Very sweet and intense. Love her characters, although I think two protagonists might have issues down the road. But they have such a wonderful, hopeful beginning. ( )

I don't usually give a lot of five star reviews, but it seems in the last month or so, I've given several. This is one of those novels. It's interesting that three of my five star reviews are works by this author!

While reading The Chocolate Touch, the fairytale Beauty and the Beast came to mind. Our hero Dominique Richard is hardly a beast, he just thinks of himself that way. He is big, very big and he has huge scarred hands earned by working in a slaughterhouse as a young man. Now he designs the most intricate and fragile chocolates for his own shop. He is a Chocolatier.

Our Beauty is Jaime Corey, a thin wisp of a woman who visits Dom's shop daily with a hooded jacket and hides in a corner. He is immediately infatuated. Why is she so thin, what is she hiding from? He starts to wait for her arrival to make his day. If she doesn't come, he immediately worries. Has she found another shop, is she ill, does she not really like his chocolates? "He didn't know why he was looking for her. She was too thin and too fragile for him, although something about her conversely exuded strength." Jaime is a member of the infamous Corey Chocolate family, but that's one of her secrets.

Dominique and Jaime are damaged. Dom by his loveless abusive childhood, Jaime after years of trying to save the world, she couldn't be saved from cruel attackers. She has recovered from her physical injuries, but her soul is damaged , and she detests being frightened.

This novel is a delight to all your senses. The beauty of Paris, the exquisite chocolates Dom produces , and the slow progression of two people who are falling in love, but aren't really sure how to. Dom's internal conversations with himself are hysterical. Jaime becomes Dom's fierce protector with her family.

I highly recommend this novel, especially for readers of The Chocolate Series. This novel is easily read as a stand alone. It is pure delight.

Pat Fordyce ( )

The Chocolate Touch by Laura Florand
I wanted to read this book first for the chocolate. That this is also a love story
set in Paris just makes it that so much more enticing.
Dominicique Richard is a chocolatier and finds the woman who visits the shop daily very fascinating. He finally meets her and they connect.
When he finally finds out her name he still doesn't know her last name. The chocolate expo is soon approaching and he has to come up with a
sculpture made out of chocolate. That and taking her to new places keeps him busy. Love the sound of his laboratory - at work where he does his magic with chocolate.
Very erotic sex scenes and he does find out why she's in town and he's afraid she will pack and leave. Love her storyline with her family and their connection.
Chocolate in Hearts is the next in this series and a sample chapter is included.
I received this book from The Kennsington Books in exchange for my honest review ( )

Laura Florand’s Chocolate series has been one great book after another! The latest book in the series “The Chocolate Touch” features the sister of a previous heroine and another temperamental, hunky, French chocolatier. Jaime Corey has endured a traumatic and physically damaging experience and is now in Paris, spending a lot of time in the chocolate shop of Dominique Richard, enjoying his unusual chocolate creations. She sits alone and allows the essence of the place to help her heal and finds herself becoming more and more attracted to Richard.
Dom is the bad boy of French chocolatiers. He comes from a rough background and became famous but not well liked in the elite community. He is fascinated by the skinny, fragile looking woman who eats his creations with such enjoyment and he finds himself trying to change his brusque persona.
I really enjoyed the beauty and the beast theme in this book. The strange thing is that both Dom and Jaime see only the beast or negative side in themselves and the beauty in the other person. Jaime sees herself as a damaged frightened shell of what she once was and Dom can’t seem to rise above the violent and aggressive person he used to be. You can feel the longing between them as you read the book and when they finally get together, the words sizzle on the pages.
The expectations of family and antipathy of the other chocolate makers cause some problems in their relationship. Jaime being a member of the dreaded bourgeois Corey family is a bombshell for Dom but he handles it well. I really loved the emotion in this book and how afraid both people are to love each other initially even though they desperately need the physical and emotional contact. When they work through their issues, you feel as though they have been through a marathon to get to each other.
One of my favorite bits was how Jaime’s grandfather keeps trying to get Dom to make spinach infused chocolate. I also liked seeing the couples from past books even if they weren’t always nice to Dom. There is another Corey sibling featured in the next book, The Chocolate Heart, due out in December. The anticipation is killing me…. ( )