was born. I met a woman who conducted divorce recovery retreats, and I not only signed my sister up, I accompanied her in order to do research. Watching the women at the retreat bond with each other, and make the first steps toward recovery, moved me beyond words—or so I thought, until I began working on <em>Queen of Broken Hearts</em>.Greenwood County Libraryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13711231480267259927noreply@blogger.com