Monday, September 2, 2013

Review: How Sweet It Is by Bonnie Blythe

Book Cover and Synopsis:
"Embrasser" means to kiss in French. Delphine D'Arleux, traveling in Belgium for a candy-making class, doesn't expect to have the word demonstrated to her, especially by a stranger. Brad Larsen, an avowed chocoholic, knows he behaved badly by kissing the pretty French girl, but he can't quite regret his actions. Can he show Delphine that a longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul?

My Thoughts:
Stories about chocolate are usually just too sweet for me to pass up, and initially this one started out fairly fun. Though a bit unrealistic in spots, I still found it amusing to watch as Delphine tried to dodge and hide from Brad--a basic stranger who had kissed her on the street--and then ultimately ended up on a plane with a ticket purchased for her by Brad's parents!

I do have to admit that it seemed slightly odd for Brad--a guy--to be such a hopeless chocolate-lover...but this probably stems from the guys in my life being just "so-so" about sweets. Regardless of that, I found it quite interesting when Delphine tried to teach Brad about higher grades of chocolate and the fine quality differences. However, much to my chagrin, every time chocolate came into the scene Brad managed to end up with some on his face. I'm sure this is meant to be endearing, but I just wanted to give him a stack of napkins and tell him to clean up.

Despite a few nitpicks, I honestly enjoyed the first half of the story, but at roughly the half-way point things started to changed. Suddenly the plot's main focus seemed to be about Delphine and Brad both doubting and fearing their affection wasn't mutual. Even after they'd said "I love you" multiple times, they both still continued to wonder if the other was truly earnest in their feelings. This got rather old, and ultimately after so many repetitions of doubts and confirmed feelings, more doubts and more confirmed feelings, I was just ready for the story to be done so I could move on to something else.

Overall, I feel the story would be much stronger if it was shortened up and condensed, mainly in the latter half when the redundancy of doubts begins. If you're looking to try a book by Bonnie Blythe, instead of How Sweet It Is I would recommend checking out Claire's Not-So-Gothic Romance, which I found to be very entertaining from beginning to end.

My Rating: 3 stars

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