Spare Change (Wyattsville, #1) by Bette Lee Crosby

Spare Change (Wyattsville, #1) Reviews

• 
  Jen CAN

  I received a copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review
  Honestly, I had a hard time finishing this and am struggling to write this as I was dulled by it. It was a predictable and ‘nice’ story - about an 11-year old who witnesses the murder of his parents and is seeking safety.
  It lacked some muscle -a good storyline but I think it could have gone deeper without all the pov's. Simplistic characters, simplistic prose.
  Top it off there were numerous editing errors that contributed to my irritation.
  But, don’t take my word for it - this has a high GR rating and is the 1st in the series. Maybe it's just me?
• 
  Suzanne Leopold (Suzy Approved Book Reviews)

  Olivia Westerly was not like most twenty-five year old women living in the 1920’s. Instead of getting married and having children, she lives by herself and has a career. Olivia hated the idea of marriage and motherhood until she met Charlie Doyle at 58 years old. Deeply in love, they quickly wed and she left her job to live with him in Wyattsville.
  
  Ethan Allen Doyle is 11 years old and lives with his parents, Benjamin and Susanna. Benjamin is Charlie Doyle’s only child but they haven't spoken in years. The only information Ethan Allen has of his grandfather is from an annual Christmas card. His parent’s have a tumultuous relationship and they are always arguing and bickering. Susanna is unhappy and has spent her life dreaming of becoming a dancer in New York City with no support from her husband.
  
  Olivia and Ethan’s lives eventually collide and a cautious relationship is formed. She is faced with uncomfortable situations that force her out of her comfortable life. I enjoyed this introductory story from the series by Bette Lee Crosby.
• 
  Bette Crosby

  Spare Change has now become an Amazon #1 Bestseller in the category of Historical Mystery.
• 
  ☮Karen

  * In person book club read #3 *
  
  There's something so unique about this author's writing style, I can't quite put my finger on it. But I can try.
  
  It's simple without being simplistic.
  
  Sweet but with a few f-bombs and other assorted cuss words thrown in. Oh, and a murder or two, or three -- grizzly ones no less.
  
  A Southern feel, yet a universal message. Not as gritty as Southern can get though.
  
  Smart characters who do foolish things.
  
  Unique. Truly she owns her style. I liked this one just a tad less than the Crosby I read last month.
• 
  Naomi

  I am not giving this book 5 stars for the longevity of the book or its' ability to become a classic, but for the author's ability to write characters who will absolutely melt your heart and elicit sympathy from the reader. I find that to be a rare ability in the majority of the books I read and this author truly does have that capability. I absolutely fell in love with the little boy in this book, Ethan Allen, and, as a mother, wanted to wrap my arms around him. As I sat down to read this, I found myself pushing away other books that were slotted to be finished to continue on with this book and that is always the sign of a winner to me. I ended up reading this in one day (actually a couple of hours) once it was started. That is not odd, but my engrossment with a book is. This book was recommended to me and usually that doesn't always work out...with this one the recommender was dead on!! Furthermore, it is a book I will recommend as well!
• 
  Emma

  4.5 stars rounded up because I enjoyed it so much. I saw this on Kindle Unlimited and thought I’d give it a try, after all I do love small town stories. I loved it and plan to read the rest of the series.
• 
  Laura

  Free on Amazon today 10-13-16....worth a read for free.
  
  I didn't judge this book by the cover, which I loved, but I did judge this book by the author. I read the back of the book for the plot and saw this sweet author and her dog. I thought there is no way this sweet lady is going to write a gritty, southern novel that will hold my attention. Bette Lee Crosby proved me wrong. I adored this book from beginning to end. So it wasn't gritty southern writing like Cormac McCarthy, William Gay or Daniel Woodrell but she does a fabulous job with the feeling of desperation of her characters with the chance of redemption. It's the down on your luck with that underlying feeling of please give these people a chance of making it. The first part of the book you are in shock of what's going on with these well-developed characters. Then you just start falling in love with this boy and his grandmother and their array of middle aged friends. You laugh and you cry. If you want a good southern fiction book that's not too "creepy" I highly recommend. I find no criticism with this book. Five stars!!!!
• 
  Elle Thornton

  It’s hard to let go of stories I love, and that’s been true for me of Bette Lee Crosby’s work. Her book
  Spare Change is wise in the ways of life’s ironies, its sorrows and evil, and the goodness that human beings offer one another. In
  Spare Change her engaging lead characters find themselves in desperate situations that seemingly have no solution: for eleven-year-old Ethan Allen, it’s hard to imagine darker things than what he goes through early on in this book. This is an author who knows how to increase tension and worry her readers half to death, but then she leads them to a better place: we come away understanding something more of ourselves and others. What I miss when I finish her books is her sympathetic eye, her ability to convey both horror and humor, and her wonderful gift for voices. She brings all this richness to her readers, never leaving their hearts empty.
• 
  Barrie1953

  I read this book because my wife loves her books and I almost feel I have read them all but with bits missing [if you don't know yet, my wife is sue1958 on here, sue ward.
  
  She has been encouraging me to review books, so all her nagging has now paid off except, I dictate and she types because I'm hopeless at that.
  
  I really got into this book from the first pages. I found this authors way of writing easy going and easy to understand. I am the sort that forgets things but the book was enough to make a good impression on me and each night I started to read it again I could easily pick up where I left off.
  
  
• 
  Elizabeth

  I was contacted by the author and agreed to read “Spare Change” and provide an honest review.
  
  In this case, that’s not difficult. “Spare Change” is a truly beautiful book. It’s a book to savor and think about. When I began to read it, I was immediately caught up on the story line. I wanted to pull Ethan Allen out of his circumstances and bring him home to mother (not at all like me). After meeting Olivia, I wanted to invite her over for coffee and a visit.
  
  I normally don’t get very involved with the characters – oh, I find them interesting or blah – but I almost never develop an attachment for them. This is a book I will treasure and will re-read from time to time – particularly when I need a friend.
  
  I highly recommend this book to those readers who haven’t already read it. You won’t regret it and, if you’re like me, you’ll cry a little and smile a lot!
  
  
• 
  Susan

  I fell in love with all of the characters in this book especially the people who lived in the apartment building. But no one captured my heart like Ethan Allen. What that poor boy had to go through was heartbreaking! But in the end it was all perfect and I was smiling the whole time reading the last few pages. This is my first read by Bette and I. Look forward to reading more! Well done Bette!
• 
  Elaine Walsh

  Turn off your cell phone and butter up some popcorn when you read Spare Change because you’re reading a book you’ll swear some studio has already bought the rights to turn into a movie. I admit, I’m drawn to southern characters and southern tales and Ms. Crosby has cooked up a good one in Spare Change. The characters are fully developed and layered with endearing traits, annoying habits and the right amount of quirkiness. They were so real, I wanted to sit in a booth next to them just to eavesdrop on their conversations you’ll be sure they’re having outside the book’s narrative.
  
  Olivia Westerly is a confirmed bachelorette in an era when women aspired to marriage versus a career. Marriage means children and children mean emotional imprisonment. Olivia passes judgment on motherhood as she describes the birth of a friend’s child as having “added another one to her litter” and the baby as “howling like a banshee”” and how all the children “suck on her like so many leaches”. Ms. Crosby puts the reader in the mind of the characters in such a way that although we may not see the world the same way as her characters, the reader will certainly find her characters believable. The dialogue is refreshing, as well. Many writers struggle with bringing a voice to their characters through effective dialogue, but not Ms. Crosby. It is another hidden gem in this thoroughly enjoyable tale.
  
  When Olivia is past childbearing years, she allows herself to fall hopelessly and deeply in love with Charlie Doyle. But their life together is not destined to be long one. When he passes suddenly, he unexpectedly leaves her with his young grandson. Except Olivia doesn’t know it, because besides her own story, there is another story unfolding which will soon bring together the lives of a young boy and an older woman who never wanted children.
  
  Ethan Allen Doyle grew up in a combative household with a father who could be cruel and a mother so self absorbed and resentful of her life she couldn’t nurture him. The boy is a survivor who is both wise and naïve. Without some positive change to the trajectory of his life, you sense he will end up living the same sad life his parents do. When he runs away from home under tragic circumstances, he ends up on the doorstep of Olivia Westerly Doyle. The reason he is there and the ensuing drama bring a touch of suspense to this southern read.
  
  Spare Change is a book about transformation, most notably Ethan’s and Olivia’s. But there are also the characters surrounding them who are transformed. I especially love the eclectic group of elderly neighbors living in the same apartment building as Olivia. They not only change the apartment building’s rules to accommodate a boy and his dog but to embrace and protect him. The rascally young boy changes them, as much as, their influence and the influence of his adopted grandmother Olivia, who never a desire to raise a child, changes him.
  
  Word of advice, if this ever makes it to the big screen, bring tissues to the movie theater. At the end, I found myself brushing back my tears. Meanwhile, you can catch all of the action on your Kindle or in paperback.
  
• 
  Cobwebby Eldritch Reading Reindeer

  Oh, I loved this novel! The author’s attention to historical and geographical detail is perfection; the characters are simply delightful-and throughout the novel there remains a tugging at the reader’s heartstrings, accompanied by a feeling of contentedness and joy. Yes, reading this story is like coming home again, or perhaps, coming home to a home one has never had but wished for. It matters not what is your preferred genre-get out and read this book!
  
  Olivia Ann Westerly is the kind of woman whom I’ve always admired in certain historical eras (Victoria Woodhull, Virginia Woolf, Rosa Luxemberg); a woman who knows her own mind, knows what she desires, and sometimes more importantly, what she refuses! No, I don’t mean a woman who thinks she has every bit as much right as a man to drop the double standard; I mean a woman who recognizes early on exactly what kind of life she wants. For Olivia Ann Westerly, that is the examined and unencumbered life: no husband, no children, a career, self-support. She can do it; and she will.
  
  But even a woman in her right mind can sometimes be edged out of it-and at the age of fifty-eight, a confirmed single lady, Olivia falls in love with a sixty-eight-year-old man named Charlie, friend of her first and only fiancé. When he proposes, she’s alarmed-but reassured that there is no possibility of children (he has one grandson he’s never encountered), Olivia breaks a lifelong promise to herself and marries him. More than just her former state of singleness is at stake-but reader, don’t wait for me to explain. Get out there and read this novel for yourself!
  
• 
  Patrice Hoffman

  I really enjoyed this heartwarming novel by Bette Lee Crosby. It's the story of a woman named Olivia Westerly who's put off marrying most of her life because she's afraid of it meaning the end of her dreams and aspirations. Unable to shake the image of her friends who have kids in tow she reluctantly marries late in life to a man named Charlie who dies during their honeymoon. Olivia and her superstitious nature blame it on the opal he's given her as a gift. Ethan Allen is the tough talking, intelligent, eleven-year old that will captivate readers from the beginning. Self-reliant from the age of three, he's faced with finding his grandfather after the horrible death of his parents.
  
  Although this novel is short, both Olivia and Ethan Allen come to life as only memorable characters can. The peripheral characters were so well utilized that their strengths and weaknesses shine through as well. This story of community, family, love, faith, hope, and fate will stay with me a long time. I'm so grateful for having been given the oppurtunity to read this book. I will always remember that the Good Lord slips spare change into my pocket to help me get by when time's aren't so good.
• 
  Brenda

  When Olivia was young she decided she didn’t want to be married, and definitely no children…she didn’t want to be tied down like some of her friends were. So she became an independent young woman, with a job she thoroughly enjoyed, and advanced in through the years. As she worked the night shift, she was aware of dangers, but her father told her early on that if she left home to pursue that madness, she was on her own!
  
  Travelling through life, she finally met Charlie Doyle when she was in her mid 50s. And her life changed forever as she grew to know and love Charlie as she never had anyone before. After their marriage and during their honeymoon, she was the happiest she had ever been. But her superstitions about the number 11, which had plagued her all her life, came back with a vengeance, and her marriage to Charlie was short-lived.
  
