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Sweet Memories
An innocent, unsure woman pushes her relationship with a proud and sensitive man to its limits when she makes a bold decision that threatens to come between them. Reissue.
347 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
77 people are currently reading
703 people want to read
About the author
LaVyrle Spencer
105 books1,586 followersLaVyrle Spencer is an American best-selling author of contemporary and historical romance novels. She has successfully published a number of books, with several of them made into movies. Twelve of her books have been New York Times bestsellers, and Spencer was inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame in 1988.
Spencer is known for creating realistic characters and stories that focus on families rather than only the relationship between a man and woman. These "ordinary" men and women are warm and vulnerable and are always portrayed sympathetically.[1] Her heroines tend to be a mix of fire and warmth, strength, savvy and soft–heartedness who must overcome some sort of adversity, such as pregnancy, divorce, a lengthy separation, the loss of a loved one, and then undergo a catharsis. The stories center on themes of abiding love, family ties and strength in difficult times.
In the 1980s and 1990s Spencer wrote 12 New York Times Bestsellers. Her books have been sold to book clubs worldwide, and have been published around the world. Condensed versions of many of her novels have appeared in Reader's Digest and Good Housekeeping.
She retired from writing in 1997.
Spencer is known for creating realistic characters and stories that focus on families rather than only the relationship between a man and woman. These "ordinary" men and women are warm and vulnerable and are always portrayed sympathetically.[1] Her heroines tend to be a mix of fire and warmth, strength, savvy and soft–heartedness who must overcome some sort of adversity, such as pregnancy, divorce, a lengthy separation, the loss of a loved one, and then undergo a catharsis. The stories center on themes of abiding love, family ties and strength in difficult times.
In the 1980s and 1990s Spencer wrote 12 New York Times Bestsellers. Her books have been sold to book clubs worldwide, and have been published around the world. Condensed versions of many of her novels have appeared in Reader's Digest and Good Housekeeping.
She retired from writing in 1997.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
May 5, 2018
Silly, just plain silly!! Totally the oposite “feels” of Morning Glory, one of my all time favorite books. Yup, this book is going in the donation bin. Lol. Check out this “heartfelt” quote. Lol.
“The trip to the bed in Brian’s arms was like crossing the bridge to a rainbow connecting the earth to heaven.” (Insert major eye roll)
“The trip to the bed in Brian’s arms was like crossing the bridge to a rainbow connecting the earth to heaven.” (Insert major eye roll)
December 13, 2007
A big-tittied-girl named Theresa still lives with her parents even though she's 25. She's always been shy around new people and especially new men since they tend to gawk at her teeny frame and huge knockers (the author repeatedly mentions Theresa's teeny frame so you don't forget it). One day Theresa's brother brings home fellow band member and pal, Brian Scanlon. Brian has been secretly fixated on Theresa for awhile but she doesn't know it. Theresa falls in love with Brian over the Christmas and New Years holidays but she won't let him touch her breasts because of her body hang-ups and because some nasty dudes sexually harassed her in school. Can their relationship ever move to another level? Oh no! What will happen? Well, I'll tell you so you won't have to read it. There's a lot of annoying whining by Theresa, then some nauseating love letters between Theresa and Brian, and then Theresa meets with the school counselor who suggests that she consider breast reduction surgery. Theresa never thought it was an option because her mean mom told her to just buck up and deal with her hooters. Then Theresa has the surgery and doesn't tell Brian even though they're all in love. Brian gets out of the military and moves to Minnesota to live near Theresa and but ends up bitter when he sees her new small breasts in a cute top. Then they make up and he invites her to go swimming at his apartment where they have tender and romantic pre-marital sex after which he proposes. Yay!
This book was soooo lame. I could understand why Theresa had some social anxiety problems and was self-conscious but her character was so poorly drawn and so whiny you don't sympathize with her at all. Or at least I didn't. And LaVyrle Spencer's writing is at it's MOST melodramatic and treacly in this book I had some food reflux problems. Oh, and any book that has the phrase "virgin flesh" in it is bound to be crap.
