In the Case of Heartbreak is a friends to lovers, childhood crush, forced proximity queer romance. But it’s true heart shows when author Courtney Kae dives into Ben’s mental health and how his past trauma shapes his present and future.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Baker Ben’s had a crush on his friend Adam forever, but has never admitted it. But when he’s featured on a baking competition, Adam is put on the spot and clearly says they are just friends. Ben is crushed, and escapes to his grandmother’s wildly festive two week birthday celebration. As soon as he takes a deep breath, though, Adam shows up as the temporary guitarist for his grandmother’s party band. Add in a cease-and-desist order from his terrible estranged father about his signature cinnamon roll recipe, and all Ben wants to do is curl up in bed. But once Adam admits he wants to be more than friends, can Ben figure out how to let himself be happy?

It took a little while for me to buy into the romance—is it because I didn’t read the first book?—but once Ben and Adam start really talking to each other, I was invested in the story. But a large chunk of this book is Ben’s past trauma of parental neglect, and his current depression and anxiety. Romance is just a portion of Ben’s attempts to let himself be happy.

A few notes: I liked the way this book introduces characters throughout the story with their preferred pronouns. And, the secondary characters like Ben’s grandmother are a hoot. Also, this book has lots of discussion about sexy times but ultimately not too much steam.

In the Case of Heartbreak was an entertaining queer romance that takes a look at how past trauma impacts individuals and their lives. I enjoyed Ben and Adam’s friends to lovers story, and all the vividly drawn characters. Courtney Kae is a new to me author, and I’m looking forward to reading what comes next.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

2.5 stars

Having thoroughly enjoyed the holiday atmosphere and romance of Courtney Kae's debut last year, picking up her beachy sophomore novel was an absolute no-brainer. I was ready to be swept away to this little coastal town to see Ben and Adam's love story unfold!

The romance, for me, is absolutely the selling point of this novel. It is so clear that even with their broken pieces and traumas, Ben and Adam truly complete each other and I found myself swooning on multiple occasions at different gestures and lines that they shared. Would I have loved this to be dual POV? Yes. Did the number of interrupted love occasions get a bit excessive for me? Also yes. Despite this, Ben and Adam's journey of healing and love absolutely gave me the feels I was looking for.

The rest of the book, however, did not deliver in the same way. There are a lot of intertwined plots that are being used to move the romance along - participating in a baking competition, planning and celebrating a birthday, and a family reunion just to name a few - and only one (the party planning) gets the time to develop that it deserves. Some of the ways that these plots interacted as well had me scratching at my head at how the characters reached certain conclusions based on the information I had as the reader. On top of that, we got so much less beach than was promised!

While this wasn't a complete hit for me, I will definitely still pick up Kae's work in the future and there is a certain couple that I'm hoping that we get in the third book should Kae continue the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

This wasn’t for me. Most of the characters were whiny and self hating it seemed. Lots of strange dialogue and too many characters introduced at once without real relation to the plot. I found it hard to read and not very enjoyable.

I wanted to absolutely love this book but it fell short for me. The writing style was not for me- felt almost like reading a YA novel but this was clearly for adults. The drama and amount of obstacles were too much and not deeply explored, and the romance felt like it built too quickly (eg 2 days into being officially together and professing love and making life altering decisions). Appreciate the chance to read early and will give the author another shot as I love the representation!

The most beautiful and vulnerable book I've read this year. This is the second book I have read by Courtney Kae and I loved it deeply
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Ben and Adam have great chemistry even with all that previous angst and slow burn.
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Ben has been in love with his best friend Adam Reed all his life, but until now he never dared to tell him what he felt and settled for being by his side and seeing him come to his Bakery every morning for his coffee fix
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but after leaving his comfort zone and entering a contest with his grandmother's cinnamon rolls recipe, he is determined to take that final step. Only at the moment of saying something the television cameras capture how it is rejected
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Luckily, the week of celebrations for his grandmother's birthday gives him the escape he needs, to put distance and focus on spending time with his family and preparing for the contest, but when the first birthday event arrives, Adam appears on stage with the band and he is there for all the festivity
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As if that were not enough, his father reappears, complicating things and putting Ben in a vulnerable place.
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Ben has to deal with his feelings for Adam, the pain of his past with his father and the possibility of losing everything, struggling with anxiety and depression.
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It is a vulnerable but beautiful book, Ben and Adam open their hearts and when each piece fits perfectly it becomes the most beautiful love story. I really loved her firts book but this one has my heart and I can’t wait to see what will be the next beautiful story that she will write
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Thanks to Courtney Kae and Kensington Books for give me a copy of this beautiful book in exchange for my honest and voluntary opinion

In the Case of Heartbreak is a summertime vibe, friends-to-lovers MM romance, featuring an anxiety-ridden baker with A LOT on his emotional plate and the town’s mechanic-by-day/musician-by-night who has held his heart captive since they were kids.

