Nothing But It All takes the troubled marriage concept without making someone the evil villain, combined with mischievous teens (and their doting grandpa) to “parent trap” Jack and Lauren into falling back in love. It was well done and an enjoyable, heartfelt read. I’ve loved many of Adriana’s previous books and this one was a deeper read, still funny in the way her books tend to be, but it felt like there were higher stakes involved. Jack and Lauren clearly still loved each other but allowed their own insecurities and other commitments get in the way of spending time together. I recommend this one if you enjoy a small town romance with all the feels.
I received an advanced reading copy, receipt of which did not impact my review.

So uhm, yeah.. this book made me cry. Haven’t sobbed unexpectedly like that in a while. I was crying in voice notes to my friends about what happened and how it hit me. They were all so concerned for me, it was bad. I was a mess, straight up. 😅

So thanks, Adriana for hurting me the way you did, I’ll be sending you my therapy bill. 😂😂

Back to the book though, so uhm yeah clearly I liked it, and clearly it hit me in my feels. This is a marriage in trouble trope, which was new to me. I think Adriana did a phenomenal job with the trope (see previous comments about losing my 💩). You could feel how much Jack and Lauren loved each other and really still wanted each other. Sometimes life and goals, and other things get in the way and sometimes it can really impact your relationships if you’re not careful and you’re not communicating effectively. I was just really rooting for Lauren and Jack to find their groove again, throughout the book.

Listened to the audiobook as well, and loved the narrators performances for the characters. They nailed it. It’s probably another big reason why I broke down the way I did. They played their characters so well, that it resonated with me, and I couldn’t hold back the tears.

Highly recommend this if you love marriage in trouble, redemption stories that captivate your heart. 💕

I wish I was the type of person who does those really in-depth, detailed reviews. Alas, I'm more of a vibes girlie and when I say this one has ALL of them, I do not jest. I spent a good portion of this book bawling my eyes out, but I need you to know, it's not SAD. You just FEEL so much for both of them. Will I read it again? Oh god I don't know. I hate crying. But it is SPECTACULAR and one of the best books I've ever read.

Marriage in distress is one of my favorite tropes and I loved this one.

The characters are a little older than what I normally read when it comes to this trope but I loved it all the same.

Lauren and Jack have a long way to make their way back to each other but with the help of their meddling kids and Jack's father they're able to see that their relationship is worth saving.

I devoured this book and couldn't put it down!

What a great story of how life can get in the way of a marriage and how important it is to take time for each other. Jack and Lauren have grown apart and are headed for divorce. Jack doesn't want it, Lauren is tired of feeling like she has no life and doesn't matter. The rest of the family finds the perfect opportunity to open their eyes to their love and all the memories they share. Is it enough or already too late? I received an ARC through Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

First, I have to say that Adriana Locke is one of my go-to authors! Getting into one of her books is pure pleasure, the small-town, family-centric themes are really my jam...having said that, Nothing But It All is VERY different from Ms. Locke's "normal". This one explores a 20 year marriage in trouble, with the main characters, Lauren and Jack, navigating the landscape of their relationship that seems to have become more of a roommate situation than two people who share a life and two teenage children. When those those two kids get together with Jack's father and come up with a plan to get Lauren and Jack together, some of the funniest and heartwarming scenes occur, inducing a lot of laughter and tugging of the heartstrings...

I absolutely loved everything about this second-chance, never-too-late to re-discover love, love story! Filled to the brim with all the things that make (and sometimes break) a marriage, but the journey to recapturing the obvious love between these two was inspiring! Add to all that Ms. Locke's seriously funny sense of humor (the scenes with the kids and Jack's father conspiring together are HILARIOUS!!!), lightening the serious issues Lauren and Jack are addressing, some of which had the tears freely flowing!

And THAT, my friends, is the sheer MAGIC that is Adriana Locke!

All in my feels
This troubled marriage second chance read got me all in the feels.
Lauren & Jack have had a rough go as of late in the marriage department. After 20 years, both have become complacent in their roles within the family. But in this complacency, they’ve slowly grown apart. While both harbored big feelings about the whole situation, neither were willing to show their vulnerability.
This one last hoorah to their summer lake house was a last ditch effort from their kids, Michael & Maddie, to attempt to mend what they saw as broken, and I loved every moment of it. The little moments alone orchestrated were always so perfect. I loved how Lauren & Jack were adults about the situation & did what would make their kids happy.
But this whole situation with their marriage, it just felt so “real life”. It’s always the little things that we don’t think have any significance, when in reality, they can mean the world. Marriage is a constant battle & one that has to be fought for. I loved watching Jackson’s character develop & watch him work so hard to open those doors of communication. And watching Lauren slowly learn to trust in his transformation was beautiful. These two were souls who fell & were destined for the long haul, it just took that well fought battle for them to come out victorious.
Harvey was also one of my favorite parts of this book. He was a spitfire, but also the sweetest soul all at the same time. He reminded me so much of my grandfather, & I just wanted to reach through the pages to hug him while he had me in tears. And that dedication! I told Adriana that it made me “pre-tear”…totally gonna be a thing.