This book was soooo lame. I could understand why Theresa had some social anxiety problems and was self-conscious but her character was so poorly drawn and so whiny you don't sympathize with her at all. Or at least I didn't. And LaVyrle Spencer's writing is at it's MOST melodramatic and treacly in this book I had some food reflux problems. Oh, and any book that has the phrase "virgin flesh" in it is bound to be crap.
September 30, 2021
Spoilers ..so I don’t try to reread this ever again.
This h was born with what every evil ow has in romance, big ass boobs.
She’s DD, but she acts like it’s size G or larger, so she gets a breast reduction behind the Hero’s back and is now flat chested like all the doormats heroines in romanceland.
🙄
The whole plot is about her boobs, no joke!😂
This h was born with what every evil ow has in romance, big ass boobs.
She’s DD, but she acts like it’s size G or larger, so she gets a breast reduction behind the Hero’s back and is now flat chested like all the doormats heroines in romanceland.
🙄
The whole plot is about her boobs, no joke!😂
March 2, 2020
Theresa Brubaker is a 25-year-old woman who hates her body, hair, and skin. She is hung up on the fact that she is well-endowed, believing her "devastatingly enormous breasts" are ruining her life. When her brother brings a friend home from the Air Force on Christmas break, she is reluctant to meet him since all men just stare at her chest. But Bryan Scanlon is different. He's been warned by her brother and his eyes do not slide below her chin. Theresa and Bryan slowly become friends. She is attracted to Bryan, but doesn't know if she can actually act on her attraction.
This has to be one of the dumbest stories I've ever read. The heroine actually contemplates staying in her room for two weeks while Bryan is visiting. She whines constantly about the size of her breasts. We don't find out till the middle of the book that she is a 34DD. The way she went on and on about her problems, I thought they were dragging on the ground.
I can't believe the same author who wrote the classic MORNING GLORY wrote this drivel. Luckily, I've read several books by this author and know this is not her usual writing. My rating: 1 Star.
This has to be one of the dumbest stories I've ever read. The heroine actually contemplates staying in her room for two weeks while Bryan is visiting. She whines constantly about the size of her breasts. We don't find out till the middle of the book that she is a 34DD. The way she went on and on about her problems, I thought they were dragging on the ground.
I can't believe the same author who wrote the classic MORNING GLORY wrote this drivel. Luckily, I've read several books by this author and know this is not her usual writing. My rating: 1 Star.
July 10, 2010
This book was ridiculous. Granted it was written in the 80s so it's a bit dated with regards to female body shape, but it was a miserable excuse for a romance book. The girl is obsessed with her own breasts, and along with some bad experiences in school she pretty much hates herself. Then the guy Brian comes along and he is also embarrassed by her rack. So exactly how big are we talking about? 34DD and the author goes on and on as if her boobs are dragging on the ground. Are you kidding? I think one scene describes her in a robe and is braless--and her boobs are "hanging to her waist". I could only guffaw and almost did not finish. I always finish book, no matter how much they suck. I won't give away the ending, but it sucks. The fact that 34DDs will do permanent damage to her spine and back? HAHAHA I have to laugh. Don't bother reading this book. Seriously.
August 23, 2014
This was one of my least favorite books by LaVyrle Spenser. The story dragged and felt dated. The heroine was a very unique, one whose problem I hadn't encountered in the romance stories yet. Theresa was a shy, 25 year-old music teacher with overlarge breasts. Since she developed them in early adolescence, this physical characteristic determined her outlook in life. I felt sorry for her at the beginning and later when she described all the teasing, bulling, grouping she encountered as well as physical pain. But then , she became downright annoying with constant whining about her life, about her suppressed sexuality. She was 25 years old but really behaved like 16. I understand that the author tried to show her arrested development but it didn't work for me. The hero, Brian, was one of the most cardboard characters I encountered: unbelievably saintly, understanding and patient. You have to suspend believe or be a teenage girl to buy this perfection.
December 27, 2013
Not quite the standard I expected from the woman who wrote one of my favorites, but this book was somewhat enjoyable. I was a bit bothered, however, by the story's overall message; that Theresa was only able to accept herself post-surgery. I mean, I get why she had it done and I'm all for it, but it took surgery for her to like herself even a little bit, and that was a bit sad to me.
August 11, 2016
I usually enjoy LaVyrle Spencer books, but this one was the pits. The answer to this woman's "problems" was so obvious that it was like the characters were all avoiding the 500-lb. gorilla in the middle of the living room. I would have to call this an idiot plot--everyone in the book had to be an idiot or there would be no plot. There comes a time to quit whining and just deal with your issues--and these characters had long passed that point, so all the angst just didn't work; it merely sounded ridiculous. But hey, this was a woman who made a big fuss over her make-up before going on a swim-date--you stand warned: Realism has totally left this building.
I also agree with my fellow DD's--I personally resent the author's implications that we are abnormal or suffer great physical distress. I might refer to the girls as softballs or grapefruit but never volleyballs or pumpkins. I have run races and played sports, dated nice guys, and haven't encountered any of the problems Theresa did--apparently her mother who shared the same "problem" didn't either. I do not feel like I look abnormal, do not get stared at like a freak show, and do not droop to my knees--and I am 62. Spencer really needs a reality check here.
I also agree with my fellow DD's--I personally resent the author's implications that we are abnormal or suffer great physical distress. I might refer to the girls as softballs or grapefruit but never volleyballs or pumpkins. I have run races and played sports, dated nice guys, and haven't encountered any of the problems Theresa did--apparently her mother who shared the same "problem" didn't either. I do not feel like I look abnormal, do not get stared at like a freak show, and do not droop to my knees--and I am 62. Spencer really needs a reality check here.
November 11, 2012
I may have liked it better if Theresa wasn't so immature, whiny, way too overly sensitive (to the point of being mostly stupid) and naive all the time. I am not saying I don't understand how uncomfortable she was with her chest size (I myself am top heavy haven been a size C in 8th grade and have never been any smaller than DD after 9th grade) but really, how stupid and idiotic are you if you don't realize that especially when a teenager all guys are just pigs and duh all they think about is sex and wanting to get a feel. Instead of being all whiny poor me boo-hooing she should have taken control of her life. If someone touched you the wrong way, hell don't just run away and cry in the corning, give that person a smack in the face (or better yet a punch in the nose). If you can't learn to at least live with yourself and respect yourself you can't very well expect people to do the same. Which in turn also makes you the perfect target for the perverts who are only going to want to grope you. Mind you, I said a perfect target, I didn't say it made it right or okay for someone to do that to her.
What also seemed down right stupid to me too was saying she worked with kids because they didn't stare at her chest and make her feel bad. Really?!? She was teaching 6th graders. I remember very clearly when I was in 6th grade there were plenty of boys who could talk of nothing but boobs.
So, if you are someone like me who would have told someone where to get off when they do something like that to me, I would suggest not reading this book. You will be spending most of the time like I did tell Theresa to grow a set and stop being and immature idiot.
Brian on the other hand, good guy. Always loved men in the military.
What also seemed down right stupid to me too was saying she worked with kids because they didn't stare at her chest and make her feel bad. Really?!? She was teaching 6th graders. I remember very clearly when I was in 6th grade there were plenty of boys who could talk of nothing but boobs.
So, if you are someone like me who would have told someone where to get off when they do something like that to me, I would suggest not reading this book. You will be spending most of the time like I did tell Theresa to grow a set and stop being and immature idiot.
Brian on the other hand, good guy. Always loved men in the military.
July 4, 2016
This is one of the most unusual romances I’ve read. It presents an issue that I’ve rarely even considered, and it handles those issues in a rather sensitive impressive way.
Theresa is 25, still living at home with her parents and 14-year-old sister, Amy. Her brother, Jeff, is in the military where he made friends with Brian. Both of them play music, and both have plans of leaving the military and forming a band.
