Much like the Inn, the story has good bones. Two wives who clearly have bad history happen to be at the inn they abandoned at the same time. Naturally, they both do things to make the other miserable. The pranks were pretty mean but also kind of funny. Yet, Bed and Breakup fell flat for me. It is very clear Molly and Robin don’t like each other. Even when their relationship improves I had a hard time believing they loved each other or that they ever loved each other. The end is good but I’m not going to lie I expected a little more dramatic ending.

DNF at 10%

I really enjoyed Looking for a Sign by this author so I was looking forward to this one. I love Bed and Breakfast and anything that would give me Gilmore Girls vibes. When I picked this up in early June and started reading it, I just wasn't feeling it enough to continue. I feel like the characters sounded the same and it was just a bit too quirky for my taste. It was also not believable enough how they both ended up at the B&B. It's very possible that it could have been the wrong timing and I'd pick it up in the future. We all connect differently to books so if you are interested in this, give it a try. (I also recommend Looking for. a Sign by this author - it was a fun zodiac themed romance).

I had to give a star rating to submit my review, so I chose 3 stars because that is my typical rating for books I feel are somewhere in the middle where I'd only recommend to people interested in it.

* Thank you to Netgalley for providing me this arc in exchange for an honest review *

Oh my gosh this was so dang cute!!!!!

Bed and Breakup.... this is such an adorable title and so here for it! I love a fixer upper type of story. Love the second chance and enemies to lovers tropes here. My fav part was the people in the town. They added so much to the story.

Such a cute cozy Inn and adorable!!!

4/5 stars

Cute book about a couple who both end up in their old home, even though they’ve been separated for years. I enjoyed all of the side characters and think it’d be fun to live in a town like this one.

A small town, second chance, sapphic romance? Yes please!

Robin and Molly ended their marriage seven years ago. Now they are both back in town and at the inn they built together. Both going through some things. They are mortified to see how the inn is now and decide to renovate it and give it back the charm the original inn had.

I loved all the side characters in this town and how much they wanted them back together. They definitely had work to do, both on themselves and as a couple.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 stars

Second chance romance right after love triangles is probably my least favorite trope. There’s always so much drama and miscommunication, which can be fun but often frustrating. In Bed and Breakup, these weren’t as overdone, which I appreciated.

I just tend to prefer books where I get the full story, instead of being dropped in after the first breakup. But there were plenty of other elements here that made up for that. The town, the characters, and the storyline all felt cozy and genuinely enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dial Press Trade for the ARC!

Bed and Breakup by Susie Dumond is a second chance queer romance set in small town Arkansas. I won't lie, I had the exact same issues with this as I did with Dumond's debut, queerly beloved. The characters were so immature for being grown adults and their inner monologue was almost insufferable. This was written in dual POV but I could've been fooled until about halfway through the book. The voices of each character were almost indistinct and I had to rely on context and side characters for the first few pages of each pov change to figure out who I was meant to be following. This did get better later in the book but it should've been clearer from the start.

The pacing felt okay and I LOVED the side characters but overall I simply don't think this book was for me. I tried to give second chance romance (unironically) a second chance with Robin and Molly but it's just not a trope that I enjoy. I did not like Robin and still can not fathom why Molly forgave her but maybe she's just a better (dumber?) person than I am. I think this has its audience, but I'm not it. If Dumond released another book in the same town following one of the side characters, I'd pick that up. The side characters were significantly more likable and interesting that our leading women. Otherwise, I don't think I'd pick up another novel from this author.

Thank you NetGalley, Random House, Dial Press Trade Paperback, and Susie Dumond for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was not a fan of either main characters
I thought Robin was selfish and shallow. It felt like she saw Molly as the answer to her money problems and really, you didn’t see Mollys abandonment issues?! Come on!!

Molly seemed a bit vindictive which is valid! But I didn’t like that she turned their friends against Robin. I hate second chance romance and probably should have left this in the no pile but I wanted to read a cute little sapphic
I would love a story in the side characters

Such a cute 2nd chance at romance tale! It was humorous, fun and a bit emotional. I enjoyed the sapphire romance and will definitely be recommending this to a few people i know always looking for non-cheesy romcoms.

When they were young, Molly and Robin bought an inn in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and renovated it into a hotspot destination. However, after a few years, their relationship fell apart, and the inn has been (mis)managed by a company since. They both find themselves independently back in town. At first, they both are determined to make the other's life miserable, but soon they realize that refurbishing the inn together to sell it is worth their while. As they work together, the spark between them starts to develop again.