  Ethan Allen Doyle was only a child, with a violent father and a volatile mother. After witnessing something no child should ever have to witness, Ethan went on the run with the change in his pocket and his faithful companion, Dog. He was 11 years old. His aim was to find the grandpa he had never met, but who had sent him $1 every Christmas for as long as he could remember. His hope was that his grandpa would give him shelter and a home, now that he had neither.
  
  Suddenly Olivia, who was trying to adjust to being a widow, when only a short time ago she’d been trying to adjust to being married, was confronted by a boy who declared he was her grandson! Oh how things had changed in her life. Could she cope with all this change? Did she have any friends, or did they blame her? And what would Charlie think? The sudden and explosive dangers which seemed to arrive on her doorstep with Ethan had her reeling!
  
  I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and the characters were great. The suspense and grittiness added to my enjoyment, with a couple of twists I didn’t see coming! This is my second of Bette Lee Crosby’s work, and I’ll definitely read more…
  
• 
  Jane

  Where I got the book: free copy from the author.
  
  This is absolutely, categorically not the kind of book I usually read, and I completely enjoyed it. It tells the story of the journeys of two people, middle-aged Olivia and 11-year-old Ethan Allen (yep, named after the furniture store), toward each other through loss and tragedy. Both Olivia and Ethan share an almost desperate self-reliance that hides a deep need for other people, and their adjustment to each other is aided by the goodness and kindness of a nicely-drawn cast of minor characters.
  
  There's a deep Christian underpinning to this book and its message of hope and goodness. Take a look at this quote: "Making people think they can't scrape up enough to buy a dime's worth of happiness, is the Devil's doing; that's his way of handing out heartaches. The Good Lord don't do things that way--when he sees a person's flat out of hope and feeling dead broke, He slips a bit of spare change into the bottom of their pocket; not a lot maybe, but enough for them to get by."
  
  Does all this make the book sound like some goody-two-shoes moralistic tale? It isn't. The brutality of the characters' lives is portrayed without flinching and with plenty of swearing thrown in, which made me rejoice. It wouldn't be real any other way. There's so much dark humor (loaded mostly into the first half of the book) that I frequently found myself smiling.
  
  Bette Lee Crosby, if this book is anything to go by, is at her strongest when she's setting up a scene. For me, the weakest point of the book was the part with the most action (how unusual is that?) The descriptions of the characters' backgrounds were terrific, and the author's understanding of grief is deep and poignant.
  
  I detected a number of small editing errors, but not enough to spoil my enjoyment of a good read.
• 
  Celia

  This story has a formula: orphan child taken in by loving grandmother.
  
  The weaving of the story is unique. There are twists to the story regarding the deaths of the parents and the 'status' of the grandmother.
  
  At first, I thought this book might be too predictable. The 'twists', though, made this account worth the read.
  
  The characters:
  Ethan Allen Doyle - the 11 year old orphan named after the furniture store!!
  Olivia Doyle - the grandmother
  Benjamin Doyle - the father
  Susanna Doyle - the mother
  Scooter Cobb - Susanna's boss at the diner
  Jack Mahoney - good cop
  Sam Cobb - bad cop
  Various Neighbors of Olivia
  Dog!! (See him on the cover?)
  
  Two references to the title:
  
  "Susanna playfully tousled Ethan Allen’s hair and promised that if he’d keep such thoughts to himself, she’d make sure to have enough spare change for the movies."
  
  "When he sees a person’s flat out of hope and feeling dead broke, he slips a bit of spare change into the bottom of their pocket."
  
  4 stars
• 
  Rick

  A very sweet, nostalgic tale with some mostly lovable characters. It seemed almost like an episode of The Waltons, if the Waltons engaged in adultery and murder.
• 
  Michele at A Belle's Tales

  Full review originally posted at
  A Belle's Tales.
  
  What a heartwarming story! As a reader who reads mostly YA and NA genres, this story was a wonderful departure from my usual fare. I buddy-read this book with my mother over our Christmas holiday, and we both adored it! Regardless of your reading preferences, I believe this is a book that could be rated E for everyone! Ms. Crosby takes us on a journey that begins with our introduction to Olivia Westerly, an independent woman who is extremely superstitious and knows exactly what she wants out of life. And she certainly knows what she doesn’t want: a child. Just the thought of that particular burden is why she’s determined to remain single and focus on her career. And then along came Charlie. Charlie Doyle swept Olivia off her feet, surprising everyone that knew her but none as much as Olivia herself! Fortunately Charlie only had one son who was grown, and they weren’t close. Kids were not something Charlie was interested in, so Olivia knew she’d found her soulmate. But happy endings aren’t always what you think they are, and Olivia finds herself in a life that can’t possibly be her own.
  
  "It's said that only gypsies have the true gift of looking at a person and seeing their future, so I was happy as a red hen when she said a man named Doyle would be loving me for the whole of my life and then some."
  
  Enter Ethan Allen. Oh, how this boy will steal your heart. You’ll be torn between wanting to wash his mouth out with soap, laughing out loud at his antics, and mostly wanting to wrap him in the biggest hug possible. Ethan witnessed something no child should ever see. He has no idea what he’s going to do, but he knows he has to leave town before the terrifying Scooter Cobb realizes that Ethan saw what he did and decides to do the same thing to him. But at eleven years old with seven dollars and some change in his pocket and a mangy-looking dog as his only companion… what’s he to do? The one thing Ethan Allen knows best. He’s going to survive. And finding the grandpa he’s never met but who sends him a card every year on his birthday is his first step in making it out of his predicament alive. But Ethan Allen never counted on Olivia Westerly… and she most definitely never counted on him.
  
  "Blood's thicker than water, according to Mama, so I'm trusting this grandpa's gonna let me stay. I'll say I take after Daddy when he was a kid. That ought to make Grandpa feel good. If it turns out Daddy was a mean kid, then I'll say I'm more like Mama. If I can't get this grandpa to take some sort of liking to me, I'm really shit outta luck."
  
  I shed more than one tear in this amazing story, but I laughed and loved even more! I couldn’t put this book down until I knew how it all would come to an end. A thrilling adventure packed with emotion and more than one character to root for and fall for. With perfect pacing, charismatic writing, and one of my favorite epilogues of all time, the Wyattsville series is one I can’t wait to visit again!
  
  "She looked down at the boy and knew her ability to love was not dead. It simply needed a reason to live."
  
  I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
• 
  Dianne

  Some stories burrow into your heart, Spare Change by Bette Lee Crosby hit mine like a jack hammer, digging deeper and deeper until there was no way, I was putting this down until THE. VERY. LAST. WORD. Words like powerful, deep, intense, gut-wrenching, heart-warming are not enough to describe the experience I had living in the world Ms. Crosby has created.
  
  Two people, complete strangers, are brought together just when they both needed someone to save them from the worlds they had known.
  
  Olivia was a woman before her time. The 1920s were a time when a young lady would aspire to being a perfect wife, mother and homemaker, but Olivia wanted to be her own woman, and she was for decades. Who could know that when her knight in shining armor finally came for her, he would be nearing 70, and she would fall so hard or their time together would be so short?
  
  Young Ethan was the only child of a cold and brutal father. His mother never wanted him. Growing up as his own parent, he learned to be self-sufficient, with knowledge, pain and wisdom far beyond what ANY human should endure. When his mother wasn’t out living life in the fast lane, she would scheme and dream of leaving everything behind, taking Ethan and moving to New York with her lover. That dream was never to be and the nightmare of that night was witnessed by this little boy who was too terrified to talk. Ethan had only one relative, a grandfather he had never known, the dogged determination to find him and the will to survive.
  
  The bonds that Olivia and Ethan form run deep as they both rescue each other from empty lives in the future.
  
  Bette Lee Crosby has created a tale from her heart that has contemporary classic written all over it, from the first page to the last, as the reader is held captive through every brilliantly vivid scene. Her characters are more than make-believe, they breathe, I felt their plight and wanted to take their pain. There is magic in Bette Lee Crosby's words.
  
  I received this copy from Bette Lee Crosby in exchange for my honest review.
  
  Series: Wyattsville - Book 1
  Publication Date: November 11, 2013
  Publisher: Bent Pine Publishing
  Genre: Adult Fiction
  Print Length: 280 pages
  Available from:
  Amazon |
  Barnes & Noble
  Reviewed for:
  http://tometender.blogspot.com
  
  
  
• 
  Dale Harcombe

  Three and a half stars.
  In the 1920s it was usual for young women to marry, but Olivia Westerly decides it was not for her. She doesn’t want to be married and have kids ‘hanging off her’. She wants a career. Her choice is made. Until Charlie Doyle comes along, when she is 58 and turns her life upside down. Life with Charlie is wonderful. But is lasts too short a time.
  Elsewhere Charlie’s grandson, Ethan Allen Doyle is caught between parents with differing ideas. There is his volatile mother Susanna, who wants nothing more than to leave her current life and get to New York, where she is certain she can have a singing career but her husband Benjamin always finds ways to stop her from going. So she turns elsewhere for help. But that only leads to disaster. Ethan Allen is left to fend for himself and keeping a terrible secret that endangers his life. Along with Dog, his faithful companion he heads for the road and a grandfather he knows only from cards and the dollar bills he enclosed. But that is not what he finds.
  I am a huge Bette Lee Crosby fan and was eagerly looking forward to reading this, another Christmas gift. Whether it was because I wasn’t feeling well, or it followed too closely on the tail of Silver Threads the fifth in the Memory House Series, but it took me longer than anticipated to get sucked into this story. I did get there and I enjoyed it and became involved with the characters. Just not as much as Bette’s Memory House books. It is filled with warm hearted characters, which included many of those in Olivia’s apartment block. Of course there are also those who are just plain evil.
  There is more language in this book than Bette’s other books but that was reflective of the characters and rough upbringing. There were moments of smiles, tears and tension. The ending is suspenseful and had me turning the pages faster. I did enjoy this one and found the characters interesting. It just wasn’t an absolute favourite book for me. This is the first Bette Lee Crosby book I have given less than five stars to. I think I will leave it a little while before I read the next in this series.
• 
  DAISY READS HORROR

  **WARNING SLIGHT SPOILERS**
  
  It’s not every book that I read that can make me feel so passionately about the characters. Spare Change, however brought so many feelings and emotions out of me. I disliked Scooter with a passion and wanted to slap him more than a few times! My heart went out to Ethan so many times throughout the book. I just wanted to hug him. When Olivia goes through so much pain after shortly being married it made me really analyze this part of life. I never really thought about how hard it would be to have to empty your closet of a loved one’s belongings after they are gone & the great pain that it comes with. That part of the story made me cry. I also cried at the end of the story. This book is one that you really should have the tissue handy for.
  
  Reading this story took me to a time and place of romance when reading the relationship between Olivia & Charlie. I got the butterflies it was so sweet. I cried when she loses Charlie & my heart went out to her when she goes back to a town that at first seems to turn their back on her. There was suspense in the story between the characters’ actions. The crime that Scooter commits and how it greatly affects little Ethan. I had some resentment towards Susana because of how she was at first but I felt bad when I read what her future was to be. I truly loved the Southern feel of the book and the time setting it was just so beautifully written. I also enjoyed the different points of views of the characters. It made me understand them more and see where they were coming from based on their thoughts.
  
  Bette Crosby has created an elegantly written engaging novel here. It will pull on your heartstrings and leave you with a bittersweet feeling. I seriously HIGHLY recommend this book to everyone. I found a new author that I will be reading more on!
  
  *Thank you Ms. Crosby for giving me the opportunity to read your book. I am so glad that I did!
  
• 
  ☕️Kimberly (Caffeinated Reviewer)

  Every once in a while you read a book with characters that touch you. It’s the kind of book you want to share with others. Spare Change is that type of book. It’s the story of a woman who fears marriage and children at a time when all women long to walk down the aisle. It is a beautiful, heartwarming tale about love, loss and unexpected gifts. It deals with a violent murder, a witness and those who wish to keep it a secret. Above all, this novel offers characters you won't soon forget.
  