Jeff plans to bring Brian home on leave for Christmas. Naturally, Theresa is looking forward to seeing her brother; the family is, after all, a loving one where both family members and strangers would be most welcome. But Theresa is annoyed by the fact that Jeff plans to bring Brian home for Christmas. It will be like every other experience she’s had with men. She knows from past experience that they don’t look in her eyes; instead, they’re enthralled and fascinated to the point of being obnoxious with her larger-than-life, larger-than-average breasts. Like her mom, Theresa is huge on top and a size nine everywhere else. Unlike her mom, she’s not a strong personality. So those stares that would mean nothing to her mother are more than devastating to Theresa. She fully expects her first encounter with Brian to be all too typical—the quick look at the face, the laser focus on her breasts, and for her, the shame and embarrassment of the experience. Theresa has employed all kinds of techniques to minimize the obvious. She constantly crosses her arms over her breasts in an effort to make them less visible. She wears lots of sweaters designed to hide her breasts.
Interestingly enough, because he has been tipped off by Jeff, Brian handles his first encounter with Theresa with genuine sensitivity and aplomb. He keeps his gaze on her face and works to help her recognize that he’s interested in Theresa, not Theresa’s wrack.
Romancing her is going to be a long-term process for Brian. Although she doesn’t know it, he has been smitten with her long before they met based on descriptions and stories told him by Jeff. But so ashamed is she of her large breasts that she can’t get her head around the idea that he could love the whole her. Her embarrassment prevents the two from becoming intimate even though by New Year’s Eve, they know that love has indeed grown between them.
Her big breasts even influenced her career choice. By teaching music to elementary school students, she reasoned that they would be less fixated on her figure and more prone to be able to simply be taught.
She is reclusive, a virgin, and naïve to the point of being almost unbelievable in today’s world.
This is formulaic in that Brian’s return to the military for his final six months leaves Theresa alone to make a rather crucial decision that will affect the couple. There is, upon their reunion, the typical misunderstanding. But this book sensitively explores the often painful issue of breast size and how that can negatively impact a relationship. Ours is a world, after all, that celebrates largeness—a world where breast augmentation is rather commonplace. So when a book comes along that looks at the concept of too much in one place, it’s a rather noteworthy thing. The book explores all of the aspects of disproportionately large breasts from the everyday effort at finding clothes that fit to the more long-lasting impact on health such as back and shoulder damage, etc.
If you can overlook the fact that Brian seems just a bit too perfect and that Theresa seems like way too much of an ingénue in a 21st-century world, this book is probably worth a look. While there’s no profanity here to speak of, those of you who prefer not to read about premarital sex in your books will want to let this go. It’s your call; I’m just telling you it’s there.
This felt a good bit dated, and I was somewhat disturbed by the idea that the woman placed so little value on herself until after some kind of surgery. I'd have been more comfortable with this if it had emphasized more her talent as a teacher and less her small frame.
Theresa is 25, still living at home with her parents and 14-year-old sister, Amy. Her brother, Jeff, is in the military where he made friends with Brian. Both of them play music, and both have plans of leaving the military and forming a band.
Jeff plans to bring Brian home on leave for Christmas. Naturally, Theresa is looking forward to seeing her brother; the family is, after all, a loving one where both family members and strangers would be most welcome. But Theresa is annoyed by the fact that Jeff plans to bring Brian home for Christmas. It will be like every other experience she’s had with men. She knows from past experience that they don’t look in her eyes; instead, they’re enthralled and fascinated to the point of being obnoxious with her larger-than-life, larger-than-average breasts. Like her mom, Theresa is huge on top and a size nine everywhere else. Unlike her mom, she’s not a strong personality. So those stares that would mean nothing to her mother are more than devastating to Theresa. She fully expects her first encounter with Brian to be all too typical—the quick look at the face, the laser focus on her breasts, and for her, the shame and embarrassment of the experience. Theresa has employed all kinds of techniques to minimize the obvious. She constantly crosses her arms over her breasts in an effort to make them less visible. She wears lots of sweaters designed to hide her breasts.
