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Bittersweet
ARIEL
From the night her drunken father gambled her away in his London townhouse, she was bought, sold and bartered by men who longed to take by force what she refused to give. Her dark young beauty and fiery spirit made them hunger for her smouldering love — a love locked away from their savage lusts.
KYNE
He alone held the key to Ariel's love — he alone knew the dreadful secrets of her past. He followed her from the gaming casinos and brothels of London across the high seas to San Francisco's Barbary Coast.
BITTERSWEET
Theirs is a romance of relentless passion — constantly threatened by jealousy, intrigue and degradation. Theirs is a love that will ultimately burst into a single flame of consuming desire.
From the night her drunken father gambled her away in his London townhouse, she was bought, sold and bartered by men who longed to take by force what she refused to give. Her dark young beauty and fiery spirit made them hunger for her smouldering love — a love locked away from their savage lusts.
KYNE
He alone held the key to Ariel's love — he alone knew the dreadful secrets of her past. He followed her from the gaming casinos and brothels of London across the high seas to San Francisco's Barbary Coast.
BITTERSWEET
Theirs is a romance of relentless passion — constantly threatened by jealousy, intrigue and degradation. Theirs is a love that will ultimately burst into a single flame of consuming desire.
- GenresHistorical Romance
426 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1978
17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 9, 2025
This book is "so bad its good" kind of stuff but had to write a review because it has the honor of being the first genuine Bodice Ripper book I ever read. I think it sort of spoiled the Genre for me.
I am sort of kidding..I was quite young when I read this, already an avid reader but still I knew that most people did not have the names "Kyne Fallon" and "Arial Drummond". At least nobody I knew.
Seriously? I'd read it again. I gave it a 2 for the fact it kept me reading AND it was the first really trashy book I read (though not the last) and I did grow up loving Historical fiction so who knows..maybe this book helped.
Kyne Fallon and Arial Drummond..hope u r happy.
I am sort of kidding..I was quite young when I read this, already an avid reader but still I knew that most people did not have the names "Kyne Fallon" and "Arial Drummond". At least nobody I knew.
Seriously? I'd read it again. I gave it a 2 for the fact it kept me reading AND it was the first really trashy book I read (though not the last) and I did grow up loving Historical fiction so who knows..maybe this book helped.
Kyne Fallon and Arial Drummond..hope u r happy.
May 30, 2016
Hugely disappointing.
After having read & loved another book by this author (Cynara), I was expecting awesomeness from Bittersweet. It never materialized. I wish I could say otherwise, but alas.
The characters were awful, particularly Ariel. I hate purposefully ignorant & needlessly stubborn heroines. Truly, I lost count of how many times someone would try to reveal critical life-changing information...but she'd just jam her fingers in her ears & yell something akin to LA LA LA, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW. How charming. Of course she'd invariably end up hating herself & everyone else because she wasn't prepared for bad situations that could've been altered if she'd listened to that life-changing information...but who's to judge? It's much better to stomp your feet & dwell on how you've been abused & refuse to have a single honest discussion with anyone. (Yes, the Big Mis abounded in multiple forms. *gag*)
The hero, for his part, wasn't much better. Despite his awesome jade signet ring (a snarling dog's head :D) the guy was no smouldering badass, & he certainly did nothing to discourage the flood of Big Misunderstanding that constantly swirled around everyone's ankles. Even in the end he couldn't turn on that trademark bodice-ripping alpha charm; instead it was beta friend Dr Paul who dragged them kicking & screaming into a HEA. The final conversation went something like this:
ARIEL: Fuck off, males with peens!
KYNE: Fuck off, women with attitudes!
DR PAUL: Everyone STFU. This has gone on for 350 pages too long. Ariel, Kyne loves you. Kyne, Ariel loves you. For god's sake, stop being such childish dipshits & have one conversation where you're not flouncing around like angry toddlers. Why am I even friends with such obnoxious knuckleheads?!
ARIEL & KYNE: He's totally right! We're in love now. D'aww, look at our happily ever after! *kissy-kiss*
DR PAUL: I need a drink.
...And if you think I'm exaggerating, read the last five pages.
Anyway. Bleh. I had high hopes, esp after the epic beginning (Flores writes excellent villains with cringe-worthy sadistic streaks). But WTFery & villains can only carry my interest so far. I need to like the primary couple, or at least sympathize with their actions, misguided or otherwise. But Ariel & Kyne...nope. They were just annoying.
