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What If We Break: A Serendipity Holiday Novel
Sometimes the holidays can be complicated…
Dakota Bryant has had more than her share of heartache, especially around the holidays. With her best friend's wedding quickly approaching and her estranged husband in the wedding party, she's not likely to catch a break. Hopefully she can survive the Christmas week with her heart and sanity still intact.
War and loss left Kreed Bryant a shell of the man he once was. Returning home for the holidays to play his role as best man to his closest friend is simple. Facing his biggest challenge... setting things right with the one woman he vowed to move Heaven and Earth for is a lot more complicated.
To find their way back to the love they once had, they will have to be honest about who they are and learn that every journey to happiness is not easy or without heartache.
Dakota Bryant has had more than her share of heartache, especially around the holidays. With her best friend's wedding quickly approaching and her estranged husband in the wedding party, she's not likely to catch a break. Hopefully she can survive the Christmas week with her heart and sanity still intact.
War and loss left Kreed Bryant a shell of the man he once was. Returning home for the holidays to play his role as best man to his closest friend is simple. Facing his biggest challenge... setting things right with the one woman he vowed to move Heaven and Earth for is a lot more complicated.
To find their way back to the love they once had, they will have to be honest about who they are and learn that every journey to happiness is not easy or without heartache.
65 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 16, 2017
1 person is currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Kinsey Corwin
5 books12 followersAuthor. Hopeless romantic. Overall mess.
That sums me up in a nutshell. But, if you would like a little bit more info on yours truly, I was born in San Antonio, lived in the Southwest most of my life with a brief stint in Panama and California during my childhood. The majority of that time has been among the glitz and glam of Neon Lights known as Las Vegas, and now I've retreated to a small college town in Southern Utah.
I love baseball, have an obsession with the Boston Red Sox and cried big sappy tears when Big Papi retired, because he was my first love in baseball.
You can usually find me hanging out on Instagram (because I love pretty pictures).
That sums me up in a nutshell. But, if you would like a little bit more info on yours truly, I was born in San Antonio, lived in the Southwest most of my life with a brief stint in Panama and California during my childhood. The majority of that time has been among the glitz and glam of Neon Lights known as Las Vegas, and now I've retreated to a small college town in Southern Utah.
I love baseball, have an obsession with the Boston Red Sox and cried big sappy tears when Big Papi retired, because he was my first love in baseball.
You can usually find me hanging out on Instagram (because I love pretty pictures).
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 30, 2017
Dakota and Kreed Bryant are husband wife. Torn apart by the military, heartbreak, and loss. Brought back together for their best friends wedding. Can they find their way back to each other? Or is it to late for a Christmas miracle?
I really enjoyed this book. It's a very short, sweet, lighthearted book. I look forward to more from the author.
I really enjoyed this book. It's a very short, sweet, lighthearted book. I look forward to more from the author.
January 9, 2019
I feel bad not giving this book a good rating, but I honestly I didn't think it was a great read for several reasons. It was a novella, (so a short story), which I don't mind at all. I actually like short stories and anthologies with quick reads so that wasn't a problem. There were just a lot of issues for me. First off, I couldn't even tell where the story was taking place. There was a town named, but I assume it was fictional. This is the first book I have read from the author so if this town is described in another story, I missed it.
Second chance stories are great- there are always lessons learned on forgiveness, letting go of pride, learning truths, etc. But these characters were so inconsistent with their feelings that the change that these characters went through, (especially in such a short time- like a week), was very unrealistic and unbelievable. Kreed and Dakota have been separated/estranged for years and have years of anger built up and they can hardly stand to be around each other. He was physically hurt while serving in the military and when she went to see him, he wouldn't even let her in to the hospital. For loving someone his whole life, this seems like a stretch. In so many instances they were hurt, angry and sad (internally), but they were still complimenting each other, kissing on the cheeks, dancing together, etc. The first time they see each other in who knows how long he acts like nothing bad ever happened and he asks to kiss her, (mistletoe). She accepts and he tries to french kiss her? Really? And she is fine with that?
There are several occasions where there seems to be important conversations or meetings happening and then they just end-"fade to black" and the next chapter or paragraph starts off somewhere else and you never find out what happened. One time he sends her on a scavenger hunt of memorable places from their past, they end up hugging and then it just ends. No clue as to their conversation or if they worked things out. Then the next day they are still unsure of their feelings again, as if the previous day hadn't happened. It's frustrating because it seems like they made some progress towards working thing out- then it cuts out any description of said progress and then they are back to not liking each other again. The reader needs to see how and when hearts are being changed. This happened several times. I had to check my reading to make sure I didn't skip something and hadn't miss anything.
