3.5 stars

A Bittersweet Garden was a pleasant read and a sweet story. I'd read more from this author when I wanted something light that I didn't need to put any thought into. However, I do think Werlinger should have put in a little more research. Nora - a librarian - wouldn't be carrying around gloves used to examine archival materials on her vacation. Seriously. (Our archivist laughed when I told him that one.)

Nora travels to a small town in Ireland where her grandparents grew up to get in touch with her roots. Odd things start happening in the cottage she rents, and her dreams are full of turmoil. But during the day she's surrounded by friendly townspeople and the enchanting Briana who fills her life and her heart. Will the ghostly presence in the cottage move out of the darkness of the night and threaten their very lives and their future?

I loved Briana, I thought her character was so strong. The setting itself was almost a character in itself - both the small town and the cottage Nora was renting. Gosh there were some downright spooky moments that kept you on the edge of your seat. I loved the balance in Werlinger's writing between the romance and the mystery and the two women's individual journey's that ultimately bring them closer together.

I am always wowed by Werlinger's works - the richness and the depth and the all encompassing stories she creates are something very special.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I think I found I liked this one least of the Caren Werlinger books that I have read. That's not to say that I'll stop reading her, it's just that there was something about this book that lacked any intensity. Oh yeah, it was a ghost story, and it was set in Ireland--which I was whole heartedly prepared to love, given my love affair with that country--but I dunno, the writing in this book fell flat to me.

Nora is on a trip to Ireland to meet parts of the family that never ended up moving to America. She's recently ended a relationship with someone back home and honestly couldn't wait to get out of there. Her coming to Ireland was beautiful and picturesque and everything that she wanted it to be. Which was good, cause one really got the sense that she deserved it, even in those opening pages.

Briana is a bit of a rough nut. She's never been in a relationship before--preferring horses over people by and large--and I think that this is where the story fell down for me. I didn't much get her as a character. She was rude to Nora on first meetings, one of our first instances of her preferring animals to people, but then kinda calmly seems to accept Nora into her life when it turns out that she's related to people who she works with.

And none of this covers the ghost story in the house where Nora is renting for the summer. Easily the most dynamic part of the novel, this tells of a story that happened during the potato famine but was never resolved and has ghosts in Nora's family line still lingering. These ghosts infect her dreams, as well as eventually her waking hours, until the mystery of what happened in the past is solved.

It's not a terrible book, but I wouldn't recommend it as an example of the best writing this author is able to produce.

A Bittersweet Garden is a wonderful novel that is well written and has great characters. I loved this book and hope to read more from this author. Fabulous book.

Nora a college librarian has had dreams of visiting Ireland to try to reconnect with family members there and see where her grandparents were from. She broke off ties to her weekend girlfriend when’s said girlfriend told her she was in another relationship with another woman. So this seem like the time that Nora could take off from work and travel to Ireland to complete her life‘s dream. One of the first people she meets there is Briana who works with and is very good with animals. Briana is a quiet and unassuming woman who does not relate well to people and has never had a steady girlfriend. These two somewhat odd women develop a very beautiful friendship . One of the things that’s beautiful about this book is the development of the main characters and also the set of secondary characters. This book is so beautifully written you fall in love with the country but more important the characters in the small village just grab your heart.

People are concerned that Nora is staying in the cottage that has a history of having ghost. As time moves on these ghost appear to Nora and she becomes embroiled in a mystery that is somehow connected to her family and is very dangerous. This book has so many unexpected twist and turns it was hard to put down once I started to read. Between the changing story line plots and the beautiful environmental descriptions you could see why people are pulled toward Ireland and its beauty and history.

I highly recommend this book not only because it’s so well written but because it’s different in so many ways from other lesfic romances. Caren Werlinger is the phenomenal writer and well this is the first book of hers I’ve read I will be sure to look for other books of hers.

Caren J. Werlinger takes us on a journey to the magical Emerald Isle. It’s a full sensory experience as the author vividly describes landscape, weather, nature and animals and it makes Ireland an extra and enchanting character in the book.

The romance is one of the slow burn variety. Like in When the Stars Sang there is an ex girlfriend (usually operating in the back ground) who is mentally abusive and/or controlling in such a way the protagonist has to break free from it. Nora feels she can breathe for the first time when she arrives in Cong, the home of her ancestors. She comes alive in Ireland to then almost die there (wait… what?! Made you curious didn’t I?) ;-)

Briana is the wee ginger horse whisperer that Nora feels a growing attraction to. Now don’t expect a big sweeping romance with loins put aflame, Werlinger don’t play that. Hers are of the more subdued kind but still nicely bobbing along through the story. Don’t expect buckets of angst.

A Bittersweet Garden has a big supernatural component. There are flashbacks to tie a 200-year old family tragedy to the rented (haunted) cottage where Nora is staying. There is a mysterious old woman living in the woods who has an ambiguous role up until the end. Is she good or is she bad news for Nora? Nora has some serious inner demons to slay before we get an answer to that.

There is a lively cast of horses and dogs and an extensive family of the American-Irish and Irish-Irish kind to familiarize yourself with. As per the usual with Caren Werlinger’s work, I highly recommend.

f/f fade to black

Themes: Ireland, unloved, ancestors, family, what’s with all the bread? They can’t visit without bringing a bread along, beware of gluten ;-) , horses, a witch in the woods, nightmares, genealogy, you gotta love all these impossible to pronounce Irish names.

5 stars

* A free copy was provided by Netgalley and Corgyn Publishing LLC for an honest review.

She frowned. “You don't believe the stories about the cottage being haunted, do you?”
He just shrugged. “We're Irish. We believe all kinds of things.”

Many things called me to this book: the sapphic romance; the Ireland setting, the haunted cottage; the good dog promised in the summary. And let me tell you something. I was not disappointed at all.

I don't know what to say except for the fact that I love everything about this story? I love Nora and Briana, our two main characters, I love their slow-burn romance that I would kill for, I love Briana's dog, Shannon, such a good doggo, I love all the descriptions of Ireland, if you don't feel like you're there when reading this book you're clearly not reading it right, I love Nora's relationship with Sheila, her cousin she meets for the first time when she decided to spend the summer in Ireland, I love the mystery behind the cottage and its ghost, how it wasn't an evil ghost wanting revenge and all, I love the many horses and all the animals love in this book. I love how happy I felt when reading the ending, this is the kind of feel-good I LOVE to read.

A sapphic romance set in Ireland between an American and Irish girl? Yes, please! 

Numbly, Nora nodded. “You know those movies or books where someone misses a train and some alternate reality plays out, where their life goes in a whole different direction? I think I’m experiencing one of those moments.”


Nora didn’t know what to say. “I’m just a librarian.” 
Mary Fran smiled. “My kids think librarians are superheroes.”


I very much enjoyed A Bittersweet Garden. I'm not a fan of the book cover but after reading the actual book it sort of fits. I expected going into Bittersweet that we were going to get a RomCom and while there are pieced of one, this book is somuch more. There's a little history, a little mystery, a little paranormal, and a lot of culture. I would absolutely love to see A Bittersweet Garden made into a feature film. 📚💕🎬 

“You don’t believe the stories about the cottage being haunted, do you?” 
He just shrugged. “We’re Irish. We believe all kinds of things.”


I recommend The Bittersweet Garden to fans of Maureen Johnson.

***Gratitude to Netgalley and Corgyn Publishing for a review copy. All opinions are my own. Quotes are subject to change. ***

There are many good writers in this genre, but few consistently write stories of substance. Caren Werlinger is one such author.

Her latest novel, The Bittersweet Garden, took place in the beautiful country of Ireland. But long ago, that beauty felt the darkness of a famine so severe it inhabitants struggled to survive, many died, while others were lost, both figuratively and literally. It was this latter paranormal and magical darkness, combined with a heart warming romance, that made this story so intriguing and engaging.

The characters, both in the present and past, were all too familiar with heartbreak, some more devastating than others. In order to move pass the heartbreak, and the need to move forward, closure was necessary…for both the living and the dead.

Once again, Caren Werlinger has managed to capture the essence of storytelling to create a very enthralling read. So if you enjoy a story of substance, read this book. If you want to continue to read other well written stories of substance, check out her other books.
Needless to say, this novel is very highly recommended!

I ARC received via NetGalley and in exchange for an honest review.

Nora is a librarian and she decide to spend her summer in Ireland after hearing so much about it from her grandparents.

When she arrives she rent a cottage that known to be haunted instead of scaring her off she decide to stay. As she get to know her cousin Shelia and her husband Quinn she starts to see what people are saying about the cottage when she start seeing a ghostly figure.

While she exploring she get startled by a dog and fell and this is where she meets Brianna who is,a horse trainer at first they get off the wrong foot but as they spent time together a slow romance develop between them. I like the romance even though the sex scenes was fade to black which I admit I didn't like but didn't make the romance any less.

As she investigate what happening at the cottage she starts to have dreams about a child name Rowan when she realize the figure she seeing is the mother who keep calling Rowan and this is when Nora and company decide talk to a woman name Eve who knows what happening but then we found out she knows more then what she saying. I won't tell you the ending but it's all connected and I have to say this,was a great read I really enjoy it just like I enjoy her other books.

4.25 Stars. This was another good book by Werlinger. It seems like every time I read a new Werlinger book, I have lower expectations than I should. She is a damn good writer and I don’t know why I keep forgetting that. I need to read more of her back catalog. She is too good of a writer to only remember her when a new book comes out. Anyway, this was a good, sweet lesfic romance with a paranormal twist.

The story is about Nora, who is spending a long summer vacation in Ireland. She is renting a cottage in a small town that her relatives are from. Nora quickly falls in love with Ireland and its people. She also can’t help but have an attraction to a horse trainer Briana that works for her cousins. While exploring Ireland and a friendship with Briana, Nora realizes there is more to her rental cottage than meets the eye. The cottage it haunted and it seems like the ghost might have a message for her.

I really enjoyed this read. I was hooked after the first few pages and only put the book down because it was late am and sleep could no longer wait. This book actually reminded me a little of When the Stars Sang, which I also really enjoyed. Of course it is quite different because of the paranormal twist, but I think fans of that book will enjoy this one too.

The romance is very sweet. If I remember correctly the sex scenes are all fade to black. That is not my first choice, but the mains had a strong enough connection that I didn’t miss reading that extra intimacy.

Besides the mains, the secondary characters really added to the story. Werlinger is good at making you feel, as a reader, that you really are in a small Irish town. There was also a little mystery and suspense with the paranormal angle so this book had plenty to keep me entertained.

If you are a Werlinger fan or a paranormal-romance fan, I recommend this. I actually don’t think you have to be a big paranormal fan to still enjoy this. The book is so well written that the paranormal part doesn’t seem so unbelievable after all.