It's not easy being the Queen of Broken Hearts. Just ask Clare, who has willingly assumed the mantle as a therapist specializing in helping women mend their broken hearts. Now she's preparing to open a permanent home for the retreats she leads, on a slice of breathaking property on the Alabama coast owned by Zoe, her former mother-in-law, a colorful eccentric who rescues hurt birds, and who teaches Clare much about love and living freely.

After Clare's marriage ends in tragedy, her work becomes the sole focus of her life. Yet while Clare has no problem helping the women who flock to her, healing her own heart is another matter entirely. She resists the attentions of the charming and debonair Rye, even though her best friend, Dory, plays Cupid, hoping Clare will allow herself to love again.

When Lex, a charismatic, burly sea captain, moves into town, he turns to Clare for help in recovering from a disastrous marriage of his own. Lex and Clare work together ro ready her new retreat site, and by the time it is completed, Clare must decide. Can she move beyond the grief and guilt of the past, or will she remain the Queen of Broken Hearts?