Maybe it's because I have read Laura Florand before but this was not a good read for me. Based on her other books, this one did not meet my expectations. As a matter of fact, I was starting to wonder if she was even the writer for this book. There are seven books in her Amour et Chocolat series and I have read five of them (including this one). This is the only one I have not liked.Florand usually writes such strong characters that I can relate to. I actually hated both Gabriel and Jolie. First of all, Gabriel is so incredibly whiny. He just broods about some girlfriend that left him years ago (and really, it didn't even sound that serious) and he complains ALL. THE. TIME. about not being married. He thinks "what's wrong with me" and "why does he get to be married and I don't." Those were actually his thoughts. Guy just don't think like that, at least not to my knowledge. I am pretty sure I have heard a girlfriend of mine utter those exact sentiments. And when him and Jolie started sleeping together, became incredibly clingy and even more whiny. He whined about her going to visit her father who just had a stroke for crying out loud. He whined about other men cooking for her. He whined about being too rough during sex. He whined about her not saying "I love you" back to him, even though he said it about five minutes after they started having sex. In short, he whined a lot. And then there was Jolie. I just didn't get her. She kept calling him a beast and a brute, even though he was far from it (remember, I said he was whiny?). She would complain about his roar, but then she liked the wild side during sex. I also did not get why she was so turned off by Gabriel. First she said that she would never marry a chef because of the hours. Then she said she hated relationships because once she was in them, the men became very clingy and needy. I guess she got the best of both worlds with Gabriel. Then there were the sex scenes. In the other books, they were so steamy that I blushed when I read them in public. Yes, the sex scenes actually were kind of graphic but they had zero steam. And they basically spent five chapters making stupid sexual innuendos that only high schoolers and extremely immature people make. The author was trying too hard to make the reader believe the two characters wanted to have sex together. There was so subtlety and no building of passion. And it seemed like it was all about sex. They flirt, they sleep together and five minutes later Gabriel is talking about marriage and kids (big surprise there).This was a big disappointment. I expected better from Laura Florand. I have read three books by Ms. Florand in succession. I was obsessed with The Chocolate Kiss. I am not sure why. There are so many ways I would have preferred this story to be written. This one left me wanting. Partly because the romance bloomed to quickly. Partly because I find it unfathomable that these devastatingly handsome chefs have trouble finding love. That being said the explanation of the challenge of finding someone who will put up with the demanding schedule of a chef as opposed to a chocolatier or patisserier seems more plausible. However, Gabriel is a man who wants to settle down. A rarity. He throws passion into everything he does. Unusual. He is devastating handsome. He is successful. He is wealthy. He makes a living making desserts. If he held up a sign in Manhattan advertising these qualities he would be snapped up in less than a New York second. I wish the story was written differently. The potential to build the romance could have been more entertaining and believable if there was more of the rivalry between Gabriel and Pierre and more angst by Jolie as her loyalty became divided. It was so easy to make her father out as the bad guy but life is not that simple. I enjoyed learning about what a career in food service demands. I love hearing about the culinary creations although it was harder to visualize the creations of Gabriel where the first two books focused more on flavor profiles. I will continue with this series but no longer in succession.
What do You think about The Chocolate Rose (2000)?
First time reading this author... not bad. I'll read another.
—kyky