After having read & loved another book by this author (Cynara), I was expecting awesomeness from Bittersweet. It never materialized. I wish I could say otherwise, but alas.
The characters were awful, particularly Ariel. I hate purposefully ignorant & needlessly stubborn heroines. Truly, I lost count of how many times someone would try to reveal critical life-changing information...but she'd just jam her fingers in her ears & yell something akin to LA LA LA, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW. How charming. Of course she'd invariably end up hating herself & everyone else because she wasn't prepared for bad situations that could've been altered if she'd listened to that life-changing information...but who's to judge? It's much better to stomp your feet & dwell on how you've been abused & refuse to have a single honest discussion with anyone. (Yes, the Big Mis abounded in multiple forms. *gag*)
The hero, for his part, wasn't much better. Despite his awesome jade signet ring (a snarling dog's head :D) the guy was no smouldering badass, & he certainly did nothing to discourage the flood of Big Misunderstanding that constantly swirled around everyone's ankles. Even in the end he couldn't turn on that trademark bodice-ripping alpha charm; instead it was beta friend Dr Paul who dragged them kicking & screaming into a HEA. The final conversation went something like this:
ARIEL: Fuck off, males with peens!
KYNE: Fuck off, women with attitudes!
DR PAUL: Everyone STFU. This has gone on for 350 pages too long. Ariel, Kyne loves you. Kyne, Ariel loves you. For god's sake, stop being such childish dipshits & have one conversation where you're not flouncing around like angry toddlers. Why am I even friends with such obnoxious knuckleheads?!
ARIEL & KYNE: He's totally right! We're in love now. D'aww, look at our happily ever after! *kissy-kiss*
DR PAUL: I need a drink.
...And if you think I'm exaggerating, read the last five pages.
Anyway. Bleh. I had high hopes, esp after the epic beginning (Flores writes excellent villains with cringe-worthy sadistic streaks). But WTFery & villains can only carry my interest so far. I need to like the primary couple, or at least sympathize with their actions, misguided or otherwise. But Ariel & Kyne...nope. They were just annoying.
October 6, 2025
Too late 70's for me, with all the rape, degradation, and the H and h spending most of the book apart. I also got sick of hearing about that damned ranch (will the H and h inherit it together, is the H really entitled to it, who's his real father, etc.) over and over ad nauseum! That was almost as bad as the bits and pieces "mystery" about the h's mother that was a lot of hype (not to mention dull).
And talk about stupidity! This h goes on for most of the novel claiming she hates the H, then when the story is almost finished, she gets the big revelation: she LOVES him! (Big surprise!) Meanwhile, they've had one misunderstanding after another, one too many moments where pride and stubbornness keep them from revealing what they should, and way too many exits where they're determined not to see each other again! Then, when she goes searching for him to tell him how she feels, she has a hissy fit when she finds him with another woman. Did she forget she had been another man's mistress? They weren't together, so he didn't owe her any fidelity. Her selective memory makes her put aside the fact that she slept with the OM almost as soon as she slept with the H! I was waiting for the "who's the daddy/" question, but that never happened.
Anyway, I stopped reading after that, because I didn't give a crap if they got together or not.
Waste of time, and about 200 pages too long!
And talk about stupidity! This h goes on for most of the novel claiming she hates the H, then when the story is almost finished, she gets the big revelation: she LOVES him! (Big surprise!) Meanwhile, they've had one misunderstanding after another, one too many moments where pride and stubbornness keep them from revealing what they should, and way too many exits where they're determined not to see each other again! Then, when she goes searching for him to tell him how she feels, she has a hissy fit when she finds him with another woman. Did she forget she had been another man's mistress? They weren't together, so he didn't owe her any fidelity. Her selective memory makes her put aside the fact that she slept with the OM almost as soon as she slept with the H! I was waiting for the "who's the daddy/" question, but that never happened.
Anyway, I stopped reading after that, because I didn't give a crap if they got together or not.
Waste of time, and about 200 pages too long!
February 12, 2014
Ariel, the heroine, manages to find herself in the most astonishing situations. She triumphs, however, thanks to her stunning looks, fiery temper, business acumen, and her skills in the sack (naturally) and at the poker table. Actually, this romance doesn't fall into a predictable rut and does a good job tripping up readers' expectations. And, while there is a great deal of violence & abuse, at least Ariel has the good taste not to fall in love with a rapist. As so many of these so-called heroines do.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews