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Bitter Sweet
Bitter Sweet
Author: LaVyrle Spencer
Shattered by the loss of her husband, Maggie struggles each day to put her grief behind her. To be there for her teenage daughter. And to face life again. When she returned to her Wisconsin hometown, she never expected to feel a spark of longing--for her old high school sweetheart. — Eric's marriage to a driven career woman had left him childless...  more »
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PBS Market Price: $8.09 or $4.19+1 credit
ISBN-13: 9780515105216
ISBN-10: 051510521X
Publication Date: 3/1/1991
Pages: 480
Rating:
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 124

3.8 stars, based on 124 ratings
Publisher: Jove Books
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed Bitter Sweet on + 187 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
LaVyrle Spencer never fails to keep the reader wanting more. A really wonderful story.
FabN46 avatar reviewed Bitter Sweet on + 103 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
A spell-binding tale of true love and postponed romance. High school seniors Maggie Pearson and Eric Severson were first-time lovers and swore they would be together always. Then college intervened and fate gave them different lives from the one they envisioned on those summer nights in 1965.
Twenty years later, Maggie's husband is killed in an airplane crash, leaving her in Seattle with a college age daughter, enough insurance money to make her independent, and an empty future. Until she decides to move back to her hometown of Door County, Wisconsin.
A truly heartwarming story of two people finding each other again.
(I LOVED it and didn't want it to end!)
reviewed Bitter Sweet on
Helpful Score: 2
I loved this book. A great romance, that is set in a small town in Door County, Wisconsin. I live in this area, so it was especially fun reading the book and being able to visualize the setting.
reviewed Bitter Sweet on + 81 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Maggie

Shattered by the loss of her husband, she struggled each day to put her grief behind her. To be there for her teenaged daugher. And to face life again. When she returned to her Wisconsin hometown, she never expected to feel a spark of longing for her old high school sweetheart...

Eric

His marriage to a drivin career woman had left him childless and unhappy-he knew there had to be more to life than always wanting what you chouldn't have. Seeing Maggie again filled him with hope. Maybe the answer to his dreams had just come to town...

Their memory of young love blossomed into an affair that would shake both their lives-and would challenge everything they believed about loving each other. Could they follow a dream from the past? Or had they missed the chance of a lifetime?
kourtnie17 avatar reviewed Bitter Sweet on + 156 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Maggie

Shattered by the loss of her husband, she struggled each day to put her grief behind her. To be there for her teenaged daugher. And to face life again. When she returned to her Wisconsin hometown, she never expected to feel a spark of longing for her old high school sweetheart...

Eric

His marriage to a drivin career woman had left him childless and unhappy-he knew there had to be more to life than always wanting what you chouldn't have. Seeing Maggie again filled him with hope. Maybe the answer to his dreams had just come to town...

Their memory of young love blossomed into an affair that would shake both their lives-and would challenge everything they believed about loving each other. Could they follow a dream from the past? Or had they missed the chance of a lifetime?
Read All 33 Book Reviews of "Bitter Sweet"

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jjares avatar reviewed Bitter Sweet on + 3405 more book reviews
LaVyrle Spencer has always been a favorite author; however, this book is incredibly wordy. There's no way around it; it beats around the bush too much. Perhaps I've noticed this because I read at least 200 books each year. It has been about five years since I read one of LaVyrle Spencer's books. Perhaps I've come to appreciate more terse authors in the intervening years. Don't get me wrong; this is a great story -- that could have been told more succinctly.

This is a very emotional story. It begins about a year after Maggie becomes a widow. Having loved her husband Phillip, Maggie is devastated. However, when she calls high school friends (a job given to each grief group member), she is convinced to return to Wisconsin for a quick visit.

This leads to Maggie deciding to come back home and reside with her friends and parents. She also reestablishes a friendship with her high school boyfriend, Eric. Unfortunately, Maggie's old boyfriend is married to a gorgeous woman, Nancy. However, there is trouble in paradise because Eric wants a child, and during eighteen years of marriage, Nancy refuses.

There are lots of intense emotions between the characters. Maggie's mother, Vera, is a constant shrew. Maggie's daughter, Katie, is very similar to her grandmother. Both are judgmental and want life to be as they order it. When Maggie returns to Wisconsin (from Seattle), Katie is enraged. On the other hand, Roy, Maggie's father, is kindness personified.

Maggie's return to her hometown releases a whirlwind of changes and tensions. This is a great story.
reviewed Bitter Sweet on + 33 more book reviews
Great book, but then all of hers are..
robinmy avatar reviewed Bitter Sweet on + 2097 more book reviews
Since her husband passed away a year ago and her daughter left for college, Maggie Pearson decides to move back to her hometown and open a Bed and Breakfast. Shortly after she arrives, Maggie sees her high school sweetheart Eric Severson. Eric offers to help Maggie get the permits she will need to open her business. They both soon realize they are drawn to each other and know they should keep their distance. Eric is married to the beautiful and ambitious Nancy. He wants a child but Nancy doesn't agree. As Eric and his wife deal with their problems, Maggie must put up with a difficult daughter and a mother who never gives Maggie her approval.

I don't like love triangles. I don't like adultery in my romance books. And I certainly don't like heroes to make some very blockhead decisions. But for some reason I was thoroughly entertained by this book. LaVyrle Spencer is one of my favorite authors. I'm beginning to think she can take any subject matter and make it entertaining. I really like Maggie and how she handled the situation. I liked Eric...even though I wanted to shoot him a couple of times. This story was predictable, but I was still entertained. My rating: 3.5 Stars.
reviewed Bitter Sweet on
This was an easy read and enjoyable. A twist at the end but a bit predictable. If you like LaVyrle Spencer you will love this book.
reviewed Bitter Sweet on + 91 more book reviews
Their memory of young love blossomed into an affair that would shake borth their lives - and would challenge everthing they believed about loving each other. could they follow a dream from the past? Or had they missed the chance of a lifetime?


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