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Waiting To Break
The accident took his voice, but she heard him anyway.Former rockstar Gabe Whitlock has been hidden away in a long-term care facility ever since an on-stage accident stole his music, his movement, and even his voice. No one’s thought about him in years.
Anna Lin is still raw from losing her mother and battling the panic attacks that derailed her college career. Living with her father again feels like a step backward—until he gets her a job as the activities coordinator at Rosehaven.
What she doesn’t expect is to find Gabe Whitlock, former frontman and guitarist of Pressure Front, quietly wasting away in a nursing home in Western Massachusetts.
Drawn together by music and art, Anna and Gabe forge an unlikely bond. But when Gabe’s sister schemes to seize control of his estate, Anna and a ragtag band of residents push back.
Their defiance threatens to cost Anna the fragile new life she’s building—and Gabe the last shreds of independence he has left.
Waiting to Break is an emotionally powerful, deeply romantic journey about finding your voice after losing everything, the dignity of choosing who you love, and the courage it takes to find your own path in life.
For fans of soulful, emotionally charged romance novels like Me Before You and authors Jodi Picoult, and Nicholas Sparks.
~********************************************~
This book features lots of fun side characters helping our main characters get to their HEA, and a very slow-burn, later-in-life, age gap relationship.
There are themes of healing from loss of a parent and spouse, as well as explorations of what love, hope, desire, and independence look like at the end of life.
It has an incomplete quadriplegic hero with a severe form of TBI who uses a power wheelchair and an AAC speaking device. It has a heroine with an anxiety disorder.
Book Club Discussion Guide available at RuthMadisonBooks.com ~********************************************~Content institutional neglect, medical trauma, grief, panic attacks/anxiety, power dynamics in caregiving, public debate about “right to die,” false accusations, elder death, loss of a parent
Spice Level is a few scenes of open-door intimacy.
Anna Lin is still raw from losing her mother and battling the panic attacks that derailed her college career. Living with her father again feels like a step backward—until he gets her a job as the activities coordinator at Rosehaven.
What she doesn’t expect is to find Gabe Whitlock, former frontman and guitarist of Pressure Front, quietly wasting away in a nursing home in Western Massachusetts.
Drawn together by music and art, Anna and Gabe forge an unlikely bond. But when Gabe’s sister schemes to seize control of his estate, Anna and a ragtag band of residents push back.
Their defiance threatens to cost Anna the fragile new life she’s building—and Gabe the last shreds of independence he has left.
Waiting to Break is an emotionally powerful, deeply romantic journey about finding your voice after losing everything, the dignity of choosing who you love, and the courage it takes to find your own path in life.
For fans of soulful, emotionally charged romance novels like Me Before You and authors Jodi Picoult, and Nicholas Sparks.
~********************************************~
This book features lots of fun side characters helping our main characters get to their HEA, and a very slow-burn, later-in-life, age gap relationship.
There are themes of healing from loss of a parent and spouse, as well as explorations of what love, hope, desire, and independence look like at the end of life.
It has an incomplete quadriplegic hero with a severe form of TBI who uses a power wheelchair and an AAC speaking device. It has a heroine with an anxiety disorder.
Book Club Discussion Guide available at RuthMadisonBooks.com ~********************************************~Content institutional neglect, medical trauma, grief, panic attacks/anxiety, power dynamics in caregiving, public debate about “right to die,” false accusations, elder death, loss of a parent
Spice Level is a few scenes of open-door intimacy.
373 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 19, 2025
7 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Ruth Madison
26 books80 followersWriting What I Want To Read Since 1996.
After years of combing through the dusty back shelves of libraries looking for her elusive, imperfect hero, she started writing her own.
Ruth’s romantic tales are full of wounded heroes: men physically challenged by life, but not defeated. These men overcome the difficulties of amputation, paralysis, or cerebral palsy to find acceptance, happiness, and heroines who love them exactly as they are.
