Lila Alders grew up in a nice home in a wonderful small town and was pretty much the town sweetheart.  Moving away and taking on a job as a tv personality was right in the plans and so was marrying the guy who provided Lila with the money she was accustomed to as well as a knock out ring to match.  Lila was living the life you see in fairy tales.

Of course….

fairy tales are fiction.

When her marriage falls apart and her job right along with it, Lila picks up what is left of her dignity and bank account and heads back to the comfort of her home town and her mother who still lives in the gorgeous home she grew up in.  Yet Lila finds that her mother is in no better shape than she is.  Having ignored the warnings of financial advisers, Daphne has continued to live beyond her means since the passing of her husband and Lila’s father.  Lila is shocked to find that the money is gone, and it looks like her childhood home must be sold to take her mom out of the dept that she is in.

Perhaps looking up an old boyfriend and trying to rekindle what they once had  will help bring a little of the sparkle back to Lila…  but time marches on, for everyone.

 

 

 

In a word:  Delightful.  In another word:  Fun.  I absolutely enjoyed New Uses For Old Boyfriends.  Lila is a great protagonist.  She may have grown up used to having things handed to her but she is not afraid of hard work to set things right.  And the way she goes about things had me cheering for her and laughing at the same time.  It is hard for me to put into words how much I liked this book.

You may think the synopsis sounds familiar, it is true there are many books out there surrounding the “going back home” theme and honestly a lot of them are pretty predictable.  I am happy to say this is not a cookie cutter version of the others like it.  Beth Kendrick changes things up in New Uses For Old Boyfriends and there are surprises along the way.  In the end, I wanted to do what Lila did and in a fictional world I would move to a sweet little seaside town like Black Dog Bay, join my friends at the Winery in the evenings, and build myself a little business.  A girl can always dream. 🙂

I found this book refreshing and fun.

 

*Quick note – this book is a second in a series called Black Dog Bay however do not let that discourage you.  I honestly did not know it was a second until after I finished the book and was writing this review.  I looked up the information on the first book, Cure For The Common Break Up, and while it has some of the same characters, it is a different story centered around the town.  You do not need to read this first book to get the second.  In fact, I think I have Cure For The Common Break Up on the shelves and I am going to bump that one up to read soon.  I would love to take a trip back to Black Dog Bay.

 

 

• Series: Black Dog Bay Novel (Book 2)
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: NAL (February 3, 2015)