There was much to love about this one and perhaps a few things I wasn't mad for, but let's start with the positives!

The first thing to appreciate is the small-town setting, with its wide and diverse community of extremely supportive and accepting people. In her author’s note, Kae writes, “In all her novels, I love to imagine a world that is kinder to queer people, unquestioning, unchallenging. A place where we don’t need to explain, defend, or prove ourselves.” And she achieved that here. I really loved the themes of unconditional love and acceptance that came naturally to the characters, as it should in real life.

The second thing I enjoyed was the romance. Although it started off on a rocky note, with a bit of miscommunication and a lot of external interruptions to the leads conversations, the friends-to-lovers relationship that developed between MC Ben and his long-time crush Adam, was all things tender and sweet. The unfolding of their relationship is arguably easy and perhaps overtly sappy, but I gobbled the sugar-sweetness of it up to great delights. Adam particularly, had a bit of a swoon-factor going on, delivering some heart-melting romantic lines that made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

"I want to call this what it is. I want to make my intentions clear because I've held back for far too long. Dating is too fragile." His expression darkens. "My feelings for you are not fragile."


I’d honestly compare the tone of this story to that of a Hallmark movie. Feel free to interpret that how you will, but I personally am a notorious Hallmark movie fanatic (especially at Christmastime), always yearning for some light-hearted, low-angst vibes and delicious, if somewhat corny, romantic tales, which are usually much needed in my life when the world gets too heavy. This story was much like that: sweet, charming, easy to devour and unapologetic for it.

So far this is looking all good, right?! Well, for the most part it was a positive experience, but I did have some niggles that stopped this from being a truly successful read for me personally.

Mostly, I had issues with the plot—or perhaps, more specifically, the execution of the plot points. Beyond the romance, there was a lot happening around Ben and to Ben, and it felt all sorts of convoluted. Now, one could argue that because I didn’t read book one (In the Event of Love), I may have, perhaps, missed some details along the way, particularly in the introduction of the characters and the town of Fern Falls itself. This is on me, of course, and I acknowledge that’s a failing on my part. But it didn’t stop a lot of what happened here from feeling scattered, in many ways.

The whole reality show competition and situation with Ben’s horrid absentee father was very melodramatic in its telling. Also, it wasn’t clearly told—as in, I had no idea what was happening when the story began and took a long time to understand what Ben was upset about and why. His feelings of overwhelm were well-handled, I'll admit, in relation to that of a guy who was struggling with anxiety and past feelings of abandonment and self-worth (well, ongoing feelings really). So, big points for how Ben's mental health was handled throughout the story, but my issue remains that the situations themselves felt like they were thrown into a blender and mixed about, without any real cohesion as the story unfolded.

And then there was the fact that 80% of the story was set not in Fern Falls but, rather, in a place called Maywell Bay, where Ben’s grandma was having a week-long series of parties to celebrate her birthday. A) if the series is called Fern Falls, I expect the book to be predominantly set in Fern Falls, and B) as loving and supportive as grandma (sorry, G-ma) was, I’m honestly super tired of these types of overtly inappropriate, party-animal old ladies (the likes of Lucy Lennox’s Made Marian series). In this particular case, the week-long party setting was absolutely ridiculous and didn’t sit right, especially considering G-ma (ugh) was having major financial troubles yet felt like it was a great idea to just party it up in extended self-indulgence. It was just a strange story choice, as far as my interpretation and enjoyment was concerned.

Ultimately, this was an escapist romance novel at its core. I had to put reality aside for a hot minute and that’s okay—and mostly why I read anyway, to be honest. The romance worked for me, and will work for those who enjoy a bit of sweetness and sappiness, but predictably not so much for those readers who prefer a bit more grit and depth in their love stories. However, the inclusivity and the positive vibes that underlined the core of the narrative, make this story a worthwhile LGBTQ+ read, despite any personal grievances I may have had with the plot.