Interestingly enough, because he has been tipped off by Jeff, Brian handles his first encounter with Theresa with genuine sensitivity and aplomb. He keeps his gaze on her face and works to help her recognize that he’s interested in Theresa, not Theresa’s wrack.
Romancing her is going to be a long-term process for Brian. Although she doesn’t know it, he has been smitten with her long before they met based on descriptions and stories told him by Jeff. But so ashamed is she of her large breasts that she can’t get her head around the idea that he could love the whole her. Her embarrassment prevents the two from becoming intimate even though by New Year’s Eve, they know that love has indeed grown between them.
Her big breasts even influenced her career choice. By teaching music to elementary school students, she reasoned that they would be less fixated on her figure and more prone to be able to simply be taught.
She is reclusive, a virgin, and naïve to the point of being almost unbelievable in today’s world.
This is formulaic in that Brian’s return to the military for his final six months leaves Theresa alone to make a rather crucial decision that will affect the couple. There is, upon their reunion, the typical misunderstanding. But this book sensitively explores the often painful issue of breast size and how that can negatively impact a relationship. Ours is a world, after all, that celebrates largeness—a world where breast augmentation is rather commonplace. So when a book comes along that looks at the concept of too much in one place, it’s a rather noteworthy thing. The book explores all of the aspects of disproportionately large breasts from the everyday effort at finding clothes that fit to the more long-lasting impact on health such as back and shoulder damage, etc.
If you can overlook the fact that Brian seems just a bit too perfect and that Theresa seems like way too much of an ingénue in a 21st-century world, this book is probably worth a look. While there’s no profanity here to speak of, those of you who prefer not to read about premarital sex in your books will want to let this go. It’s your call; I’m just telling you it’s there.
This felt a good bit dated, and I was somewhat disturbed by the idea that the woman placed so little value on herself until after some kind of surgery. I'd have been more comfortable with this if it had emphasized more her talent as a teacher and less her small frame.
May 29, 2016
This book was published quite some time before my birth. I know things have changed between now and then but in today's terms, much of the references and ideologies regarding relationships mentioned in this book; have outlived and expired their stay and are no longer applicable to the world we live in today. The author overused and overdramatized the self-conscious self-image aspect of having a large rack. She squeezed and beat every bit of milk out of making it seem like it's a bad thing, to be well-endowed, pun intended. Nowadays, young women pay top dollar, to have those things resized and enlarged. So, the opposite rings true today, for the most part. Also, I did not find the overall pulse of this book, to be very realistic but pipe dream filled. Not very believable if converted into real life application. If there was one upside to this read, it's how fast-paced this book was, pages kept turning and was able to stomach through it in one-sitting. Read this book to find out if I aimed off-key and overshot completely. I'm okey with being wrong, you may encounter some sentiment or redeeming factor that completely escaped me. Fantastical, farfetched far cry of a read.
April 22, 2016
Ok, But Not Great
This was the third book that I've read by LaVyrle Spencer and I was disappointed. So far my reading experience with this author is going downhill fast. I began with Family Blessings which is great, but Sweet Memories leaves a lot to be desired. Spoiler Alert! I understood that Theresa was the person she was because of her extremely large breasts, but I got so tired of hearing about them. If she would've had the breast reduction surgery about one third of the way through the book, it would've been better. I was sitting here stunned that she'd never considered that option when someone else finally recommended it to her. Another thing, based on the narrative explaining what the book was about, I kept waiting for something to happen to Jeff or Brian. Finally, I never bought that Brian really loved Theresa. Some books make you "feel" the love between the hero and the heroine, but not Sweet Memories. So, read it if you will, but if you're looking for "the greatest book" you've ever read, then skip this one and read Family Blessings.
