Customer Reviews

Years

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have read this book over and over and will continue to do so for a lifetime! The story is not only a love story, but it also teaches values that seemed to have been lost in this day and age. The author describes the landscape in breathtaking detail. You feel as if you are there! The characters are full and rich. The heroine is young, gutsy and what every woman could wish to be. The hero is not typical, cranky, shy, strong and honorable. This couple actually waits until they are married to make love!! I laughed, yearned for them and cried with them. It is a book that will leave a warm feeling in your heart. You will never want to see it end.

About once a year or two I read Years and I fall in love with Teddy all over again. I never have to skip over parts because I've read the book so many times, and I always find myself awake late into the night finishing the story. I just can't put it down. Linnea is also an endearing character. She doesn't irritate me with non-stop defiance, and she doesn't make me sick with her beauty and perfection. I love these two characters and all the others surrounding their story. You will NOT be disappointed when you buy this book.

I just recently started reading Lavyrle Spencer's books, and so far this is one of my favorites. Spencer's novels are more then a romance novel, they are an excellent and breathtakingt story! She makes you feel at home with the characters and makes you feel what they are feeling. This particular nove talkes place in 1918--Alamo, North Dakota. Its about an 18 year old girl who just received her teaching certificate and has gotten her first job away from home. She is very excited about her new experience and despartley wants to grow up. As the story continues, Linnea learns about the hardships of farming, war, and love. She struggles to keep herself from falling in love with an older man, but can't get him out of her mind. Read the story to find out what happens between Linnea and Theodore!!!

OH. MY. GOD. What a book! I LOVED THIS! Teddy and Linnea were SO romantic together. This is only my second book by LS, but I can honestly say Ive never read another author who can write sexual tension like she can! Whew! This book is FULL of likeable characters that go way beyond just the h/h. Speaking of heroines...Linnea was fantastic. She was so stubborn and what a daydreamer! I just adored her. This is a book that is going on my keepers shelf for sure. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

This novel is a perfect example of the old adage "You can't judge a book by its cover". I am definitely not a person who goes for lavender, lace and hearts and if I had seen this book on a library shelf or in a store, I would have not given it a second thought. It would have been passed right by. Since I had no choice, but to read the book as the reviewer, I was very happy to find it several notches above its cover. While not the deepest or the most profound book I've ever read, "Years" does have several strong points: 1) STORY LINE - from beginning to end the story remains focused - the growth from a young girl to a young woman. It moves from Linnea's days as an inexperienced teacher, through helping Theodore learn to read, her Christmas visit to her family where she realizes how much she is attached to Theodore and her new life, the wedding followed by the April blizzard, the family loss from the pandemic influenza and finally the birth of her child. 2) SETTING - For those who have never been to the upper midwest, readers would come away from reading this novel with a vivid mental image of North Dakota complete with its unending wheat fields to its fierce winters. The author's descriptions of the area were interspersed nicely with dialogue, so that the reader got a good sense of place without page after page of descriptive writing. 3) CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT - Linnea - enthusiastic, imaginative, strong minded, creative, but with excellent organizational skills - qualities we have all wished for in our own children's teachers. Theodore - a gruff, morose character until the young Linnea appears and bring spark to his life again. Nissa - the mother and human dynamo and the glue that hold the Westgaard clan together. Other less prominent characters in the book were also developed well, though not as fully - the reader is able to get a strong sense of person in Kristen, Teddy's son; John, his brother and Clara, his baby sister. Also Isabelle Lawler, the bawdy, but lovable cook and the Severts - the minister, his wife and Allen, their totally incorrigible son. Ties in with character development was a strong feeling of admirable VALUES - a strong family allegiance and a close alliance with the seasons, the land and nature.

This is one of my favorite books of all time. LaVyrle Spencer is a fantastic writer. She writes so vividly that you feel like you're right there in the story alongside these characters. This is much more than a simple romance novel. The descriptions of the people, the prairie, the school - is all amazing. This book is a must-read!

One of the first Spencer books I ever read and I continue to re-read the book every year. Spencer is phenomenal creating truthful, honest characterst the reader can relate to; Linnea and Teddy are realistic and flawed, yet endearing. The story between the two of them is brilliant and, again, realistic; the conflicts in their romance are as appropriate in today's modern world as they were on the prairie at the turn of the century. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to read a classic romance novel!

I have worn out my copy of this book and had to replace it! It is the best feel good romance story ever written. I am a big fan of Ms. Spencer, and I rate this one as her best. I have missed her writing since she retired, but at least I can re-read her fine stories.

I almost feel as though Teddy and Linnea actually existed, their story is so real. It is a feel good book-grab it and curl up in bed on a cold winter day! There is hardship, of course in the book, but not so much that your miserable just reading it. You will be touched. I have hundreds of "keeper" books-books that I can enjoy again and again. But this one-hands down-is the BEST.

What a wonderful, touching, romantic story! This book goes on my top ten list of absolute favorites. You not only get a "real" love story you get a taste of "real" life in the early 1900's. I want to tell you so much about this story but I don't want to give away any of the details and take away from the pure pleasure you are going to get by reading it. I am telling you, you will just love this story. I do want to say, when you reach Chapter 22 go lock yourself in a room without interruption until you finish the story. Its the most griping, emotional, wonderful ending I've ever experienced.

I re-read this book after several yrs. Forgot how it grabs the reader's emotions. I found myself crying more than once...favorite comedic situation (Santa's appearance at the holiday school play... "thoop?"), and the tearful departure of Linnea the following day. I would only, perhaps, not have so many tragic events towards the end of the book. I have read almost all of Spencer's books. This is on my "keeper shelf" along with others including Hummingbird and Morning Glory.