Author Courtney Kae starts off In the Case of Hearbreak with a note to the reader that, in part, says, "I love to imagine a world that is kinder to queer people, unquestioning, unchallenging. A place where we don't need to explain, defend, or prove ourselves. You'll find that here in Maywell Bell, like you find it in Fern Falls." It's important to know that this is where Kae is coming from, because it sets the stage for much of this book: it's one that is safe and cozy and accepting, during a time when our world is largely not. It's a lovely, soothing little summer read that doesn't require you to be familiar with the previous Fern Falls book - though you'll likely want to after.

Ben gets the chance of a lifetime to appear on the renowned TV show Take the Cake National with his Peak Perk Cafe and its famous cinnamon rolls (a secret family recipe), giving him the opportunity he's been waiting for to pay back his family for their help getting the bakery off the ground - and to maybe start to recover from some childhood trauma in the process. Except things go terribly off the rails quickly; his childhood crush, musician-mechanic-neighbor Adam, very obviously turns him down on live TV, and then Ben's own father rampages back into his life after years with an Instagram post claiming that Ben is stealing that cinnamon roll recipe from him! Hoping to soothe his sorrows in some time away, Ben flees to Maywell Bay for his grandmother's 80th birthday party... where she has hired Adam as one of the musicians for the celebration. And Adam is there to fix a misunderstanding.

This book is just a comfy, safe little read that feels perfectly timed given the general state of the world for queer identities. The fact that Ben and Adam identify as bi and pan is never up for debate or questioning by their friends or family, or even themselves; any struggle that they face throughout the story is entirely separated from their queer identities. After their initial miscommunication, this book centers itself around healing relationships though healthy communication, affirmation, and recovery from past trauma. And it's so lovely to read how Ben and Adam, with their opposite forms of childhood anxiety relating to love, learn to grow and heal together - Ben who saw his parents' marriage collapse after they gave up their dreams to try to stay together, and Adam whose parents' relationship fell apart when they couldn't try to stay together. They have to learn how to grow past what ruined their parents' marriages and caused their own childhood trauma, and a little forced proximity in a romantic beach house can't hurt!

The downsides... The secondary characters are just kind of there. While Ben's family is a lovely touch, none of them ever really become stand outs. (Sorry, not even vulgar, rich, multi-divorcee G-ma) And then the whole plotline with Ben's father and the TV show is... oddly wrapped. We never really get clear motivation for why Ben does the show in the first place, and the conclusion is just kind of handwaved.

Some random standout lines:
"It's great how your body can age to twenty-six, but trauma still hits the nervous system like you're eight years old."
"Dating is too fragile. [...] My feelings for you are not fragile."
"I almost told this man I love him. Before my mom and grandma and Cher."
"Remember when we first watched The Mummy Trilogy together that summer around junior high?" "And you went through the twenty stages of queer panic in my mother's living room?"
"I have loved you for years, and there's this part of me that has loved you for always, like even before we met, my heart was waiting for you."

I really enjoyed this book. It’s a great story that’s got some heavy moments, truths and realities but it’s done so well and I commend the author for taking the time to get it right. I love the characters of Ben and Adam. I do think though that I would have connected on a deeper level with the book through the dual POV model, that said, it’s so well done and I think I’ll be thinking about some of the passages for some time to come.

This book is an m/m summer romance. This is the second book in Courtney Kae’s Fern Falls series. Last year I read her first book - an f/f holiday romance.
This book was a mess trying to do too much and poorly executed. I wonder if it would’ve been more successful had it been dual-POV.

What worked:
- [ ] The setup of the baking show and the lawsuit
- [ ] The setup of family drama and the father estrangement
- [ ] The setup of mental health and trauma healing being at the center of our MC’s arc
- [ ] The setup of the MC pining and long lost love of his childhood best friend

What didn’t work:
- [ ] The execution of the above mentioned things
- [ ] As the reader I was invested in the first 25% with the promise of all of these intriguing plot elements, yet the execution for the rest of the book fell flat.
- [ ] The writing contained a lot of telling and not showing.
- [ ] As a result there was a disconnect with the actual emotional journey with our MC and with the romance
- [ ] The side plots of the party, finances, and side chraracters were also distracting and felt irrelevant
- [ ] Even though we were told there were stakes with the baking show, lawsuit, and family estrangement, it didn’t feel that the stakes were real and imminent
- [ ] As the reader I was disconnected with the characters and romance that by the time we reached the final conflict, I was not invested in what was going on nor was it believable.
- [ ] I will likely not continue with this series or reading from this author

Despite its intriguing premise and stakes, the writing style led to an emotional disconnect and lack of engagement from me as the reader, which left me disinterested in most of the book.
Publishes July 25, 2023. This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I just couldn’t get into this, the pacing was so unsettling. We get Ben being rejected by the love interest, Adam, within the first few chapters and by the 20% mark a new plot line is establish and at 40% the romance plot line is solved and a save the business plot is added. It just felt like too much but also not enough because everything was dragging. I’m so sad about this because I really enjoyed this little town and the first book, but this one was disappointing.

premise:
-Ben's family bakery in Fern Falls is being featured on tv for a baking competition
-When the reporter asks his lifetime crush, Adam, if he is excited that his boyfriend is on this televised competition, Adam clarifies that they are only friends and this sends Ben into an embarrassed coping mechanism of running away
-While Ben is at his grandma's birthday celebration, Adam shows up and has seemingly come after Ben, but lots of miscommunication and assuming ensues
-However, they eventually get it together and have a journey towards their romance!
-Ben is also triggered by past trauma with his father's abandonment, neglect and narcissism
-tropes: friends-to-lovers, unrequited love, its-always-been-you
-steam: 1/5 - this is closed-door

cw: resurfaced childhood trauma from neglect, and mental and emotional abuse from a narcissistic parental figure; depression; anxiety; alcoholic father; absent mother; parental divorce

thoughts:
whew, this was so rough to get through at times only because I am personally experiencing struggles with my parents too. I felt so hard for both Ben and Adam, these poor babies!!!! UGH I truly wanted to throw some hands at these people who were causing so much emotional and spiritual harm towards such gentle, loving souls. (Am I projecting a bit? Sure lol, but that doesn't invalidate the harm and power that parents have on us).

Anyway, I think the miscommunication may frustrate some readers but the more and more I read romance, and/or watch it unravel in a romcom, the more realistic it feels. None of us are perfect, and we all have work to do in naming our needs and being direct about our feelings (me included). So I hope that readers come into this book with grace for the characters on the page, who felt representative of so many precious babies I know IRL.

I was so proud of Ben in the end, and he set a lovely example for me, and people like me, who are trying their best to set and enforce boundaries, and to unlearn the messages others projected onto us, such as our worth being tied to being the kind of people our parents wanted from us.

I appreciate Courtney's love and care that she put into this book because I felt these characters with my wholeeee being.

4.5 - “You make every good thing even better. I want to share everything with you because you make me happy. You always have.”.

Books by Courtney Kae are like warm hugs. I adored In the Event of Love, so I was beyond excited to get an advanced copy of this one. And not for a moment did this disappoint.

Ben is such a sweet character, and I constantly wanted to squeeze him. He has lingering doubts about himself that comes from childhood trauma that he hasn’t quite worked through, but I loved that he is seeing a therapist and trying to actively work through it. After his father barrels back into his life, it’s not surprising that he starts to relive old feelings, and that they come into play in his relationship with Adam. Ben is unsure of himself, and it’s really lovely that the story follows his arc to his happiness.

Adam also carries trauma, but it’s slightly different than Ben’s. They have some great honest conversations that show them as rational adults and nothing feels forced. While we don’t get Adam’s POV, his feelings are so clear in the way his body language and dialogue are written. You can sense his uncertainty and connection to Ben. The tension between them is so palpable and they’re just so wonderful. Badam forever.

I also love how inclusive this book is without making it seem unnatural. Characters introduce themselves with their preferred pronouns and it feels so genuine. It’s never this big thing. It never comes off as disingenuous and is a reminder that inclusion is always important.

“I love you just being you.”

I just loved this book. Also, G-ma is an absolute star and made me laugh on so many occasions. (Pelvic thrusts! IYKYK!) Everything about this book is fun and sweet, and it definitely could’ve fallen into predictability, but it didn’t at all, and I can’t recommend it enough.

Actual Rating closer to 4,5 stars
This was a pleasant relatively short read and a wonderful queer romcom to add to my pile. While I haven’t yet read the first novel in the series, this one fits wonderfully into its genre. Typical of romcoms the drama in the story gets a bit unrealistic sometimes but I can only recommend it as a light escapist read!
I have to give extra points because the characters (especially the side characters) in this novel hit just the right amount of quirkiness for a comedy.
Also we love to see a fellow baking enjoyer.

I really wanted to love this book. There’s so much about it that’s charming. A cinnamon roll hero who also makes cinnamon rolls? Hilarious. Plus I really felt for Ben’s trauma and family issues. I think the part I struggled with is the romance. I wanted there to be a bigger conflict throughout. I think them admitting their feelings so early had me missing some tension and that played into the third act break up as well, which felt like it could’ve been a lot more escalated. I think there was a lot to love about this book too but in the end, the debut book by Kae is still my favorite.

