A book review of Whole Relationships: How Imperfect People Create Unbroken Love by Annette R. Purkiss (with Workbook)
Stars: *****
All Write Publishing (2026)
Christian Nonfiction>Relationships
218 pages
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book and workbook in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.
Summary: Most people believe love is the foundation of a healthy relationship. Yet many relationships filled with love still collapse under the weight of unmet expectations, emotional wounds, and unspoken needs. The problem isn’t always a lack of love. It’s a lack of wholeness. In Whole Relationships, Annette Johnson challenges the cultural myth that the “right person” will complete us. Instead, she reveals a transformative truth: healthy relationships begin when individuals learn to live whole within themselves. When two imperfect people develop self-awareness, emotional maturity, and spiritual alignment, love no longer has to carry the impossible burden of fixing what is broken.
Blending relational psychology, spiritual wisdom, emotional intelligence, and practical relational insight, this book guides readers through the journey from broken patterns to whole love. Readers will learn how to recognize the hidden habits that sabotage connection, understand the deeper needs that shape relationships, and practice the humility, honesty, and courage required to sustain love over time. Rather than offering quick fixes or romantic illusions, this book presents a deeper path toward love that is resilient, authentic, and spiritually grounded.
A whole relationship does not require perfect people. It requires two people willing to grow, tell the truth, repair what breaks, and build love on a stronger foundation than emotion alone. When wholeness comes first, love can finally flourish the way it was meant to: unbroken.
Whole Relationships
Confession: I wasn’t sure I would gain anything from this book as I feel like I have a great romantic relationship and even family relationships. However I learned a LOT. I’ve been keeping a commonplace notebook and I made over 10 pages of notes from this one book alone. I didn’t end up using the workbook but I sure did learn a lot and wrote it down.
The opposite of whole relationships are broken relationships. I learned that your relationship with others and how whole it is depends also on your relationship with yourself. When you look at the table of contents it honestly seems confusing but when you just read cover to cover, it makes perfect sense. I don’t know how that works but it does.
The author knows what she is talking about and doesn’t just tell you what a whole or broken relationship is like but how to get from broken to whole. I love to that the author doesn’t claim to have always had perfect relationships, she had to learn the hard way and is helping us get where we need and want to be.
Throughout the book there are bolded words and sections. Pay special attention to these bolded sections. These were often indicators I would want to make notes.
What about the workbook? The workbook is called Wholeness Lifestyle Journal: A Guided Journal for Self-Awareness, Healing Patterns and Building Whole Relationships. It looks like a diary with a spot for date, and lots of lines but also reflection questions. The main book tells you when to use the workbook/journal.
Highly recommended book to everyone, not just those who have obvious relationship struggles.
Buy Whole Relationships on Amazon.com