September 15, 2012
Roberts' (The Snow Globe, 2010) sweet, romantic tale features a chocolate company facing bankruptcy after several generations of family ownership. Samantha is trying to save it, but the new bank owner, Blake, refuses to grant them any more time on their loan. She and her sisters develop a chocolate festival for the small town to provide needed tourism and revenue. The most popular event features a Mr. Dreamy contest. Samantha tries to pull off the fast-approaching festival in spite of a closed road, red tape, and harassing creditors. She also tries to deny her attraction to Blake. In an interesting and realistic story line, her mother is trying to rally after the death of her husband, who had poor business sense. This is an engrossing story with strong characters and arcs similar to Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove titles. The light romance, delicious descriptions of chocolate, and recipes add to the flavor of Roberts' promising new series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)