Desert Isle Keeper

I once vowed that I would never again read a book about a woman running a cupcake shop, bakery, or anything similar. I was absolutely burned out on that entire premise. Not only did The Awkward Path to Getting Lucky change my mind, it’s a book I am now recommending to everyone I can think of.

I give major props to Summer Heacock for creating a premise I have never seen before. Kat Carmichael has a broken vagina; or, more technically, she is suffering from vaginismus which she says is kind of like what happens when someone tries to poke you in the eye and you blink involuntarily, except with your lady parts. It hits her that her anniversary with her boyfriend is coming up and that will mean it will have been two years since she even attempted to have sex, thanks to this painful disorder. She and Ryan and fallen into a rut of takeout and Netflix, and are feeling more like friends than lovers. She becomes determined to fix her ‘special’ as her employee calls it, and get things back on track before her four year anniversary with Ryan. I have never seen a fiction book that tackles vaginismus, and I really liked Kat’s journey with the condition. She isn’t magically fixed. She panics at physical therapy (which I would totally do) and struggles to keep up with working on her issue.

Her plan is to take a break from Ryan, tell him he can sleep with other people, and start therapy to fix her issue alone. Then they can reunite when all is well. She is referred to a physical therapist that is trained in dealing with vaginismus  and her business partners decide to help her out by purchasing sex toys and dilators for some solo therapy. This is on top of dealing with the stress of running her bakery business, trying to score a deal to provide baked goods for a local sports team’s concessions, and a rather disastrous local news appearance.

Her regular customer, Ben Cleary, always seems to walk into her shop at the exact wrong moment. He catches the ladies with an armload of dildos and overhears that Kat wants to do sexy things to his sharp jaw. He asks her out, knowing about the temporary break with Ryan and the dysfunctional lady parts. They set up a deal to have ‘therapy sex’ as friends, in order to try and clear up her vaginismus.

I thought I would hate the love triangle plot line. I mean really, Kat’s concept sounds pretty ridiculous and bound to blow up in her face. Something I liked about The Awkward Path to Getting Lucky is that it does blow up, her friends call her out on her bad decisions, and she generally isn’t allowed to skate through being a mess. I adored Ben and the sweet budding romance they have, so I cheered for him all the way. He is nerdy and awkward, and perfectly devoted to Kat. It is obvious from the get-go that Ryan should be cut loose.

I usually can’t stand books about bakery owners because they’re set in small towns but have thriving businesses from no customers. Kat’s set up with Cup My Cakes is far more realistic. She, Shannon, Butter, and Liz put in long hours, they hustle to find more work, and they are worried about keeping the bills paid. Plus, I loved their interactions and how fun their friendship is.

Best of all, this book is hilarious. If you can handle tons of vagina jokes, innuendos, and general outrageousness, you will be laughing out loud. Everything about the writing feels fresh and fun. Heacock is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the women’s fiction world if she can keep up such engaging humor.

I am telling all my female friends about this book. Read The Awkward Path to Getting Lucky, laugh your butt off, swoon over Ben, and thank me for the recommendation later.

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