Bitter Sweet

This engaging, up-to-the-minute romance of high school sweethearts reunited will gratify Spenser's ( Morning Glory ) fans . The untimely death of her husband leaves Maggie Pearson wealthy but emotionally bereft. Two decades after she has left home, Maggie returns to Wisconsin to fortify her spirits and decides to open a bed-and-breakfast despite dire warnings from her tight-lipped mother and the hurt fury of her college-age daughter. Her first love, Eric Severson, is also back in town, running a family-owned charter fishing boat to the great displeasure of his beautiful, ambitious wife. As Eric and his spouse battle over whether to sidetrack her career in favor of a baby, he and Maggie drift together. Their illicit affair is as sweet as puppy love but fraught with predictable consequences; the disapproval they face adds a sharp and welcome tang to this sometimes cloying brew. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates. (Feb.)