Better Than Chocolate

by Sheila Roberts

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 there’s something better than chocolate (from Goodreads).

My Thoughts

Well, folks, no one was more surprised than me as to how much I liked this book. I lean more toward dark, twisted, suspense and mystery. Chick-lit is not a genre I seek.

That being said, I enyoyed this story. The characters were believable, so much so there was one I wanted to slap. I liked Samantha and her determined attitude. And yes, there was some romance, but nothing sappy and it didn’t overwhelm the story line.

So, it appears that I’ve learned something. Chick lit can be very likeable when it is written this well. At the end of the book, I discovered that there is another book (Merry Ex-Mas) coming out in November with more tales from Icicle Falls - Yippee!

Thanks to Harlequin and Netgalley for letting me read this for an unbiased review.

Publish date: September 25, 2012