Bittersweet by Noelle Adams

Bittersweet Reviews

• 
  Jen

  Zoe is friends with nerdy (and wealthy, natch) Adam. She’s attracted to him, and she thinks that maybe he’s attracted to her, but he won’t ask her out. So she’s stuck in the friend zone. Then she meets his hawt cousin Josh and…well, you know what happens next. He makes a move. Four years later, she’s a widow with a young son. And there’s Adam, not so nerdy anymore and still pretty rich.
  
  I saw ALL of the set ups coming from miles away. Like here, where Zoe is getting dressed to go out with “friends” (I put the word in quotes because we never actually see these friends of hers, we never see much of anyone besides the two main characters and Zoe’s son Logan):
  
  

  As soon as Zoe pulled on the sleeveless, wine-colored top, she started to pull it off again. The low v-neck and slinky fabric was very flattering, highlighting her figure and her fair skin. But it was much sexier than anything she’d worn in a really long time. She wouldn’t have given it a second thought a couple of years ago, but now the overt sexiness made her feel uncomfortable…It was a warm evening, but she put on a thin silk cardigan sweater so she wouldn’t feel so self-conscious about her revealing top. She buttoned the cardigan in a way that covered most of her cleavage, deciding she’d unbutton it later in the evening when it felt more appropriate.

  
  
  As soon as I read that I thought: Right, so her cardigan is going to bust open so that Adam can get a look at her breasts.
  
  And hey, what do you know:
  
  

  She leaned down to pick up a green bean Logan had dropped and tossed it into the trash can. The move caused the remaining button on her cardigan to come undone and the silk sweater fell open. She hardly registered the fact until she turned back around toward Adam. She saw his black eyes widen as they took in her appearance, lingering on her generous cleavage. His whole body tensed palpably.
  “You’re wearing that?” he asked, his voice thicker than normal.
  Zoe’s spine stiffened. “What do you mean? Of course, I’m wearing this. What’s wrong with it?”
  “It might be appropriate for the bedroom,” he said, an inexplicable intensity smoldering in his gaze and disapproval in his expression, “but hardly for an appearance in public.”
  Zoe gasped indignantly at both his presumption and his censure…

  
  
  Guess who comes home drunk and wanting to dance? Guessssss. Was NOT expecting that. At all. NOPE.
  
  So first off: I instantly wrote off Adam after reading the words of an 80 year old grandmother come out of his mouth. Does not exist, I scribbled in the margins of my book (neither does Logan, actually). And let’s not even get into the “inexplicable intensity” in his eyes. Why so intense Adam? You’re staring at her breasts and you sound like you’ve been eating peanut butter, so weird that I can’t figure out what emotion is driving your actions right now! Especially considering that I’ve been told REPEATEDLY how restrained you are!
  
  Adam's got this whole stony facade thing going on. Check it: “For the first time, Adam’s calm broke.” and “…emotion twisting on his features for the first time."
  So many first times!
  Here is Adam NOT FEELING THINGS:
  “His voice inexplicably thick.”
  “The thick texture of his voice…”
  “His voice thick with an unusual texture.”
  “Distracted, disconnected with that thick resonance in his voice.”
  
  Mmmm, phlegm. HOMG HE’S SO HARD TO FIGURE OUT! DOES HE LIKE HER, MAYBE?
  
  Also, what is this?
  
  “His voice broke, an obvious sign that whatever he was trying to express was incredibly hard for him to say.”
  
  O RLY! I already knew after reading the words “his voice broke” that he was filled with emotion. Don’t spell it out for me. Oh, and Zoe gasps. A LOT.
  
  Oy. I cringed a good amount while reading this book, the sex scenes were SO bad: He was big, and she was tight from going so long without sex. And let's not forget the whole swollen lips from his kisses thing! I’m really glad this one was free.
• 
  Carvanz

  I have to confess, I was never going to read this book. After losing my son and husband, the death of a loved one is a trigger for me. With a current challenge that had this book on the list, I decided to carefully try it. I was prepared to close it immediately if anything felt like it was moving into triggering territory. The fact that the death actually takes place far removed off page was my saving grace. After that, it was all about how this heroine worked through her grief and I was so glad I took a chance because this is an absolutely beautiful story.
  
