A Well-Lived Life 3 — a series by Michael Loucks
Part of the A Well-Lived Life universe

After two years of relative calm in the life of Steve Adams, his personal life is in balance, business is booming, and there’s been virtually no drama. Life marches on, and change is inevitable. There’s a storm brewing on the horizon, and there’s nothing Steve can do to stop it. His children are turning into teenagers! Unlike the last two volumes, this one provides a view of life from four sets of eyes: Steve, his sons Jesse and Matthew, and his daughter Birgit.

The story of Steve Adams’ life is ultimately defined by his relationships. While they’ve changed over time, at this point in time he's closest to his wives and Suzanne, with Jennifer, Elyse, and Liz just outside this deepest sanctum. Realizing he needs close, intimate advisors by his side to maintain «lagom», Steve forms what becomes known as his Inner Circle, and in the process, adds a young man who becomes the closest thing to a successor to Jorge that Steve can imagine.

The Adams household has been referred to as many things over the years, 'The Madhouse on Woodlawn', and 'Cirque du Steve' being two of them. As chaotic as it appears to an uninitiated outsider, it's actually a very ordered home, a haven of rationality in a very irrational world. Like everywhere else though, that haven is about to have its walls smashed down by the events of September 11, 2001.

Unlike the earlier books in A Well-Lived Life, where Steve Adams' life is the primary focus of the story, this book is really all about his kids. Puberty has now overtaken more than half the Adams kids, and the consequences have all turned out differently for each of them. Birgit, being the oldest daughter of Steve and Kara, is a force all her own. This book, more than any other (so far), is HER book. When Birgit sets her mind to getting what she wants, Birgit WILL get what she wants!

Birgit Adams remains a force to be reckoned with. The lessons she learns, and how she deals with them, are at the heart of this book. Beyond Birgit, there is the usual full cast of characters, but, no matter how you cut it, this is a book centered on the Empress of the Universe — it wasn't titled The Pumpkin Patch for nothing! This is a continuation of the third A Well-Lived Life Series.