This is a book about men. Not all men, just emotionally unhealthy men. The ones who make you question, "Is it him or is it me? Am I making too big a deal out of this? I try to tell him how I feel, but he says I'm overreacting or needy or it's all my fault." Relationships are hard work, but how hard should they be? When do you know you are struggling too hard to make a relationship succeed?

Deal Breakers is about getting out of this "relationship purgatory"-where the present is unfulfilling and the future is the only thing you can hope for. But there is no magic future. If he won't work on problems today it's unlikely they'll ever be resolved. And passively hoping for change will only cost you years of depression or expensive therapy.

Dr. Bethany Marshall is here to remind women that relationships-like business relationships-are deals. In the business world a deal breaker is the one non-negotiable term that, if not agreed to, means the deal is off. But in the world of relationships, identifying your deal breaker can be much more promising, as it holds out the possibility of helping you to understand where the relationship has gone wrong, what needs to be done in order to make it better, and when to walk away because you're doing more work than him to fix it.

By defining your deal breaker, you hold all the power to create the happiness you deserve.