Man. I'm not even sure I can sum up everything this book made me feel. First of all I read the blurb before requesting this ARC and was drawn to it. I wrote it down knowing I wanted to read it regardless of approval or not. When it hit my inbox I was so excited and I complete devoured this book.

A marriage in trouble - Jack and Lauren have grown so distant over the years and are at the make it or break it point. Being together 20 years and having teenage kids who are fully aware of their parents disconnect, even though their parents think they are keeping it under wraps. They devise a plan with the help of their grandad to force them into a situation where they have to spend time together in one of their favorite places.

When I tell you I cried off and on this entire book. Gracious. The emotions and just real vulnerability that was expressed gripped my heart. It was so relatable. Whether you are going through a divorce or thinking about it. Or you have your normal spats as partners. This showed just how much communication is so important and that even the smallest gestures and moments add up and matter.

Harvey - Jack's dad - was such a great addition to this book as well. He is a important dynamic to this family and Jack slowly relating and realizing how his actions are so similar to his dad's was such a turning point for him.

I could literally go on and on. Just know this beautiful story ends in a HEA and is a must read for sure.

Thank you so much to @valentine_pr_ and Adriana Locke for allowing me to read and review this ARC.

I normally love Adriana Locke’s books… but there is always one in any author’s catalogue that’s not going to be a fave - and this is the one for me in hers. It’s a marriage in crisis trope, which is one I never enjoy (I was hoping a fave author could turn my opinion on it), but even with the short page count … it just dragged.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

I hoped that the teen kids and granddad trying to trick the parents by getting them both to the family lake house for a holiday together to remember the good times might be interesting… but all the spots in the book I thought could turn it around, make it exciting and increase the rating I saw coming from early on didn’t - nothing changed it throughout the whole thing. Adriana does write well, but the storyline and trope couldn’t bring me to enjoy it (had it not been an arc I wouldn’t have picked it up, because of being such a disliked trope). Sorry I didn’t love it like I’ve loved all your other books!

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Montlake, and this is my honest feedback.

I have read a few marriages in trouble stories and as I was reading this felt like one of the more realistic ones. There is no big drama or anyone else involved, it just seemed like life got in the way and they stopped communicating. It seems strange to say this but there is a cute element to the storyline with their kids and Pops. I loved their plotting and scheming because it came from a good place and provided touching moments and also some humour. This could have been a doom laden story of despair but it never felt like that at all which I believe is because the author wrote about characters that many will identify with. I loved the family dynamics in the storyline, it was nice to read about a close loving family. I liked how Jack and Lauren worked through their issues acknowledging the mistakes they made but I could always feel the love between them so of course I was hoping they would get a HEA.

The real after the HEA!

This book was just wonderful. It shows a strong marriage, but after twenty years and several years of disappointment and taking things for granted.

Oh my - my heart. It was pulled, tugged, wrapped in a warm hug, and everything in between. This was a fantabulous story that was so real and full of emotion and heart!!

Lauren and Jack are well past the honeymoon phase, have two great kids, and are about as far apart as can be. Lauren is now contemplating divorce, so she can finally live life for herself and the kids. But when the kids realize what might be happening, they team up and decide to ensure one last family vacation to remind their parents of more idyllic times.

From the very beginning of this story, you felt Lauren's pain. And what surprised me was how much I felt Jack's pain too. Lauren isn't the only one who has been suffering. They've each been absent from the other one.

This book peels away what's left after the initial romance fades and life becomes full of distractions and other priorities that pull you away from each other.

It's a great read for any married couple to either see themselves or to see what pitfalls to avoid in the future.

I adored this story and it just has so much heart!

"'...marriage is hard...The thing that got us through them was simple - we wanted to get through them. It's amazing how far that one little thing goes.'" Amen! Marriage is work!

