A Thousand Tiny Cracks by Stella Maddox

I opened the book and liked the book. Snarky, but intellectual satircal-based writing at the start often holds my interest.

Early on we learn Stella is intelligent, analytical, and a generally good person great at sizing up everyone and everything within and around her marriage. Her difficulty however is, she's unable to engage her critical thinking skills to connect the dots on how to manage her new life. The kids exasperate her; the hubby isn't responding the way she desires, and her overall morale and confidence is shaken. How does she deal with this?

Oh, here we go… Tad; a teenager soon about to enlist in the Army who conveniently lives next door and is granted full access into Stella's home under the innocent guise of helping the family with repairs to the home.

Tad comes in early into the picture… ready-made too… all the things marriage and children are not. The mutual connection is instant, like attraction at first sight, perhaps the same attraction that lured her and Ethan together, before he became the hubby and she the wife. I could almost feel the energy canvass the page as Stella enjoyed a sweaty day at the gun range with Tad, but later wasted her time spending a day with her daughter Maya, because her child likes daddy better.

Overall I really enjoyed Stella evaluating her feelings, and the assessments she penned to others, but would have enjoyed seeing more storytelling. A deeper premise (early on) leading to anticipating a unique ending would have really made this story sing. The cover and the title was also a nice treat.