Bittersweet

True North: Small Town Romance, Book 1

By: Sarina Bowen

Narrated by: Tad Branson, Saskia Maarleveld

Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Fall in love with Vermont in this USA Today best-selling series.

The last person Griffin Shipley expects to find stuck in a ditch on his Vermont country road is his ex-hookup. Five years ago, they’d shared a couple of steamy nights together. But that was a lifetime ago.

At 27, Griff is now the accidental patriarch of his family farm. Even his enormous shoulders feel the strain of supporting his mother, three siblings, and a dotty grandfather. He doesn’t have time for the sorority girl who’s shown up expecting to buy his harvest at half price.

Vermont was never in Audrey Kidder’s travel plans. Neither was Griff Shipley. But she needs a second chance with the restaurant conglomerate employing her. Okay—a fifth chance. And no self-righteous lumbersexual farmer will stand in her way.

They’re adversaries. They want entirely different things from life. Too bad their sexual chemistry is as hot as Audrey’s top secret enchilada sauce, and then some.

Warning: This stand-alone novel contains growly alpha farmers, gourmet yumminess, a steamy outdoor shower, and proof that farmers don't mind getting dirty.

©2016 Sarina Bowen (P)2017 Tuxbury Publishing, LLC

Critic reviews

"Fantastic." (USA Today)

"Smart, funny and super sexy, Bittersweet is full of the kind of writing that makes Sarina Bowen one of my favorite author crushes." (Author Sarah Mayberry)

Sweet and Sexy!

I love this book. I have to give some context, I came to it after being completely irritated by the book I had just finished. Everything about it was wrong, to the point I was angry at end, both at myself for not being able to stop a book in the middle, and the author for writing characters that whine constantly and make every single bad decision. Ever.

My point is, I was extremely cranky when I started Bittersweet. I even felt sorry for it, any book following one I despise is a harder sell, for me.

This book is PERFECT. I have zero crankiness, and warm feels all over the place. I love the characters, setting, narrators, every single thing about this book. All of the chef-y and farm aspects hit my sweet spot, and the Star Wars references put it over the top. This is my first experience with Sarina Bowen, and I am a fan for life!

Loved it!

What a great book. I especially loved the humor throughout. I found myself chuckling or grinning at some parts of the story.. I'm excited to continue through the series. Definitely recommend this book!

Obviously not from New England

Decent story but as someone who lives near Vermont I had to laugh at the narrator's pronunciation of Montpelier and a few other things 😂

What a fantastic story

I loved it !! The story and the narrator were fantastic and I’m thrilled to start this series

Lovely

This story keeps your interest and leaves you wanting more or a second part. I can’t wait to listen to book 2!!

This book has everything

Sweet story and passionate romance with the great backdrop of apple farm life in Vermont.

Made my toes curl

It’s a good old fashioned love story with only a minor upset. I liked that there was mot too much drama and the characters were adult enough to deal with their feelings. Good listen

Funny & Hot

The best way I can describe this book is "Hallmark Story with Sauce". I was a great listen and made me laugh. I really enjoyed it. On to book 2.

great

great book. keeps you laughing crying and loving all the characters. highly recommend it

Hot Farmer+Strong Heroine+Scenery=Perfection!

Sarina Bowen's writing is always amazing and HIM (written with Elle Kennedy) is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE audiobooks. I've also listened to quite a few from the Ivy Years series and they were great as well, but I really LOVED Bittersweet. It's the story of one hot farmer, Griff, struggling to keep his organic family farm in the black. Then Audrey literally drops back into his life (after a past hookup in college) and the struggle is on. They're both determined to stay on their paths and avoid romantic involvement so that they keep their careers on track but you can't fight fate.

The chemistry is super hot and you'll want to go buy organic veggies in hopes of find your own Griff to tame: big ,hot, bearded, grumpy, and a dedicated family man with strong ideals. Audrey is no shrinking violet (which I always love) and struggles with a complicated relationship with her mother and lousy self-esteem while trying to make her dreams of becoming a chef reality.

The other characters though, are what really makes this book incredible: The Shipley family and the state of Vermont. Sarina Bowen makes them integral characters in the book and I always adore a story that makes you fall in love with the setting. This one does that in spades. The Shipley family is one I'm definitely dying to hear more from in the future.

This is my first audio narrated by Tad Branson and he was great. I've listened to others by Saskia Maarleveld and she is always perfect. She also does a man's voice super well, which is tricky and takes skill. All that being said - BUY THIS AUDIO, and then go buy some organic apples and pay what they're worth LOL! <3