After years of combing through the dusty back shelves of libraries looking for her elusive, imperfect hero, she started writing her own.
Ruth’s romantic tales are full of wounded heroes: men physically challenged by life, but not defeated. These men overcome the difficulties of amputation, paralysis, or cerebral palsy to find acceptance, happiness, and heroines who love them exactly as they are.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 6, 2025
Waiting To Break is a contemporary romance about an ex-rockstar who is an incomplete quadriplegic who lost his voice after an accident, and the new activities director who is looking to reset her life after dropping out of college due to severe anxiety and panic attacks.
I absolutely loved the representation of quadriplegia and AAC (augmented and alternative communication) use. It was amazing to see the struggles nonverbal people go through with small-minded people believing them to be unintelligent or less than merely because they use a different form of communication.
I also adored the assisted living facility. As the book progressed, I fell in love with all of the residents and each of their personalities. The book also did a great job at shining a light on the loneliness and isolation that can happen in assisted living facilities. People drop their family members off and forget about them while going on with their lives.
The other frustratingly accurate thing that was depicted was how many assisted living facilities only put in the barest minimum that is needed to meet legal standards, and not caring about the quality of life of their residents.
I gave this book 4 stars.
The only thing that kept me from giving it a full 5 stars is the fact that some of the tropes are not my personal cup of tea. I’m not the biggest fan of age gap or forbidden romances, but that is *entirely* a personal preference.
Other than that, I loved Gabe and Anna’s relationship. It was amazing how everyone in Anna’s life underestimated her, but Gabe saw her and uplifted her, while Anna saw the real Gabe that no one else took the time to notice.
If you’re looking for a heartwarming disability romance with amazing quadriplegia representation, anxiety representation, age gaps, forbidden romance, and a happily ever after this is the book for you!!!
I absolutely loved the representation of quadriplegia and AAC (augmented and alternative communication) use. It was amazing to see the struggles nonverbal people go through with small-minded people believing them to be unintelligent or less than merely because they use a different form of communication.
I also adored the assisted living facility. As the book progressed, I fell in love with all of the residents and each of their personalities. The book also did a great job at shining a light on the loneliness and isolation that can happen in assisted living facilities. People drop their family members off and forget about them while going on with their lives.
The other frustratingly accurate thing that was depicted was how many assisted living facilities only put in the barest minimum that is needed to meet legal standards, and not caring about the quality of life of their residents.
I gave this book 4 stars.
The only thing that kept me from giving it a full 5 stars is the fact that some of the tropes are not my personal cup of tea. I’m not the biggest fan of age gap or forbidden romances, but that is *entirely* a personal preference.
Other than that, I loved Gabe and Anna’s relationship. It was amazing how everyone in Anna’s life underestimated her, but Gabe saw her and uplifted her, while Anna saw the real Gabe that no one else took the time to notice.
If you’re looking for a heartwarming disability romance with amazing quadriplegia representation, anxiety representation, age gaps, forbidden romance, and a happily ever after this is the book for you!!!
December 3, 2025
oh my. My heart!
this book completely captivated me. It was so good I didn't want it to end.
I'll admit while reading it I was questioning how everything would work out for them and I prayed it wasn't an unhappy ending- some cruel authors will do that. Thankfully Ruth Madison knows a happy ending is a must have with romance books. Thank you!
I was crying during this several times. I would highly recommend for any readers that enjoy romances that are a bit different than all the cookie-cutter perfect millionaire and billionaire guys.
this book completely captivated me. It was so good I didn't want it to end.
I'll admit while reading it I was questioning how everything would work out for them and I prayed it wasn't an unhappy ending- some cruel authors will do that. Thankfully Ruth Madison knows a happy ending is a must have with romance books. Thank you!
I was crying during this several times. I would highly recommend for any readers that enjoy romances that are a bit different than all the cookie-cutter perfect millionaire and billionaire guys.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews