THE CHOCOLATE KISS (Chocolate #2) by Laura Florand + GIVEAWAY (US/Canada)

THE CHOCOLATE KISS (Chocolate #2) by Laura Florand + GIVEAWAY (US/Canada)

Paperback, 342 pages
Published on December 24, 2012 by Kensington
Genre: women's fiction, contemporary romance novel
Rating: 5 stars

Magalie Chaudron has devoted years to La Maison des Sorcieres, a tiny salon de thé  on the Île Saint-Louis, in the heart of Paris. In the quainty little shop owned by her extravagant aunts, this bi-cultural young woman, born in the US from an American father and French mother, but "packed up like a suitcase to be hauled back and forth between the lavender fields of Provence and Ithaca, New York”, has found a place she can call home. 

Her life is finally together, nicely settled in a charming one-person-size apartment, in a perfect little neighborhood, her days spent spellbinding the tea house customers with delicious chocolat chaud and the power of her magical wishes infused in each delectable cup. Everything runs as sweetly and smoothly as a luscious stream of hot and spiced chocolate, until an outrageously handsome chef pâtissier, Philippe Lyonnais, disrupts her cozy world and uneventful life with his famous macarons and the most exquisite spice of all: love. When the renowned pastry chef, in fact, decides to open one of his shops right down the street from her tea house, not only does Magalie fear that his “heavenly sandwiches of air and lusciousness” will draw all her customers away: while teaching the boastful chef a lesson in humility, our self-reliant but fragile heroine will also learn to trust in happiness again.

I savored this enchanting romance novel a blissful morsel at a time. The narrative flow is always fluid and emotionally intense, but while the previous book in the Chocolate series (read my review of The Chocolate Thief) featured comedic elements, lighthearted tones and a more lean pace, The Chocolate Kiss seems to belong to a more introspective breed of romantic fiction: more sedate the pace, more nuanced the characters. In her new novel in fact, Laura Florand doesn’t simply spin a love tale around the luring power of chocolate, “symbol of cozy warmth and epitome of pure temptation”. She explores the complexity and fragility of a woman's heart torn between different heritages and languages, interrupted friendships and lack of roots, individualism and loneliness.

The course of true love never runs smooth, and despite the fairy tale quality of the novel, Laura Florand brings to the table some deeper issues (the importance of "blooming" where we were born, self-esteem and confidence in our ability to make other people love us, mutual trust between partners) that will prevent Magalie from opening her heart to Philippe right away with joy and confidence . Under this point of view, Philippe is much more open to love. He is immediately enchanted by the quainty neighborhood and cozy tea shop, not to mention instantly seduced by Magalie’s fragile personality, the scent of her hot chocolate “maddening powerful”. Our characters conduct a war of pride for a good  part of the book and most of their meetings will end up in verbal duels, but when they argue Philippe feels "aroused and infuriated and so alive”; at the caramel smell of him Magalie feels “all silky and vulnerable”. When she finally lets her obstinate guard down, every doubt, every argument, dissolves in sheer desire and searing sensuality. ”She, who loved chocolate so much, found herself burying her nose in [his] caramel scent like a warm and golden refuge.” They perfectly complement each other, like hot chocolate and molten caramel...such a contrast and harmony in this combination. 

Remarkable, as usual, Florand’s descriptive narrative and strong sense of space and vivid depiction of the Parisian setting, particularly charming during the winter season. I love the spectacular visuals of the cobblestone sidewalks of the Île-Saint-Louis carpeted with snow, Magalie's cozy apartment on the seventh floor of a 17th century building, a blurred view of the Eiffel Tower, the yellow-pink of a lazy dawn, la patisserie down a narrow and charming street, a cup of chocolat chaud...I found myself traveling back to my beloved Europe on the pages of a book. Superb!


 **********************GIVEAWAY****************************



The publisher would like to offer a copy of The Chocolate Thief (book no. 1 in the Chocolate series)  to a lucky commenter. Drop a comment about this review or any of Laura Florand's novels and kindly include your email address  for a chance to win. Contest open only to US and Canada residents. 

*A complimentary copy of The Chocolate Kiss was generously offered by the publisher in return of an unbiased opinion.