This was a cute romcom! It was not the cutest thing I've ever read, or the most emotionally moving, but it was light and pleasant to read. It doesn't have a big breakup scene and come back together - it is more working through issues as they come up. The ending did feel a bit abrupt. Maybe even if there had been an epilogue, it would have felt less so.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Super cute queer romance about an innkeeper remodeling her inn. As a queer woman I love a good sapphic romance with fun banter.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House | Dial Press Trade Paperback for the e-ARC of this title to read and review. I'll admit up front that I struggle with giving second chance romances even their first chance, because there's usually 85 reasons why a book couple would have gone their separate ways and 84 of them are a good enough reason to stay away. In this case, Molly and Robin haven't seen each other in 7 years, and originally split because of one partner's heartbreaking cheating -- and if that's not going to start RIGHT AWAY with an incredibly serious, open, and even deeply unflattering conversation, then I'm a hard sell.

... Of COURSE this book didn't start with that conversation! It was a lot of mutual navel gazing from afar, with each character both wondering where it all went wrong, but without having any discussions about it with their former spouses. They pull these terrible mean-spirited and childish pranks on each other and also keep saying multiple times how old and worn down ancient they are now that they're *gasp* 35, so you can't get a read on if they're young/swept up in love or these 80-year-old ladies finding love again after ALL THESE YEARS (because they talk like BOTH of those ages.) They pretty quickly decide to tumble into bed together, also without much discussion? It also turns out that divorces require paperwork and they simply didn't file those papers, so they're probably technically legally married still? I think the romance requires a lot of suspension of disbelief -- you as the reader have to believe in this couple because they want to still be in each other's orbit, at least to fix up this B&B that they own, but it's challenging. It kind of makes no sense legally or financially that these two wouldn't have known about one another's careers or money or property in the seven years they've been apart, but you can't think like that to enjoy their vibes!

So why the high rating? Because at some point, I switched over from my e-ARC copy to the book's dually narrated audiobook. And it SHINES. The audio brings to life this wonderful setting, a real town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas in the Ozarks. It's vibrant, queer-friendly, artsy, and welcoming, even in the deep south. The cast of side characters are so supportive and real, and they are all successful in their own interesting ways. Settling in with this book was like a warm hug from all these friends, and such an enjoyable listening/reading experience. Even Molly and Robin, hearing "from them" about how much they love this town, the people they've met there over the years, and their passion for their historic B&B, is just lovely. Instead of focusing on why their relationship is full of red flags, it felt like I was hearing friends describe chaotic dating woes (where you want to nudge them down a good path but you also step back and listen because that's the more important part of your role.) So I think the audiobook is a 5-star read, the book around a 3 itself, and a 4 total because it's certainly a compelling read that I'm going to be thinking about these little details of for quite some time. It definitely sticks with you as more complex than the reading feels (like the characters are flawed people and therefore frustrating but the read doesn't itself feel like a challenge!), and I hope I've been able to articulate that feeling decently with my review!

The main characters in this book were so oblivious it hurt. Every other character could see what they could and they just wanted to be delusional the whole time. The book was very fast paced. It went from we’re enemies to the next chapter they’re fine, then they’re in love again, and yet we’re not gonna figure anything out until the last 5 pages??? Not it.

This is one of my favorite second chance romances. Great back story, great tension, them coming back together made sense. Loved the setting in a queer-friendly Deep South town.

This novel follows Molly, who’s in the middle of renovating the Hummingbird Inn when her ex-girlfriend, Robin, unexpectedly shows up. Despite their breakup, the Inn still holds a special place in Robin’s heart and soon she’s pitching in, using her social media presence to help draw attention to the place. With cute banter, playful tension, and a cozy small-town vibe, this is such a fun read!

this queer romance set in the Ozark mountains was something I was really hopeful I was going to enjoy! unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me. don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad! but it wasn't my favorite. robin and Molly are exes who jointly own a bed and breakfast in the small town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I love romances set in small towns, and when I was reading this, I found myself wanting to live in this cutie little small town. but the main part of this book is the romance, and I thought it fell a bit flat and blah to me. I wanted to read about them falling in love again, but I found they never fell out of love, so their relationship in that aspect was already established from years ago. I'm a sucker for second chance romances, but this just didn't do it for me as much as I was hoping it would. thank you to the author and netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this second chance romance from Dumond! The rebuilding of one's life together mirrored by the rebuilding of their old home/business was a nice landscape for this story! I wish the emotional depth had been explored a bit more, but all in all, I think sapphic romance readers will really enjoy this book!

Thank you so much to Susie Dumond and Dial Press for this E-ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own! 🥰

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I enjoyed this book a lot! I am becoming more and more of a fan of second chance and I especially love it when the main characters have been married before.
I think also because of being married, the time apart, and the forced proximity; we really got to see the character’s growth and how their love evolved from the time apart.

Find more on my IG @kayreads_romance

⚠️ !! Please be sure to check any TWs before diving in !! ⚠️

What to expect:
* Sapphic romance
* Small town
* Second chance
* Artist x Chef
* Forced proximity

This one was cute, I am really not a huge fan of second chances, and the let’s be mean to one another to run the other person out of town is definitely not for me, but once they stopped that and started spending time together and communicating I enjoyed it a lot more.

I really enjoyed this sapphic second chance romance set in a small (red state) town. I thought the characters were a bit immature at first, but I was invested in their journey.