  
  
  
  
  My heart hurt for Zoe but she was resilient and worked through her loss in a believable manner. I respected the challenges she faced and the maturity she exhibited in dealing with them. The timeline of the story was a concern for me going in, but this author had Zoe moving through it in a way that I appreciated, again, totally believable.
  
  
  
  
  
  I absolutely loved Adam! While we never have his point of view, this author works her magic and I am more than aware of his struggles despite them never being shared with me. His tender care for Zoe and her son, Logan, was heartwarming. The fact that he never pressured her and did not expect her to love him more than her deceased husband was evidence of just how amazing of a hero he was.
  
  
  
  
  
  Overall, this was a wonderful read with characters that were realistic. I was so pleased to see Logan written into the story with consistency as many authors tend to create a child and then stick them far to the side so they are never a real part of the equation. Not so here which rounded out my enjoyment of a book I had shied away from for so long.
  
  So glad I read this one! ♥♥♥
  
  Heroine POV
  Safe no ow drama; h not a virgin; H celibate - at least since the death of h’s husband; h’s husband was H’s cousin and while that causes a few moments of concern for the h, it never really affects the decisions she makes in her relationship with the H; the H loved the h before she met the H’s cousin but he never showed any type of desire to date her or take their friendship further
  Triggers no apparent triggers other than the off page death of a loved one
  
  
  
• 
  Dilek VT

  Zoe is attracted to Adam and he is attracted to her but he doesn't ask her out. Then the hot cousin Josh comes and sweeps the girl away. They were married for 4 years when he died. Now, Zoe is a widow and Adam comes to support Zoe with her new-born baby. And now their romance begins!
  
  Pffft... so stupid. I would read it if they hadn't been attracted to each other before but they were and he didn't make a move and she went and married his cousin. Nope... not my cuppa!
• 
  Amanda

  This is a slow burn friends-to-lovers romance about a widow who falls in love with her late husband's cousin who has always secretly been in love with her (not a spoiler to me because it's so obvious to the reader). Uh...y'all, this book was basically written for me.
  
  This book was recommended to me by
  willaful after I asked for recommendations on Twitter for books where a protagonist falls in love with their sibling's or best friend's ex or widow/er (along the lines of
  Within Reach, a personal favorite of mine). It's a pretty niche trope, so it's not one that I encounter very much, when it's done well (like the aforementioned Within Reach and
  When He Was Wicked, my favorite book by Julia Quinn), there's just something so satisfying for me as a reader. I get a little tired of the evil first spouse, and I find it very moving when a character who is grieving finds love again with a person who is close to them.
  
  This book starts out, rather adorably, 5 years in the past. Adam, the sort of person who probably belongs on Jeopardy!, is quizzing Zoe about trivia. They met when they started eating lunch at the same time every day in the same cafe while she's working in a department store finishing up her undergraduate degree part-time and he's doing an MBA. Zoe enjoys his company and is starting to find him cute, but as they've become friends over two months of "casual" lunches, he hasn't made any indication that he's interested in her or wants to ask her out. This book is told entirely from Zoe's point of view (in the third person), so we never get Adam's internal thoughts, but anyone who has read a lot of romance learns to read between the lines, and it was immediately apparent to me that Adam was shy and wanted to build a friendship before asking her out. Alas, one day he tells her about a company he's starting with his cousin, and in walks said cousin, who is gorgeous and single. And not shy.
  
  Five years later, Josh has lost his battle with cancer, and Zoe is preparing for his funeral. While I felt no connection to Josh as a character, since he only appears in the book in her memories except for their initial meeting in the prologue, I felt the tragedy of his death at such a young age. Cancer is always triggering for me in stories because it's how I lost my mother after a very long and drawn-out illness, so I empathized deeply with Zoe. She is exhausted, both from being Josh's primary caretaker and from being a new mother (their son, Logan, is only six months old when Josh dies).
  
