Customer Reviews

Bittersweet Rain

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I must admit, when I first read the back cover of "Bittersweet Rain" I was not expecting to enjoy this book too much. I just could not imagine a love story where the heroine is first married to the father of the hero. Being a Sandra Brown fan, and I buy all of Sandra Brown's releases, I went ahead and bought it. I must say I was not disappointed. The plot turned out to be very good, and kept me interested. The book was also a double treat of romance, with not only Rink and Caroline, the main couple, but with Steve and Laura Jane (Rink's sister). I fell in love with this couple just as much as Rink and Caroline! I would most definitely recommend "Bittersweet Rain". It was a quick and very sweet read!

the joy of falling in love for the first time is something you will remember for all of your life. of course the first time you feel your heart break, you'll always remember that too. this is probably the best book ive read dealing with both of those issues. sandra brown has the ability to bring the same sort of excitement to the reader that the characters are going thru as well as the let down. in bittersweet, we have two different love stories going on. the first dating back to childhood between caroline, the daughter of the town drunk, and rink, the son of the towns most wealthy family. the second, between laura jane, rinks sister, and steve, the hired hand. sparks fly between rink and caroline, mostly because of rinks dad, carolines HUSBAND! laura jane and steve are absolutely wonderful. i didnt want this book to end. ive read reviews where people say things like "they felt like friends that i had to say goodbye to when the book was over" but until this book, ive never really understood what that was like. this one is a keeper ::smile

I've read almost all of Sandra Brown's novels, and this one didn't disappoint me at all. I absolutely loved the little bits of surprises about Roscoe, the terribly ill father, and the former relationship about Caroline and Rink. It kept me reading until I found out what kept them together, then the startling truth that kept them together.

SANDRA BROWN'S BITTERSWEET RAIN takes a more convoluted twist to the plot when the couple in the book, Caroline and Rink are wedged apart by Rink's father, Roscoe with his scathing treachery.However, readers may find it hard to digest the plot of a stepmother in unrequited love with her son.

The stunning revelation of Roscoe's plan to ruin his son upon his deathbed remains a shadow over Caroline's undying love for Rink. Despite their strong attraction, Rink cannot cast off the fact that Caroline belonged to Roscoe once.

Fortunately, SANDRA BROWN handles the twisted plot with unexpected maturity in her perspective. Caroline and Rink are fuelled by desires but at the same time they tried to fend off the attraction for the relationship is bound to explode in a conservative town still in awe of Roscoe. To fight off the shadow, Rink has to confront himself their bond is too strong such that Roscoe has never once taken his beloved away.

Right till the last moment when Caroline fainted at award ceremony dedicated to Roscoe because of pregnancy, readers are gripped by the powerful emotions spun by Ms. Brown. It is savagely tender and their love no less bittersweet. She transforms an unconventional tale into one of simplicity and poignancy with her rousing narrative.

For this, BITTERSWEET RAIN is one romance that will wring heartfelt tears for Caroline and Rink, and incessant accolades for this beautiful writer constantly producing textured materials.

Once I started the book, I couldn't put it down. I wanted to sream with frustration at the characters pig-headedness, yet I could understand their logic. The bickering between them is sweet yet very sexual and sassy. This isn't one of Sandra Brown's finest but it is very intriguing.

I've read more recent books by Sandra Brown and really liked them, so I thought I'd give this one a shot. Should have known better. First off, reading the scenes where the heroine, Caroline, is 15, made me feel like a pedophile. And we're supposed to think that some 22-year old guy who takes advantage of an obviously naive 15-year old is a good guy? Just because he oh-so-nobly decides to wait to have sex with her until he tells his dad about her, that makes it OK?

Next, how you can you have any sympathy or respect for a romantic heroine who flat out admits that she married a nasty, horrible man for wealth and status? She had a job, she was supporting herself fine. It's not like she was living on the streets and that was her only way out. Chalk up two in the ick factor.

