2.5 stars There is no way that this isn’t going to sound like splitting hairs given the genre, but The Chocolate Rose is a very, very hearts and flowers romance novella that is… too romantic? Everything is expressed so very ardently, and I totally get the appeal, but it’s not for me. This book is very But I’m more here for So, like, witticisms and sarcasm. The level of romantic proclamations on display go a long way to mask the fact that, for me, there […]
A contemporary romance with counter-terrorism and knife-throwing
Violette Lenoir is twenty-eight and a two-star Michelin chef in her own restaurant. Don’t worry if you don’t remember that, you will be reminded at least five times over the course of the narrative. Of course, she has every right to be proud, having worked her ass off in kitchens since she was fifteen, fighting sexism and discrimination every step of the way to prove herself. When a stranger breaks into her restaurant late at night, as she’s about to leave, she’s not intimidated in […]
Huge Disappointment
This book was a huge disappointment. I have read two other Florand’s (The Chocolate Kiss – 5 stars, and The Chocolate Touch – 4.5 stars) and really loved both. This book did not hold a candle to either of them. The writing was very uneven and some of the ideas either repeated too often or not fully fleshed out. It reminded me of when I would write term papers in school and write the same thoughts several different ways, and then go back and pick […]
A lot of Goodreads readers liked this a lot more than I did
3.5 stars All Jasmin “Jess” Bianchi has ever wanted to do was make perfumes, like her father. The brain-child behind the massively popular Spoiled Brat, she has achieved great commercial success, but is everyone assumes that what she intended as an ironic comment on the industry is all she’s capable of. When she inherits a small perfume shop in Provence, in the same year she had to bury her father and the little artisanal perfume company she had started was bought up by the powerful […]
Contemporary Romance from an Autobuy Author
This second book in Laura Florand’s La Vie en Roses contemporary romance series was not my favourite, but that in no way changes the fact that I will continue to buy everything she publishes, nor my strong recommendations for her novels. If nothing else, A Wish Upon Jasmine made me go and re-read a large portion of the preceding book Once Upon a Rose and that made me all smiley. Damien Rosier, “the mean one”, is the glue that holds his family’s perfume business together. […]
Promise to never leave me, I won’t believe you if you do.
There are some romance novels that are soothing and comforting, like a soft quilt on a cold night. Sometimes, I need a big cushion of romance to buffer me from the world. Laura Florand’s The Chocolate Touch is pretty perfect for cushioning, buffering, and soothing. Dominique Richard is big, rough and survived an abusive and disadvantaged childhood. He looks more like a brawler than one of Paris’ top chocolatiers. Jamie Corey has just been through a trauma and is trying to regain her strength and […]