  Adam picks her up on the day of Josh's funeral, and through Zoe's thoughts we learn that she and Adam are no longer close at all, because Adam became very distant when she started dating Josh. Adam and Josh were not close in the way of best friends or brothers, due to their different upbringings, but they loved each other, and Adam truly mourns his loss as well, something that takes Zoe a while to realize because of how Adam behaved.
  
  It would be easy to be frustrated with Zoe's behavior at the beginning--and, well, I admit that I was--because Adam is nothing but lovely to her (even when he's being "bossy") and Zoe pushes back at any help he tries to give her. But what stopped me from being truly annoyed was that I felt this was an accurate portrayal of a grieving widow who now has a child to raise and no other family in the area (aside from Adam, who never talks to her anymore). Emotions and behavior are not always rational after a tragedy, and Zoe is devastated and doesn't know what to make of Adam coming back into her life after pushing her away. It clearly hurt her and it's something she's never expressed to him, just accepting that--from her point of view--he doesn't like her anymore, for whatever reason.
  
  The difficulty with this trope is making the reader believe that the protagonist really loved their first spouse--and still does--but is also open to loving again. There were times when I wondered whether Zoe was ever truly going to get over Josh. And Adam clearly feels this way too, but he's so patient with her. I was smitten with Adam from the prologue. He's just...the most understanding, compassionate, wonderful man. I would've loved to have his point of view as well, but there's something kind of interesting as well about having to guess at his thoughts and feelings from Zoe's point of view. Adam is so reserved, and Zoe doesn't just "get over" Josh (again, something I felt was realistically portrayed; not to mention in her mind it's "taboo" to be with Josh's cousin), hence the slow burn aspect of their relationship. This book covers a lot of time. Chapters can jump months, but I didn't feel like it was skipping anything important. It allowed their friendship to develop over a span of time while Zoe deals with her loss.
  
  Was this book perfect? Of course not. But I don't have it in me to nitpick it. It's sad at times, but heartwarming, and just the right kind of book for me.
• 
  Lyuda

  Very slow building romance between grieving widow and her husband's cousin who loved her even before she met her husband.The realism of grief and overcoming it is refreshing although cynic in me have a hard time believing that a successful, rich, smart and handsome hero would wait for the heroine so long and be so understanding and sensitive. I am not sure man like him exist in real world :)but hey, that's why I love reading romance! It is nice to dream:)
• 
  Vee

  I was debating how to rate this, definitely four stars but after reading through a couple of scenes and how they affected me, I've decided to give it a full five star. The book was aptly titled because that's how I felt when I was reading it. The story is about a widow, Zoe and how she tries to move on. Her husband's cousin, Adam tries to help her cope with hurdles of dealing with the loss of her husband, Josh — what to do with Josh's company, making decisions on buying a house, even babysitting her baby so she can have a girl's night out. What we see in the beginning was, Adam and Zoe met each other first (5 years before) and were more like lunch buddies in Zoe's mind because Adam never asked her out. After almost of month, Zoe meets Josh during one of those lunches and Josh wastes no time in sweeping her off her feet. When Josh and Zoe get together, Adam has a falling out with Josh and has been distant ever since. So now he is back in Zoe's life helping her out.
  Again, this is classic Noelle Adams style. Adam shows much restraint in expressing his feelings in words. But it wasn't until he sees Zoe with another man that he loses that restraint. Adam is such a strong man, but he feels deeply but has trouble acting on those feelings preferring to be patient. And those feelings are very sweet. The way Zoe and Adam work to have a relationship is very believable. I like the author's heroines because it's not insta-love, there is some cluelessness which I find cute.
  There are some slow parts, which was why I was hovering on rating, but I really loved this book.
  
  
  
  I review paranormal, contemporary (including erotica), new adult and young adult romances. My 4 to 5 star reads can be found at:
  
  Victoria Paige Books - Reviews
• 
  Michelle [Helen Geek]

  05/22/2013 --
  
  Overall Rating = 2.5 Stars
  Book Cover / Book Blurb = 3 / 3 = 3 Stars
  Writer’s Voice = 2 Stars
  Character Development = 3 Stars
  Story Appreciation = 2 Stars
  Worth the Chili = 4 Stars [$Free for me on Amazon, currently $2.99]
  
  Didn't feel the love with this one. It fell apart a bit at the end. All the dry hump love? Seriously? These were adults. I just didn't buy much of it. It may work for you, but it fell short for me.
  
  This author can write some of my favorite, long, absorbing, "full of feeling" stories. I guess we can all have a bit of mediocre in our backlist!
  
  Not her best work. I've come to expect so much more.
  
  Happy Reading!
• 
  Kim

  Really enjoyed this! I think it gives an interesting perspective on what it is to lose a spouse and the difficulty that moving on causes.
  
  The characters are real, the struggles they face as individuals and as a couple are real, and I believed all the emotions they felt.
  
  Definitely my favorite of everything I've read by Adams.
• 
  Ira

  So sweet and beautiful...
• 
  Anja

  4.5 stars.
  
  My thoughts during the first half: TENSION! Delicious, palpable tension! Poor clueless Zoe. Poor patient Adam. Oh, the feels!
  
  The second half was weaker because the tension lessened and Patient Adam became Angsty Emo Adam. I still love him but man he feels things so deeply that I wanted to give him a Valium.
  
  Claire’s journey felt real while not making her an emotional wreck or giving Adam competition for World’s Top Emo. Most clueless and naïve, perhaps. Honey, I knew from the second salt shaker and practically every page thereafter reinforced it.
  
  Unrequited love and friends to lovers are my top tropes so this book lit up all my buttons. I didn’t find it very sexy but the romance was there. Slowly developing. Slowly hugging my three sizes too small heart.
  
  Someone commented that the characters are the same in all of the author’s books. Well, let me tell you, I’m about to buy the crap out of her backlist because I want me some more unrequited emo love.
• 
  Lady E

  1.5 for me, I wanted to like it more I really did I struggled to finish it.
• 
  Vikki Vaught

  My Musings
  
  Unique story line and enjoyable characters, especially little Logan. Glad I took a chance on this. I enjoyed the narrator a lot. Happy ☺reading 📚!
• 
  Sandi Layne

  Bittersweet is my favorite flavor, so it's no wonder I consumed this book.
  
  Without spoilers, I can really only say that my only real problem with this book is that (I think) the readers will all know what is up with Adam Peterson (Our Hero) almost as soon as he is re-involved in Our Heroine's - Zoe's - life.
  
  What I love here is the opening and closing. I love the willingness of Zoe to communicate and confront even when she's uncomfortable. Once she knows what she's feeling, anyway. I enjoyed the way time was shown to pass, because it had to for this to work. I appreciated the set-up even if I felt bad about it most of the time.
  
  What I was less than thrilled with was the need for Miscommunication Angst. I know it's needed, here, due to the nature of the story, but it bothers me anyway. Especially when the relationship could have gone So Very Badly if Zoe hadn't stepped up and made sure to communicate.
  
  The side characters...were not really here. I had no sense of them, aside from Zoe's son. The story's focus was entirely on the main pairing and Zoe's son and that was pretty much it. There were appearances from a few others, but there isn't a lot of sense of their place in the story.
  
  Overall, a good romance. And, like the best of dark chocolate, it is indeed bittersweet.
  
  4.25, rounded down to 4 for the purpose of the rating.
• 
  Brenda

  I couldn't sleep last night so started reading thiis book on my kindle.
  It was so good I couldn't put it down and go to sleep like I knew I should. I was getting sleepy but had to finish it. This author writes a story that is aobut loss and finding love right in front of your face after losing a husband. She writes about loss and love and how recovery and falling in love is not perfect or easy, it's messy and it's hard and it doesn't follow any rule books. I loved the book!
  Found here on Good Reads:
  As a widow at twenty-six, Zoe isn't looking for love. She's just looking for the energy to get through the next day and take care of her infant son. She might have to deal with Adam, her husband's cousin and business partner, but she doesn't have to like it. She doesn't have to like him.
  
  But he just won't go away.
  
  Adam knows that Zoe needs time and space to heal, so he resolves to be a friend and help her when he can. He wants to do the right thing. He doesn't want to act on feelings he shouldn't have for her.
  
