New Uses for Old Boyfriends: A Black Dog Bay Novel, Book 2

Written by Beth Kendrick

Narrated by Amy Rubinate

The author of Cure for the Common Breakup brings us back to Black Dog Bay on the Delaware shore....

After growing up in privilege and marrying into money, Lila Alders has gotten used to the good life. But when her happily ever after implodes, Lila must return to Black Dog Bay, the tiny seaside town where she grew up.

She's desperate for a safe haven, but everything has changed over the past 10 years. Her family's fortune is gone - and her mother is in total denial. It's up to Lila to take care of everything...but she can barely take care of herself.

The former golden girl of Black Dog Bay struggles to reinvent herself by opening a vintage clothing boutique. But even as Lila finds new purpose for outdated dresses and tries to reunite with her ex, she realizes that sometimes it's too late for old dreams. She's lost everything she thought she needed but found something - someone - she desperately wants.

A boy she hardly noticed has grown up into a man she can't forget...and a second chance has never felt so much like first love.

An Ideal Audiobooks media production.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ideal Audiobooks
• Release date: Nov 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781942907206

Beth Kendrick

Beth Kendrick won the Romance Writers of America's Golden Heart Award for My Favorite Mistake. She has a Ph.D. in psychology and an unshakable devotion to the Chicago Cubs. After surviving too many Minnesota winters, she moved to Arizona, where she is working on her second novel (coming soon from Downtown Press). For more information you can visit the author's website at www.bethkendrick.com.

Reviews for New Uses for Old Boyfriends

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A more critical reviewer would likely characterize this novel as fluff and while I couldn't argue that assessment, I will also say that there's something cozy and comforting about a light read filled with humor, romance, and overly dramatic characters. This book may not be Hemingway, but it is perfect to read while relaxing with a glass of wine and sometimes I need that more than I need critically acclaimed literature. This novel features a broke divorcee who's trying to help her recently widowed mother through a financially precarious situation. They attempt to make a business out of the closets of vintage clothing her mother's collected over the years, with a little help from a few ex-boyfriends who just happen to have the needed resources and skills. And, not surprisingly, everything manages to work out in the end. Did everything turn out just a little too perfectly? Yes. Did it make for fun reading? Also yes.

[mlake_22 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I am so glad I had a chance to go back to Black Dog Bay.

[mrsmommybooknerd7 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love when an author takes you back into a familiar place with familiar characters, Kendrick has brought us back to Black Dog Bay in her follow up novel NEW USES FOR OLD BOYFRIENDS. I encourage readers to first read THE CURE FOR A COMMON BREAKUP, as you will gain so much more depth to this already richly written, well developed and engrossing story!!! I want Black Dog Bay to be real...I want to go there and spend time. Kendrick has a way to pull the reader in and to make not only the setting feel real, but the characters too. You feel connected to them, you feel yourself relating to them and cheering them up, as well as grieving with them. This is the type of novel you don't want to end. This is such a great read...a great choice for book clubs, a great book to toss in the purse so you can escape into Black Dog Bay at anytime. 4.5 stars

[ethel55_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After making it 'big' as a late night host on a shopping channel, her husband wants a divorce, so Lila heads back to Black Dog Bay, the town she grew up in. Her father recently passed away, so she figures she can help her mother sort through things while she regroups. Naturally, turns out Daphne hasn't been paying the bills, in over her head as a new widow. But, the powers of Black Dog Bay and its' ability to help women get over bad break ups is at work, and soon Lila and her mom (with her former modeling background) have opened a vintage clothing shop to help ends. meet. What is fun about Lila's arrival home, is the parade of old friends, mostly boyfriends, as they fill new roles in Lila's life, just as they had gone on with their own lives without her.