This was the third book that I've read by LaVyrle Spencer and I was disappointed. So far my reading experience with this author is going downhill fast. I began with Family Blessings which is great, but Sweet Memories leaves a lot to be desired. Spoiler Alert! I understood that Theresa was the person she was because of her extremely large breasts, but I got so tired of hearing about them. If she would've had the breast reduction surgery about one third of the way through the book, it would've been better. I was sitting here stunned that she'd never considered that option when someone else finally recommended it to her. Another thing, based on the narrative explaining what the book was about, I kept waiting for something to happen to Jeff or Brian. Finally, I never bought that Brian really loved Theresa. Some books make you "feel" the love between the hero and the heroine, but not Sweet Memories. So, read it if you will, but if you're looking for "the greatest book" you've ever read, then skip this one and read Family Blessings.
June 15, 2014
Nice, but not engaging enough. It was easy to put down for other things.
Theresa is 25 years old with extremely large breasts. She hides from life and is full of angst. Kids in school made fun of her. Boys and men stare at her breasts and grope her. Her older brother Jeff is in the air force. He brings home his best friend Brian for Christmas. Jeff told Brian about Theresa. So Brian is forewarned not to look at Theresa’s breasts when he meets her. She was surprised and pleased that Brian did not look at her chest. This is a gentle story of the sweet relationship that develops between Brian and Theresa.
There was one sex scene. It was more about tenderness and touching than passion.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 342 pages. Swearing language: mild. Sexual language: none to mild. Number of sex scenes: 1. Setting: around 1983 mostly Minneapolis, Minnesota. Copyright: 1984. Genre: contemporary romance.
Theresa is 25 years old with extremely large breasts. She hides from life and is full of angst. Kids in school made fun of her. Boys and men stare at her breasts and grope her. Her older brother Jeff is in the air force. He brings home his best friend Brian for Christmas. Jeff told Brian about Theresa. So Brian is forewarned not to look at Theresa’s breasts when he meets her. She was surprised and pleased that Brian did not look at her chest. This is a gentle story of the sweet relationship that develops between Brian and Theresa.
There was one sex scene. It was more about tenderness and touching than passion.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 342 pages. Swearing language: mild. Sexual language: none to mild. Number of sex scenes: 1. Setting: around 1983 mostly Minneapolis, Minnesota. Copyright: 1984. Genre: contemporary romance.
August 16, 2016
Well.... I'd hate to think of how I'd been seen and treated in this world, seeing as I was "cursed" with a chest beyond her Gigantic DDs.
The way this author treated large breasts was extremely insulting.
I've read two other books by her and enjoyed them so I will try and put this horrible book out of my mind.
There was one part I did like, I found it rather amusing and pretty sweet, and that was when the father finally stood up to the mother. While I may not have hated the book, my issues with it and the annoying heroine ruined any good feelings I may have got from it. Oh well onto the next one.
Happy Reading!
The way this author treated large breasts was extremely insulting.
I've read two other books by her and enjoyed them so I will try and put this horrible book out of my mind.
There was one part I did like, I found it rather amusing and pretty sweet, and that was when the father finally stood up to the mother. While I may not have hated the book, my issues with it and the annoying heroine ruined any good feelings I may have got from it. Oh well onto the next one.
Happy Reading!
February 24, 2011
LaVyrle Spencer is a great writer and that comes through even in the dated silliness of this book. At parts, the old fashioned sensibilities of the book felt sweet and gentle and homey -- at other parts they just made me giggle. I read some of her other "contemporary" romances and they didn't feel as dated as this one; I don't know if it was the plot line or the age of the characters but everything about this book felt like reading a romanticized version of Forever, without the characters breaking up at the end.
May 13, 2016
A story of a young woman who is very much an introvert due to the fact that she has large breasts. It could have been a very good story but the author dragged it on and it wasn't very believable that the young woman was 25 years old and never thought of having breast reduction surgery at all. I only kept reading it to see if her brother's friend really was in love with her or just playing her along. Also, there was a lot of sex scenes that were way to descriptive for my taste. I mostly skipped through that part. The last chapter was almost all sex.
May 9, 2014
This one is a little too naive for me. It's not just about a wallflower, it's about a woman overly conscious of her enormous breasts, who, in the end, learns about reduction surgery. Seriously, though, who hasn't ever heard of this surgery? The issues and circumstances won't be at all novel for those who happen to have large breasts, and for the rest of us, we'll have a hard time garnering sympathy for this one-dimensional heroine.