We're back in Fern Falls and the story starts with Ben Parrish participating in a reality TV cooking show filmed at his bakery, where he is competing to have the family's signature cinnamon rolls mass produced and sold nationwide. Being on camera is a nightmare in itself because spoilers and, to make matters worse, the cameras catch an unfortunate moment between Ben and his lifelong crush, Adam Reed. And since apparently Mercury must be in retrograde, he also receives a Cease & Desist letter from his craptastic father saying the recipe is actually his and Ben can't use it without his permission. All this is happening while super-anxious Ben is getting ready to go to his G-Ma's 80th birthday celebrations out of town for a few  weeks. Guess who G-Ma hired as entertainment for the parties? Adam's band... and Adam and Ben are to share accommodations as they are friends and all... Why oh why, Universe?!
Like in the previous book, I love how inclusivity I dealt here (gender and race). It's a diverse group of people, acceptance is the norm, pronouns are respected, appropriate language is used.
I adore a pining hero, but as Ben deals with severe anxiety, abandonment issues and other childhood traumas, you struggle a bit with being inside his head, as it's told through his POV. The reader can tell how much loved he is, and how people want to help him and you are right there with him, wanting him to get it. It's heartbreaking and you want to hug him and make him see things he just can't. 
The story is also stronger for being told exclusively through his POV. I love that we don't really know what is on Adam's mind until he actually says it... and when he says it, it's swoony.
This book is ROMANTIC. If you are a fan of Bridgerton, you are in for treat. I had been rooting for them since book 1. It was joy to see them get their HEA. 
Rep and possible triggers: One MC is bisexual and the other is pansexual, several queer secondary characters. Anxiety, childhood trauma, abandonment issues, toxic relationship with a parent
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

In the Case of Heartbreak is the follow up to Kae's debut, In the Event of Love but it can be read as a standalone as long as the reader is willing to come across some spoilers from book one's characters.
The story revolves around Ben, a baker from Fern Falls who joined a baking competition that could make his little bakery and café famous. However things don't go as planned when he is rejected by his longtime crush, Adam, on national TV for the whole world to see.
A long series of events lead him to escape from his problems and crush by spending two weeks away from Fern Falls to celebrate his grandma's birthday. Little does he know that his plan will backfire...
What makes this book stand out from different ones of its type is the way complex topics were handled with extreme delicacy. Moreover, I loved both the great cast of unique characters and the romance. In some occasions, I felt like I was wrapped in a blanket by the sweetness and wholesomeness of this novel.
Were I to change something on the novel, it would be the way in which the plot conflict were resolved. It felt rushed and vague.
All in all, I enjoyed this story and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a sweet and lightweight book.

I really loved this book. Courtney Kate is really just a beautiful, perfect little gem that just crawls into your brain and never lets ago. Watching Ben’s growth was so lovely and I want his grandma as my own! Can I just live in this world that Kae has invented and never leave? Can’t wait for their next book!

🌈 Queer Romance
☀️ Perfect Summer Read
🍩 Bakery vibes (a literal cinnamon roll hero)
😍 Absolutely swoony love interest (he wants to court, not date… I mean 😍)

“My feelings for you aren’t fragile”


I really enjoyed that I couldn’t tell exactly how this book was going to go. I feel it strayed from the specific formula a lot of romance books have in regards to the third act breakup. It kept me guessing, it had me kicking my feet with happiness, all in all it was a great read! I love G-Ma so much, I want to meet this crazy woman right now 😂 I loved both main characters and just the whole world this book exists in. A great feel good book.

This was such a sweet, escapist queer romance!
I really loved how inclusive this book was, the representation in this is unmatched. The many issues this tackles (anxiety, self image, family struggles, etc.) were handled with grace and love, which is extremely valuable to anyone who can see little glimpses of themselves in Ben and/or Adam.
I think what didn’t work for me was how cheesy parts of this was. For example, enthusiastic consent IS sexy, but I want that to be shown rather than told. The band being called Forced Proximity was a bit too on the nose for me, but I see how it can be whimsical and fun if you have the right attitude towards it.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for this book.

This is the second book in the Fern Falls series and can be read as a standalone, but I think the first one would help us understand the characters and who everyone is to one another a little bit more. That being said, I did enjoy this more than I thought once I realized it was book two.

It is a great beach read, and I hope to get my hands on the first one and read that and then come back and reread this one!