Bygones

Rating:
Summary: Are You Kidding Me?
Review: A divorced couple with children in need of guidance from both parents eventually get back together and face the issues that come about in today's world. The believable characters could be our next door neighbors and the plot is one we might have heard about from them. Sensitive and heart-warming presentation. Another favorite from my favorite romance author.
Evelyn Horan - teacher/counselor/author
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl, Books One - Three

Rating:
Summary: A Book for Modern Times!
Review: A divorced couple with children in need of guidance from both parents eventually get back together and face the issues that come about in today's world. The believable characters could be our next door neighbors and the plot is one we might have heard about from them. Sensitive and heart-warming presentation. Another favorite from my favorite romance author.
Evelyn Horan - teacher/counselor/author
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl, Books One - Three

Rating:
Summary: one of my favorites
Review: I first read this five years ago and still have trouble putting it down (even on the re-reads!) I appreciate the storyline here so much more than in Bittersweet (where one of the main characters is married to someone else) Seeing a divorced couple get back together with encouragement from one of their children is a refreshing plotline, and the story moved along at just the right pace. The characters in this story were all believable and likable, and the ending in this book didn't leave me feeling like I'd just read a fairy tale. The only beef I had was that I personally don't know very many parents who would give their daughter that grand of a wedding when there's a baby on the way. But other than that, I think it's one of her best.

Rating:
Summary: Not a dreadful book, but not one I could get into
Review: I normally love LaVyrle Spencer's novels (Morning Glory is an all-time favorite), but this one just didn't do it for me. I could not make myself like or care too much about either Bess or Michael. I can understand how making a broken relationship come back together and work again would be tempting for a novelist, but this one was difficult to enjoy reading about because the characters just seemed to be rather unlikable people. Bess was fussy and almost silly at times and Michael just seemed in many ways to be a flat character for most of the book. In addition, I felt like there was some heavyhanded emotional manipulation (via wedding scenes, the birth of the grandchild, etc..) going one here. Spencer's novels are usually more artful and gentle in getting their message across, so I was rather disappointed by the blatant manipulation in this one. For these reasons, watching the Currans come back together almost made me feel like I was reading a giant Hallmark card rather than a novel of any great depth.

I like Spencer's writing style and her vibrant writing was evident here, but without characters I could enjoy or care about, I just did not like plowing through this book.

Rating:
Summary: Are You Kidding Me?
Review: I totally agree with the reviewer from Portland, Oregon. This book was awful and was completely unfair to Bess.

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: This is the first book I read by Spencer. It got me hooked on her books and now I am still trying to collect all of them. This is a great book from page 1.. you won't regret reading this book!!!!