Lavyrle Spencer, lives in Stillwater, Minnesota, just outside Minneapolis with her husband of 36 years Dan. They live in a beautiful Victorian house. They were high school sweethearts. Dan is a retired estimator for a general contractor. LaVyrle's hobbies include gardening, travel, gourmet cooking, entertaining, playing bass guitar and the electronic piano, photography, and observing nature.
In her thirties, she was working as a teacher's aide at Osseo Junior High School. She started working on her first novel, The Fulfillment, and it was published in 1979. Her publisher mailed her a $2,500 advance. She was inspired to become a writer when she read the book The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodwiss.
Several of her books have been made into movies. Home Song, produced by CBS-TV, starring Lee Horsley, Polly Draper, and Deborah Raffin. Family Blessings, stars Lynda Carter, directed by Deborah Raffin and Nina Foch. The Fulfillment, a CBS-TV movie starring Cheryl Ladd, and Morning Glory, which Spencer wrote in 1989, was released as a major motion picture, starring Deborah Raffin and Christopher Reeve. LaVyrle and Dan appear as extras in the film.
Read the brief synopsis of each book. You have the opportunity of buying your favorite book from Amazon Books.
Then Came Heaven LaVyrle Spencer's touching and emotionally charged new novel, a grief-stricken widower, Eddie Olczakr learns to open his heart again . Set in Browerville, Minnesota, 1950. Eddie is a devoted husband and father to his beloved wife, Krystyna, and their two daughters, and is the dedicated handyman for St. Joseph's, the Catholic church. Eddie is sure his heart is broken forever, when a tragic accident cuts Krystyna's life short.
Sister Regina is the girls' teacher at St. Joseph's school. She bristles under the constraints of the order because her religious vows prevent her from becoming too close to them, even in their time of need. She feels stiffled at the strict rules of the Benedictine sisterhood, which once gave her life a sense of meaning. Sister Regina and Eddie Olczak continue to cross paths. Deep inside, they realize there is a connection that goes beyond their shared love of Krystyna and the girls. Thrilled, but frightened--they must look within their hearts and make their own choices.
Bitter Sweet
In distress over the loss of her husband, Maggie returns to her Wisconsin hometown after twenty-three years with her teenage daughter. She rekindles a romance with her high school sweetheart Eric. He is trapped in an unwanted marriage and is willing to risk the consequences of infidelity in his love for Maggie.
Bygones
Bess and Michael Curran have nothing left to say to each other after a bitter divorce,, until their daughter, Lisa, makes a shocking announcement that forces the family to amend past mistakes and make a new beginning.
The Endearment
Fiery-tempered beauty Anna Reardon had only one chance to escape the shameful Boston street-urchin's life. She becomes the mail-order bride of Karl Lindstrom, a kind and gentle man who has made a life for himself on the rough Minnesota frontier. Soon Karl discovers Anna's true background, their subsequent love is threatened by a dark secret.
Family Blessings
Widowed at 44 years old Lee Reston has raised three children and build a successful florist business. Her life is shattered, when her eldest son is killed in a motorcycle accident. Lee turns to his 30-year-old best friend, Chris Lallak for comfort. She encounters family disputes over their subsequent relationship.
Forgiving
In 1876 headstrong Sarah Merritt tracks her missing sister to the frontier town of Deadwood. She decides to stay and start her ambitious dream of a newspaper. Despite the warnings of Marshall Noah Campbell, her intentions are misunderstood. He arrests her, and she is less prepared for the effect he has on her heart.
The Fulfillment
Jonathan Gray fears that his marriage will remain childless. He asks his loving wife of seven years, Mary, and his younger brother and partner, Aaron, to conceive the baby that he and Mary cannot have. Mary embraces the infidelity that can bring her the child she has longed for after the tumultuous weekend when she awakens in Aaron's arms.
The Gamble
In the late 1800s, Scott Gandy a southern gambler moves to Proffitt, Kansas, hoping to make a profitable living as a saloonkeeper. He soon becomes a target of the prohibition movement, led by the enchanting and volatile Agatha Downing, a prim and proper milliner. The innocence of a child opens their eyes and hearts to each other.
A Heart Speaks
Out of print and unavailable for years two-in-one volume. Featuring "Forsaking All Others," in which a photographer learns to love again. The second is "A Promise to Cherish," in which a woman grabs the wrong suitcase at the airport--and discovers Mr. Right in its owner.
The Hellion
Rachel is the pinnacle of elegance, social standing, and beauty. Her world turned on end, when most passionate flame of her youth steps into her life again. Tommy Lee of Russellville, Alabama is the all-time hellraiser, with three marriages behind him and a string of fast cars and women. The townsfolk say he will never change. Rachel knows differently, when he steals her heart. She vows, despite all predictions, to see him settle down.
Home Song From Booklist
The Longfellow poem that Spencer uses for the title of her new melodrama urges "my heart [to] stay at home." But high-school principal Tom Gardner almost loses home and family because of a long-ago betrayal. When transfer student Kent Arens enrolls at Tom's suburban St. Paul school, Tom realizes that Kent's mother, Monica, is the college acquaintance he took to bed the night of his bachelor party in a brief rebellion against having to marry his pregnant girlfriend, Claire; Kent is the son the principal didn't know he had. Tom delays telling English teacher Claire and children Robby, a senior, and Chelsea, a junior, this secret, until Kent and Chelsea appear to be attracted to one another. There's a hothouse quality to this confrontation: the only major characters who don't spend their time at the high school are Monica, a 3M engineer, and Tom's wise-old-man father; Kent and Robby are rival candidates for homecoming king and bump shoulders on the football team; and Kent is a student in Claire's honors English class. All the characters are such decent folk that it's clear from the start their wounds will heal and they'll find ways to forgive one another. Spencer's latest is as simple but satisfying as the made-for-TV movie it may well become. A
Hummingbird Ingram
Nursing two victims of a train robbery, Abigail McKenzie finds herself torn between a gentleman who is in every way the man of her ideals and the bandit who has stolen her heart. Reissue.
Morning Glory Elly had been an outsider all her life. Now she was all alone, with two little boys to raise, and a third child on the way. Will arrived in Whitney, Georgia, hoping to leave his lonely past behind. When he saw Elly's classified--WANTED: A HUSBAND--and walked into her life, he knew he had left loneliness behind forever...
November of the Heart
Ingram
Falling in love with the estate handyman, Lorna Barnett begins a scandalous affair that is strongly resisted by her wealthy family, but Lorna is determined to stay true to her heart. Reissue.
Separate Beds
Ingram
Agreeing to a marriage of convenience, Catherine Anderson and Clay Forrester count on each other to abide by the terms of the marriage--that is, until both begin to fall in love. Reissue.
Small Town Girl From Booklist
When small-town girl Tess McPhail followed the pull of Nashville's glittering lights, she placed her dreams on becoming a country singer. Eighteen years later, she is a megastar and is caught in a whirlwind of tours, recording sessions, and financial meetings--a whirlwind that crashes to a stop when her sister demands her help in caring for their mother. Angered at her sister's orders, Tess breezes in to town for a month and crashes straight into the past in the form of Kenny Kronek, the boy-next-door `dork' from high school who has been helping her mother. Sparks and tempers fly whenever the two meet, and Tess' professional interest in Kenny's daughter Casey's singing career causes further problems. As Tess relearns how to relate to her family without hiding behind her celebrity, she begins to appreciate the life she left behind and realizes there is a gaping hole in her current lifestyle--a hole that Kenny may be able to fill. Spencer is a consistent New York Times best-seller, and her latest is a Literary Guild Main Selection. Although not as emotionally wrenching as past novels, expect high demand and start counting how many copies your library will need to meet it. Melanie Duncan --
Winnifred Gardner, engaged to be married in only three short months, is provided a dress rehearsal of sorts when she is asked to be the maid of honor at her best friend's wedding. Winnifred loves her fiancé, Paul, so why is she so attracted to Joseph Duggan, the best man? When Paul leaves the wedding reception early, Winn is left to dance with Joseph, and the attraction between the two is undeniable. As Paul spends more and more time at work rather than with Winn, he doesn't even notice when she begins to question their relationship. Winn is left to deal with the fact that she wants to get married--but to Joseph, not Paul. Harlequin Temptation, the line that helped launch the careers of such authors as Jayne Ann Krentz, Barbara Delinsky, and Judith McNaught, is known for witty, sensuous stories, and Spring Fancy is no exception.
Sweet Memories Amazon.com
Theresa Brubaker's overly endowed form causes her much heartache and pain. Men either grope or gawk at her but few care about her. Then her brother Jeff brings his friend, Brian Scanlon, home on holiday leave and for the first time in her life, Theresa tastes the pleasure of love. But her past experiences remain stumbling blocks to their relationship. Brian treads lightly until Theresa makes a major decision that alters and tests their love. A delicate love story told with extraordinary understanding and talent.
That Camden Summer
Amazon.com
Fiercely independent Roberta Jewett is returning to her hometown of Camden, Maine, with her daughters in tow. Having just endured a scandalous divorce, Roberta only wants to settle down and create a decent life for herself and her children. Romance is the furthest thing from her mind, but when Gabe Farley enter her life Roberta soon learns to trust in love again. The endearing characters and pleasing plot to be found in That Camden Summer make for an excellent romance read. --Maudeen Wachsmith
Twice Loved
Book Description
After her husband is lost at sea, a lonely widow finds solace in the arms of his best friend. But this second chance at love takes a strange twist when the long-lost husband unexpectedly returns...
Vows Ingram
Engaged but not in love, Emily, a headstrong tomboy, finds her betrothal threatened by her growing feelings for Tom, the handsome but infuriating rival to her father's business. Reissue
Years
Amazon.com
Linnea Bradenborg expects to find culture and excitement in Alamo, North Dakota, where she's recently been hired as the new schoolteacher. Instead, she finds a sparse little town in the middle of nowhere. Better yet, her train is met by a cantankerous wheat farmer named Theodore Westgaard who doesn't bother to hide his displeasure when he discovers that L.I. Brandenborg is a woman and not the man he was expecting. Westgaard thinks twice about bringing Linnea home to live with him, but he soon realizes that he has no choice. All of the town's past schoolteachers have lived with the Westgaard family--made up of Theodore, his mother, and his teenaged son--due to their farm being located very near the schoolhouse, and so Theodore allows Linnea into his home. But who could have guessed that this young, independent woman would soon find her way into the handsome farmer's heart? A compelling classic to be read again and again, Years is a fitting tribute to the pioneer schoolteachers who braved many hardships to share the gift of knowledge with countless children. --Maudeen Wachsmith
