Book Review: Better Than Chocolate

Author: Shelia Roberts
Publication Date: September 25, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin MRA

Sweet Dreams Chocolate Company has been in the Sterling family for generations, ever since Great-Grandma Rose literally dreamed up her first fabulous recipe. But now it looks as if they're about to lose Sweet Dreams to the bank—and that would be a disaster, not only for the family but for the town of Icicle Falls, Washington. Can Samantha, the oldest daughter and new head of the company, come up with a way to save it?After Samantha does some brainstorming with her mother and sisters, inspiration strikes. They'll have a chocolate festival! Time's running out, but the Sterling women are determined and the town's behind them, so everything's bound to go smoothly….

Or not. Events seem to be conspiring against Samantha, and her mother's attempts to help aren't helping. To make matters worse, the fate of her company is in the hands of her archenemy, Blake Preston, the bank manager with the football-hero good looks. It's enough to drive her to chocolate. But Blake's also enough to convince her that (believe it or not) there's something even better than chocolate.

“There was plenty to drool over-goodie bags of enrobed fruit, chocolate-dipped apples, potato chips and cookies, boxes of mixed chocolates, gift boxes of salted caramels, cognac truffles made from Great-grandma’s secret recipe, fudge and hot fudge sauces (Mom’s contribution to the line) that ranged from spicy Mexican to chocolate mint.” – Finished Copy pg. 23

“Oh, wait, trying to pull off something this big in such a short time-they’d already lost their sanity. So what the heck. Sweet Dreams Chocolates was about to sponsor a chocolate festival.” – Finished Copy pg. 77

“What a wonderful errand to be running-off to get more chocolates so they could sell more and make more. Oh yes, there was hope. There was always hope. Never give up, never give in.” – Finished Copy pg. 321

 

 

Samantha Sterling immediately had my attention on the first page of this book. She is contemplating the failing family business at the funeral of her recently deceased stepfather. I questioned what type of person I was going to be dealing with? I later learned that Samantha had been dealt a tough hand, and that all of the financial and emotional problems coming from her mother and her stepfather were going to land on her lap. Samantha was definitely a go-getter, so to speak, and I admired her character all throughout this book. She was the oldest sister and the most stable, I would argue. She proved to be such a dominant character with many outstanding characteristics. I don’t think the story would have been as marvelous if it were anyone else’s.

So I don’t know too many people that do not love chocolate, do you? Well I for one can say that I am quite the fan of chocolate and that made this book all the more irresistible! The Chocolate Festival that Samantha organized sounded so wonderful and her passion for the business was enjoyable as well. Things were described in exquisite detail and imagery. I would have loved to have had a job at Sweet Dreams Chocolate Company. I also like the fact that we got to see the memories from each of the sisters of the chocolate shop. Their connection to it made the story all the more real for me and for some reason it made me want a milkshake very badly!

The family dynamics that were shown in this story were funny and had a very cozy feel as they revolved around the chocolate shop and the girls newly widowed mother. I honestly felt like a part of the family and I was constantly trying to figure out which sister I was more like. I believe that creating a strong relation to family like Roberts does in this book is one of the things that makes so many authors so successful. I loved every second of my journey with Samantha and her sisters!

If you have any sweet tooth at all then please don’t hesitate to try this book!

***Hugs to the author, Shelia Roberts, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review***