[whitreidtan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Black Dog Bay, Delaware is a town where women can go to recover from their breakups and heartaches. Catering to well-heeled tourists as well as the lovelorn, this quirky, small, oceanfront town is a good place to find sympathy, to heal, and to reinvent your life and start over. Beth Kendrick created the tightly connected town full of eccentric characters in her novel, Cure for the Common Breakup, and she returns to it with New Uses For Old Boyfriends. Lila Alders had made it. She moved out of tiny Black Dog Bay. She was on tv as the host of a home shopping show, moderately famous enough to be recognized, occasionally. She and her husband had money. Yep, she'd made it, right up until she hadn't. Her contract not renewed and unable to get auditions for other tv jobs, her cheating husband has divorced her and left her destitute, so she has nowhere to go but home to her recently widowed mother so she can lick her wounds in Black Dog Bay while she considers what to do with her life. All of her possessions in the back of her FUV (the name she calls the enormous SUV she bought just before her ex-husband cancelled her credit card and cleared out their joint account--say it out loud if you're still not getting it), she breaks down on the way into town, running into her ex-boyfriend from high school, Ben. The plan is to move back in with her recently widowed mom, Daphne, and help with all the things that Lila's dad used to do for his wife while also renewing her acquaintance with Ben. But things don't run as smoothly as all that. Lila quickly discovers that her father hid the extent of his debts from her mother, her mother has continued living as if her income was unlimited. There's nothing for it but to sell the gorgeous home she grew up in no matter how much it hurts her and how much her mother protests. Daphne is a former model who feels trapped in Black Dog Bay and is missing her late husband so much that she can't bear to think about selling the home he built for her and that she has spent decades decorating and perfecting. So when Lila finds trunks full of her mother's old couture clothing in the attic, she determines to open a vintage clothing store, and hopefully make enough to save the house. As all of this is coming together, she tries to rekindle a relationship with Ben, who is, no doubt about it, a really good guy. Ben isn't the only guy in town though; there's also Malcolm, the quiet guy she doesn't remember from high school, a former Marine who, having learned to sew from his mother and grandmother, makes covert repairs to the delicate clothing Lila brings to him. As Lila tries desperately to save her mother, the house, and herself, through setback after setback, she starts to realize that she has been so busy being who everyone else expects her to be that she doesn't even know who she actually is, and she may not have ever known. She is learning strength and confidence. She is making friends with other women who like her and support her. And she is getting to know the Lila that can make things happen, not just for herself but for those she cares about. The book is fun and flirty but it also has a strong undercurrent of empowerment weaving through the lively and entertaining chick lit plot. Kendrick revisits characters from the first Black Dog Bay book and a knowledge of the first book does give some additional insight into the town, the speed at which gossip spreads in it, and the eccentric characters who inhabit the place, but even without it, this is still an amusing and enjoyable read that easily stands on its own. The romance is mostly predictable but the real focus is on Lila, her growth, and her newfound ability to find happiness and joy in the people and place around her and as such, is a delight to read.

[staciele · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In Kendrick's fictional town of Black Dog Bay on the coast of Delaware, women flee to recover from break-ups. Women can drown their sorrows at the Whinery and burn their memories at the Better Off Bed and Breakfast bonfire. In her book, CURE FOR THE COMMON BREAKUP, Kendrick introduced us to the women of Black Dog Bay and has brought some of them back in her newest novel.In NEW USES FOR OLD BOYFRIENDS, Lila, a local girl who made it big, returns home after losing her celebrity job, her fancy house, and her rich husband. Her father has recently died and she is hoping to comfort her mom as well as be comforted. Unfortunately, her father left a lot of things for her mom to tidy up. Lila realizes that there is a lot more to deal with than her mom has let on and they are in serious financial trouble. As Lila tries to rebuild her life, her mom makes things even more difficult. Lila finds her mom's closets and storage units are full of vintage dresses from her modeling days, Lila gets the idea to start a new business, selling the clothes and accessories in a vintage dress shop on the boardwalk. The catch is her mom refuses to give them up. While Lila is trying to reinvent her life, bail them out of financial ruin, and find some hope of not being homeless, an old high school boyfriend decides to return to Black Dog Bay as well. Will they get the second chance they never got in high school?Kendrick knows how to have fun with a story and the importance of likable characters. Short chapters and a fast-paced story-line keep the reader turning the pages. Even though the outcome is a bit predictable, the ride there is fun and even has an unexpected twist at the end. It's a quick read perfect for an airplane ride to the beach or a weekend curled up while a winter storm is blowing outside. Fans of chick-lit, light romance, friendships, and happy endings will find Kendrick's books enjoyable. Plus, the cover is gorgeous! This book can stand alone, but will be much more enjoyable if you have the back story on some of the characters of Black Dog Bay first.