“Merlin gives off Sophie Kinsella and Emily Giffin vibes only with an execution of plots that is all her own….Beth Merlin is totally going to grow in popularity. I’m calling it.” – Book and BroadwayAfter weeks of training to whip Joanna Kitt into shape for her big day, her picture-perfect engagement to her high school sweetheart is torn in two, and Joanna is left out on her perfectly toned rear … her perfectly toned rear end. To put the past and her heartache behind her, she sets off for two weeks at the renowned Retreat House Breakup Boot Camp in Topsail Island off the coast of North Carolina.
Despite her sadness, Joanna throws herself into the experience hoping surfing, yoga, spa treatments, meditation, and talk therapy will be enough to help her get over the one man she’s ever loved. But she soon learns the Boot Camp is only the first step to healing her broken heart. Joanna will have to come to terms with the career she abandoned, the loss in her life she never fully accepted, and the role she played in the ending of her relationship.
When she meets Todd Aldrich, the handsome and mysterious hotel chef, she has the chance to take her renewed heart out for a test drive and see if she is ready for new beginnings and new love.
Will 12 steps be enough to get her life back on track? Or will her getaway to get over him prove healing the heart takes a whole lot more?
more
Ms. Merlin is a great author. This book was very informative and fun. Ms. Merlin describes mental road blocks that can keep anyone from moving forward and how those road blocks are sometimes our crutches. I truly enjoyed this book. I am a native of Georgia but have lived in NC for 37 years and I enjoyed reading about NC’s coast. I am looking forward too reading more books from Ms. Merlin.
This book was adorable and easy to read. I will look for more!
I loved this book! The setting and characters were great. You should read this book if you love the beach and romance!
A very interesting take on coming to terms with loss. Really enjoyed this one!
4.5 cranky stars
This book was like a breath of fresh air. It was a different concept, after her breakup from a long relationship with Sam, Jo was persuaded to go to a breakup boot camp which was an idyllic place on the beach facing the ocean. It was a place to learn to love yourself and become the person deep inside. There were yoga classes and surfing lessons along with spa treatments including one I have never heard of but I won’t forget it!!!!
Although a predictable ending it was well written and an enjoyable read, especially some of the antics she got up to with her new friends who were both celebrities in their own right, but everyone was there for the same reason and they made life long friendships.
I really enjoyed the other books I read by this author, the Campfire series which started with One S’more Summer, so I was very excited to read this one. It was a pretty good story overall. I liked a lot of the things that she learned to do to help out with her feelings at the Breakup Boot Camp. There were definitely some things that can be applied to real life for any time you’re feeling down. I also loved having a connection back to the characters from the earlier series that I love, that was fun. Todd, the new love interest, was also pretty sweet sounding, and definitely had a smoulder about him with being able to cook and surf, etc. I also thought the whole pirate’s treasure bit was fun and made for a very sweet twist at the end. I’d say it’s another sweet story from an author I enjoy.
“Breakup Boot Camp” by Beth Merlin was a wonderful story featuring a fantastic main character, Joanna Kitt. I loved Joanna and the way she threw herself into life after her breakup with her high school sweetheart, Sam. She really took advantage of the opportunity to examine what went wrong and own up to her mistakes, and I especially admired her ability to acknowledge the part she played in the breakdown of the relationship. Joanna was so much stronger and more independent than she gave herself credit for being, and the Breakup Boot Camp helped her learn how to move forward and create the life she wanted for herself.
Some of the sessions at the Breakup Boot Camp were very interesting to me, particularly the one featuring the dominatrix, Mistress Monica. Mistress Monica’s message regarding confidence was certainly spot on, even if it was delivered in an unexpected way. The camp-wide search for Blackbeard’s buried treasure was a fun touch too. Looking for the treasure was a nice way for Joanna to bond with her new friends, Zosia and Emmy, and I also loved the role it played in the story’s epilogue.
Overall, I loved this book every bit as much as I did the Campfire series. I really appreciated the little Easter eggs Ms. Merlin added in for fans of those books, including the fact that one of the actors who auditions for “Cats” had a previous role in “Elizabeth,” and that Joanna’s wedding dress is a Georgica Goldstein. Somehow I could see Gigi and Joanna becoming friends if they ever had the chance to meet! Who knows, maybe Joanna will be cast in one of Perry Gillman’s shows one day, and they’ll become besties. At any rate, I highly recommend “Breakup Boot Camp” and look forward to reading whatever Ms. Merlin writes next.
*ARC provided by the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.