Finally, while it was much better handled than the rest of the story, the subplot involving a developmentally disabled girl and a much older Vietnam vet bothered me, probably because Brown was never consistent or detailed in explaining what the developmental disability was. And the descriptions of her actions were inconsistent as to her capabilities. The net result is, it feels a little creepy. And even though she does try to make it sweet, the first time the vet kisses her, he's feeling her up. Which again, makes it feel like she's taken advantage of.

All in all, while I still really like Sandra Brown, I'm sticking to her books that were written in the last decade.

I would also caution anyone against buying this on a Kindle, as the spelling and punctuation is awful, so that you have to go back and reread whole paragraphs just to figure out what it's supposed to say.

This is the first of Sandra brown's books I've ever read but will not be the last! Not only an author but an artist! She made the characters come to life for me and I could visualize in my mind's eye what they all looked like and even the looks they gave each other! It made me long to be at The Retreat, I can't wait to get another of her books. I hope it's just as good because I'm not sure it can be better!

What would you do if the person you hated most in the world took everything from you, including your mother and the love of your life? And still he was not satisfied.

On his deathbed, Roscoe Lancaster requests that his long absent son come home so that he can see him one last time. His wife complies and the prodigal son is summoned. Of course not on is Rink her stepson, he is also her first (and only) love. Of course Roscoe's motivations for a reunion are not all out of compassion for the son he lost; it is just one more chance to one up him by flaunting his relationship with wife Caroline in Rink's face. Roscoe was the main antagonist who drove the two apart when they were engaging in an elicit relationship (Caroline was 15; Rink was 22 - kinda icky).

Rink cannot help himself and his still intense feelings for Caroline. A stolen kiss here; a grope there. But underlying in his thoughts is that his father made love to her first. Can Rink ever get over his pride and declare his love for Caroline?

"Bittersweet Rain" is a melodramatic love story set against the machinations of a truly evil and desperate man, who loves no one, least of all himself. His contempt for the less than perfect daughter (who loves him unconditionally) makes you want to punch him. There is a lot of chemistry between the two leads; but clunky, dated love scenes (his "maleness"; her "feminine core"). One of the most endearing qualities of the book is the emerging relationship between Rink's sister Laura Jane, and the disabled ranch hand, Steve.

Though a little dated (it was originally written in 1984; re-released in 2000), it was an enjoyable and romantic romp.

If you don't mind relationships where the surviving spouse takes up with a family member or friend of the dead spouse, then you might like this book. But if you're like me, you won't. However, even without my convictions, this book was still pretty sorry. First off, it's slow. Second, the leading lady, who by the way was the main reason I disliked this book so much. (However, judging by the other reviews, I'm in the minority)

It might not have been so bad if we weren't made to believe that Rink, the son of the man Caroline married, was the real love of her life, yet she married the father anyway for money, status, and a stupid house. What kind of woman does that? Not one that I could like. The Retreat? PLEASE!!! Give me a break. She must not have loved Rink too much. What made me the maddest about her was her response to the reading of the will. She tells Rink "her true love" to contest the will in which his father left him nothing, but left his mothers house (The Retreat) to her, his stupid wife. I just could not believe it. I would have said, contest it huh, why don't you just give it back to me you tramp. She was just selfish, stupid, of weak moral character, and she was always putting her nose where it didn't belong. SB tried to redeem her in the end, but it was too late as far as I was concerned. Anyway, bottom line, DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY!

Only Sandra Brown will put together the most unexpected couple, step mom & step son. But the story was so beautifully woven that I don't mind at all the weirdness of the situation. Although Caroline was married to Rink's father, she had been Rink's lover even before she got acquainted with Roscoe. Only years after Rink left her to marry somebody else, did she chose the father. For those who are familiar with SB's other books, the relationship between Caroline and Rink resembles Schyler & Cash in "Slow Heat in Heaven"; the secondary characters, Mary Jane and Steve are Janellen & Bowie in "Where There's Smoke" only for Mary Jane and Steve, SB went deeper with their love story. Quite a treat for the readers. Two romances in one book - you won't be disappointed.