Bitter Sweet

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Summary: I know the setting well so I read the book . . .
Review: I live near Door County and have alway enjoyed my once-a-year week in the Door. Reading the book, I didn't have trouble working out in my mind just what was located where (I like to nail down these details). LaVyrle Spencer has a way of reaching the average American woman - that's why her books are so successful. But I look for characters with a little more depth. Also, Spenser's pattern of writing is very predictable. She uses lots of parallel structure - almost too much. But I still enjoyed the book - in factl the first time I read it, I couldn't put it down. I've read a few more of her books, but I just can't wax dramatically about them. I need a meatier story and Spenser doens't provide one.

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Summary: A great book!
Review: I read That Camden Summer while on vacation last year and I read it in one day. The book was so good I bought another Lavyrle Spencer book immediately! I read Bitter Sweet by the pool and I was crying within a half hour! The bond that the reader will feel with all the characters is instant. This book is dear to me because I live in Wisconsin and I am very familiar with Door County and its irresistable charm. Brookie so reminds me of my good childhood friend, Mona, with her never ending wisdom and support. This book will make you laugh, cry, smile, and will touch your heart. I have bought all of Lavyrle Spencers books and lend them to Mona right away. We both enjoy her work.

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Summary: Good Book
Review: I read this book five years ago, but I really enjoyed it

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Summary: A Great Love Story!
Review: I really enjoyed this book.Great story line. It was hard to put the book down. I am sure i'll buy more titles from Lavyrle Spencer.

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Summary: Well...It Wasn't Boring
Review: I'm beginning to realize just how many LS novels I dislike. But for those I do like, they're top notch.
Maggie's affair with Eric was flat out wrong. There's no way around that fact. I really didn't expect the entire book to based around it. Eric's wife Nancy wasn't much better herself in that regard, but she shouldn't have been villified for wanting a career and NOT wanting children.
Once again, LS came close to turning the male hero into a wimp. Nothing wrong with a guy cooking dinner, but for some reason, the scene with Eric making the cornish hens for dinner with Nancy didn't sit well. He was too wimpy.
Maggie's teenage daughter's behavior seemed typical; the girl DID have a point, didn't she? She was appalled and embarrassed the whole town knew her mother was having an affair with a married man.

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Summary: "Alive!" A chance to see that some dreams do come true...
Review: Lavryle Spencer's 'Bitter Sweet' brings you to a place that we all come to in our lives....Change is inevitable and we all must either go with it or fight to keep things the same... Bitter Sweet shows how Maggie could pull up her boot straps after being in the depths of dispair and once again through hard work and stuborn determination find true happiness again....A must read for anyone who is standing on a vertex in their lives...

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Summary: Slightly less glowing review
Review: The character in Bitter Sweet whom I liked most was Katy. I like a romance novel but of all the major characters ,Katy was the only one who disapproved of her mother having an affair with, and getting pregnant by, a married man. Basically,she is the only one with any real sense. Of course, at the end, she assumes a "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em attitude" because she loves her mom. Rekindling a high school romance is always a good story, but I would have liked the story, and the characters, much better if both Maggie and Eric were bereaved spouses. The soon-to-be-ex-wife in all these stories-Nancy, in this case-is always portrayed as an ice queen who destroyed her marriage because she had a career, not because her husband was sleeping with another woman. I can understand why Roy walked out on Vera, but we are supposed to sympathize with Maggie and Eric, whose relationship is built primarily on sex-and shake our heads at stubborn, deluded Katy, who rightly disapproves of her mother's behavior. Katy is far from a perfect daughter, but we are not permitted to sympathize with the fact that she has recently lost her father, and consequently watches her mother sell the house, move to Wisconsin, and start an affair with a married man, within a matter of months, and Katy is just supposed to cheer and say, "Way to go, Mom!" I don't think so. Having seen a close friend in such a situation myself, I know how that hurts and so I can identify more with her than with Eric and Maggie, who find sexual fulfillment first, and actual love later. It would be interesting to see a sequel in which Katy starts an affair with a married man and see how her mom and stepfather react to that. Now, I don't think Katy should have boycotted the wedding because Maggie was still her mom, but there is no reason in the world why she should have to think this whole thing was just terrific. I guess I'm one of the few people left on the planet that feels adultery is still sordid and wrong, and whether the two mai! n characters were in love or not, that's what it was all about.

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Summary: Love Lavyrle
Review: The first time I read Bittersweet, I borrowed it from the library. I borrowed it 2 more times and then finally bought my own copy. I loved this book and most of Ms. Spencer's books. Yes, sometimes she's predictable, but I laughed and cried everytime I read Bittersweet. I was introduced to this wonderful author by a dear friend and now have the pleasure of passing on her books to my daughter, when she's older, and my mother. The romance genre lost someone special when Lavyrle Spencer put down her pen.

Rating:
Summary: Good reading
Review: The storyline of this book is excellent(high school sweethearts reunited). Even though I didn't think I would like this book, I had a very difficult time putting it down because the majority of the characters including the leads were very likeable. However, I can only give this book four stars because there were a few things in this book I just didn't like. First of all, I do not condone extra marital affairs. Eric and Maggie should have waited until he was divorced before they had sex. Second, I am from the Seattle area and I did not like the author's references to the Pacific Northwest as a depressing, gloomy place. The part of the book that took place in Seattle also took place during the month of August which is usually our driest month. However, in this book, it was always raining. I also did not like the depiction of Katy as a brat, she had every right to be angry at her mother. Lavyrle Spencer did do an excellent job of describing the setting in Door County; it is now one of the places I would most like to see. I would recommend this book for "good" reading but it's not her best.

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Summary: It renewed my faith in romance.
Review: This book didn't sound appealing to me but for some reason I picked it up and started reading. I couldn't put it down. Two days later at 2:30am I finished it and pressed the book tightly to my chest. I already miss Eric and Maggie, Katy, Roy, Suzanne . . . It has been a long time since I laughed out loud when reading a book. Spencer put these characters together well. Not only did I laugh with them, I also felt their pain and heartbreak. There are holes in the plot and it's fairly predictable, but I found myself wanting to be carried on this journey. I couldn't wait to read what I knew was going to happen. I did look for some elements of the plot that magically disappeared (the grief group, the suicidal girl, etc.) but I soon let it go. This isn't a deep book. It isn't filled with metaphors and age-old wisdoms, but it contains fairly realistic people with realistic problems. For all practical purposes I shouldn't have enjoyed it. I am much younger than the age group of its characters. I was an English major in college and love the deep discussions books can evoke and I generally don't like flowery writing. Even so, I can appreciate it for the fact that it's easy to read. It's an escape I will remember. I can't say that about any other "escapist" novel I've ever read. I loved this book. It helped me see that there is beauty in her writing. It doesn't have to be deep and metaphorical. Bitter Sweet touched me; it renewed my faith in romance.