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Bittersweet

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His business failing and his marriage floundering, Harrison Holden is falling apart. To make things worse, he wakes one morning to see Piers Claybrook, a man he rescued after a car crash, standing in front of him-the same Piers who'd died in the hospital the night before.

Now a ghost, Piers believes he's with Harrison to make a difference in the other man's life. It's up to the two of them to find the key to living-and dying-and how to walk the line in between without being separated by it.

Reprint: This novella was originally published in the Dreamspinner Press anthology Desire Beyond Death.

86 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2010

2 people are currently reading
92 people want to read

About the author

Madeleine Urban

32 books1,105 followers
Madeleine Urban is a down-home Kentucky girl who’s been writing since she could hold a crayon. Although she has written and published on her own, she truly excels when writing with co-authors. She lives with her husband, who is very supportive of her work, and two canine kids who only allow her to hug them when she has food. She wants to live at Disney World, the home of fairy dust, because she believes that with hard work, a little luck, and beloved family and friends, dreams really can come true.

Visit Madeleine's blog at http://madeleineurban.livejournal.com/. You can contact her at mrs.madeleine.urban@gmail.com.
Listen to Madeleine interviewed by Peter Godbold on the Strictly Confidential Radio Show

MADELEINE URBAN RETIRED
Nov. 17, 2011 - I have made the personal decision to stop writing, for reasons that are important to me, including focusing on my family and my health. Writing and publishing comes with a whole set of expectations and pressures, and I find that it's just too much. While I am sad that this will upset and/or even anger readers, this is the right decision for me.

Abigail Roux will be continuing the Ty and Zane series, and I know she'll do a great job.

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5 stars
11 (14%)
4 stars
26 (33%)
3 stars
31 (40%)
2 stars
6 (7%)
1 star
3 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
Profile Image for Evaine.
490 reviews20 followers
April 1, 2011
Short and sweet. :) Those are the first words that came to mind when I sat down to pen my thoughts. Apparently this was Madeleine's first book published by Dreamspinner and I can see the difference between it and her later works. Bittersweet is an out and out romance with maybe an overtone of paranormal. The problem I had with it was that I wanted more. The main characters, Harrison and Piers, were nicely fleshed out and nicely unique in the world of m/m romance. (I was especially pleased that Harrison had a 'lightly furred' chest. I know, shallow, but it tickled - oh, bad pun - me.) There was a great plot here but I wished it had been filled out more. I wanted more interaction between Harrison and his son, I wanted more of the battle between Harrison and his soon-to-be ex-wife. I wanted to know more about Piers and the relationship he had with his best friend, Gerard. Okay, I just wanted MORE. The love scenes were hot - there was one kiss especially that was really, really well done - and despite the straying into purple prose' territory once in a while, I quite enjoyed them. All in all, a nice read for a quiet evening, but again, I think I'd have enjoyed it more if there had been more. That being said, Madeleine Urban remains as one of my most very favorite m/m authors.
Profile Image for Fangtasia.
565 reviews45 followers
May 27, 2011
It may sound strange to call a story involving a ghost 'believable', but this one is. The characters are described as people you might interact with daily, the story makes sense and the progress is completely natural. Heart wrenching and heart warming, funny and sad, it all happens at the right times and comes together for an ending that defines HEA. Loved it!
Profile Image for Claudia.
2,988 reviews38 followers
July 19, 2020
This felt more like an outline than a finished book to me. And a very early one, when the author doesn't know very well where does she wants the story go yet.

I was very wary about reading this book, as I read the 'Cut and Run series by this author and only liked the first book, but I thought that being a different genre... oh, well, at least it was short.
Profile Image for Td.
702 reviews
June 8, 2011
I spent part of this story confused. The "ghost" might as well been a real person that no one else could see. I've never heard of a ghost that could take real showers and change into real clothes and get physical so much. It made a little more sense to me at the end...and then I was confused again. Also, head hopping like this I can usually get used to after a chapter or so but I had a hard time with this one for some reason and it kept throwing me off. Liked some parts very much and the message of the story was beautiful, but question marks get popping in my head and I wasn't able to completely let go.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Wendy❤Ann.
1,757 reviews48 followers
May 16, 2014
Some things cleared up at the end of the story, but I still couldn’t help feeling as if I were missing a few key pieces of the overall puzzle. I enjoyed the book despite finding it a bit disorienting. There was one moment in particular that was quite poignant, and that seemed to be the turning point in the story towards resolving the big question of how does a future become possible between a human and a ghost?
Profile Image for Jen.
1,233 reviews6 followers
December 6, 2016
Very sad but with happy ending. Warning to self that this causes an ugly cry, so don't read in public :-)

December 2016 read it again. This time around it felt melodramatic and I skimmed through most of the sex. But, I enjoyed the concept immensely.
23 reviews
December 14, 2010
This book left me confused and with questions...was Pierce ever dead, is he dead, why didn't Gerry remember meeting Harrison.....and so on
Profile Image for OkayKim.
1,295 reviews
July 2, 2011
I liked it. Just it had a few holes in the story that I wished had been answered.
Profile Image for JD.
97 reviews5 followers
October 10, 2011
I sweet love story in 86 pages.
218 reviews1 follower
December 3, 2011
More a 3.5. Interesting, twisty ghost story, but no horror in sight.
Profile Image for Allie.
122 reviews
February 7, 2012
Loved Piers, loved Harrison 'Harry'. Wanted so much more. Brought tears to my eyes. Wanted MORE!
Profile Image for Kittykills.
205 reviews4 followers
May 30, 2016
if I'd read this first before cut and run books I would have passed and that would have been tragic. luckily I did not. very short ghost, skanky cheating wife, wife's gay lover boy, HEA. idk
Profile Image for Susan65.
1,652 reviews53 followers
December 1, 2012
Not as heartbreaking as I was expecting...thankfully.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews

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