Almost every page brought up the pain from the past that they went through and it was described over and over again the same way. It never really changed and it never made sense to me. Some people said it was his fault. And then she says it's her's. It got really redundant- telling us why they were upset but yet their actions also didn't reflect that inner turmoil at all. Only in their conversations with other people do you see how upset they really were. When they were together it was ok to kiss, hold hands, compliment, etc. like nothing had every happened.
The ending where he was putting forth effort to get them back together is nice and has nice gestures, but they seemed really rushed and not realistic. Literally the day before he was hoping she *might* dance with him and the next day- without any conversations taking place about getting back together, he is going to renew their vows?
There was also very little character description so I felt like I didn't know the characters very well. We learned about Kreed's and Dakota's past in one conversation with his best friend. Little snippets of the past were thrown in there, but overall it was choppy, inconsistent and hard to like.
Again, I hate to rate something so low. I absolutely love reading and like to support authors the best I can so they can keep putting out great stories for us to read, but I just can't promote this book.
Second chance stories are great- there are always lessons learned on forgiveness, letting go of pride, learning truths, etc. But these characters were so inconsistent with their feelings that the change that these characters went through, (especially in such a short time- like a week), was very unrealistic and unbelievable. Kreed and Dakota have been separated/estranged for years and have years of anger built up and they can hardly stand to be around each other. He was physically hurt while serving in the military and when she went to see him, he wouldn't even let her in to the hospital. For loving someone his whole life, this seems like a stretch. In so many instances they were hurt, angry and sad (internally), but they were still complimenting each other, kissing on the cheeks, dancing together, etc. The first time they see each other in who knows how long he acts like nothing bad ever happened and he asks to kiss her, (mistletoe). She accepts and he tries to french kiss her? Really? And she is fine with that?
There are several occasions where there seems to be important conversations or meetings happening and then they just end-"fade to black" and the next chapter or paragraph starts off somewhere else and you never find out what happened. One time he sends her on a scavenger hunt of memorable places from their past, they end up hugging and then it just ends. No clue as to their conversation or if they worked things out. Then the next day they are still unsure of their feelings again, as if the previous day hadn't happened. It's frustrating because it seems like they made some progress towards working thing out- then it cuts out any description of said progress and then they are back to not liking each other again. The reader needs to see how and when hearts are being changed. This happened several times. I had to check my reading to make sure I didn't skip something and hadn't miss anything.
Almost every page brought up the pain from the past that they went through and it was described over and over again the same way. It never really changed and it never made sense to me. Some people said it was his fault. And then she says it's her's. It got really redundant- telling us why they were upset but yet their actions also didn't reflect that inner turmoil at all. Only in their conversations with other people do you see how upset they really were. When they were together it was ok to kiss, hold hands, compliment, etc. like nothing had every happened.
The ending where he was putting forth effort to get them back together is nice and has nice gestures, but they seemed really rushed and not realistic. Literally the day before he was hoping she *might* dance with him and the next day- without any conversations taking place about getting back together, he is going to renew their vows?
There was also very little character description so I felt like I didn't know the characters very well. We learned about Kreed's and Dakota's past in one conversation with his best friend. Little snippets of the past were thrown in there, but overall it was choppy, inconsistent and hard to like.
Again, I hate to rate something so low. I absolutely love reading and like to support authors the best I can so they can keep putting out great stories for us to read, but I just can't promote this book.
October 24, 2018
This is a novella and for how short it is, it sure deals with a lot of hard stuff. Marital problems, miscarriage, war, injuries, and the grief about all of those things. And it all takes place at Christmas time and during a wedding. Both of those things are wonderful but add lots of stress to life. I don't know how realistic it is for an estranged couple to get back together in such a brief time period. Maybe it is. I'm just not sure I could work through the trust issues that quickly. When describing what happened to cause the rift in their marriage I kept calling Kreed a jerk because he did a whole lot of super jerky things. I know there were other issues plaguing him because of war etc but good grief. What a jerk! It was incredibly hard to want him to get her back and to like him even a little. By the end he seems a pretty good guy but I had a hard time getting to that point. I just hope that the next time there are rough waters he doesn't revert to some of that jerk behavior again.
Sex: marital innuendo, some kisses
Language: no
Violence: no
I received an advanced copy of this book and voluntarily chose to write this review.
Sex: marital innuendo, some kisses
Language: no
Violence: no
I received an advanced copy of this book and voluntarily chose to write this review.
January 25, 2019
Young love. Promises made. A young man leaves to serve his country, leaving his young bride. Promises are broken. Pain and suffering ensue and in its wake leaves and incredible rift of pain, sorrow, and separation.
Kreed and Dakota have both made choices and the consequences are a separation that they're not sure they can fix. You can feel the love that they have for each other, but you also feel the tension as they try to work things out and figure out their future.
