I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Published by Allen & Unwin on April 1st 2015
Genres: Fiction, General
Pages: 400
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Christmas Livingstone has ten rules for happiness, the most important of which is 'absolutely no romantic relationships'.In The Chocolate Apothecary, her enchanting artisan store in Tasmania, she tempers chocolate and creates handmade delicacies. Surrounded by gifts for the senses, in this shop chocolate isn't just good for you, it's medicine.And then one day a stranger arrives at her front door - a dishevelled botanist seeking her help. She really doesn't need Lincoln van Luc to walk into her life, even if he does have the nicest blue eyes, the loveliest meddling grandmother and a gorgeous newly rescued dog. She really doesn't need any of it. Or does she?Set across Tasmania, Paris and Provence, this is a glorious novel of a creative woman about to find out how far in life a list of rules will take her, with an enticing tangle of freshly picked herbs, pots of flowers and lashings of chocolate scenting the air.
Josephine Moon’s The Chocolate Promise is a delightful story about love, life and best of all – chocolate! Owner and founder of a artisan chocolate store in Tasmania, Christmas Livingston lives her life according to a set of rules she believes will help her live a happy life. With her career keeping her busy as well as being a fairy godmother to those in need, Christmas is too busy for love or other complications. When Lincoln, a handsome botanist, arrives on the scene, Christmas embraces the opportunity to explore his botanical link to chocolate but keeps Lincoln at arms length. Falling in love has never been one of Christmas’ rules.
This book was a beautiful read. In between the decadent descriptions of Christmas’ delicacies and the antics of Christmas’ patrons and family members – I fell in love with the characters and the story. The Chocolate Promise is one of those books I didn’t want to put down.
Christmas is a great character to follow as she creates her chocolate delicacies and travels the world to discover more about herself and the sweets she is so passionate about. She’s creative and intelligent and best of all she loves what she does. A chocolatier with a heart of gold, Christmas could run the risk of being saccharine yet she has enough flaws to make her interesting. I loved watching her as she found her balance in life. Her family are dysfunctional and realistic with their relationships with Christmas being complicated and completely believable. Lincoln van Luc brings his own family issues to the story and some great characters along with him. His grandmother and the other residents of the Green Hills retirement home were a highlight.
The Chocolate Promise is a book where there is a romantic storyline and it is one which is handled with great care. There is a lack of predictability yet the drama surrounding possible complications not overwhelming everything else going on. At its heart, this book is about Christmas finding her place in life and finding happiness in the life she is living. The Tasmanian setting worked beautifully with the story (I could picture the Chocolate Apothecary perfectly in my mind) and the French chapters brought a lovely European vibe to the pages.
The Chocolate Promise is a beautiful story with engaging characters. There is a lot of heart in this story with the characters being both interesting and realistic and the descriptions being exceptionally vivid. A must read for anyone who enjoys well written, heart warming stories and has a bit of a sweet tooth.
Thanks to Allen and Unwin for the review copy.
Also by Josephine Moon:
The Tea Chest has been on my TBR for a little while but this sounds even better! I love chocolate and paired with great characters and a heart warming story how can I resist! Thanks for sharing and for your great review!
Any book which has chocolate as part of the story immediately has me interested 😉 This genuinely sounds like the type of contemporary I’d enjoy, and it’s great that part of it is set in Australia. Thanks for sharing Kate 🙂