Nothing But It All

By: Adriana Locke

Narrated by: Amy Hall, Ryan Duncan

Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

From USA Today bestselling author Adriana Locke comes a warm and romantic novel about a marriage in trouble, two conspiring kids, and the meaning of long-lasting love.

After twenty years, the cracks in Lauren Reed’s marriage are showing. She and her husband, Jack, feel more like roommates than a loving couple. What they have in common are two wonderful teenagers, Michael and Maddie, and the same wistful question: When did it all go wrong? Now that Lauren’s decided to get on with her life—alone—divorce is inevitable.

Not to the kids. They aren’t giving up so easily.

Michael and Maddie have conspired with their grandfather to bring everyone together for a vacation in the family’s favorite summer getaway, a rustic lakeside cabin in Story Brook, Ohio. Awkward? Yep. A little deceptive? Sure. But as far as traps go, Lauren and Jack agree—the meddlers couldn’t have set one that was more scenic or filled with so many bittersweet memories.

This trip is going to be life-changing for the whole family. Fourteen days of hope, heartbreak, and unexpected possibilities—like maybe falling in love all over again.

©2024 by Adriana Locke. (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

My new Roman Empire.

I read this in one sitting.

It had me sobbing in bed at 4am, just feeling grateful for my life. I didn't even finish the damn thing until 630am.
I'm not even exaggerating. 😂

If you're a SAHM, feeling unappreciated by your spouse, went through a divorce with an ex who didn't appreciate you, or just don't have a perfect marriage (cause who does after 20 years?!) this book will have you REFLECTING.

I loved this book.
I love Adriana Locke in general, but this... This book was incredible.
Maybe it's because it pulled at my heartstrings, and I was able to relate so much to the characters, idk. But I'm going to be thinking about this book for a LONG time.

It was SO REAL, which I don't usually care for in books, but this was just so spot on at certain times. I feel like I'm just repeating myself in this review, but I have no other words.😂 It's just good.

Read it. 100% recommend. Come back and let me know if you also cried lol.

*Side note*
As of right now, this is on KU and if you have an Audible account, you can also listen to it for free! I listened to some of it as I was reading along and the narration is amazing!

A good book about what it takes to make a marriage work

This book hits home on the fact it takes 2 people to make a marriage to work. It was a sweet story about not only fixing their broken marriage but keeping their family together.

Wonderful Story & Narration🎧Riveting & Heartfelt!

This wonderful romance novel features a later in life married couple whose marriage and relationship is in trouble and falling apart. Their children recognize this and team up with their grandfather to stage an intervention. It is a beautifully written story that is realistic with characters that are relatable and likable, so much so you are rooting for them by the end. Lauren and Jack Reed have been married for twenty years and have two teenage children, Michael and Maddie. Jack has his own business and puts most of his time in that, and Lauren feels neglected and unseen. She is unhappy with the direction of their relationship and her life, so she started to reinvent and better herself, even started her own business. Both are so busy in their lives that their life is passing them by and when they cancel their family vacation, the children got them all to the family’s favorite vacation spot, their lakeside cabin. Adriana Locke delivers a heartwarming journey of a once loving couple that lost their way and put in a position to find their way back to each other by their loved ones. I adored Harvey, Jack’s dad and their two children and their well thought out plan. This wonderfully plotted story captivated my attention and tugged at my heartstrings throughout the entire book. I loved how it all played out, there is plenty of drama, a touch of angst, heartwarming and charming moments, heartfelt emotions and a wonderful second chance of getting it right romance. Adriana Locke, thank you for another fabulous story and emotional rollercoaster ride.

🎧 📚🎧  Amy Hall and Ryan Duncan were the perfect cast to bring these characters to life, and they did so with a complaint understanding of who they were portraying, giving each a voice that was fitting. I loved how they took each role and made it their own, sounding believable and just as I imagined the characters to sound. Their versatility in their vocal range was remarkable, performing the voices from the young adults to the senior. They set the perfect tone for the story, captured all the characters’ emotions and had you feeling each one. These entertaining storytellers are a pleasure to listen to and their narration elevated this already fabulous story to another level. Thank you for another fantastic listen. 

Moving story.

A moving story about love, family, dealing with an aging parent and the fabric of a relationship between husband and wife. I felt the words in this book in every page, I’m so in love with the story and the characters.

Raw Emotion

There's not too many times when a story Take you on a life journey. That is real raw and extremely emotional. This story is about a married couple. Now, most people with bank stories are about finding love. And quite frankly, that's what this story is about because they lost their love but found their way again. I have to say that I really enjoyed this story. Even if sometimes some of it hit close to home, it helped wake me up a little bit and if that's not why some of us reads stories to either get away or have awakenings, I don't know what is I definitely recommend..

Relatable

Really loved this story! Very relatable situations and characters. Narration is fantastic. Look forward to more from this author.

great love story

so true to like! I really enjoyed the characters and how they fixed their life together.

Another hit

Absolutely loved this book. I love all the characters in this book. It’s still a roller coaster of emotions and you even learn something new.

Absolutely Brilliant-an original and clever story

Amazing Readers (Amy Hall & Ryan Duncan) gave voice to a genius tale.

Story - Second Chance married couple on the brink of divorce getting back on track with help from their teenage kids and friends. There remains an underlying tension that the reader is left wondering if they will make it.

I walked away from this story feeling that it was amazingly written. The insights and nuances were clever and made the story real and it had the right feel.

The FMC's inner dialogue really resonated and helped us understand (especially) where the other party might be tone-deaf to situations and the unconscious signals that put the relationship on a downward path. IT made the narrative feel more realistic.

It felt true to life that I enjoyed. I was really impressed the way it avoided the stilted situations often used by other authors to twist the plot. This felt far more natural.

Style - Dual POV - with great introspection and inner dialogue to help the reader understand how far the FMC & MMC have drifted and why.

Angst / Conflict level - really feels the vibe of the trope but lacks bad angst and reflects move to frustration and then giving up. It gives a great insight into the mind of the MC's. There is genuine conflict and pain and at times I was left wondering if they would make it.

Trope Vibe - This was an entirely new trope for me and the vibe was amazing. A couple that is about 20 years marriage and have silenced their own voice. The story was clever and developed brilliantly.

Spice/Heat 2.5

Audience - Adult

After-taste - how did I feel after ? I walked away feeling like it was uplifting and real. A brilliant empowering read with a tumultuous journey.

Emotional second chance romance

My Star Rating: 5/5 ⭐
My Spice Rating: 2/5 🌶️

What you’ll find:
- Dual POV
- Marriage in Crisis
- Meddling Family
- Small Town/Lake House
- HEA

Jack and Lauren have been married for a long time, have two children together, and both have successful businesses. They started as a happy couple but are now just going through the motions. Lauren felt neglected, lonely, and ignored by Jack. She felt she had lost herself in her marriage. In Lauren's opinion, Jack puts his career first and doesn't spend as much time with the family as she'd like. Lauren had divorce on her mind and was ready to take the next steps toward dissolving their marriage. Jack was unaware of Laurens's internal struggles. He focused on working hard to provide for his family and had forgotten that being present with his family was most important. Seeing their parents' marriage is in trouble, their children, Micheal and Maddie, work with their grandfather to bring the family back together.

This is my first book by Adriana Locke, and I am officially a fan. This is one of the most powerful stories I've ever read. This felt like a therapy session, and I felt all the emotions. This story seems to be common in some relationships. Adriana's character and plot development are fantastic. This is a realistic story, and the characters are believable. In the beginning, I found myself getting annoyed with Lauren. Although I understood she was hurting, I felt she was harsh in her conversations with Jack. As I continued to listen, I related more to Lauren and why she approached the situation the way she did. Hurt manifests itself differently for everyone. I was inspired by how Jack and Lauren were able to talk things out and get back to a good place in their marriage.

The narrators did an excellent job. Amy Hall and Ryan Duncan portrayed Lauren and Jack well. They gave the characters personality and truly brought them to life. Amy and Ryan's storytelling abilities allowed me to be fully immersed in the story. Nothing But It All reminds us that marriage takes work and true love is worth fighting for.