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When Success Cost Everything
116 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 16, 2026
50 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 10, 2026
Another redemption in the books
These are good stories so I think its.just I am burnt out by the marriage in peril books. These are good because there is no cheating but they do mess with your minds. He didn't show up for his wife when she was in labor because his asst never told him and he turned off his phone. The asst was after him for sure. And then he takes her to see the wife and explain and the wife just tells both of them to get out. Hooray for her. How stupid can you be to bring the person who didn't tell you to the hospital. He definitely had to work to get his family back but he was all in.
These are good stories so I think its.just I am burnt out by the marriage in peril books. These are good because there is no cheating but they do mess with your minds. He didn't show up for his wife when she was in labor because his asst never told him and he turned off his phone. The asst was after him for sure. And then he takes her to see the wife and explain and the wife just tells both of them to get out. Hooray for her. How stupid can you be to bring the person who didn't tell you to the hospital. He definitely had to work to get his family back but he was all in.
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March 15, 2026I felt the potential as I read the first few chapters of this book and was like ok, we gonna start right out the bat blazing with the mmc missing the birth of his 2nd born and the PA causing probs. But, then the rest was just boring grovel and the reason it was boring was because there was no build up to this relationship or said problems. It was repetitive most of the time and formulaic to this troupe (insert therapy session). Maybe AI assisted writing. Meh.
March 10, 2026
Neglected wife walks away when her husband misses the birth of their second child. The Grovel and growth in this book was great.
February 24, 2026
OK
Short, I like this little stories to fill up some time whilst waiting to do other things .It's a simple story of a man who is too wrapped up in work to realise his family is slipping away until it's too late ,can he fix his broken marriage or will his wife just give up on him .This story wasnt great but it was a easy read
Short, I like this little stories to fill up some time whilst waiting to do other things .It's a simple story of a man who is too wrapped up in work to realise his family is slipping away until it's too late ,can he fix his broken marriage or will his wife just give up on him .This story wasnt great but it was a easy read
March 15, 2026
When Success Cost Everything was about 28-year-old Theodore Tengrove, the CEO of Tengrove Vineyards, the family winery, and 24-year-old Elizabeth Tengrove, his wife.
Theo and Elizabeth had been married for five years and had one four-year-old daughter named Evelyn, with a second on the way. But Theo had not only been an absent husband, but an absent father as well, because he spent most of his days building the family's winery. When he missed the birth of their second daughter (because his assistant didn't give him the emergency message that she'd gone into labor three weeks early), Elizabeth had enough. When he showed up several hours after the birth, with his assistant in tow, it was the final straw, and she kicked him out of her hospital room without allowing him to meet his new daughter, Eleanor.
Over the next few days, Theo's life changed. His family had moved out, his parents had forced him to take a sabbatical from the CEO position, and he was uncertain as to what his life would become without all the familiar people and things he was comfortable with. However, he also started showing up for his kids and working on himself through therapy. He wasn't ready to give up on his family.
There was quite a bit of insight written in this storyline about what workaholics may (or may not) lose if they aren't careful to stay present in both their homelife and their worklife. Theo learned the hard way what was and wasn't important. It took him almost losing his family to figure that out.
This book had a lot of angst and pain, with some push-pull from the FMC and an ever-present emotional rollercoaster with its twists and turns. There was only the slightest bit of other woman drama, but she was more of a wannabe other woman than any actual threat.
Both main characters were fully developed and mature, with a lot of room for growth taking place. The MMC, who grew the most since the FMC had to grow up early due to basically being a married single parent, while the MMC was virtually an absent parent/husband.
I gave this a three-and-a-half-star rating, rounded down to three. It was very well-written and deserved each one.
