Bitter and Sweet is a treasure. Oh, how masterfully Rhonda McKnight is in writing family drama. This is the second book I’ve read from her and I loved it. I laughed, I cried. My heart went out to the suffering of the generations of this family. These strong women helped support one another through those heartbreaks in this split-time novel. It was full of Southern traditions, faith and love. Oh, and the food. Let’s not forget the food. It will make you hungry ;)

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions expressed are completely my own.

Grandma Cooper has called her granddaughters, Mariah and Sabrina home to Georgetown SC to get the family restaurant, Tabitha’s, remodeled and up and running again.
Sisters, Mariah and Sabrina have never liked each other and the thought of working together is unthinkable.
Tying the dual time lines of the multigenerational women together are letters written by their great-great grandmother, Tabitha, the original owner of Tabitha’s Restaurant. As the sisters begin to finally work together, even with their own problems and not unlike their great-great grandmother, bitter were their struggles but sweet was their success, resilience and respect for each other and themselves.
Thank you Netgalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for an early copy of this empowering family drama with struggles, successes and finally forgiveness. This review is my honest opinion.

*****3.5*****
I really enjoyed this book. It's about two sisters and their great-great-grandmother and how the stories connect and reflect each other. Mariah and Sabrina have their own alternating first-person perspectives, and Tabitha, the great-great-grandmother has a perspective, too, but it's third-person. The book takes place in South Carolina in modern day for the sisters and in the early 1900s for Tabitha. Each story builds slowly, giving context and details, before getting into the hearts of the individual conflicts and the connected conflicts (when it comes to the sisters).
The setting is rich with the detail, and the plot and characters are well-developed. For me, though, the beginning of each plot line is much stronger than the ending. I really appreciated the resolutions of conflict and felt emotional about certain moments, especially one in particular, but I also felt that many threads wrapped up very quickly for the extent of the conflict that had built up and that some resolutions weren't realistic, likely because they did wrap up so quickly. I also didn't care for one of the characters much even though I was supposed to like him, and this took away a bit from my appreciation of some of the resolutions. I do like that McKnight doesn't shy away from talking about the need for God and for therapy and portrays mental health in a very detailed way.
I recommend this book to people who like stories about sisters and family, to people interested in the resolve and strength of Black women, especially during Jim Crow, to readers who enjoy Southern literature, and to people who like light romance with the focus more on character development and personal conflict than on romantic tropes.
Overall, I liked this book and am grateful to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an e-copy for review!

This was my first experience with this author and I enjoyed her work very much. I was engaged from the beginning, liked the characters, and the plot. The transitions between characters and eras was smooth and intriguing. I liked them all (except the bad guy).

Thank you #Netgalley for providing a copy of this lovely story. I really enjoyed the dual storyline and found it to be a page-turning tale I hated to put down. I recommend this book and will not divulge too much as I hate reviews that spoil the story for others, just grab a copy and dive in. #Bitterandsweet excellent read!

If you enjoy dual timeline fiction that revolves around family drama and strained relationships but highlights healing from emotional pain, you'll love this one. The author does a great job leading the reader through each characters' struggles and bringing a satisfying conclusion.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Bitter and Sweet
by Rhonda McKnight
Pub Date: June 11, 2024
Thanks to the author, publi isher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
From the beloved author of The Thing About Home comes a dual timeline tale of family, grief, secrets, and the sweet redemption that lies within the bonds of sisterhood.
With the lessons in their family's past guiding them, both sisters have a chance at a different life--if they can find a way to bridge the gap that tragedy and unhealed trauma forced between them. Told in a dual timeline that alternates between the 1920s and present-day Charleston, SC, Bitter and Sweet is an emotional story about love, one family's perseverance, and the bonds of family and heritage.
What a great read! This is a story of family. A story of Gullah culture. A story of forgiveness. A story of love. I recommend this story if you love a family drama/saga or a multigenerational story.

When I saw this as read now I had to download right away because I loved this author book The Thing about Home. This book was well written. This book includes - sibling conflict, broken marriages, and family crisis. The emotions I felt while reading made this book an easy five star read. I truly didn’t want this book to end.

Once again Rhonda McKnight give us a beautiful story of family, legacy, history, and connection.

Watching Mariah and Sabrina was heartbreaking. We learned about their grief over relationships lost in more ways than one, but watching Mariah struggle with so much anger and how most of it was geared toward Sabrina was gut wrenching. Having a sister myself I can attest to how sometimes, you have to set aside fights from your past to move on and keep your relationship in the future. Watching Mariah go to therapy and fight for her sister in the story was beyond beautiful!

As with past Rhonda McKnight books, we also get the story of a relative, Tabitha, as she built the restaurant that Mariah and Sabrina are hoping to reopen. I spent so much of my time reading Tabitha story saying "no girl, don't do it" she had me stressed :)

As with The Thing About Home. I LOVED this book and can't wait to read more.

This dual time line book by Rhonda McKnight is a wonderful book about family and how the mistakes we make can be forgiven and we can move on from the past. This dual time line book that alternates between the great-grandma in the 1910's-1925 and present day great grand daughters Maria and Sabrina was wonderfully written. The author talks about Gullah, a southern culture and cuisine found in South Carolina which was new to me and sounds wonderful to try.

There was information on historical struggles of African Americans in the early part of the 20th century which were written about to highlight strengths and weaknesses of human nature. The present day struggles of Mariah and Sabrina were also things that many of us go through - divorce and financial struggles where we see the characters experience growth through working through these things. The author portrays these difficult subjects in a real and caring way. Their grandma does a great job of being an encouragement to both women in the present day timeline.

There is some light romance in the book, but the biggest part of the book is the story of the women of this novel. This is a truly well written women's fiction book. After reading this one, I definitely want to check out other books written by this author. Despite the difficult subjects, the book to me is clean fiction, though geared towards a late high school to adult audience.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson Fiction and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

This story reads like a movie. Dual time lines, past and present. What I enjoyed most was the nuances of the characters. There are a lot of people to keep up with in this family drama that spans generations but you get to know each one and how different they all are but have similar life experiences. Two sisters learn their family history and meet their great-grandmother through her letters that their own grandmother had been saving for them. Sometime you aren’t ready to learn a lesson or the timing of information will not be beneficial for you and their grandmother held on to those letters until they were needed.
This family had so many secrets. The past held dangerous but not surprising secrets. The present held secrets that were simply rooted in shame. This story is told so that you learn history of the family before you learn the families secrets. You see in both the past and present how and why those lies and webs began to unravel. This story is well written and the characters are people you know, some of your family, present and long lost. This is a story of family. A story of Gullah culture. A story of forgiveness. A story of love. I recommend this story if you love a family drama/saga or a multigenerational story.

It's a novel about three strong women who with their determination and faith overcome big problems. The time switch between the sisters now and their great-grandmother generations before, the parallels are really interesting and more so because I learned something about Gullah culture.

What a wonderful story.

# Southernfiction

This story is written on a dual timeline.
One of my favorites. The story goes back In time . For me this was a perfect story.

This is a book that takes you away to another time in another place. Just a Fabulous story.

In the future, we have 2 sisters. Not close, but maybe one day. There's so much about this story. That's just phenomenal, Learning too, get along and be a family. So much loss from the past. A book full of history.

I just absolutely loved this book.
The author has an amazing style of writing.

What I loved about this story everything.

Wow! First it was The Thing About Home. Now it’s Bittersweet. I absolutely loved everything about this book. Sabrina & Mariah sister fighting to re open a restaurant that’s been the name sake for 87 years. While grandma is fighting for the love of her life. This is a heartwarming read. Not much drama but more about family sticking together. From broken marriage , sister feud , family crisis i give it 5 stars and will pre-order the hard copy!
Thank You NetGalley for the ARC I just reviewed Bitter and Sweet by Rhonda McKnight. #BitterandSweet #NetGalley

What a great read to get lost in. Told in dual time, the early 1900's to the present, through a gift of letters.

There is a lot of family dynamics here, and more and more come to light as you continue through this book.

There is a lot information about the Gullah people, I never knew this, and we work with the food from this region, and I loved how this all blends into this story!

There are a lot of family dynamics here, strong women, and you really need to read all the way to the end for it all to blend together. Be ready for strong emotions and a feeling that you want to fight for justice!

I will be look for more from this author!

I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Thomas Nelson, and was not required to give a positive review.

WOW. What a GREAT book! I could not put it down and I felt connected instantly. My patrons will definitely love this one!

Rhonda McKnight's "Bitter and Sweet" is a captivating dual-timeline story filled with woe and delight. Through the lives of Mariah, Sabrina, and their great-great-grandmother, McKnight beautifully explores the complexities of family and the power of resilience. Readers will be drawn into the journey of these sisters as they discover their own strength and resilience. A must-read that will leave you feeling both moved and inspired.

A very enjoyable dual timeline story about a grandmother and her love for her granddaughters who have a very rocky relationship. As they read letters from the past, they begin to accept their differences and learn to love each other. I recommend this book!

Bitter and Sweet is the tale of two sisters, whose lives are derailed in different ways. Mariah and Sabrina haven’t always gotten along, but they must work together to save their grandparents’ restaurant.

Sabrina stole my heart from the get-go because of her difficult situation, plus the relationship with her adorable daughter, Kenni. Also, she’s super creative.

Mariah is the perfect example of individuals who allow circumstances, people, and relationships to make them so bitter, no one can live with them. Her meanness made me dislike her until way later, when she realized who she’d become.

The story kept me engaged and I rooted for both women to find their happy place and move from where life flung them off-course. Their grandmother was smart to bring them together and have them collaborate on a meaningful project, which helped to repair their relationship.

My favorite character was Tabitha, their great-great grandparent (if I remember correctly). She’s a picture of true resilience. After being tricked and ending up in a bad situation, she did everything to not only survive, but eventually thrive.

The novel was nicely flavored with the food and customs of the Gullah-Geechee people and provided an interesting look at the culture. Some of the language reminded me of Jamaican Patois, so of course I sounded out the speech while reading. 😊

Bitter and Sweet took me through a range of emotions, but mostly I cried for Tabitha and Sabrina because of the awful things that happened to them. At the end of the story, I rejoiced for all the characters who found forgiveness, healing, restoration, and love.

If you enjoy stories about families, their struggles and triumphs, and faith, be sure to treat yourself to a copy of Bitter and Sweet.

Oh My Goodness. I LOVED this story. The care. The tenderness. The love. The way I felt for each and every character. McKnight writing is like a spring night on the porch after the rain, in your favorite rocking chair . It’s refreshing. It’s cool to the spirit. It’s the familiar motion that makes everything around you fall away. It’s like your beverage of choice that can either send a buzz clear through to your fingertips and toes. Or a cool drink that cleanses your palette and send a chill down your spine. Or it good be a hot cup of tea that you hold near that not only warm your hands but warms the soul. Rhonda McKnight is an auto buy author for me because I LIVE for all the feels she makes me feel 🙌🏾