Customer Reviews

Bittersweet Surrender

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Carly is like a lot of us, she has good and bad things going on in her life. She has a successful business where chocolate is freely available (wouldn't we all love that?) and friends in whom she can trust. But she has insecurities as well, based on recent events in her life. She had a mastectomy as the result of breast cancer, and her husband left her in the middle of her illness. She's also overweight - due in part to the chocolate. When her 'hunk' announces he's returning to town, Carly is determined to get into shape. Thankfully, her best friend is attempting to move on after the death of his wife - Carly's step-sister - and so becomes her accountability partner. Her step-mother is also determined that Carly will eat healthily.

This novel, available in e-reader form only, was apparently first released in paperback in 2008. It has been released electronically at the same time as Hunt's co-authored title Smitten, and is no doubt supposed to tie in with that. Unfortunately, there are occasional inconsistencies between the two books. First, there is now a very large and fancy hotel in the town of Smitten where the lumber mill used to be. I'm not sure when that might have been built. Secondly, the town's spa is different. In Smitten, it's called the Smitten Spa and Grill and is located on a road outside the town center. In Bittersweet Surrender, it's located inside a fancy hotel. Considering the building of the spa was a major plot point in Smitten, it's difficult to see why this wasn't re-edited to fit.

The editing itself is also a problem. For a start, what is the correct spelling of the name of the main character? The promotional information uses two different spellings, so I'm going with the one used throughout the narrative. Also, Carly's best friend is actually called Scott. He's not the business partner, but an accountant. He might have inherited the partnership from his wife who did appear to have a share of the business, but that isn't made clear. What is clear is that Carly's spa has financial problems, which is why Scott is going over the books his wife used to handle. Next, we have to return to the hotel in Smitten. In one scene, Carly tells her stepmother that there was a West Baden Springs Spa in southern Indiana. In the scene after next, Carly arrives at the West Baden Springs Hotel - in Smitten. That part jolted me out of the narrative because I immediately wondered why Carly had gone to Indiana! When Carly arrives at the hotel, she tells her companions, "I've been by this place a few times, but I have never been inside." After they've checked in, however, she says, "I'd forgotten how nice this place is." Carly's memory is surely not that bad.

If not for the editing and Smitten inconsistencies, this could be a great book. I identified with Carly and her insecurities and hated how her ex-husband and brother treated her. Once Jake was introduced, I took a disliking to him as well. I couldn't understand the relationship between him and his daughter, a very sweet teenager, at all. The key theme of this book comes from Carly's sister in law, Rita. "People aren't always what they seem." Ain't that the truth? Jake might be a 'hunk' while his daughter dresses differently, but the daughter is the nicer of the two. Scott's wife had her secrets. Finally, while Carly might be missing part of her body, it's not a part that ultimately matters in comparison to her character.

I received my downloaded copy of Bittersweet Surrender from Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review.

Carly Westlake owns a chocolate spa. She's recovered from losing a breast to cancer but she's not quite recovered from losing her husband to a younger, whole-er woman. She's recently lost her best friend and co-worker in the spa in an accident. Her father also died and her elderly stepmother is moving in. Her life is stressful. She's also been emailing a new man ... sort of. Her brother's best friend, Jake, whom she had a crush on when they were younger. Jake is moving back to town with his teenage daughter. Carly's brother's marriage is shaky due to her brother's C.J.'s drinking and gambling. Did I mention Carly's life is stressful? Her best friend who died, Ivy's husband, Scott, is helping Carly figure out her finances and why a spa full of customers isn't making money.

If that sounds like a lot, just try being Carly.

It all sounds like the perfect setup for a fun, lovely, sweet book.

I can only give it about 2 stars. If that.

I didn't love it. Which even I find hard to believe since it's got all the elements I love in my fiction. Chocolate. Romance. Fun. Purses. Chocolate. A spunky heroine. Chocolate.

But the elements didn't mesh for me. Carly came off more irritated and petty instead of spunky at the beginning when her stepmother moved in and Scott volunteered to help her lose some weight by working out with her. She was resentful and childish.

The book wasn't edited well. At one point, Carly uses a deep breathing technique that she learned in her Christian yoga class. Later, she's at a class with her sister-in-law, but all of a sudden it's Carly's first time at the class. The next day she's sore, again from that first time. If it was her first time, where did she learn all the deep breathing techniques?