This is a beautifully written short story with heart. The Christmas and wedding setting leave its own warmth, and Kreed and Dakota's friends give amazing characterization and support to the couple and to the story.
What if We Break is an enjoyable read that will leave you with a happy sigh and is the perfect book to start the Serendipity Holiday Series.
*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. All opinions are my own.
Kreed and Dakota have both made choices and the consequences are a separation that they're not sure they can fix. You can feel the love that they have for each other, but you also feel the tension as they try to work things out and figure out their future.
This is a beautifully written short story with heart. The Christmas and wedding setting leave its own warmth, and Kreed and Dakota's friends give amazing characterization and support to the couple and to the story.
What if We Break is an enjoyable read that will leave you with a happy sigh and is the perfect book to start the Serendipity Holiday Series.
*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. All opinions are my own.
December 5, 2017
I really loved the storyline and all the characters in this story, the main couples back story hurt my heart and I was anticipating them working out thier problems. So why only 3.5 stars? Becuase the working it out never really happened, the book was over just as it began. This needs to be labeled as a novella and not a novel becuase it just ended without the couple actually working out thier issues and it was so so shor only 65 pages. whelp i would have rated it lower becuase of that if i hadnt loved the characters and story up until the end.
December 20, 2017
"Do you believe in love at first sight or should I walk by again?"
Oh, this book! It accurately touched on the changes a soldier sustains after coming home from deployment. I was delightfully surprised. Marriage is a beast, and this book didn't cut corners. Yet, at the same time, it revealed an emotional journey of two people who love each other but had been hurt [and we can all relate to that!]. I kept saying Awww. A quick read. And totally worth it!
Oh, this book! It accurately touched on the changes a soldier sustains after coming home from deployment. I was delightfully surprised. Marriage is a beast, and this book didn't cut corners. Yet, at the same time, it revealed an emotional journey of two people who love each other but had been hurt [and we can all relate to that!]. I kept saying Awww. A quick read. And totally worth it!
October 17, 2018
This clean, and touching romance centers around Dakota Bryant and Kreed Bryant. A couple that has suffered losses, promises broken, and heartbreaks. One is still suffering with physical injuries , and PTSD, the other with depression .
During it all, their love is still there. But will they let old hurts destroy that love or will they be able to have a second chance in love and in life?
I was entrusted a copy of this book. The opinions expressed are solely my own.
During it all, their love is still there. But will they let old hurts destroy that love or will they be able to have a second chance in love and in life?
I was entrusted a copy of this book. The opinions expressed are solely my own.
October 21, 2018
A quick read second chance romance. Kreed and Dakota have been through a lot and have not handled it the best. After all these years, can they start over? This was a sweet short story, but I felt like I was dumped in the middle of a series. Obviously as they were already married, they had a life together and friends, but I felt lost at times trying to figure out how things/people fit together and wish there had been a little more back story.
December 16, 2018
This is a very short story. This is part of a series and I read it out of order, but it isn't necessary just more enjoyable. Kreed and Dakota get a second chance and Kreed is determined not to blow it. I wish this story was longer because there was so much fodder for a longer length. I already liked Kreed from a different book in the series so I enjoyed getting to know him a little bit better. A sweet quick story about taking a chance on love.
November 5, 2017
Dakota and Kreed are married, but are separated due to heartbreak and loss. When these two reconnect for their best friend’s wedding, is this the end of the road for them? This is a short, sweet, light-hearted and heart-warming romance, which had me hooked throughout. I look forward to reading more of this authors’ work!
November 5, 2017
Dakota and Kreed are still married but have been estranged for a while. Childhood sweethearts, they have been separated by a miscarriage and Kreed’s reenlistment... They meet again at Dakota’s best friend’s winter wedding. Can Kreed manage to win Dakota back and give her the life she yearns for?
This was a nice quick read.
This was a nice quick read.
October 23, 2018
This story begins with heartbreak. Both main characters have been dealt a lot of it and learn through the book to share it with each other. The growth and care they place on each other is so touching. It’s a quick read with a happy ending.
December 14, 2018
This is a sweet second chance story of a couple who married really young, endured a lot of pain and heartache, and have a chance to recommit to each other. I just with the story were longer. I received an advance copy of this book and I willingly chose to write an honest review.
November 2, 2017
Quick read...a sweet romantic story..
October 24, 2018
This book is well written with likable characters. It is a bitter-sweet second chance novel. There was a little bit of mild swearing and lots of drinking that made the book less enjoyable for me.
August 30, 2021
I received an ARC of this book and I was so thankful that I did. I loved it more than most! It is one of my favorite short stories, as its a quick read, but its worth it. I wish it were longer, but can't complain because what is there is amazing! Great characters, great writing, fantastic story...perfect!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews