USA Today Bestseller, Five Time Literary Award Winner
In a story that’s been compared to John Grisham’s The Client, 11-year-old Ethan Allen Doyle has witnessed a brutal murder and now the boy is running for his life. In the time-tested tradition of Southern Fiction, Crosby unveils the darkest side of human nature and then rewards her readers with a beautiful tale of love, loss, and unexpected … beautiful tale of love, loss, and unexpected gifts.
Olivia Westerly is the only person Ethan Allen can trust, and he’s not too sure he can trust her. She’s got no love of children and a truckload of superstitions — one of them is the belief that 11 is the unluckiest number on earth. Olivia avoided marriage for almost 40 years. But when Charlie Doyle happened along, he was simply too wonderful to resist. Now she’s a widow with an 11-year-old boy claiming to be her grandson.
With a foul mouth, dark secrets, and heavily guarded emotions, Ethan Allen Doyle is not an easy child to like. He was counting on the grandpa he’d never met for a place to hide, but now that plan is shot to blazes because the grandpa’s dead too. He’s got seven dollars and twenty-six cents, his mama’s will for staying alive, and Dog. But none of those things are gonna help if Scooter Cobb finds him.
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One of my new favorite books!
Spare Change is about a woman that went against the grain of what was expected then meets a young boy that changes her life. (Throw in a honeymoon gone wrong, okra soup, a community of friends and a murder mystery in between.)
Very reminiscent of The Client but I enjoyed this book a lot more.
This is a good story with several points of view. The character portrayals are strong and real. Good habits and bad, compassion, love, trust, selfishness, fear, the list goes on. Ethan Allen is a great kid. I wanted to bundle him up and bring him home. I also liked seeing Olivia’s growth as a person. I recommend this book!
Thank you to the author …
The story of Ethan Allen Doyle, who we met as an adult in Memory House, and the horrible circumstances he lived through as a child and the love and support he found. Definitely a story that broke my heart, but showed the effect that love can have on the worst situation.
I loved this book. I usually read mysteries, light and heavy. I read a review of this book and for some reason decided to give it a try. As a grandmother of two boys, the protagonist in “Spare Change” tugged at my heartstrings, and as an older woman who has always treasured my independence, I felt a bond with the other main character. May be …
I loved this book. I loved the characters, the story and most everything about it. I am keeping it in my nook cloud!
this was a wonderful read! so emotional and filled with wonderful interesting and complex characters. The story was so intense with lots of twists and turns. Very realistic and the author has the ability to pull you into the book and you will feel as if you are part of the story. I could not put this book down! I laughed, I cried, I sat on the …
I loved it
I enjoyed this story so much. This another wonderful book by my favorite author.
Excellent Book! I enjoyed the plot, loved the deeply developed characters and hope to continue the series to it’s completion.
Things were very different for women in the ‘20s – 40’s. They were expected to marry and have children. Careers were not encouraged. This is the story of one woman’s choice to step outside the box and pursue life as she deemed fit. It is also the story of a small boy who, in order to survive, raised himself. It’s the story of how their coming …
Loved Ethan Allen!
Characters are wonderful, the best character descriptions I have read in awhile.
Story is original and kept me interested
In the early 1920′s Olivia Ann Westerly rebels against her father and moves out on her own, despite his threats to disown her. She never looks back. Working at the telephone company for many years, she sees her friends get married, and become mothers shortly after. When she questions them about it, they say, sure, that’s what’s expected:
1) Get …
Stepped out of my usual genre and really enjoyed this book. Loved the characters, you just had to root for the kid.
What stated out as a tragic life for a small boy turned into a story of enrichment of his life and his adopted grandmother.
Bette Lee Crosby has been sharing lots of wonderful insights to her Wyattsville Series. Join us at AMERICAN HISTORICAL NOVELS!
I could not hardly put this book down. A great novel of the human spirit to press on in times of grief and hard times. Loved the book. Can’t wait to read more from Ms. Crosby.
VERY engaging!! Recommend it as a fast good read
Loved every page!!
“Spare Change” by Bette Lee Crosby is a captivating, intriguing, emotionally charged, and heartwarming novel. I appreciate that Bette Lee Crosby writes about searching for what is home , love and family. I enjoyed finding some parts of this story that were familiar in “Memory House” that I just finished. The Genres for this story are Fiction, and …