Rating: 
Summary: pure enjoyment
Review: Bittersweet is my favorite book of all time. I have read it over and over. For anyone who knows the true meaning of"first love" this book is surely to be a heartwarmer. I know there are lots more intellectual books I could be reading, but, this is pure enjoyment for me.
Rating:
Summary: BitterSweet -- a book to read again and again
Review: BitterSweet was the first Lavyrle Spencer book that I had read. I have been to Door County and could easily identify the places that Maggie visited every day in the book. I have read the book many times over and still get emotionally involved each time. The plot of this novel is predictable but it is also a story that every woman can relate to either through the high school first lost love, losing and finding best friends again, a rocky mother-daughter relation, a close father-daughter relationship, or a trying romantic relationship; and the story is beautifully told. I will continue to go back and reread this wonderful book, and every other book written by Lavyrle Spencer. I am sorry to hear that she has written her last book!
Rating:
Summary: A heart breaking story of First Love!
Review: From the reviews, this one tends to be an "either you like it or you don't" kind of book. But I am glad I read it. I am now at the age of the main characters. And though I, too, don't agree with pre-marital affairs I am not going to judge those that fall into it. Maggie and Eric should have gotten together back in high school. But "long-distance romances" are hard to maintain and apparently over time they grew apart. 20 years later Maggie is a fairly recent widow trying to cope with the loss and get on with her life by getting in touch with old friends. Eric is "happily married" at least he thinks so- even though there are parts of his marriage that he still hasn't been able to accept and hoped they would correct themselves over time. But flames start up when he sees his high school sweetheart for the first time in years. Maggie visits the old hometown. They try reallllllll hard to hold feelings back but time keeps putting them together. Eric's wife Nancy is more interested in her career and self-image than starting a family that Eric has desired from the beginning. Oh there were parts that I did not agree with. As far as some reviews wanting Eric to be a widow too- well, that would have made a different story. I still would have liked Eric to have called Maggie towards the end to let her know what was taking place with the divorce instead of making her suffer for 6 months. And thank heavens there was a momma (Anna Severson) that had good sense to speak up to Eric and make him come to a decision. It was a hard book to put down!!! And I will read it again.
Rating:
Summary: A Triangle Love Story!
Review: Here we have a romance that involves a triangle, the man, the wife and another woman. How will it all end? Where do our sympathies lie? This is a thought-provoking story with lots of twists and turns, filled with heart-wrenching suspense. Interesting story!
Evelyn Horan - teacher/counselor/author
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl, Books One - Three
Rating:
Summary: Bittersweet is a very good love story.
Review: I am a huge fan of LaVyrle Spencer and find all of her books touch me in some way. Bittersweet touched me especially with the mother and father that she returned to in Wisconsin. Her mother was my mother. I shed many tears over those sections of the book. The love story was good but not one of her best. The relationship with her mother is what made it so real for me. I have all of her books and will miss her writing.
Rating: 
Summary: modern women beware!
Review: I can't believe how many good reviews this book received. It was an insult to any woman living in our modern world. Eric and Maggie have an affair and that is just fine. But Nancy is supposed to be evil because she is attractive, has a career she enjoys, and doesn't want to sit at home and pop out babies. And Katy is depicted as a brat because her mother uproots her entire life and she dares to say how she feels. Another thing...abortion, and Ms. Spencer's views on it...has no place in a romance novel. This novel did nothing but annoy me and turn me off of reading anything else written by Lyvyrle Spencer.
Rating: 
Summary: This is comforting escapism?
Review: I enjoy a good romance novel as much as the next person and I don't think one need feel apologetic about reading them. I've read several of Spencer's books and have enjoyed them. However, I found this one intolerable. How can I feel the sense of escape, comfort and romance that I hope for when reading this kind of book when the major plot turns upon an extramarital affair? Like some other reviewers, I thought the portrayals of Nancy and Katy were disturbing; Nancy is depicted as such a bitter cold shrew (because she likes her job and has the self-awareness to know she wouldn't be a good parent) that she "deserves" to lose her husband. Katy is a selfish, rigid and unloving brat because she believes in obscure moral tenets such as "don't sleep with married men." The novel does feature lovely descriptions of Door Country and some engaging humorous moments. Overall, though, I can't recommend this book at all.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best written love stories ever!
Review: I first read Spencer's Bitter Sweet about 3-5
years ago. It is a beautiful love story, and
effected me in a way that is truly hard to
describe. It was a powerful book, because
I go back and read it over and over again even
though I know what will happen. Spencer is a
wonderful author, and I have read every book
she has in print. I highly reccommend Bitter
Sweet to be a first read by Spencer if you
never read any of her works. Once you read
Bitter Sweet, you WILL come back for more.
Rating:
Summary: Strongly disaree with the bad reviews on this book!
Review: I have very conservative beliefs and I'll admit after reading some of the bad reviews on this book I expected to hate this story. Surprise, I loved it! LaVyrle Spencer has never let me down. This book moved me. I felt for the characters. I agree that Maggie and Eric should not have started their affair while Eric was still married, but I felt the author did a good job of making them realize this. These characters grew as people throughout this story and they paid dearly for their mistakes. I hate when a book seems to have bad people in it just to excuse bad behavior from other characters. I didn't get that from this book. Yes, Nancy wasn't a good person and she didn't love Eric (Nor was she faithful to him),but the story didn't use this to excuse his mistakes. I really sympathized with Katy. I was very self-righteous when I was her age. I saw things only in black or white. I think she should have tried to understand what her mother was going thru and offered her support if not her approval. We are raised to offer our children unconditionally love, I think as parents we should get the same whenever possible. I loved the character of Anna Severson. She put Eric in his place whenever he needed it, but was supportive of her son as well. I could understand Maggie's dad doing what he did at the end of the story. It was great to see that Roy was so supportive of Maggie when she needed him most. I think this story is about two people that fell in love and didn't handle things in the best way, but they still deserved happiness.
Rating:
Summary: Another page turner from Spencer.
Review: I just finished reading the book tonight. I was very into the characters. I feel as if I know Eric and Maggie personaly. I would suggest this book in a heart beart. Lavryle, if you are reading this, I want more books from you! I cannot get enough of your beautiful stories.
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