  Told from multiple points of view, this tale seeped from the pages and wrapped itself around my heart. I loved Crosby’s writing style. She took me into the mind of each character and with the character of Ethan Allen; she touched my heart. I am the mother of three and I had this overwhelming desire to scoop him up and hold him. Olivia cracked me up with her fears and superstitions and touched me with her bravery. Ethan Allen's mother is a memorable character who will shock you with her antics. The folks within the apartment community were delightful and I loved the way they protected Ethan Allen. While Spare Change, could have been delivered in a dark tragic tone; Crosby focuses’ on the strength of humankind and the power of faith and love.
  
  I highly recommend Spare Change to everyone. I read this novel in a few hours, but it will stay with me a lifetime. In my opinion this novel could find itself on the classics bookshelf. This would make an excellent book of the month, as it is sure to create discussion and evoke emotions. I am adding Betty Lee Crosby to my list of must read authors. This novel is available in paper and eBook formats.
  
  
  I want to thank the author for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.
  
• 
  Lynne Spreen

  I'm constantly looking for stories about older women evolving, so Spare Change filled that need. A couple of things I found noteworthy: the characters were multi-dimensional, the book was well-paced, the dramatic tension pulled me in and kept me hungry to learn more. I found the main characters to be people I could root for (or hate, as the case may be), and the ending was satisfying (except the very last chapter was maybe more than we needed. The second to last was satisfying enough. But I'm kind of a minimalist so that probably reflects my tendency more than anything!)
  
  I think my favorite part was when Olivia was returning from her honeymoon and while on the road, an old woman nurtured her back to health, at least enough to get home. I liked the old woman - the whole idea of people looking out for each other is a big deal for me. I enjoyed the camaraderie of the house where Charlie had lived, and how Olivia finally emerged from her ordeal (trying to avoid spoilers here) with the help of a concerned neighbor, who spread the word to the rest of the residents. I also liked how the little boy, Ethan Allen, turned back into a kid after such a rough beginning and how Olivia blossomed into a mama bear. There was a lot here to feed your heart, and Bette Lee Crosby does a good job of meting it out with just the right amount of suspense and tension.
  
  Spare Change had plenty to recommend it and I enjoyed every page.
• 
  Lauralee

  This book was a wonderful treasure and I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end.
  
  The story of a young boy who witnessed the death of his parents was tragic, yet heartwarming. I was sad when I finished this book, not because of the ending but because I wanted to continue on. Bette Lee had a way of describing all of the characters in this book so well. I felt I knew them. I wanted to wrap my arms around this young boy who found himself so alone and frightened. I admired Olivia's strength, determination and her all of her "odd" ways.
  
  Spare Change would make an amazing movie in my opinion!
  
  I look forward to reading more books by Bette Lee Crosby.
• 
  Jillian Dodd

  Wow. I just finished this book last night and immediately called my mom and said, "You have to read this." You know some of the stupid books they forced you to read in school? To me, this is the kind of book that they should have let us read. It's a complete classic, but is interesting, heart warming, and amazing. It's the kind of book that reminds you why you read. Because you want to fall in love with characters. Characters who think they are one way, but through a series of events learn that they can be so much more than they ever thought.
• 
  Christine Nolfi

  If you’re looking for a story about the best in human nature, Spare Change won’t disappoint. Crosby provides a masterful characterization of Olivia Westerly’s journey to motherhood long past an age when most woman would consider taking in a child, and the depiction of eleven-year-old Ethan Allen is sure to steal the reader’s heart. These are characters you won’t soon forget. Highly recommended for readers of contemporary fiction.
• 
  Cindy

  What a great read this was! Seeing the sad looking little boy on the cover had me thinking that this book is going to be a tear jerker. But just like real life, there were happy and sad moments. I grew very attached to the characters and was happy that things worked out the way that they did. I was worried for awhile but this was a very touching story!
• 
  Linda (Miss Greedybooks)

  I just received a copy from the author - thank you!!
  
  It looks like I will be enjoying this book soon!