  But they just won't go away
• 
  Bookphenomena (Micky)

  This is a tale of grief and second chance love depicted with realism. I listened to this book on audio and the narration was good. Zoe meets and marries Josh, their relationship is full and everything she hoped it would be until Josh dies from an aggressive cancer leaving Zoe with their little boy Logan, only a few months old. Zoe met Josh through her then friend Adam. Adam became estranged to both Zoe and Josh early on in their relationship, so she doesn't appreciate Adam's bossy and entitled approach to managing her life after Josh's death. Adam is a cold fish, everything precise, no emotion. Zoe is an open book, letting her emotions and grief spill out. One thing is clear though, Adam is grieving for Josh too.
  
  Whilst this may sound a depressing premise for a book, it really isn't. Josh's death is told with minimal detail and in retrospect. The grief journey feels realistic and I warmed to both the characters in this book. Logan, Zoe and Josh's son is a well written addition and a great buffer between the two main characters.
  
  Reviewed for Jo&IsaLoveBooks Blog
• 
  Sarandah chrysalis

  Noelle Adams is the queen of writing repressed, stoic, yearning heroes.
  
  This one was heavy, but the grief and mourning were handled well. The plot moppet wasn’t terribly annoying, the yearning was delicious on both sides, and the sex was smokin (when it finally happened)
• 
  -Bookish Gal-

  I hadn't started this book with much expectations and honestly I don't know whether to be glad because of it or plain disappointed, that I was proven right. Reading Anna Karenina can be pretty depressing not to mention headache inducing at times so I picked up this little thing for a break from Mr.Tolstoy' monstrosity and it was not a relief.
  
  Bittersweet tells the story of Zoe who has recently became a mom and a widow, She lost her husband around the same time she gave birth to her son Logan. Adam her old lunch buddy and her late husband' cousin comes around at this point once again in her life and helps her through the testing time. As a executioner of Josh' will he stays around to help Zoe deal with the financials of his software company and eventually takes a liking to her son as well.
  
  Zoe having been nursing her cancer ridden husband for the better part of a year even while she was pregnant, finds herself getting attracted to Adam in the process and puts down her attraction to her ..eh 'dry spell'.
  
  One night on a blind date she encounters Adam with another woman at the same place she and her date plan to visit. An awkward encounter follows and finally in a confrontation Zoe & Adam reveal how they feel about each other and have a dry humping session. From then on the book becomes so boring I honestly think I fell asleep at a point as it was so predictable.
  
  Zoe was an okay-ish heroine and Adam was mostly described as a virile hot stud - nothing new or out of the ordinary there. Hell even the toddler calling Adam 'Cla Lala' started getting on my nerves after a point.
  
  What disappointed me the most was the writing I wasn't expecting the likes of
  Markus Zusak or the brilliance of
  Zafon Ruiz C. but this was so below average a Fanfic would have scored better in the linguistic skills.
  
  This review can also be found at
  One reader A thousand lives
• 
  Trish R.

  Ugh! DNF..
  
  I have no idea what authors are thinking when they make the heroine a total A-hole. Is that supposed to make her look strong? Well, it doesn’t! Zoe was a complete jerk to Adam from the time the funeral started. She couldn’t even open her mouth without something nasty coming out. When I start out disliking the hero or heroine it’s pretty hard for me to change my mind about him/her. So, I like Adam a lot and I couldn’t stand Zoe at just 10%. I knew if she didn’t get better soon I wasn’t going to finish this book.
  
  At 30% I was really tired of her pity party and her lack of concern for Adam’s feelings. AND there wasn’t on ounce of guilty desire for each other. I mean, even if they weren’t going to do anything about it it looks like there would be some kind of feelings. This was a really boring book. The 4 and 5 star reviews must have been by readers who really didn’t care if there was any kind of story at all. Unless you wanted to read about Logan’s first steps, or Logan’s first words, or Logan eating, or Logan playing on the floor, or Zoe nursing Logan, or Logan having a screaming fit. It just went on and on about Logan.
  
  Anyway, I got to 45% and I’m done. It’s just too angsty for me, on Zoe’s part, and I just feel sorry for Adam. Even though it’s just a book I feel like he could do better, the author could have made Zoe a better character. I never really connected with Zoe. I started off not liking her and I never got over it.
  
