Three greeting-card co-workers from different generations lose their significant other at the same time. Welcome to the premise of Rebekah L. Purdy’s romance: Greeting Cards for Exes. Piper is in her twenties and has recently caught her ex cheating on her. Kerrie is middle-aged with a husband and children, but she’s secretly divorced. Maude is near retirement age when her husband abruptly leaves her. All three are thumbs down on love. Unfortunately, their boss wants them to create and publicize sentimental, romantic cards.
Piper and Kerrie start the novel as friends, and Maude joins them soon after she finds herself alone. The exploits of the three women—re-entering the dating scene, a pub brawl, a bizarre company retreat—make for light-hearted reading. Though the narrative has hilarious moments, Exes has support and healing on its mind, too. Piper is deeply hurt by her ex and can’t find a way to start again. Kerrie wants to tell everyone about the lack of support from her husband, but on her terms. Maude is furious at the departure of her husband but can’t do anything about it.
While all the characters are engaging, I preferred Kerrie’s storyline the most. I know most readers wouldn’t understand her reticence to storm away from her husband, but the novel does a superb job of stressing her caring nature. She can’t confront the situation until she has the money to ensure the family she loves is safe. In the meantime, she has to put up with an inordinate amount of injustice.
Piper’s story is the plot of rom-coms. Her growth pattern comes from a place of forgiving and forgetting, yet rising above her situation seemed almost superhuman to this reviewer. I sympathized with her the most.
On the other hand, Maude was hard to sympathize with at first. Yet, I grew to understand her perspective, and she grew on me over the course of the novel. She had the best payoff of the three.
The ending—though it makes perfect sense—was a surprise. Sentimental and positive, the conclusion fits the book as precisely as the last jigsaw piece in a puzzle. I’ve read romance book endings, and while Exes has all the trappings of one, it has something extra. The scenes wrapping up each character elevated the novel above most romances.
Greeting Cards for Exes has a clever premise, hilarious moments, and a lot of heart. From three engaging points-of-view to a creative ending, this novel has the warmth of a greeting card from a friend.