Bittersweet Surrender

A Bittersweet Novel, Book 1

By: Q. B. Tyler

Narrated by: Lacy Laurel, Alexander Neal

“I was in a relationship with two men, and neither were giving me up.”

That thought flashed through Charlotte’s brain like a bright neon light as she followed her husband out of her marriage counselor’s office. The office where she’d sat twice a week as she tried to repair the glaring problems in her marriage. The marriage that she’d fought hard to save to a man that wasn’t fighting alongside her. She’d been lied to, ignored, and used as a pawn to climb his ladder to success. Charlotte was broken, not just her marriage.

But, then she met Dr. Montgomery, and everything changed. They say love is patient and kind of course, but what happens when that love comes at the cost of everything? Love was a force that took no prisoners when it decided to strike and Charlotte had been hit - hard. By a man that wasn’t her husband. By the very man who was supposed to save her marriage.

Bittersweet Surrender is part one of the Bittersweet duet and must be listened to before Bittersweet Addiction.

©2018 Q. B. Tyler (P)2022 Q. B. Tyler

Buckle up for a messy, forbidden ride

Okay, hold onto your pants and let go of any preconceived notions, because Ms Tyler is taking us on a ride. A ride that consists of some major forbidden romance. Cheating (if that's not your jam, I understand). Marriage and relationship issues. Love triangle. And falling for the right person at the wrong time. This is forbidden romance and boy does it get messy, steamy and heated. I wasn’t exactly prepared since I didn’t read the blurb, but I dove in with complete QB Tyler trust and now I'm in the thick of it.

Charlotte and Matthew are in marriage counseling to try to fix a marriage that is beyond fixable. But Matthew doesn't see it that way. He's basically going through the motions with one hand on his phone, distracted with work, but he's convinced they are married and they are going to stay together. When one person wants to try to repair it and one person isn't willing to meet even half way, it isn't going to work. This is where Ms Tyler brought some real life flavor in and it was realistic. I could feel for Charlotte and the fact that she was honestly trying. Buuuutttt....as we see right at the beginning, their marriage counselor, Will plays a much bigger part in their story than I first imagined. Then, BAM....it's the Charley and Will show! Lies, deception, and falling in love.

I will be the first to admit that I'm not a fan of cheating, especially in real life, but this is fiction and gimme the drama mama. IF there is a reason for the cheating and the story behind it is legit, I'm game to be entertained. And boy did Q.B Tyler entertain me and give me lots of cheating. There were no ifs ands or buts about it. It was cheating, but I could feel the connection between Will and Charley and I only wanted to kick Matthew to the curb. He did not deserve Charlotte. But at the same time, I was getting a bit frustrated with Charley as a character. She was whiney and annoying at times and honestly Will seemed overly possessive when he had no right to be. How could these two work when they started all wrong?

I'm in the thick of this story (as their story doesn't end with this book) and I gotta say, I'm curious where the next book is gonna take us after where we left off in the first book of this duet. It's messy, it's dang steamy and there's a lot of baggage to go through, but I'm here for more. Lacy Laurel as the narrator was amazing as Charlotte and telling us HER story. The way her voice brought in the emotions of a woman that had known only one sort of love but knew she deserved more was spot on. She brought her A-game and I can't wait to hear more from her. But please give us more of Alexander Neal as Will. I need more of him and all their flawed, messed up love story from both POVs!

Ruined by the Narrator

I sincerely wish that authors would stay away from Lacy Laurel as a main narrator. I bought this book only because of the author and the cheating trope without paying any attention to the narrator. The disappointment I felt when I heard Lacy's voice was crushing... I spent a good 15 minutes debating whether I should just return it but ultimately gave it a shot. I was hoping at least for dual narration but I'm on chapter 13 with no relief in sight. I'm returning it anyway.

Her male portrayals are cringe! Especially the male antagonists who are given a voice that sounds very close to petulant Steve Urkel.

I will avoid all Lacy-led narrated audiobooks in the future no matter the author or the trope.

Bittersweet Perfection!!

Bittersweet Surrender shocked me in all the ways. This was a book I picked up blurb unread so imagine my surprise discovering it was a love triangle. Now listen love triangles are not my thing, in fact I usually will run the other way. But, wowzers, when I tell you QB Tyler had me riveted.
This baby was chock full of emotion and angst. I felt as emotionally wrung out as Charley. It can’t be easy to experience the greatest love of your life at the worst possible time. Married, her heart should be with her husband but things between them are broken and have been for a long time with little hope of mending. Never did Charley imagine she’d find her heart captured by the very last man she should be with; her marriage counselor. But, love knows no bounds, it is messy, it is irrefutable, it is inconvenient, it is impossible to deny the heart what it wants and QB made sure I felt it all. Charley’s internal struggles and conflicting feelings between Dr. Montgomery and her husband was powerfully tangible. Oh my and that spice, QB ma’am, the spice was freaking im-pecc-able!
Bittersweet Surrender was a compelling, passionate, tempestuous tale that had me in its chokehold from beginning to end.
Lacy Laurel made for the perfect Charley. Her and Alexander Neal’s narration truly just embodied the essence of this beautiful love story. This is book one of a duet so expect to have your heart in your throat until you pick up book two.

Not what I hoped it would be.

Overall Rating: ☆☆☆

Narration Rating: ☆☆    Spice: 🌶🌶🌶🌶

Angst: 💣💣💣💣     Plot: 📚📚📚

Cliffhanger? ✅️

Trigger Warnings: cheating!, mentions of past physical abuse 

Tropes: women's fiction, forbidden romance, doctor/patient

Charlotte Pierce has been married to Matt Wells for five years. She was only happy the first three years when things changed. Matt quit making time for her or acting like he cared at all. When she mentioned divorce, he begged her to try marriage counseling. Enter Dr. Will Montgomery. In months of therapy, it was obvious to everyone but Matt that he wasn't invested in their marriage anymore. What was clear to Charlie and Will was the increasing desire between them, leading to dangerous actions.

I normally avoid any books with cheating but I went into this completely blind. I also usually need spice in my favorite romances but there is such a thing as too much sex. Sex in just about every chapter is too much. The plot was lost along the way. I feel like I didn't know Will at all by the end of the book with 20+ chapters in it. I listened to this audiobook, mainly narrated by Lacy Laurel. I did not enjoy her narration yet I loved the short narration by Alexander Neal. I don’t know if I can recommend this book. It really depends on what you find enjoyable in your favorite books. This is my honest opinion, freely given. 

Absolutely AMAZING

"You may think you know my story, but you have no idea. I was a good wife...until I wasn't."

This audiobook is EVERYTHING!!!

Bittersweet Surrender is the 1st book in the Bittersweet series.

I read this book when it first came out, fell in love with this duet, and have reread it so many times. Listening to the audiobook made me fall in love with it all over again!

Lacy Laurel brought Charlotte to life perfectly!!! The way she read this book is utter perfection! I couldn't take my headphones out.

Alexander Neal as Will......good Lord! My ears have never been so happy! Absolutely AMAZING!!

If you love this book, listen to the audiobook and fall in love all over again!!!

“I’m in a relationship with two men and neither of them are giving me up.”

Bittersweet Surrender is the first book in the Bittersweet duet from QB Tyler. First off, if you don’t enjoy reading about cheating then avoid this duet. 😅 As the entire setup is the heroine having an affair with her marriage counselor (the hero and heroine cheat together, not on one another if that makes a difference to you). Buttttt if you know the premise and are down for some fun, this book delivers on that!

“I was a good wife…until I wasn’t.”

Charlotte has been with her husband for 8 years when the story starts and we found out 4 months ago she started sleeping with their marriage therapist, Will. Her marriage had already fallen apart a year prior and she only went to counseling because her husband demanded it and wouldn’t give her a divorce. So it’s not even a love triangle situation. But what started as a fantasy and lust-filled, over the 4 months Will and Charley start to have real feelings for one another.

“I’m in a relationship with two men and neither of them are giving me up.”

I listened to this duet on audio and they were a fun time! Obviously the way the story is set up it’s going to be messy, but I was in the mood for that kind of read. I did think it was a little longer than needed, I was ready for her to move forward with the divorce sooner cause it was obvious the marriage was done. Or maybe if they hadn’t gotten together so early on, the tension and angst of that would have been soo good!

Charley & Will

Cheating storylines are obviously either hit or miss with certain readers. After reading this book, I am all for it! This was hot hot hot! I didn’t think I could be so addicted to something like cheating but QB Tyler really told this story beautifully. I think it helped that I didn’t really feel any of the love from Charley and her husband. But between her and Will? OMG all the heat! I do wish the story started a little bit before it did, because it begins with Charley and Will having sex, I would have liked to see the sexual tension building with each counseling session. Lacy Laurel was the narrator for most of the story. It is a hard job to be one voice to keep the listeners entertained throughout the entire story but I think she did an amazing job. It didn’t get boring listening to the same voice and instead I felt fully entertained. Great Job!

Cheating romance

Okay yes it’s a cheating romance but you don’t want to root for the husband. And it’s SPICYYYY!

Goood story but

The narrator was horrible. Her voice for the mmc sounded whiny and annoying. When I stopped listening to her read him and just read the book the story became enjoyable

Bittersweet…

Charlotte and Matt’s marriage is in trouble so they decide to go to counseling where they meet Dr Montgomery. Charlotte is attracted to Will, Dr Montgomery, but months go by before she notices that he is flirting with her. These two start a passionate affair behind her husbands back.
The narrator did a good job portraying the emotion that Charlotte have a dealing with.
Before long Will becomes a little obsessed and demands she leave her husband because he loves her. She wants to but is scared. Matt had been there for her and saved her from an abusive home life.
Can they come out of this unscathed?