Gail Cleare gives us a delicious romance in Love & Chocolate. My mouth was watering throughout the whole novel. Chocolate has a way of doing that to a gal.
- Title: Love & Chocolate
- Author: Gail Cleare
- Publisher: Red Adept Publishing, LLC on September 18, 2018
- Genre: Romance
- Format: Kindle Edition
- Pages: 217
- Rating: 3/5
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Synopsis from Goodreads:
When Sarah Westwood’s deadbeat husband deserts her and their young son, she takes a job at her family’s restaurant, The Three Chocolatiers, working with her famous chef grandfather and her pastry chef cousin, Paisley. Determined to never fall for the wrong guy again, Sarah vows to stick to chocolate and steer clear of men, especially her delicious ice-cream supplier, Blake Harrison. But when Paisley signs her up for a dating site, Sarah is soon engaging in a sexy online flirtation with a stranger.
Blake Harrison wants nothing more than for Sarah to give him a chance, but all she’ll give him is the cold shoulder. Never one to run from a challenge, he works on becoming the kind of man Sarah can’t refuse. And since he just happens to be on the same dating site, he’s not above using a little cyber-intel to worm his way into her heart.
When Sarah’s grandfather collapses just weeks before an upscale chocolate-themed wedding that could make or break the business, the staff of The Three Chocolatiers is sent into a tailspin. With the pressure rising on personal and professional fronts, Sarah might just have to let someone sweet melt her defenses.
Includes four recipes from The Three Chocolatiers Cookbook.
Goodreads
My Review of Love & Chocolate:
Gail has a way with words. The descriptiveness of her delivery makes you feel as though you are right there, in the moment, with these characters. Every time Sarah ate a bite of chocolate, I felt that. I tasted it. As any chocolate addict will tell you, the flavor and aroma seduce you into a receptive state of mind.
However, as beautiful as the words were, I couldn’t quite get into the romance. I am not a fan of Sarah. She spent the entire novel playing the victim and could never make up her mind. I like a stronger type of woman who gets mad because there is really something to be mad about. Sarah did not do this for me, and I felt horrible for Blake, who put up with that nonsense.
I wanted to love this novel. I wanted my toes to curl and my heart to race, but I didn’t feel it with this story. Thus, I award Love & Chocolate 3 stars out of 5. I recommend this book to those who want beautiful words from a gifted writer. For readers who don’t mind a bit of victimization, you will absolutely love this book.
About the Author, Gail Cleare:
Gail Cleare used to write for newspapers, magazines, ad agencies, Fortune 50 companies and AOL. Now she writes fiction, and lives on an 18th century farm in Massachusetts with her family and dogs, cats, chickens, black bears, blue herons, rushing streams and wide, windy skies. When she’s not writing Gail is usually working in her organic vegetable garden or stalking wild creatures with a 300 mm lens.
Cleare’s debut novel, “Destined, a novel of the Tarot” (2011), was a finalist for a Somerset Award, and for the Green Book Festival and New England Book Festival competitions. The audio book was released in February, 2019.
USA Today Bestseller “The Taste of Air” (2016), is a womens’ fiction family drama, and in 2017 it won Readers’ Favorite awards for both the book and the audio book. It made the USA Today Bestseller list in 2017, 2018 and 2019. It also won the 2019 Kindle Book Award – Romance from the Kindle Book Review. The sequel, “The Scent of Earth, is currently in progress.
“Love & Chocolate, a Romance with Recipes,” is a romantic comedy released in 2018. It features the Dumas family and their restaurant, The Three Chocolatiers.
Gail Cleare | Facebook | BookBub | Twitter
I would like to thank Gail Cleare, and Red Adept Publishing, LLC for gifting me a copy of Love & Chocolate in exchange for an honest review. Also, thanks to Shannon of R&R Blog Tours for introducing me to this book.
