Title: Bride By Chocolate
Series: Sweet Seduction
Author: Alexis Lusonne Montgomery
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: January 4, 2016
Publisher: Entangled / Ignite
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:
She’s everything he’s not looking for in a wife…
When not-so-sweet sabotage strikes Bebe Waterston’s gourmet chocolate factory, things start looking hopeless. But she’s not a quitter. After sacrificing her personal life to prove she can run the family business, she’ll do anything to save it—including accepting help from an unlikely source: San Francisco’s high society “ Prince Charming” .
Sam Sugarman’s on a mission to marry. And in Sam’s family, finding a wife follows a recipe that starts with a box of Waterston’s Chocolates. When the supply runs out right before Valentine’s Day, the savvy CFO steps in to solve the problem, and finds the cure for his sweet tooth in the spitfire redhead. But now his dilemma is two-fold: convince Bebe he isn’t the serial-dating playboy she believes him to be and keep her safe from the person menacing her and her business.
Thrown together as the danger escalates, the mismatched duo tangles in and out of the bedroom. With a benefit gala and the fast-approaching, day-of-love deadline, they’ll need more than the gold-foil delicacies destined for a bride by chocolate.
Read on for my thoughts on Bride By Chocolate. No true spoilers, promise.
Sam has reached the point in life where he wants to settle down, have a family sort of like what his parents have. By following the “formula” his father created when searching for the love of his life, Sam has one dated just about every tall, willowy, blonde in San Francisco with the exact same date – a box of Waterston’s Chocolates, dinner, the opera and late night drinks. So far the results have been somewhat a failure but he is determined. So when his date tosses the second choice chocolate back in the delivery man’s face, Sam with the encouragement of his executive assistant decides to step in the situation.. because, he can. His dating formula is falling apart without Waterston Chocolates and nothing will deter him from finding a wife. So he’ll fix whatever their pesky little problem and move along with his plans. Hmmm…what’s that saying about best laid plans?
BeBe has no idea why her orders for the ingredients of her family’s famous chocolates are being sent to the wrong places. It’s been happening for months now, getting worse every single week it seems – and nothing she does seems to make a bit of difference. When one of the company’s biggest clients, a serial dater shows up at the factory demanding to speak to her, BeBe is simply annoyed and tries to brush him off – until he looks over her shoulder at her monitor and sees things on the spreadsheets that she couldn’t.
Well, there she is. It’s all Sam could think in that first moment. He’d been looking in the eyes of every Nordic blonde beauty in town thinking he was searching for a woman who looked like his beautiful mother – when in fact, he’d been searching for a petite, pixie redhead. But how to claim her when she had no idea she held the keys to his future happiness and their family. First off he’d find out what was happening at the company. Certainly after he solved this pesky little problem she’d fall into his hands. Hmmm.. probably not.
And so begins this delightful romance between Sam and BeBe. Bride By Chocolate is such a fun story. Not only are the characters likable and believable, the story is solid as well. Told in a tone that moves from laughter to tears, seduction to tracking down a saboteur, in a seamless flow that tells a tale of two people, each with insecurities and strengths, each with their own ideas of what love is. We watch Sam make some mistakes in his take charge manner and immediately fix them. No time for stewing, just make it right. We see BeBe set aside her fears as she slowly trusts Sam long before her head catches up with that fact. I liked these people. I cared about what happened to them and the people around them. And that’s what makes a story great for me – when it matters to me, then the author has captured me and my imagination for the rest of the story.
If you love lighthearted romance, a little bit sexy and a whole lot of two people falling in love – then Bride By Chocolate is a story you should go pick up now. Because I think you’re gonna love it too.
*I received an e-ARC of Bride By Chocolate from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*
Available in Paperback and for the Kindle
