Anna Trent in a supervisor at a chocolate factory in
England before a terrible accident puts her in the hospital and off kilter with
her life. At the hospital, Anna reunites
with her old French teacher, Claire.
Claire inspires Anna to take a new job in Paris at the gourmet chocolate
shop, Le Chapeau Chocolat. Claire herself
left her restrictive home for Paris as a 17-year old in 1972. She was the nanny for her mother’s friend’s
children and met Thierry Girard the young owner of Le Chapeau Chocolat. In present day Anna meets Thierry and learns
the difference between gourmet chocolate and the chocolate that she once
produced at her factory. Thierry has a
unique personality and Anna wonders what was once between Thierry and
Claire. Anna also has an exuberant
roommate, Sami, who is determined that Anna have a fun time while she is in
Paris. While out on the town, she meets
and instantaneously dislikes and is fascinated by the mysterious chef Laurent,
who also happens to be Thierry’s son.
The novel bounces back and forth between 1972 and
present day. I felt intrigued by both
storylines as I wanted to know if each woman would be able to find herself in
Paris. I also LOVE chocolate so the
behind the scenes narrative of making chocolate at a gourmet shop in France was
intriguing to me. A bonus was all of the
chocolate recipes at the end of the book that I need to check out now. I thought the characters were interesting as
well. The only downside to this book was
that there was a bit in the middle that seemed to go slow for me. It did pick up though and I sped through to
the end.
Overall, this novel is a great romance and coming of
age story that involves chocolate. What
more can you ask for?
Book Source:
Review copy from Sourcebooks.
Thank-you!
Laura, this sounds wonderful, overall. And I am in the mood for chocolate now! ;)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds such a good book. Romance and coming of age together along with chocolate. Sounds too good to be true.
ReplyDeleteSounds like fun book and the chocolate parts sound interesing.
ReplyDeleteThe chocolate parts were very interesting! I also enjoyed the coming of age tales in two different time periods.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Jenny Colgan's books would be a perfect reading match for me but I haven't yet managed to read one! Maybe this one should be the one I start with.
ReplyDelete