  I’m sure, from what the reviews said, there was sex in this book but there was not one little thing that led up to it. And there was no swearing, or anything else, for that matter.
  
  As to the narrator: I absolutely love Amy McFadden. She reads with so much emotion and does such terrific voices but even she couldn’t help this book.
  
• 
  Raquel

  This was a two-and-a-halfer for me. While it was an emotional read and I could relate personally to the main character, the story was drawn out and repetitive. There were grammatical errors that took away from the flow of the words, but nothing so major that I couldn't keep reading. It was a fast read, something that might interest readers of Jodi Picoult or Kristin Hannah.
  
  I do have to say, though, that the sex scenes were surprisingly pleasing. Sex scenes have a tendency to be unoriginal, overly detailed or unrealistic but not in Bittersweet.
  
  With all that said, it didn't really do it for me but it very easily might be for you.
• 
  Kelly

  Bottom line is that I liked it, but it would really benefit from some editing to tighten the story up and a wee bit of copy editing to fix some sneaky homophone mix-ups. The premise, characters, and depth of emotion were all wonderful, but sometimes I was pulled out of the story by the meandering plot (this happens, then this happens, then it's two months later and this happens, then it's three months later and that happens...) and repetitions. There were also a lot of clothing descriptions, a pet peeve of mine, but I think the strength of the character development and overall story is demonstrated when I conclude that I liked the book despite these things.
• 
  Monica Akinyi Odhiambo

  Such an interesting story.Amazing plot,I felt like I could relate to the characters Zoe and Adam.How do you wait so long?What if the time never comes?Though I know this is just a novel,am glad that finally Adam got what he really wanted,even if the love of your life is married to your cousin and are happy together.I feel that Adam was her better fit,and that its possible to find love despite everything.I would read any of her books if I came across them.
• 
  Donna Porter

  This story y Noelle Adams was great and I really enjoyed reading it. It is the story of Zoe who meets Adam and then later meets his cousin Josh. Josh and Zoe fall in love and get married, then years later Josh dies. Zoe tries to pull her life together for her and her son. Adam is a great help and he and Zoe rekindle their friendship. Zoe is not aware that Adam has always loved her. The story follows her struggles and Adams as they try to rebuild a life. Its really a good read
• 
  Meagan Hunt

  Bittersweet it was. I remembered that Zoe was widowed butt not that she had a son which made it harder on her knowing Josh would never get to see his son grow up and Adam would. I thought this was pretty good, enough but not too much information or writing, not overly done and that's what really made it good. I read or hear about a lot of books with too much effort from the author. Definitely worth it.
• 
  Annette

  This book was okay. I think it might have been improved if we had got to hear from Adam instead of just Zoe. Given that it was written in 3rd person I don't think it would have been that difficult. The story would have been much improved by hearing directly from Adam about his feelings for Zoe and what he'd gone through.
  
  It was an enjoyable read though.
• 
  Jennifer Walker

  Not bad
  
  This book wasn't bad but it wasn't great, what I liked about it is what I also disliked. Pacing. I felt at times it moved too fast when there could have been more build up but on a positive note it didn't dwell too long on unnecessary things.
  It's sweet at times and pulls at the heartstrings as well. A very quick read.
• 
  Jess

  Oh, I liked this! Noelle Adams is usually a sort of middle of the road author for me, where I like her, but I don't find her remarkable, but I liked this a lot. It's sort of a cross between a second chance romance and widow moves on, and I don't know, it just really worked for me. It takes a long time to build, and the kid is used well, and I just liked it.
• 
  Kristin

  This book was a much different romance story. It spans over 7 years of two people who’s lives revolve in the same orbit, but always seem to miss their timing together. It also focused on a woman trying to heal after the loss of her husband and finding a way to live and move forward in a world without him.
• 
  Naksed

  A lukewarm contemporary romance between a widow and her late husband's cousin. It was well written however, for me, it lacked the necessary tension that would take it from just an okay read to a place where I could emotionally relate to the characters and muster the interest to root for them.
• 
  Jen_C

  Slow pace, full of angst.