Theo and Elizabeth had been married for five years and had one four-year-old daughter named Evelyn, with a second on the way. But Theo had not only been an absent husband, but an absent father as well, because he spent most of his days building the family's winery. When he missed the birth of their second daughter (because his assistant didn't give him the emergency message that she'd gone into labor three weeks early), Elizabeth had enough. When he showed up several hours after the birth, with his assistant in tow, it was the final straw, and she kicked him out of her hospital room without allowing him to meet his new daughter, Eleanor.
Over the next few days, Theo's life changed. His family had moved out, his parents had forced him to take a sabbatical from the CEO position, and he was uncertain as to what his life would become without all the familiar people and things he was comfortable with. However, he also started showing up for his kids and working on himself through therapy. He wasn't ready to give up on his family.
There was quite a bit of insight written in this storyline about what workaholics may (or may not) lose if they aren't careful to stay present in both their homelife and their worklife. Theo learned the hard way what was and wasn't important. It took him almost losing his family to figure that out.
This book had a lot of angst and pain, with some push-pull from the FMC and an ever-present emotional rollercoaster with its twists and turns. There was only the slightest bit of other woman drama, but she was more of a wannabe other woman than any actual threat.
Both main characters were fully developed and mature, with a lot of room for growth taking place. The MMC, who grew the most since the FMC had to grow up early due to basically being a married single parent, while the MMC was virtually an absent parent/husband.
I gave this a three-and-a-half-star rating, rounded down to three. It was very well-written and deserved each one.
March 10, 2026
A satisfying short read of a marriage in trouble. The H is a workaholic spending sixteen hours a day at the family's winery. The h is his neglected wife raising their four year old daughter and feeling like a single parent. Missing big and small events and making promises to do better has become the H's pattern of behavior until he misses the birth of his second daughter. Acting on the direction of the H, his assistant does not interrupt a meeting to pass on a message from the h that she has gone into labour three weeks early. With his phone turned off, he missed texts and voice mail messages. He arrives at the hospital with his assistant in tow to find his family and the h's family in the room. It had been a priority for everyone but him. The grovel includes changing his career.
The story is only about one hundred pages but it feels complete. Noticing similarities in the two books I've read by this author, main characters are young, mid twenties, married with a four year old, wife is in late stages of second pregnancy.
The story is only about one hundred pages but it feels complete. Noticing similarities in the two books I've read by this author, main characters are young, mid twenties, married with a four year old, wife is in late stages of second pregnancy.
March 7, 2026
Notes for me
Novella
Husband chooses family winery over family for years.
Wife goes into labor 3 weeks early. His phone is off due to a meeting.
She calls his 23 year old assistant and she doesn’t give him the message.
He turns his phone on after the meeting, sees all of the texts and voice mails and panics. He rushes to the hospital and gets there after the birth.
He makes assistant come so she can explain her reasoning for not telling him. Assistant being with him looks bad and wife kicks him out.
Husband has to work to prove he will choose his family.
He had noticed assistant looking at him too familiar and standing too close but was never interested. He moves her to office out of town.
Novella
Husband chooses family winery over family for years.
Wife goes into labor 3 weeks early. His phone is off due to a meeting.
She calls his 23 year old assistant and she doesn’t give him the message.
He turns his phone on after the meeting, sees all of the texts and voice mails and panics. He rushes to the hospital and gets there after the birth.
He makes assistant come so she can explain her reasoning for not telling him. Assistant being with him looks bad and wife kicks him out.
Husband has to work to prove he will choose his family.
He had noticed assistant looking at him too familiar and standing too close but was never interested. He moves her to office out of town.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 31, 2026
Elizabeth and Theodore
The anguish is palpable as Elizabeth goes into labor, enduring the pain and uncertainty without the one person who should have been beside her. Her husband, consumed by his work at the winery, misses the birth of their child—an absence that echoes louder than any words.
In the stillness that follows, regret begins to take shape. It creeps in slowly, then all at once, as he realizes what his devotion to work has cost him. Not just a moment, but something far greater—something irretrievable. By the time he understands the depth of his loss, Elizabeth has already made her choice. She is no longer waiting, no longer hoping. She is determined to begin again, to build a life for herself and her children —without him.
