Made to Break Your Heart follows the Little League baseball adventures of a family in a small town. The father, Nick, dreams of a perfect father-son relationship with his only child, Wesley, and he is excited for Wesley this season as he is moving from T-ball to coach pitch baseball. Nick had baseball dreams of his own as a child but they did not come to fruition, and his athletic success came through long-distance running. At the beginning of the story, Nick and Wesley and mom Marcy are a close-knit family, enjoying raising their 7-year old son. Over the course of two baseball seasons, with Nick as a head coach and in the leadership of the Little League, their marriage faces several challenges, which lead to a separation. Will Nick and Marcy work out their differences and re-unite? I received this book in electronic form through Library Thing Early Reviewers. As a mom who has been through the rigors of Little League baseball, I expected to enjoy this book far more than I did. The detailed description of every single game dragged on, and I often wondered about a Little League without a mercy rule. Some of the lopsided scores in the games were ridiculous, such as 23-2. The story is told first-person through Nick, and he is not particularly likeable. I gave this book 2 stars. The overall pacing is slow, and sections of it were especially slow. ( ( )

Misty Hill is a town where everyone knows everyone's business and Nick Marhoffer found this out the hard way. After signing up for coach of his son's new baseball team, meeting the hot and sexy Diet Coke Mom, and losing his job at the newspaper during the great recession, the stress was unbearable. When conceivable, but untrue, rumors spread that he was sleeping with Tess, aka Diet Coke Mom, Nick's world crumbles. His wife, Marcy, kicks him out with nothing to live on, but credit cards. Holed up in a cheap hotel, he makes plans to continue with his life no matter what happens. Will he lose the family he loved because of a stupid misunderstanding?

Along with the seriousness there is a lot of funny stuff in this book including the "bad coaching moments", dealing with the Notoriously Obnoxious Dad, or N.O.D. for short, the Science Fair Smackdown, and all the trials and tribulations of coaching seven-year-old and eight-year-old boys for the first time.

See my complete review at The Eclectic Review ( )

I loved this story about a man, his wife and son growing up in a small community outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It was very poignant and entertaining. Nick is the father, husband and little league coach for his son. This story shows little league in its true colors and with parent involvement, it's not a pretty sight. However, there were some very funny moments in which I laughed out loud.

Nick's wife seems to have a huge chip on her shoulder. And, as they do live in a very small town where everyone knows everyone, rumors run rampant. Unfortunately, his wife believes a lot of those rumors causing major riffs in their marriage. And personally, I really didn't like this character.

However, I loved the story, thought it was well written and very entertaining.

Thanks to Amazon Digital and LibraryThing for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. ( )

While this book had a slow start I can appreciate the relationship that I had the time to build with this character. It was ultimately a story of commitment and forgiveness and I'd never been as proud of any character as I was of Nick. Good read. ( )

Made to Break Your Heart follows the Little League baseball adventures of a family in a small town. The father, Nick, dreams of a perfect father-son relationship with his only child, Wesley, and he is excited for Wesley this season as he is moving from T-ball to coach pitch baseball. Nick had baseball dreams of his own as a child but they did not come to fruition, and his athletic success came through long-distance running. At the beginning of the story, Nick and Wesley and mom Marcy are a close-knit family, enjoying raising their 7-year old son. Over the course of two baseball seasons, with Nick as a head coach and in the leadership of the Little League, their marriage faces several challenges, which lead to a separation. Will Nick and Marcy work out their differences and re-unite? I received this book in electronic form through Library Thing Early Reviewers. As a mom who has been through the rigors of Little League baseball, I expected to enjoy this book far more than I did. The detailed description of every single game dragged on, and I often wondered about a Little League without a mercy rule. Some of the lopsided scores in the games were ridiculous, such as 23-2. The story is told first-person through Nick, and he is not particularly likeable. I gave this book 2 stars. The overall pacing is slow, and sections of it were especially slow. ( )