ARC Review: The Chocolate Kiss by Laura Florand

The Chocolate Kiss
Chocolate #2
Author: Laura Florand
Release Date: 24th December 2012
Publisher: Kensington Publishing - Brava
Number of Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Preorder: Amazon, TBD, B&N

Welcome to La Maison des Sorcieres. Where the window display is an enchanted forest of sweets, a collection of conical hats delights the eye and the habitues nibble chocolate witches from fanciful mismatched china. While in their tiny blue kitchen, Magalie Chaudron and her two aunts stir wishes into bubbling pots of heavenly chocolat chaud.

But no amount of wishing will rid them of interloper Philippe Lyonnais, who has the gall to open one of his world famous pastry shops right down the street. Philippe’s creations seem to hold a magic of their own, drawing crowds of beautiful women to their little isle amidst the Seine, and tempting even Magalie to venture out of her ivory tower and take a chance, a taste…a kiss.

Parisian princesses, chocolate witches, patissier princes and sweet wishes—an enchanting tale of amour et chocolat.

My Review

The chocolate kiss is a sweet, mouth-watering love story story that will drag you through Paris streets and pâtisseries, to discover a world full of love, macarons and chocolate. How to begin? I really LOVED this book and I'm pretty surprised by how much, since everyone who follows my blog, knows that romances are not really my type. Maybe it was the hot chocolate or the macarons or the chocolate witches or... gnam, I can't think about all that wonder and writing a serious review at the same time! Let's go back to us, as always there were some negatives as some positives points in the book, even if the positives were mostly. Since I was a baby, I've always loved stories that were developed in pastries or bakeries, just like Chocolat by Joanne Harris (that it's still sitting on my shelf, unread) and I was sure that the Chocolate Kiss would come straight to my heart as well. In my opinion the author's ability to describe Paris and the Île Saint-Louis and to transmit her love for these places was the best part of the book; as well as the amazing description of la Maisons des Sorcières and of Philippe's kitchen that were really amazing. During all the book you can't resist at the fabulous pictures of Magalie and Philippe's creations, their love for pastries and hot chocolate and the mix of passion and ecstasy due to the perfection of their desserts. And that's how the love develops, between a rose-heart macaron, and a hot chocolate who's able to realise Magalie's wishes and the urge to defend a small tea room, from the arrival of the most famous pastry chef in France, which threatens the stability of La Maison des Sorcières.

I really liked the tension between the two protagonists that lasted for about half the book, but at the same time I thought that maybe it made the first part of the book a bit monotone; for some aspects it was interesting because both Magalie and Philippe, constantly tempted one another with their desserts, even if, neither of the two surrended until the other did the same. On the other hand, arrived at a certain point, their attraction was evident so I thought it was useless to keep playing that game. 

Protagonists

La maison des Sorcèries, en realité, La Charlotte de l'Isle

Magalie Chaudron was a young ambitious, strong woman who had finally found the place were she belonged, Paris. Her mother worked in lavender fields in France while his dad was American; during all her youth she was constantly forced to travel between France and America, which led her to an unstable life but above all to short relationships, clearly without futures. The great disappointments, due to an unfaithful boy and treacherous friends, forced Magalie to build up herself, to become a strong indipendent woman, who won't let anyboby invade her space anymore.. but will she make an exception for the beautiful, arrogant yet talented Philippe? I really liked how the author developed Magalie's personality because she's really the woman everyone would want to become. She has her own apartement, a work she loves and even if she's a little suspicious toward others, she has a few people she loves and trusts. I loved how she "melted" under Philippe's power, that she saw as a weakness but in my opinion that's just what love does, it makes us weak. What she doesn't understand until the very end is that Philippe is just as weak as she is and that this time could be worth lowering her defenses.

Philippe Lyonnais was also a great character, the stability Magalie needs in her life. He's never doubtful or irresolute, he knows perfectly what he wants and how to get it. That's why he and Magalie are complementary. I personally loved his arrogance (that Magalie hated!) and.. who are we kidding? Can you imagine having a boyfriend who will prepare for you thousands of macarons, of all flavours? That would be a dream come true! I was impressed by how he reflected his emotions, his feeling into his macarons, that were mirrors of what was happening to him in that moment.

Secondary Characters

Magalie's chocolat chaud.

Well, how can I not spend a few lines for Aunt Aja and Geneviève? They were the one that offered Magalie a piece of their life: they rented her her small apartement above the city and they hired her as an assisant at La Maison des Sorcières. They were always supportive, yet not intrusive and absolutely ADORABLES. They seemed like the aunts of "Sabrina the Witch", the cartoon I used to see as a child! They were completely different but inseparable and if it wasn't for them maybe Magalie wouldn't have gained that bit of trust in others.

Overall

The Chocolate Kiss was absolutely a delicious read, in all senses! The author has a great ability and I'm sure you'll be literally hex by Magalie's world and La Maison des Sorcières.

Rated 4,60

Favourite quotes

"Magalie's cozy tea-shop world was not crystalline or fragile, so it didn't exactly shatter on its own. It was more as if a great, Champagne-glossed boot came down and kicked it all open to merciless sunshine.

Magalies had been wrong. So wrong. Perhaps Superman could come through and leave her world untouched. But Lyonnais..."

"Altough personally I always thought that her body as a child spent all its energy putting down roots, only to have to them yanked out and broken over and over again. And then she got a little older and realized the roots weren't going to work, her body poured all its energy into building her soul so strong and self-contained. Deep down, she never had enough energy to spare to make her body bigger."