I knew Adam and Jenny's story was going to be tough to read, and I wasn't wrong. Seeing them be all happy and married in much of book one ( Famous in a Small Town ) and then him nearly dying in the tornado and then his bitterness and their distance from each other in book two ( Rebel in a Small Town ) was difficult enough--seeing things from their perspectives, though? Was sure to be even harder.

And it was...and wasn't.

It was a relief to see the reasons behind what they were doing, even when I didn't agree with them--and there were parts that I strongly disagreed with. Why couldn't they just see that they still had a life, a future together? That she wasn't pitying him, and that Jenny and the kids didn't "deserve" better? Couldn't she see that Adam really was trying?

This book was hard to read, but rewarding at the same time, because Adam and Jenny do (eventually--talk about waiting until the last minute; argh!) figure it out. And watching two people who have been together forever but are just finally figuring out how to really be together at last makes for one heck of a story. I'm really looking forward to seeing them together again in future series books, as they continue to work their way through being a stronger, better family together :)

Breakup is the third book in the series, and though you do have enough background here for it to work okay as a standalone, it will have a lot more impact if you've read the first two books first and have seen this one coming up in the rearview. Plus, the first two books a great stories in their own right, so you'll be doing yourself an extra-special favor by reading them all. ;)

Rating: 4 stars / B+

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

An emotional, heart-wrenching, and thought-provoking story that is much topical right now in the current events. Maybe that is the reason why - I admit - I have kept putting this book off. I saw in the blurb that a tornado had leveled part of the town, and the hero was injured because of it, and suddenly all the hurricane, earthquake and wildfire news came that much closer and my idea of escape-reading was far-fetched.
Jenny and Adam Buchanan had married young, straight out of high school, after Adam had been in a serious car accident. The book has timing issues throughout the eARC. When they have been together ten years, when married six, when married nine years, when they got married when they were 18, then when they were 19, then being now 24, or 26 or next time 28, loving each other half of their lives but together only ten... So, the fact was, they got married very young and were under 30 years old. They lives were set around the circle of family, taking care of their boys, building up the family business until the tornado hit the town, and Adam was seriously injured, again.
It has been three months from Adam's injury when Jenny's cup runs over and life gets too much to handle. Adam's recovery is not happening fast enough and keeping up all the balls in the air is just too much for her and the laundry-gate happens.
As I was reading this story, I realized I was reacting to Jenny not only as disliking her as a character, but resenting her on a very personal level, as well. It has only been three MONTHS from the tornado yet she expects things to be moving on, Adam to snap out of it, and start to adjust to life in a wheelchair, and other limitations that could be part of his life rest of his days. I don't remember when I have been as mad at a character as I was with Jenny. As a person with a partial disability, and not at the state of wheelchair or epilepsy, it took me three YEARS to adjust to the new life, to adjust the medication, to adjust not being able to work, to snap out of the funk, and she expects him to perform as a functioning, contributing person after three MONTHS?! Lady... It is a good thing she is a fictional character, right?!
I liked Adam. Maybe it was easy for me to relate to him. His struggle to find his new place in his old life was realistic. His feelings for his family are true, his need to protect them from himself are noble, if not what they needed or wanted. I loved the connection he builds up with his sons, they brought tears to my eyes several times with the earnest, emotional scenes as they adjust to the new life.
So this story came to be a bit too personal for me, and thus it was difficult to be 'partial and fair' at times with Jenny and the twists in the plot. But I do believe the story deserves the four Spoons because it is well written and the story has a great flow, it engages the thoughts and emotions of the reader, and the characters have depth and show development as the tale unfolds. The great truth about saying "I do", and 'do' being an active verb, not an emotion or a feeling, and thus promising to choose love and commitment each day, and actively work towards that goal with one's actions and behavior as well, is a great lesson and reminder to the readers. Life is not easy, it can be very challenging, and to choose to act upon the promise made, even when everything goes wrong, that is the true test of the commitment to love each other in sickness and in health...
An interesting, challenging, and inspirational story about marriage and love at the most trying times in life
~ Four Spoons

Turmoil and heartache snare our attention with this latest dip into Kristina Knight’s Slippery Rock series. If you’ve read the previous books, you will recognize Adam and Jenny and already be familiar with what happened to him. I was hooked on the story just from enjoying the series, but watching them fight for their relationship kept me even more enthralled. She was hard to like, but I enjoyed their story.

Jenny Buchanan thought she had a happy life until her husband was almost killed in the tornado that struck Slippery Rock. Now she’s living with a cold and bitter man who is nothing like the man she married, and it’s making her take a big look back at their life together in a way she never did. She’s seeing ways that she never spoke up for herself, and ways she settled instead of reaching for what she wanted.

Adam Buchanan is shocked out of his new life of anger and self-pity when his wife asks him to move out. She’s tired of living half a life with him and the man he has become since his injury. He knows in his heart that she deserves better than the life he’s left her with, but he can’t bring himself to leave and give up on what they have shared. Can changing his attitude and trying to find a way to cope with his illness make his wife fall back in love with him again?

I had mixed feelings when I requested this book as I had read the previous books and didn't much like Adam very much. He had come across as moody, combative, rude and at some points, abusive towards Jenny. While Jenny had come across as sweet, supportive, hurt and embarrassed when he was acting this way in front of his friends. So while I liked that he finally got a clue, it still left a bad taste of the way he acted previously towards her. No matter how much he was hurting and was in his own personal hell, I didn't like his treatment of the woman who he was suppose to have loved and who supported him for so long.

This book is 100% charming! It's a book about second chances even when you think there is nothing left to save. It's a book about a couple who fight for what they have, even when it seems there is nothing left to fight for. And it is a book about undying love and the beauty it holds.

I thought this book was extremely endearing and I was rooting for the characters from start to finish. Some things became a little wobbly at times, and made me feel every on edge, but how everything comes together made me smile. I truly loved this one and cannot wait until Kristina Knight writes another one.

Kudos to Knight for creating a real marriage conflict...this isn't a silly misunderstanding. This is a couple who married young and didn't set up a healthy marriage. Instead, it was based on their parents' marriages and how they acted in high school. Then, when a real crisis hit, they didn't know how to get through it.

I would have liked to see some real resolution. Instead there is an abrupt ending that comes right after she told Adam that she couldn't keep going through the emotional turmoil.

The children in the story were perfectly written. Too often kids are written as over mature, precocious, or brats. These were normal kids.

I enjoyed the book. 4 stars.