I voluntarily requested and read and loved an uncorrected advance reader copy from the publisher via Net Galley.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205402909-takeover
This is truly a testament to the saying, after the wedding comes the marriage. Art imitating life is an unmistakable snapshot in the captivating tale of Lauren and Jack’s life.
I think if you’ve been married as long as Lauren and Jack you can identify with these characters in one way or another.
It’s a handbook for navigating through the waters of married life. It doesn’t always take a storm for there to be problems. Sometimes it’s the stagnant waters, the humdrum, the slow leaks of not keeping up with the little things, the boredom, the unspoken burdens, the lack of appreciation to point out the issues that takes it’s toll. It doesn’t always take an operation or a mechanic to correct the issues. Sometimes you need a quick stitch to patch it up before it develops into something unfixable. You have to communicate what is going on and not accept everything at face value. There’s always a yin to the yang.
Watching Lauren and Jack rediscover this was so heartening.

Side note: I know this is going to sound weird but I appreciate the fact that the main characters have regular names.
Reason: It makes this story more relatable. That’s just me.

If you’re not married, engaged or even dating you will enjoy this book. I wouldn’t want to see it get prejudged. It is a sweet, truthful story.
While I was reading a song popped into my mind by Carly Simon, Coming Around again. If you look up the lyrics you’ll see what I mean. Remember nothing stays the same but if you’re willing to play the game it could be coming around again. If you believe in love. I do believe. I do believe in love!

I don't think I have ever needed a book like I needed Nothing But It All. I have read several books by Adriana Locke and each one increases my love for her writing and emotional storytelling. This one, by far, will probably never be topped.

Reading romance books gives us all a nice fantasy world of how we all wish love could be. I know sometimes if I read too many in a row I will start to get irrationally angry at my husband for not being romantic. Finally getting stories about what happens after the happily ever after is where the true stories lie.

My husband and I have been married for ten years this December and it's nice to read romance books that resemble where we are in life. We both work and we have two kids that are always busy doing something. He's a coach and does a lot of stuff for the community. So it's so easy to get caught up in the things that don't really matter and take our loved ones for granted.

Nothing But It All follows Lauren and Jack as they continue to pull further and further away from each other. They have each learned to follow their own paths separately and just are married in title only. While they may have been fooling themselves, they weren't fooling their kids or Jack's father. A little scheme by the three results in a very awkward family vacation. Will the forced proximity give Jack and Lauren a second chance at finding their happiness together?

I think I have a new favorite trope after this. Nothing But It All really helped me kind of see the problems from an outsiders perspective and it has really given me hope that my husband and I can get back on track and remember why we fell in love with each other in the first place.

So if anyone has any Marriage in Trouble recommendations please send them my way. I know After I Do by TJR and Letters to Molly by Devney Perry are favorites of mine because of this trope.

***ARC Provided by the Publisher via NetGalley***

I was really intrigued when I read the blurb for this book.

Lauren and Jack are married, and their marriage is falling apart. And as readers we get to go into the middle of the marriage, to get to know the characters and to see inside the marriage.

There were parts of this that I really enjoyed.

Why the 2 stars you ask? This book didn't feel balance to me. All of the blame felt like it was on Jack. There were occasional moments where Lauren seemed to realize a marriage is 2 people, but then the narrative went back again to what Jack was doing wrong.

Was he wrong? Yes, he was. But, was she? Apparently not. The issue for me was that I didn't find myself believing things with them were going to continue to be ok...as it didn't feel like a couple working to working on their marriage, it felt like a list of what was wrong, all by the man.

I wish I could recommend this title, but I am not able to do so.

If you are looking for a “traditional” Adriana Locke book like the Landry or Gibson boys- this is not that story. Nothing But It All is an emotionally evocative book more along the lines of Sacrifice or Written In The Scars.

So many romance books focus on the beginning of a relationship and we typically don’t get to see what happens after the happy ending. Here we meet Lauren and Jack when they are roughly 20 years into their marriage and in the trenches in terms of relationship work.

I’m not going to recap the story- that’s what reading is for, but I will say that Ms Locke captures a situation a lot of people can relate to. The hard work of life, raising kids, and growing businesses has replaced the effort of maintaining a romantic partnership. One aspect of the story that I really appreciated was that while Lauren was the partner vocalizing the core issues from her perspective, she was also able to turn that introspection inward and see places where she contributed to the situation they were in.

Highlights are not really my thing while reading, but I will say that this book has multiple pearls of wisdom for anyone in a long term relationship. The cast here is small - Jack, Lauren, their kids, his dad, and just a few friends. The underlying core of love in all of these connections makes the premise of the story work.

