Brook is back as the Breakup Doctor, and business has been booming.
That is until she reluctantly agrees to star on a morning TV show hosted
by a frenemy from high school. The segment ends up painting Brook as nothing but a glorified friend and makes her business out to be a big joke. Whoever said any publicity is good publicity has not met the people of Brook's town as patients start to cancel. If this wasn't
stressful enough, Brook has some family issues going on with her mother showing signs of dementia
though it seems no one else in the family is strong enough to broach the
topic with her and as the family counsellor and medical
practitioner, it's up to Brook. She’s also busy trying to plan her
wedding but nothing seems to be going right.
Out of Practice is the fourth book in the Breakup Doctor
series and by the way the story finished, I wonder if it will be the last
as the character seems to be taking a new direction. If you love cozy
stories with a medical and romantic comedy feel, then check this out. (PP)
Therapist Brook Ogden is back in book two of the Breakup Doctor series. After her
fiance leaves her before their wedding, Brook does the unthinkable and
hooks up with a client, Chip Santana, and they are promptly arrested for
indecent exposure. Now trying to get her life back on track and dating another guy called Ben, Brook thinks this is her year to strengthen her career as a relationship counsellor. Brook and her best friend, Sasha, come up with a brilliant idea of setting up group counselling
sessions so she can reach more people. While she is helping one of her
clients, she runs into Chip again and he asks her for help with his
love life. She thinks this is the perfect opportunity to rid herself of
the uncontrollable feelings she has for him. But will she actually rid
herself of those feelings or fall more in love, even though she has a
great man actually willing and able to love her?
This book includes some laugh-out-loud breakups that makes you think that maybe your own crazy breakup isn't so crazy anymore. (CG)
Brook Ogden is living her life until everything blows up in her face. As a relationship coach she has worked hard on building up her client base. She arrives at work one day to find her building being demolished; her mother is leaving her dad; her latest relationship has ended with 'I can't do this anymore' and her newly purchased home is a rebuild nightmare. Step by step Brook must navigate all these obstacles to rebuild her life, including her friendships. Each step leads her closer to a different life and a lot of self-discovery. The authors takes you on a rollercoaster of ''oh no, don't do that' as Brook falls into a new job as the Breakup Doctor (a weekly news column) and new clients while recreating herself. Brook finds out a great deal about herself as she works with her clients and their messy break-ups. Each person she meets, she learns more about what she has done and this time she is ready to listen and learn.
This is a funny novel that has the reader cheering Brook on the sidelines to make good decisions. However, to me the characters didn't come across as anything more than one-dimensional. Indeed the book felt like a screenplay that needed to be fleshed out by actors performing it on stage. (MS)
