*I received a free copy of Bad Ex Karma from Selfpublished via Author. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *
Bad Ex Karma by Donna Cummings Published by Selfpublished on 10 June 2015
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Format: eARC
Source: Author
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The dating gods must be crazy.
I'd thought my five-year anniversary would include a fancy dinner, some great sex, and maybe fending off a marriage proposal. Instead, it was the worst sex ever, and at the restaurant, my boyfriend broke up with me.
It's like I've been cursed with Bad Ex Karma. Whenever I try to date a new guy, he ends up with a concussion or a trip to the ER.
My internal "disaster consultants", the What Ifs, completely missed the clues leading to the breakup, so now they're working overtime to protect me from another potential heartbreak. My two best friends set me up on dates while assuring me it won't put men on the endangered species list.
There's one man who seems completely immune to the curse: a sexy chef named Jonathan. He keeps popping up in my life, and he stirs up the most delicious feelings. Maybe Bad Ex Karma isn't such a bad thing after all. . .
Bad Ex Karma has Cummings’ trademark humor that I love so much, that, and the female friendships, the love of wine, and the hot male lead all made it a spectacular read!
My Bad Ex Karma review:
The beginning of Bad Ex Karma was both sad and very emotional, because Bradley actually broke up with Delia at the restaurant where he had taken her to celebrate their five years anniversary! What a douche, right? He had even taken her quite far from home so she couldn’t just stomp out of there and leave him to his own devices. She did manage to buckle up and order the most expensive wine on the menu, though, along with a side of lobster.
The aftermath of the break-up was also quite sad, but Bad Ex Karma still included so many humorous scenes it was hard to choose my fave quotes! Carly and Brooke were truly amazing friends to Delia, even if they might have taken the meddling to a level I would have personally been uncomfortable with. First helping Delia move in, which was awesome, then starting to pester her to start dating again, they were truly relentless – just like best friends should be. The first blind date they sent Delia on didn’t really work very well, though, especially because Delia noticed that both she and her date were checking out the handsome waiter…
Little by little, Delia got out of her funk, and actually managed to meet someone special by chance at a farmer’s market. And this new romance between Jonathan and Delia was both delicious and very funny! Delia was a hoot of a main character, even when she was heart-broken, she was able to find something to laugh about, and she showed her inner strength at more than one occasion. Between the friendships, the wine-tasting business, Jonathan’s job as a chef and the romance sprinkled with humor, I had such a great time with Bad Ex Karma I will possibly read it again!
Written in first person point of view, past tense, I got to know Delia pretty well, and through her eyes I got to know the other characters as well! A perfect read for a hot summer day, if you enjoy romantic comedies, Bad Ex Karma is the book for you!
Some of my favorite Bad Ex Karma quotes:
Done? It wasn’t possible. We were just getting started. I slumped in my chair, blinking back tears, not wanting him to know just how much he had wounded me. I also wanted to yell, “This is so cliché! Do you know how many books on my nightstand start out this exact way!”
When the wine splashed into the glass, it was a beautiful dark ruby hue, the exact color of my battered heart. I swirled the glass and gave the contents a quick sniff before taking a sip, rolling the rich liquid around my mouth.
Three flights of stairs later, and I was cursing Bradley for having the audacity to continue drawing breath every day.
“Jesus,” I said. “I don’t know how I’m going to do this.” My voice sounded piteous, on the verge of an emotional toxic leak, But Carly either ignored it or didn’t detect it.
“You’re so clever, Delia,” she marveled, waiting for me at the top of the stairs. “You found a lace with a built-in exercise program.”
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
I was on GR this morning, saw that book pop up on your shelf with a 5 star rate, took a quick glance at the blurb and the few words you wrote on GR about it, went to *that site*, saw it at 0,99€, one clicked and got it. It all took less that one minute ^^ That’s what female friendship, humor, love of wine and your recommendation does to me !
Oh YAY Iza! That’s gotten me all giddy;) I hope you’ll enjoy this one as much as I did – and let me know if you want to try some of her other books – they’re all funny and quirky and romantic!
I love fun flirty reads like this that interject a little humor. Thanks for the great review. I am so going to read this this summer.
I hope you’ll love it as much as I did, Suzi! I think Bad Ex Karma sells for $0.99 on amz right now 😉
Mmm, food, wine, laughs and love?!? This does seem to have a winning combination of elements, Lexxie, even if it does have it’s sad moments. Bad Ex Karma is going on my tbr…or I just might go ahead and one-click it. 😉 I haven’t done any one-clicking in almost 2 weeks…I’m having withdrawals! *ha* Plus this sounds like it might be beach-worth. 😉
Happy Monday, my friend!! **BIG HUGS**
*whispers to Brandee: one-click it! you know you want to!*
Yeah, it’s like the story of us at RT, minus the romance 😉 It is a very fun story, and as you know, I love Cummings’ sense of humor… Also… there’s a dedication on the first page 😉 which made me both squee and feel very excited!
Will have to put this on my library list. I like fun contemporaries–those are the only ones I will read (I don’t lump romantic suspense into contemporary).
I think you’ll enjoy this one, Felicia, I laughed out loud in several places 🙂 And as wine lovers, seeing characters who appreciate good wine is always a plus, right?
It sounds like an excellent book! It sounds very emotional, both highs and lows. I love the quotes you’ve chosen! Excellent! I love the description in them, like the battered heart one. I’d definitely be willing to give this book a try 🙂
Great review!
Amy x
Yes, it is all that, Amy. But mostly, it’s quite funny, even in the sadder moments, there is a lot of humor there.
I love that about a book 😀 some authors has brilliant writing styles, they can make anything funny 🙂
Twitter: kimbacaffeinate
Wine, banter, chef…ooh you hit all of my triggers. Despite how depressing parts sound I do like the humor Lexxie
Even the sad parts weren’t exactly depressing, Kim, because there was an underlying sarcastic humor to those parts as well 🙂
Twitter: talksupeblog
Thanks to you I discovered DCummings. Now I’ll read anything she writes… especially this! What a catchy title too!
Oh yay Braine! This one is so much fun! and you know there is steam as well 😉
I love a romance that is packed with humour, and it sounds like the author has done that well in this book. Delia sounds like my kind of girl! Glad she purchased the expensive stuff! Great review Lexie!
All of Cummings’ books has a lot of humor mixed in with the romance, Naomi, I think you’ll really enjoy her 🙂
Twitter: Mlsimmons
I do like a lot of humor in my books, but I tend to find it more in PNR. The contemporaries that I read tend to be darker. Maybe, I need to try one that is funny and see how it goes. 🙂
You definitely should, Melanie! Donna Cummings always makes me laugh! Her characters are so quirky 🙂
Good humor and strong friendship? I am totally sold. Seriously, two of my most favorite things in a book.
I agree, Christy, humor and friendship are the basics 🙂
Bradley does sound like a douche! I’m glad that Delia ends up meeting Jonathan! I love a good romantic comedy, and can tell how much you enjoyed this story! Delia’s friends sound awesome too 🙂 Wonderful Review Lexx!
I know, right? and she was so sure she had bad karma when it came to men, she was resisting 😀