Carly talks about a spa called West Baden in Indiana (the book takes place in Vermont). In the next chapter, she drives 30 minutes to the next town over to check out the West Baden Spa. Those details make it hard for me to get into the fictive story world. I kept getting pulled out to flip back and make sure that I understood the previous comment and then reading the current page again.

The "hero" that Carly is crushing on, anyone can see that he's a self-centered jerk, but Carly is sure he's the thinking about a future with her.

The other reviews I've read of this book were quite glowing, so maybe it was just me.

I was furnished a free e-copy of this book from Thomas Nelson, in return for an honest review.

Carly Westlake is a spa owner and cancer survivor. She's looking forward to the return to town of her high school heart throb Jake. But, Carly has lots to overcome- namely a divorce and the changes in her body as the result of cancer. Scott, her best friend and widower (Carly's best friend was his wife.) is trying to sort out the finances for Carly's spa. Scott and Carly need to discover some truths about their pasts and come to grips with their true feelings for each other.

I loved this read from one of the authors of Smitten which I also enjoyed and reviewed here. There is even a mention of the town of Smitten in the story line. Carly is a likable, feisty heroine. Scott is the strong and somewhat handsome guy who is looking to protect her. The story is interesting and engaging. There were several surprises to the story that made it intriguing instead of your same old romance.

I like Diann Hunt's writing because it is definitely Christian with references to important life lessons learned by her characters. But, the stories are not "preachy" or filled with characters that are too good to be believed. It's a good balance in my opinion.

I received a free copy of this book from Thomas Nelson for review purposes. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

From what I understand, Bittersweet Surrender was set for release in 2008 but was shelved. It has been released on December 20, 2011 in e-format to coincide with Smitten (Hunt's book with Girls Write Out authors, Colleen Coble, Denise Hunter and Kristin Billerbeck). Now I haven't read Smitten yet (I will be soon) so I can't say how this book relates to the other except that Carly visits the town of Smitten in Bittersweet Surrender.

One of the things I would like to point out is that the above blurb does not give accurate information about the novel. Carly's friend Tom is actually Scott and he is her accountant, not business partner. Nowhere in the book is Scott called Tom or is he referenced as anything more than her trusted accountant. Finally throughout the book Carly's name is spelt CARLY not CARLEY.

So now that that is out of the way, onto the book itself. I've only read one Diann Hunt book before and I liked it, so I thought this looked like a good pick. I did enjoy the book, found parts of it amusing but ultimately my heart broke for Carly as her life has been impacted greatly upon by the bad decisions people in her life have made.

These revelations force Carly to begin learning to focus on what God has in store for her. When she thinks that you can never really know people, God shows her the amazing good in people she never expected to find it in.This a truly is a bittersweet, gently comical book.

Disclosure: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

We all love chocolate... so wouldn't it be a dream come true to own a spa that deals in chocolate?! Surrounded by it every day! Well, Carly Westlake is living that dream. Not only does she own a spa that provides chocolate facials, she is dating her dream man. It seems her dreams are finally coming true after fighting to put her world back together when it all fell apart. But will her past, and the past of those closest to her, keep it from happening? It will take a miracle of grace to get Carley to finally make that bittersweet surrender to love and real life.

My Reactions

I loved that this story deals with real life. It was not some story that could never happen to a real person. I felt like I was actually listening to a friend tell her story of trials and tribulations, and blessings! I cried with Carly, smiled with Carly, and laughed with Carly.

This story reiterated in my life that the past is the past. We can't let it shape our future. Things that happened years ago can not make us afraid to face tomorrow.

I definitely recommend this story to my friends. It was a sweet story about the ups and downs of life, how the things we often think we want are not what we need, but that God ALWAYS has our back.

Bittersweet Surrender is set in a New England chocolate spa run by Carly Westlake. Within the past few years, Carly has survived breast cancer (her marriage, however, didn't), lost her best friend in an auto accident and lost her father. Her spa seems to be running well with many customers, but the profits don't seem to add up. Carly has also started an e-mail based relationship with her high school crush, Jake. When he decides to move back to town with his daughter, Carly decides that it is time to lose a bit of weight. Throughout the book, Carly deals with her step mother-in-law, revelations about her best friend and her changing feelings toward Jack and her business partner, Scott.

All in all, this was a fun book to read. I felt drawn into the story from the beginning and had a hard time putting it down. I had a few problems with the editing and story inconsistencies. First, the cover of the book pictures a very slim woman in the background that the reader should assume is the main character, Carly, but the woman on the cover doesn't need to lose weight. Second, in the publishers description, Carly's business partner is Tom, but in the book, his name is Scott. Third, Scott's brother, Brian (a very minor character) is married to someone named either Ellie or Donna. I realize that a minor character's wife is trivial, but consistency would be nice. Lastly, at one point in the book, Carly practices deep breathing that she learned in her Christian yoga class, then a few chapters later, she attends her first yoga class.

I received this book from booksneeze.com in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book from BookSneeze in exchange for my honest opinion. Bittersweet Surrender by Diann Hunt is about Carly Westlake finally getting her life back after dealing with a bad divorce and a battle with breast cancer. Business at her chocolate spa is starting to pick up, and her childhood crush, Jake, (who is also her brother's best friend) is moving back into town and he is ready to move full speed ahead with the Internet relationship they've had going on. Her best friend, Scott, who has always been there for Carly and helped her through her hard times of divorce and cancer always goes above and beyond being there for Carly. Carly is nervous about Jake's return. She is uncomfortable about her weight and her body after the mastectomy she had. Scott helps her feel better about herself and encourages her to go running with him. Jake arrives into town and is the typical man-jerk and not at all how Carly remembered. She tries to make it work, but soon realizes her heart just isn't in it. Meanwhile, after Scott has seen Carly with Jake he begins to get jealous and soon realizes that he has romantic feelings for Carly. As far as stories go, this one is pretty predictable, but definitely a feel good "chick flick" story. The first few chapters were hard for me to get into, but as the characters developed I found myself liking the book way more than I anticipated. I would recommend to a friend.

Bittersweet Surrender is a good book about starting over and second chances, as the main character, Carly deals with life after divorce and cancer, while supported by her best friend Scott, who is going through some major life transitions of his own. These two are surrounded by a whole host of secondary characters who are all dealing with issues as well including life after the loss of a spouse, addictions, infertility and more. Although the topics in the book are definitely not light ones, I thought the book was funny, thought-provoking, included discussions of faith and trust, and (as the title implies) was bittersweet as well. And, of course, I enjoyed the love story. All in all, I thought Bittersweet Surrender was well-written with nicely fleshed-out characters. It made for a very enjoyable read.

I received this e-book thanks to the Booksneeze book review program. I was under no obligation to leave a positive review and all opinions posted here are mine and mine alone.

I really enjoyed this book and give it 4 out of 5 stars, it's light reading for pure enjoyment. Doesn't take a lot of thought to read it and is easy to follow all of the characters. It's well written and I love that it's based at a Chocolate Spa, this was fun to read about. The main character is lovable and seems like she could be one of my BFF's in real life. It covers gambling addiction, breast cancer, divorce and several other real problems that people deal with on a daily basis and isn't overly preachy or predictable. I would recommend it to anyone that's look for some light reading.

Carley Westlake mustered up all kinds of emotions for me in this book. After reading of her of her struggles through cancer, having a mastectomy, and having her husband leave her, the compassion was just oozing out of me. I was angry on her behalf! I think every woman will be able to relate to Carley's feelings of loss and insecurity over losing her breast to cancer. Such a real struggle for so many women. I was totally rooting for Carley. I wanted her to find love and feel valued again.

I think it was the chocolate that really sealed the deal for me with this book. Please! A chocolate spa? I could just smell the goodness as I read. Okay, maybe I could taste it too as I just had to grab me a little chocolate to go along with the book! I think they should have put a bit of chocolate smell in those pages or maybe a scratch and sniff? I love chocolate. <sigh> I think I bonded with Carley right away just because of that fact.

This was a very enjoyable read. I was happy and satisfied in the end. This is a Christian fiction book, but light on the Christian. A clean read all the way around. I picked this book through Book Sneeze in exchange for my honest review.