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Bittersweet is a standalone New Adult contemporary Romance from Sunday James. It was an interesting read. At times I felt like there was too much going on for me to really start loving the story, but I did end up liking the overall flow of the storyline. It was a quick read that worked well as a standalone. I loved the small town setting. The writing was very atmospheric and rich with detail. The setting and the quaint feelings that the descriptions of the town of dogwood evoked were my favorite part of Bittersweet.

Cathy was great. I liked how wonderful she was to her dad and brother, and I loved that she loved her town so much. Sure, she had plans to get out and go away to college, but her father's health kept her in town and kept her helping out the family business. I liked Greg well enough, but Cathy was the real star of the book for me. I don't know if I just related to her more, or if it was because the book was told entirely by her point of view. I also really liked Cathy's best friend and roommate, Max. That girl is a true friend. And feisty as heck! She needs her own story.

Greg was a nice guy. He actually had these moments of such sweetness. I loved the start of the story, when he kept seeing all these things Cathy and him had in common, and he was almost in disbelief. He would say things to that effect and get so embarrassed. It was super cute. But my problem with Greg was that he held his cards so close to his chest all the time. I could never tell where his head was at. He was hot and then cold. And when he was cold or angry he was very angry. And that extreme anger never really got addressed the way I wanted it to. We did learn some things about him and his past, I just felt like we 90% of the way with him and didn't get a chance to connect that last little 10%.

I liked the tv filming aspect of the story too. It was cool to see the way filming was done on a location, and the whole Bethany aspect added intrigue to the story. Bittersweet will appeal to fans of standalone contemporary romances. It is an interesting story that you can knock out in one afternoon, and while I had a few issues with it, I did enjoy Bittersweet. Fans of small town atmospheres will love Dogwood.

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs