Bitter Sweet [Hardcover]

LaVyrle Spencer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 1990

A touching novel about first loves and second chances from the author who "knows how to tug at readers' heartstrings" (Publishers Weekly).

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This engaging, up-to-the-minute romance of high school sweethearts reunited will gratify Spenser's ( Morning Glory ) fans . The untimely death of her husband leaves Maggie Pearson wealthy but emotionally bereft. Two decades after she has left home, Maggie returns to Wisconsin to fortify her spirits and decides to open a bed-and-breakfast despite dire warnings from her tight-lipped mother and the hurt fury of her college-age daughter. Her first love, Eric Severson, is also back in town, running a family-owned charter fishing boat to the great displeasure of his beautiful, ambitious wife. As Eric and his spouse battle over whether to sidetrack her career in favor of a baby, he and Maggie drift together. Their illicit affair is as sweet as puppy love but fraught with predictable consequences; the disapproval they face adds a sharp and welcome tang to this sometimes cloying brew. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 382 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult (February 15, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399135081
• ISBN-13: 978-0399135088
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,251,524 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strongly disaree with the bad reviews on this book!, August 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bitter Sweet (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LaVyrle's Best, January 24, 2006

By 

Melissa McCauley (North Little Rock, AR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bitter Sweet (Mass Market Paperback)

Eric and Maggie were high school sweethearts in Fish Creek, Wisconsin. They drifted apart in college, and she ended up happily married in Seattle, he back home running his father's fishing boat. After Maggie's husband dies, she decides to move home and open a bed and breakfast - and all hell breaks loose. Eric's already floundering marriage crumbles under the weight of their rekindled mutual attraction. A moving portrait of families in conflict, love, adultery and betrayal.
I have read many of LaVyrle Spencer's books, but this one keeps me coming back again and again, picking up another nuance each time.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Second Chance At The Guy Who Got Away, June 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Bitter Sweet (Mass Market Paperback)

Anyone who ever loved and lost someone when he or she was in high school, will be drawn to this story. The author presents an interesting scenario. What if we had a second chance at having a relationship with our high school sweetheart? I liked the idea of love transcending time and getting a second chance with the one who got away, but I wish that Eric wasn't married. Since he is married, it would have been better for Maggie and Eric to just have a friendship. I liked the grief issues that Maggie was facing in the beginning of the story. I thought Ms. Spencer handled those scenes very well. If you like Ms. Spencer's other novels, this one won't leave you disappointed.