Bittersweet

By: Danielle Steel

Narrated by: Rob Webb

Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

In Bittersweet, Danielle Steel has written a novel for our times, a story of choices and new beginnings.

India Taylor lived in a world of manicured lawns and neatly maintained calendars: a merry-go-round of Little League, piano lessons, and Cape Cod summer vacations. With four wonderful children, India believed in commitment and sacrifice, just as she believed in Doug, the man she married 17 years before. For India, this was the promise she made, the life she had chosen - not the award-winning career as a photojournalist she once had. It was a choice she had never truly regretted. Until she begins to regret it with all her heart.

India couldn't pinpoint the exact moment. Perhaps it was the last time her agent called, begging her to take an assignment Doug insisted she turn down. Or perhaps it was when Doug told her he thought of her as a companion and someone to take care of their kids, and not much more. At that moment, the price of the sacrifices she'd made began to seem high.

And then, she met Paul Ward. A Wall Street tycoon married to a bestselling author, Paul lived life on his own terms, traveling the world on his own yacht. India hadn't planned to become Paul's friend. Anything more was unthinkable. Yet talking to Paul was so easy. India could share her dreams with him, and offer comfort when Paul suffers a heartbreak of his own. And while Paul urges India to reclaim her career, Doug is adamantly against it, determined to keep her tied to the home. But with Paul's encouragement, India slowly, painfully, begins to break free, and find herself again.

Rediscovering her creativity and her courage, India uses Paul like a beacon on the horizon, sharing intimate phone conversations with a man half a world away, a man who never stops reminding her of all that is possible for her. India is changing, and nothing in her life will ever be the same again. Not her marriage. Not her friendship with Paul. And when India is presented with an irresistible opportunity, she makes a heart-wrenching decision, leaving a safe, familiar place-and the people she loves there-to move into the terror of the unknown.

Bittersweet is her story, a story of freedom, of having dreams and making choices to find them. With unerring insight, Danielle Steel has created a moving portrait of a woman who dares to embark on a new adventure and the man who helps her get there. Her painful, exhilarating journey inspires us all.

©1999 Danielle Steel (P)2000 Random House Audio

Love Danielle Steele's stories.. She is amazing

Love Danielle Steele's stories.. She is an amazing amazing author . I never tire of her books. thank you

I didn’t want it to end

I so love Danielle Steel novels, but this one grabbed my heart and held on. I was so happy when India finally stood up to Doug, and started to live her work life, albeit in a very small way. Then found Paul and began as a friend but realized her true feelings and what she thought he felt too. He told her he did, but was living in the past. He finally woke up and wanted to live in the here and now and made the decision he should have made MONTHS before. What a confirming story of a true love blossoming and finally being fulfilled.

I loved this one!

I loved this book. It was romantic, sensible, enjoyable and at times funny. It is a perfect summer read.

Good twist and turns!

I didn't know how it would end until it ended. A few unrealistic parts and I wish the overall time frame of events were over a longer period of time. That would have made it more realistic to me. But rarely am I disappointed in a DS novel.

Title Says It All

I love stories about women of substance. India was strong and loved her family. Danielle Steel has a way of weaving a story that’s interesting and full of intrigue. I thoroughly enjoyed it to the very end.

Bittersweet

Who doesn’t love a Danielle Steele fairytale book with all of the glamorous and beautiful women and strikingly handsome, rich men? This book is a nice take-me-away from the realities of hard life. The ending where India and Paul come together is a little short for my liking, but it does get your imagine going on how their life is going to be from now on. I recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a love story and hasn’t had a true deep love experience in their lives.

Good story and excellent narrator!!

Danielle Steel provides a great story supported by perfect narration from Rob Webb of a woman who is a devoted mother and supportive wife. India Taylor left a rewarding and socially important career as a prize winning photographer to provide a loving home for her husband and their four children, but is beginning to feel more like a companion, maid, chauffeur, and cook - rather than a treasured wife. When she tells her husband Doug that her agent is urging her to return to photography on a parttime basis, he shuts her down and tells her that he is completely against it. During an annual trip to Cape Cod with her children, India meets and befriends an inernationally famous couple who dramatically change the trajectory of India's life. Even though there are a few scenes that date the timeline (references to phone booths and no cell phones), the premise of the story is timeless and very enjoyable.

Enjoyed this book quite a lot!

I liked Ms. Steele's character development, although the heroine was a bit pathetic and annoying at times. She was still fairly likeable. Pace of story was appropriate and only occasionally lagged. I LOVED the ending!

Loved the story line

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Danielle Steel has not let me down yet! I’m an over 34 years fan! But, I’d like it if it was read by a female. That’s my only issue.

Bittersweet

Very enjoyable story, I couldn't stop listening. Dreamy and romantic in interesting settings.
Wish it was longer.