The anguish is palpable as Elizabeth goes into labor, enduring the pain and uncertainty without the one person who should have been beside her. Her husband, consumed by his work at the winery, misses the birth of their child—an absence that echoes louder than any words.
In the stillness that follows, regret begins to take shape. It creeps in slowly, then all at once, as he realizes what his devotion to work has cost him. Not just a moment, but something far greater—something irretrievable. By the time he understands the depth of his loss, Elizabeth has already made her choice. She is no longer waiting, no longer hoping. She is determined to begin again, to build a life for herself and her children —without him.
March 13, 2026
This is becoming a well used trope but the author added a freshness that held the reader's interest. The old story of the H putting everything before his family to the point of missing the birth of his dauther was just pittiful. I did question the actual motives of his EA and his bring her to the hospital was simply stupid and in the poorest of taste. The h was stronger than she realized and was finally able to see his behavioral changes instead of just listening to his emply promises. The fact that his parents were also his 2x4 helped get his attention.
March 19, 2026
Just no
If you look up doormat in the dictionary, this fmc’s picture would be right there. You can’t take back missing the birth of your child. It was so ridiculous. The FMC is literally saying she feels no love for her husband and then after two weeks, he takes his daughter to the park once and literally she says the first crack in her walls between her and her husband happened. I don’t even know what I just wasted my time reading. At least it wasn’t overly AI though I think it was AI assisted, but this was not a good story. I do not recommend it.
If you look up doormat in the dictionary, this fmc’s picture would be right there. You can’t take back missing the birth of your child. It was so ridiculous. The FMC is literally saying she feels no love for her husband and then after two weeks, he takes his daughter to the park once and literally she says the first crack in her walls between her and her husband happened. I don’t even know what I just wasted my time reading. At least it wasn’t overly AI though I think it was AI assisted, but this was not a good story. I do not recommend it.
February 22, 2026
Wonderful story
Just discovered this author and I feel like I am going to devour all her books quickly. This is my second and both just really scratched the itch for angsty, heartbreak, followed by the epic grovel. Too many of these types of books make the female lead a doormat, but not these. Highly recommend!
Just discovered this author and I feel like I am going to devour all her books quickly. This is my second and both just really scratched the itch for angsty, heartbreak, followed by the epic grovel. Too many of these types of books make the female lead a doormat, but not these. Highly recommend!
March 8, 2026
"I can't do both. I can't run the winery and be the husband and father you deserve. So I'm choosing you. I'm choosing you, I'm choosing the girls" - NO B*TCH YOU DIDN'T, YOUR PARENTS FORCED YOU ON A LEAVE OF ABSENCE, YOU WERE STILL CONFUSED WHAT TO DO AND ARGUING WITH THEM!
I love a fast paced good grovel book but not when the MMC is a big fat liar!
I love a fast paced good grovel book but not when the MMC is a big fat liar!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 14, 2026
Christy Got Rewarded For Abusing His Family. Really?
Oh hell no.
He gave that vile cunt a promotion?
Nope, unforgiveable.
She helped in domestically abusing his wife, she ensured Eleanor was born with no father, and she gets rewarded.
Fuck that
Oh hell no.
He gave that vile cunt a promotion?
Nope, unforgiveable.
She helped in domestically abusing his wife, she ensured Eleanor was born with no father, and she gets rewarded.
Fuck that
March 16, 2026
Marriage in crisis
A workaholic that abandons family and a wife who says she's done. The author has this type of situation pegged. This is a well written story of the struggles, heartbreak and work it takes to put things right.
A workaholic that abandons family and a wife who says she's done. The author has this type of situation pegged. This is a well written story of the struggles, heartbreak and work it takes to put things right.
March 20, 2026
Good story. Awesome beginning! The wife gave him the big set down! Great wake up call and honesty from the hero that humbled him. He certainly changed.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews