Love & Chocolate

Sarah loves chocolate and she loves her son. She works at an amazing restaurant with her family called The Three Chocolatiers. Her grand parents’ meeting is even connected to chocolate.

She has been badly hurt by her ex husband who betrayed her and then abandoned her child. Sarah hates to see her son go through what she did, feeling like she was a disappointment to her father.

She being single for years and her cousin tries to push her into online dating.
One night she meets a man online and wonders if flirting with him could be the harmless distraction she needs. Because she can’t even bring herself to think about having an actual relationship.

But what happens next is interesting. Sarah starts to form an actual attachment to this harmless stranger. And she also finds herself becoming attracted to someone she knows in real life. His name is Blake and he sells homemade ice cream.

Blake wants to prove to Sarah that he isn’t like the men in her past. But he has to work hard and be patient to get past the walls she’s built up.

I just wanted to say that everything in this book sounds delicious. I drank three hot chocolates while reading it.
This book will make you think of chocolate.
And ice cream.
And two cute little dogs named after chocolate themselves.
And it will make you think how lucky you’d be if this restaurant was real and Sarah and Blake were your friends, who would bring homemade ice cream and brownies when they stopped by :)

LOVE & CHOCOLATE is an engaging, sweet romance that will touch your heart, and perhaps fuel some anger against your least favorite ex as well. Sarah is putting her life back together after the divorce from her worthless piece of humanity otherwise known as her ex-husband. He’s done a number on both Sarah and their son, Devon. In fact, she’s far better off without him but the jerk has left emotional damage behind. The kind that refuses to trust any man ever again, and the kind that needs a very good man to overcome. Blake could be that man — but first, Sarah has to let herself trust not only Blake but her own judgment as well. That’s not going to be easy for Sarah is, at times, her own worst enemy by believing the lies and insecurities about herself that her ex-husband fueled. Add in a bit of a mystery and you have an entertaining story to enjoy for an afternoon or so.

Both Blake and Sarah are portrayed with all their human frailties and mistakes. And they do make mistakes, yet they can be overcome with a little bit of trust — and that is hardest for Sarah to do. I enjoyed their bantering, getting to know each other in different situations and the chemistry is there between them should they act on it. Although the steam level is medium with a burst at one point, this is really a fade to black and use your imagination level of steam.

I don’t know if more than one story was intended for these characters, but I’d certainly enjoy the story of two secondary characters who just might have been tossing off a bit of steam themselves. I’ll have to investigate if there were any more stories around The Three Chocolatiers group of characters. In any event, I enjoyed this story, I had fun with the characters and that is the whole point.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

Lovers of desserts and lovers of romance will embrace this contemporary romance. Sarah has been hurt and is suspicious of men. Blake is too good to be true which normally is a sign to run but he really is that wonderful. Supportive characters add to this story.