Review: The Chocolate Touch by Laura Florand

July 30, 2013
Kensington
298 pages

Synopsis:
La Vie en Chocolat
Dominique Richard's reputation says it all--wild past, wilder flavors, black leather and smoldering heat. Jaime Corey is hardly the first woman to be drawn to all that dark, delicious danger. Sitting in Dom's opulent chocolaterie in Paris day after day, she lets his decadent creations restore her weary body and spirit, understanding that the man himself is entirely beyond her grasp.

Until he touches her. . .
Chocolate, Dominique understands--from the biting tang of lime-caramel to the most complex infusions of jasmine, lemon-thyme, and cayenne. But this shy, freckled American who sits alone in his salon, quietly sampling his exquisite confections as if she can't get enough of them--enough of him--is something else. She has secrets too, he can tell. Of course if she really knew him, she would run.

Yet once you have spotted your heart's true craving, simply looking is no longer enough. . .

Review: 

The writing in this book was beautiful - at times lyrical and poetic. Which was fitting for the Parisian locale in which it is set. But, it also was it's downfall for me because in between the bits of poetry were pages of overly long descriptions and disjointed conversations. It almost felt like someone had translated it from another language - and at times it needed a translation itself. There were so many moments where the author threw in French phrases, but didn't translate them - it created a feeling of snobbery. This only added to the frustration I felt reading about a courtship between two extremely insecure people who were constantly either misjudging each other or jumping to conclusions. The number of times they found themselves reassuring the other of their interest became nauseating. I did love being immersed in this amazing world of chocolate - and the few moments where Jaime and Dom allowed themselves to be together and happy were wonderful. I just wish there were more of them with more dialogue between them. As it was, this 298 page book felt like 600.

The Chocolate Touch: 3/5 stars
Cover: 3/5 (cute,but not at all what I imagined the characters to look like based on the author's description)

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange of an honest review.