The situation here (once the issue is identified) is a bit of an ideal and I’m not 100% real life would go as smoothly, but I also appreciated that Ms Locke did not present this as a “magic bullet” where everything was “fixed” by the end of the story.
This is a book I would highly recommend to anyone in the “trenches” of life as a good example of how to come back from the cliff edge that it is easy to find ourselves on.

marriage in trouble tugs at my heart and sometimes rips it to shreds but it’s a trope i’m loving currently.

lauren and jack have been married for twenty years and are on the verge of divorce. but to save their marriage, their scheming teenagers plan one last summer trip. for two weeks, lauren and jack are stuck together under the same roof and either they reconcile or they end in divorce.

there’s something about lauren and jack that is so raw that i loved. jack spent so much time on his own business that it took over his life. he was married to his work and unfortunately, it tore his marriage apart. lauren didn’t recognize the man she married anymore and she decides that she needs to figure out who she is because she’s become a shell of herself, especially in the last few years. reading their conversations about what went wrong hurt, but it’s also clear that their kids are a joy in their lives. they drop everything for maddie and michael.

and harvey was such a fun character too. he’s an unapologetic old fart living out the rest of his days without a care in the world.

Rating: 5/5 Stars
Genre: Romance

Jack and Lauren have loved each other for a long time. They made a life together and had 2 kids, but somewhere along the way they have let other priorities get in the way of their marriage. Jack works all the time and when he's home they are fighting that he's not around enough, even though he feels like he is providing. Lauren was a stay-at-home mom for many years and takes care of all the day-to-day mental load, but now that her kids are teenagers she has started her own successful scrapbooking business that Jack is not a part of. Lauren starts wondering if they are better apart. When the kids see what is going on, they pull a classic "Parent-trap"-esque move bringing them all to the family summer cottage for one last time together to try to rekindle the flames.

This book was SO relatable (even for couples whose marriages are not in trouble!), especially for families with a working parent and a stay-at-home parent. I loved how the author didn't paint one half of the couple as "neglectful" and one as the "victim" either. They both made mistakes, they both got caught up with life (as one does with kids and work), and they both are able to acknowledge and work on their own issues. The side characters--the teenage kids, the kids' significant others, Jack's dad and his love interest, Lauren's best friend, and a puppy added to the mix breaking any tension at just the right time! And they just continued to be examples of how life will always be in the way, but how does a marriage work through that! The whole book felt real and raw and honest and I loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Valentine PR, and Adriana Locke for the opportunity to read the eARC of Nothing But It All in exchange for my honest review.

Oh, it was so good!

Adriana, I loved that they were an established couple that's closer to my age. Look, I love first love as much as the next reader, but this was a great storyline.

Lauren and Jack are great people. They've been the standard for a lot of people. Were. There's been cracks in their marriage, and they've done nothing but grow.

I enjoyed that it wasn't exactly one person's fault. It showed a great example of what happens when you're both not working on it.

It's kinda a parent trap situation, except the kids didn't just meet. They work together with their grandpa who definitely don't want their parents' marriage to end.

There's some shenanigans, some truths revealed, and a lot of work done. You can still feel the love between the two of them.

Nothing But It All was SO REAL! I myself have been married almost 25 years and have found that marriage is truly a journey. Kids, job pressures, elderly parents- I could relate to everything in this book. Jack and Lauren's story was so realistic and relatable. I felt it all- I was broken for them at the beginning of the book, and cheered for them as they worked through their issues. Narrators Amy Hall and Ryan Duncan were new to me, but their performances were nothing short of fantastic.

Oh, how this one pulled on my heartstrings. “Nothing But It All” is an emotional, heartfelt and sweet marriage in trouble that once I started, I couldn’t stop reading it.

Lauren and her husband, Jack, have been married for twenty years. While they still love each other, they have grown apart. Jack has focused on his business and this has left Lauren feeling like a single mom. They have tried to keep it from their teenage kids but they’ve noticed. And the two have conspired with their grandfather for one last trip as a family and to help the parents heal their marriage. Lauren thinks it’s too late but Jack is determined to win her back.

From the moment I started reading, I connected with Lauren and Jack. They had been together for a long time, raised two kids and went through all the realistic things couples go through. This story will be relatable to a lot of people and I love that it will have that connection. Lauren is a great mom who raised her kids and gave them everything. But when she starts to find herself again, that’s when she shines. Once the communication with Jack was open, she didn’t hold back and that was so important. And the best part… Jack listened. He never tried to disregard her feelings and actually took it to heart. They both took responsibility for any of the actions in their marriage. Their kids were great and I loved how sneaky they were with their grandfather, who was a favorite for me. The ending was so sweet and perfect for them.