March 30, 2018
Just sweet and adorbs as fuck.
Another reread.
Another reread.
July 2, 2018
3.5 STARS
This is the first modern book I've read from LS (Please don't say 80's is historical!) I adored Brian and while Theresa did frustrate me at times, I still enjoyed their story. As with all LS, the supporting cast and setting was outstanding.
This is the first modern book I've read from LS (Please don't say 80's is historical!) I adored Brian and while Theresa did frustrate me at times, I still enjoyed their story. As with all LS, the supporting cast and setting was outstanding.
February 11, 2011
I started this book with some expectation because it seemed to approach a different subject than what you usually see in romance. Usually heroines feel bad because they are not enough endowed not because they are too endowed.
I could understand some of Theresa's problems like choosing the clothes that cover the most, always try to hide her chest and how she slowly reacted to Brian. However I think the book felt dated in some particular areas - like Theresa's relationship with her parents or her mother's vision of her own body and how Theresa should deal with hers. Also we are never given any particulars of how big is Theresa's problem; we just have to hear description after description of how bad it looked and how much she suffered because of it.
While I am all in favor of surgery if that will help you deal better with your image and self esteem I definitely felt the problem was treated a bit lightly and that better communication between Theresa and everyone else in her family, including Brian, would definitely be a good thing.
Having said that I found it an interesting read, but not an outstanding one.
Grade: 3.5/5
I could understand some of Theresa's problems like choosing the clothes that cover the most, always try to hide her chest and how she slowly reacted to Brian. However I think the book felt dated in some particular areas - like Theresa's relationship with her parents or her mother's vision of her own body and how Theresa should deal with hers. Also we are never given any particulars of how big is Theresa's problem; we just have to hear description after description of how bad it looked and how much she suffered because of it.
While I am all in favor of surgery if that will help you deal better with your image and self esteem I definitely felt the problem was treated a bit lightly and that better communication between Theresa and everyone else in her family, including Brian, would definitely be a good thing.
Having said that I found it an interesting read, but not an outstanding one.
Grade: 3.5/5
January 8, 2016
So this is the fist story I ever read from LaVyrle Spencer and ever since I have fallen in love with her writing style. Sweet Memories is definitely one of those stories that touches you because it talks about one woman's journey to body acceptance and maturing along the process. The romance portion of this book is - in a way - quite innocent, the letters and conversations Theresa has with Brian are ones to surely make you swoon and then make you want to further see how their love will develop throughout the story. It's not a difficult read at all, and I would definitely recommend this book to those who have a sweet tooth for classic romance stories.
October 4, 2013
This is one of my all time favorite books!!! My mom actually gave it to me to read in high school, which my grandma freaked out about. I have always been busty and had issue with that fact and once I read this book I was hooked! I have since read it so many times that I have had to tape the cover back on about 5 times! A definite must read
Read
May 12, 2009This book focused way too much on the girl's issues with her body. It was written several years ago. Many novels can stand the test of time, but I didn't feel that this was one of them. I know someone who absolutely loved this book, but I would rate it as just OK.
December 18, 2012
really...how many different ways can you write about french kissing? It would have been a good story without the constant tongue action...and we are talking pages and pages of it...she's a much better author than this book portrays her to be
February 14, 2009
This was probably one of the sweetest stories ever written. Such believable characters and plot. This is easily one of my new favorites.
November 1, 2012
I like LaVyrle Spencer, and even though she is retired now, this was not a favorite book of mine.
September 26, 2010
I especially loved this book, as I went through a similar experience and the feelings in the book were often my own. The pain, the indecision and the final decisions that I made.
January 12, 2011
A bit too "after-school special" for me. I know it was written in the 80s, so maybe breast-reduction surgery was a bigger issue then.
November 8, 2011
TBR Potluck Challenge - most thought it was dated and too sappy.
January 16, 2013
Awful - pathetic - can't believe I actually read this all the way through.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews