I loved this book!! It was fabulous and well done. The characters were on point and I thought the plot was well developed. I would recommend this book to others.

As Adriana Locke said, this is Parent Trap meets On Golden Pond. Lauren and Jack have been married for almost two decades and they are in a rut. Lauren feels taken for granted and Jack doesn't feel he has a place in Lauren's life anymore. They're basically living separate lives. 
When the kids find the card for a divorce attorney in Lauren's desk and she cancels the family's annual trip to their cabin in Story Brook, they (along with their adorable grandpa) decide to "parent trap" the couple. They're betting on spending time together as a family will rekindle their parents' love. They might be right.
I loved this one! It's hard to write a marriage in trouble story where there are no villains and there are none here. They just succumbed to the pitfalls of routine. I loved the kids's shenanigans and the grandpa is a hoot.
This story shows that, although we all appreciate the grand romantic gestures, it's not the grand gestures that make the solid foundation of an epic love story. It's, in fact, the million little things. It's truly seeing your partner.
A wonderful story of meddling teenagers, a hot husband, an irresistible wife, a love of a lifetime, a well-meaning grandfather, family traditions, a hero puppy, awful tasting burgers, and being there for the people you love. Just lovely!
Thank you, NetGalley for the early access.
Possible triggers: marriage in trouble, ailing parent

This was a great marriage in crisis. I felt like she really hit the nail on the head with some of their issues and I was impressed with how they finally talked through those issues (even though they should have done it sooner).

I loved the part the kids played in this story. It had serious parent trap vibes that were hilarious. Even my husband laughed at a couple when I read them out loud!

I love books where couples find staying power and reconnect.

I received an advanced copy of this book. This is my honest review.

This is only the second marriage in crisis book I’ve read, but this one was one of my favorites of Adriana Locke’s.

Read if you like:
📚marriage in crisis
🚙small town/lake house
📚blue collar
🚙family interference
📚the most relatable couple.

This one to me wasn’t about falling in love per se, but about remembering why you love someone and that that partnership takes work. But if you don’t want it work, you’ll find ways that it doesn’t. I really loved Lauren and Jack (and their meddling family)! I think sometimes we can be so caught up in how we are feeling that we don’t consider how others feel and that was a tough lesson for both Lauren and Jack to face. I love that they took responsibility for their part in why they weren’t happy and wanted to work on it together. Their kids and Jacks dad definitely meddled to help them see how much they loved each other and what was important at the end of the day.

This one was a little different than Adriana’s other books (I still haven’t read Written in the Scars because I’m scared of that emotional journey🤣) but I honestly couldn’t put it down. I was really interested to see how it would all play out and it was a fun journey to read and definitely reminded me to appreciate the good a little more.

Thank you to Montlake, netgalley and the author for an early copy. All opinions are my own.

4.5⭐ Beautiful, sweet and perfect. This book is a really sweet story about two souls who were slowly drifting apart in a big sea called life. Lauren wanted more of Jack, just him. Jack wanted to provide for his family and secure their future in the only way he knew how – stay at work, work harder, earn more money. Somewhere along the way, they just stopped being a family. Their kids and Jack's dad contrive to get Jack and Lauren back together again. This story is about what they went through to get to the other side. And I loved every bit of it!!!

There were some tense moments when it felt like Jack was going to put his other foot in his mouth. And Lauren wasn't totally faultless in the breakdown of the marriage. Along the way, friends and family were recognizing what was happening and giving them advice without outwardly saying so. Jack was at a point where he felt that he couldn't even reach out and touch his wife, even in a kindly gesture, for fear of her seeing his touch as something it wasn't. He was having a hard time coming up with the solution to save his marriage. In the end, he smartened up and called Billie, Lauren's BFF, for advice. And then he followed her advice. Although there's still a lot of work to be done, it feels like Lauren and Jack are well on their way to mending fences and building a stronger future together.

“And this is the problem with a broken heart. It always remembers how to repair itself —and it doesn’t care if cracks remain.”

Thank you Adriana Locke, Valentine PR, and NetGalley for this ARC. The above is my own and personal opinion.

Long after the HEA.

I really like books that focus on after the marriage, the struggles of kids and life and the inevitable: becoming roommates. Lauren has made the decision to move on from her marriage to Jack. That is, until her two kids get involved, trying to get Jack and Lauren to stay together by manipulating a family vacay. Awkward to say the least. Can they get their mojo back?
Recommend.

Lauren and Jack are having marital problems. One of the problems is that Jack is completely unaware. In this book, their kids and Jack's father conspire to get them to their lake house. Although things aren't smooth, they start to talk about how each one has sort of checked out of the marriage. And the teenage kids have issues, there are work issues, and other family things going on. It's a rough time. Can they work things out and find the strong love that they once had.

This book points out that we all have crazy, busy lives, and that we need to make time and pay attention to the really important things - like the people we love. This book is different from the other Locke books that I've read, but it has some really thought provoking and very realistic life problems that real life people deal with.

This book is at once heart-rending emotions and warm hug. My heart absolutely ached for both Lauren and Jack in the beginning of this book. You know it's going to be something special when you're crying in chapter one, and that's exactly where I found myself with this book. This book hurt so good though. One of those reads that stay with you long after you've read the last page. Lauren and Jack have invested nearly two decades into building a life together, but things are more hurt than happy at the beginning of this story. Adriana Locke weaves her magic through this book, there's deep emotions, strong family ties, and so much love. I could not put this book down, I had to see how things turned out. How these two truly worked to meet one another in the middle, and come out the other side of their watershed years far stronger, and so much in love again. This book is easily one of my top reads of all time.

This book will tug at your heartstrings. Jack and Lauren's marriage is in trouble. A two week vacation may turn it all around for them. It's quite the journey. I loved the emotions in this story. The characters are wonderful and I enjoyed the storyline. It was so relatable. Overall this was a good read.

A love a good second chance storyline and this was a beautifully heartwarming but also heartbreaking at the same time. Lauren and Jack finding their way back to each other along with their children, who are pretty clever, made this a great read...and of course Pops!

4.5 stars!

A beautiful, real and heartwarming story of a marriage on the edge of collapse, and a couple’s fight to get back on track and find their HEA again. This is a beautifully written story with great characters and a gorgeous romance, and I loved this one!

Jack and Lauren have been married for 20 years. They have two smart and funny teenagers, but with Jack completely consumed with running his own business to support the family, and Lauren left to take care of everything else, they’re living separate lives. After years of struggle and loneliness, Lauren is finally ready to take charge of her life and move on without her husband – who has no idea how dire the situation really is. Until their kids conspire with their grandfather to bring their heartbroken parents together for a family vacation in their lakeside cabin for two weeks over the summer.

"As much as the kids shouldn’t have done this, I’m grateful they did. It gives me two weeks to figure this out. Because I have to figure this out.
I’m not losing Lauren."

“We did this for twenty years, babe,” he says softly. “Pretty sure we can do it for fourteen days.”

There is still a lot of love between Jack and Lauren, but life has interfered and they’ve both lost sight of each other. I could absolutely feel for Lauren, her struggles and emotions are real, and I could empathise with her anger, frustration, sadness and loneliness. She has lost herself while taking care of her family, and just wants her husband and partner back. And my heart ached for Jack, a man who knew he and his wife weren’t happy, but who is doing his best to provide for his family and give them a good life, having no idea how bad things actually are.

"It’s pure hell being around a woman you love so fucking much and knowing you’re making her miserable."

I love these two. I could feel how much they love each other, but how completely lost they both were in dealing with their situation. Lost in different ways, but they’re finally together and in a place where they can open up and be honest about their issues and how they’re feeling. And here is where their fight begins.

"Having her beside me and not being able to touch her – being afraid to even speak to her – was an eye-opener. What is it about confined spaces that brings truth to light? Maybe it’s because there’s nowhere to go. There are no distractions available to avoid reality. There’s no running from what’s real."

They’ve both made mistakes, and I felt so much for both of them. I could see where both of them were coming from, could understand how it got to where they were, and I was cheering for them every step of the way. I especially loved seeing Jack come to some pretty huge realisations, and I so admired how he accepted and dealt with it all, fighting hard for the woman he loves so much.

“I’m not walking away from this … I’m fighting for her – for us.”

“What do you need from me, Lo? Ask for it. Let me love you like you want to be loved.”

Their kids, Michael and Maddie, are fantastic characters, and I loved their interactions with their parents. And I loved that while their parents are dealing with their relationship issues, both of them have their own encounters with love over the summer. And Jack’s fabulous father is also along for the ride, bringing his own unique perspectives on love and family.

This is a beautifully written story, full of raw emotion, and I loved watching Jack and Lauren navigate through their challenges and find their way forward.

4.5 stars!

Thanks so much to Adriana Locke and Valentine PR and the publisher, Montlake, for the ebook and audio ARC/ALC of Nothing But it All. This book is one of Adriana Locke’s more emotional reads for sure. It’s marriage in trouble, second chance, forced proximity and so very good. Amy Hall and Ryan Duncan did a good job bringing Lauren and Jack to life, and their two kids and Jack’s father were incredible side characters and their scheming was highly amusing.
 
Lauren and Jacks marriage has been on the rocks for a while. Jack is constantly working and never home, and Lauren is tired of doing everything for everybody else and not having the opportunity to find her own dreams as an individual. Two years after the first marriage ultimatum, Lauren has started a popular scrapbooking business with the help of her daughter’s social media managing and she is ready to give up on her marriage. Her two kids, however, don’t want their parents to split up. They team up with Jack’s father to trick both Lauren and Jack into spending a couple weeks at their family’s cabin on a lake a few hours away. Thus begins shenanigans between the three to force Lauren and Jack together. I loved watching/listening to Lauren and Jack’s communication evolve as they address what went wrong in their marriage and if they’re even able to fix it. This book was very serious, mature, and compelling. I went from being hesitant about Jack to rooting for them to truly get back together.
 
I loved this book so much. It’s a more serious Adriana Locke book and definitely a standout to me. Be prepared to keep some tissues handy but don’t worry- the queen of happy endings won’t let you down.

The second chance romance I didn't know I needed. This was so emotionally raw, I couldn't stop thinking about it when I finished. Everyone in this book is in a different stage of love, Lauren and Jack have a marriage that is more roommates vs spouse. Maddie has her first boyfriend and Michael has fallen for his summer crush.
Jack and Lauren are so relatable.
Absolutely loved everything about this book!!

A marriage in trouble…not my favorite troupe but I love Adriana Locke so I picked it up. As a divorced person I can tell you the feelings of the h were spot on. This book was about as real as it gets but I like a little escape from reality when reading. It’s well written and the characters are likable and there’s a lot of good advice within the pages of this book.

Adriana is one of my favorite authors so I am always so excited anytime I get an arc from her. Her books are always such easy reads for me.

This was the first marriage in trouble books that I have read. I was unsure on how I would like it. While my marriage is not in trouble in anyway, I found this book to be so relatable. It is so easy to go through the motions of life with work and kids that you often forget to put the work in you need to make a happy marriage. It was a great reminder to put in that little extra effort and do not let your love fade.

I loved the parent trap that the kids did to get their parents to work through the issues.

It was such a fun read and absolutely loved how relatable it was. Remember forever isn’t promised, so be present for your important people now.

This is my second marriage in trouble book and I do believe I really love this trope! Jack & Lauren have been married for 20 years. They’ve basically just become roommates. Lauren was finally going to meet with an attorney to get a divorce but her two meddling children & her father in law intervened! They tricked Lauren & Jack into spending 2 weeks at this cabin that they usually vacation at every year.

Jack and Lauren still love each other but life just got in the way. Jack decided to fight for her. He changed his priorities and showed her he still wanted her. There is just something about a marriage in trouble romance that is just so REAL. You could feel the emotion, the pain, and the heartbreak of realizing they might not make it. It’s just so relatable.

This one will definitely pull on your heartstrings.

Thank you for this ARC! This is my honest review.

What an amazing read. I loved this story so much…it’s filled with so many emotions, amazing characters and a tough topic…a marriage in trouble. This is the first time I’ve read this trope and Adriana wrote it so well.

I think there are pieces of this story that many of us mom/wives can relate to. I felt so many emotions while reading this story…brought back lots of nostalgic moments with my grandparents - Strawberry pretzel salad and cucumbers and onions in vinegar.

Lauren and Jack’s marriage is in trouble and they have so many feelings that both have been holding onto….well, their emotions finally tip over and everything comes to light. They both know they have things they can chance, improve on…it’s evident how much they love one another.

Adriana writes a beautiful story about two people realizing they need to make changes in order to bring their family and marriage back together.

Michael and Maddie are two amazing kids that team up with grandpa Henry to help bring the two of them together and forcing time alone. So many funny and sweet moments.

I really really enjoyed this!! It was the perfect Valentines Day read. It was sweet and fun, easy to read, and it pulled me right in. The writing was a little juvenile (too many unnecessary swear words, an abundance of metaphors, and so many mini flashbacks), but it made the story fly by.

But can I just say… there was SO. MUCH. CHARACTER. GROWTH. Both Lauren and Jack fully owned up to their mistakes and learned from them instead of just repeating them for drama’s sake. Their willingness to fix their relationship comes up pretty quickly, so most of the book really was them fixing it and not being whiney and overdramatic.

This really was sweet. I love Jack and Lauren and their kiddos and Harvey. And I am such a sucker for lake house settings. And apparently now I’m super into the marriage-on-the-rocks-but-we’re-fixing-it! trope. It makes me appreciate Nick and our relationship so much.

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: ⭐️4/5 🌶️2/5
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁: Dual POV, Marriage in Trouble, Second Chance, Lake House, Parents of Teens, Forced Proximity
The Parent Trap Vibes
𝗧𝗪𝘀: Grief, Marital Issues, Mentions of Divorce

This was my first Adriana Locke book, and I was amazed with how heartfelt her writing is. A story about understanding, living for the special moments, and choosing each other through the good and the bad. I was feeling all the feels while reading this. There was so much rawness and relatability here that would really make you think of what you would do if you were in the couple’s situation. You will get all the charming, heartfelt, and humorous emotions with the Reed family.

All the characters are relatable and good-natured, you would enjoy getting to know them. Our MCs Jack and Lauren, married for 20 years with 2 teenagers Michael and Maggie, have slowly lost touch with each other. We get a glimpse of how their marriage started taking a turn as Jack focuses all his time and energy in building his business while Lauren drowns in resentment, loneliness, and disappointment. Lauren decides to do something for herself, trying to find identity and moves towards getting a divorce. Her children discover this and conspires with their grandfather (Jack’s dad), Harvey, to get them together to work on their relationship. Hence, their annual summer Lake House getaway.

Everything about this story, you can relate to and is very reflective on the realities of maintaining a marriage, creating a beautiful home life while conforming to the demands of today’s society. Jack and Lauren’s journey to finding their way back to each other was amazing to be a part of. Essentially, it was them learning how to communicate and move forward anew, without any hurt or grudges from the past. I like how Locke didn’t make us hate the MMC, rather, have us root for him as he wins his wife’s affection back. I loved the elaborate conversations between our MCs, and their inner monologues reflecting and seeing it from another’s perspective. We also see different levels of love / relationship through the 3 generations and how different they can be, yet it all boils down to the same core values of respect, choosing each other, and communicating. I love how the book ends with so much honesty of how marriage is hard and isn’t perfect, but you choose each other every day.

Listen...I didn't really know this was a trope I needed (marriage in trouble), but if Adriana writes it, I'm reading it. Period.

I think one of the most amazing things about reading romance books is it allows you to live in the world that the writer creates for a little while. Some are relatable, some are fantasy, some are just feel good reads.

Lauren and Jack's story definitely fell in the relatable category for me. My husband and I have been married for going on 27 years and it's so easy to put myself in Lauren's shoes. Seriously...so relatable. But, I love that they too stuck through it and the journey was so worth it!

I don't want to spoil anything in this amazing book...but I promise you it's freaking amazing! Jump in, hold on, and enjoy the ride...it's flawed and beautiful (but aren't we all)!

Favorite (spoiler-free) quotes:
"The think that got us through them was simple-we wanted to get through them. It's amazing how far that one little thing goes."

"If I wasn't already married to you, I'd be figuring out how to be, and since I already am, I'm figuring out how to stay that way."

"Don't get caught up in this performance-based lifestyle the world demands nowadays. The only performance that matters is the one you do with your family."