REVIEW: Sinfully Sweet by Janelle Denison, Jacquie D'Alessandro and Kate Hoffmann

ISBN 9780373792382
Genre: Contemporary Romance
(c) February 2006, Harlequin Blaze
Janelle Denison's website
Jacquie D'Alessandro's website
Kate Hoffmann's website

Rating: 4 stars

Available in Book Depository (print).

"Sinfully sweet and will leave you begging for more."

Sinfully Sweet is, as its name suggests, sinful and sweet--the descriptions of the chocolates involved, the scent in the shop, and the way two of the heroines enjoyed the chocolates...Yum yum. Enough to give one a "chocogasm".

The anthology revolved around a chocolate shop of the same name owned by Marcus and Ellie Fairbanks. I can't quite decide if the Fairbanks are ordinary people like you and me or they possessed some magical quality that enabled them to perform matchmaking services through the help of chocolates. And speaking of chocolates, yum yum. Be prepared to drool, and if you have time, go out first and buy a box of chocolate truffles to eat while reading. We may have to live vicariously through the heroine for her romance with Mr. Hunk, but not so with the chocolates!

Wickedly Delicious by Janelle Denison

Rebecca Moore met Connor Bassett at her sister's wedding rehearsal and she was immediately taken with the handsome playboy. But she wouldn't give in to the attraction, as she has a lot of hang-ups due to her past and with what she thought was Connor's character. I thought Connor is a refreshing change from the commitment phobic heroes we usually meet. This man actually wanted Rebecca and the whole cottage with the white picket fence and 2.5 kids. We are treated to the sight of a man bent on winning the woman of his dreams, and not just for sex. I love the scenes from Connor's point of view. And the chocolates played a sensual part in this goal as an aphrodisiac of the best kind. Also, I like that the ending was realistic in that the heroine's hang-ups didn't all just magically disappear, but there was an acknowledgement that she needed time to work through all of her issues. (Though Rebecca's protest about the age difference was dropped all too quickly, in my opinion.)

Constant Craving by Jacquie D'Alessandro

This novella was the best of the bunch for me. Carlie Pratt and Daniel Montgomery were long-time neighbors, and Daniel couldn't wait to move out of the small town to his new big break in the city. He eagerly looked forward to getting away from Carlie's puppies which frequently messed up his yard. Until the day he saw Carlie (sans puppies) in the chocolate shop and he wondered how he could never have "seen" her before. And when Carlie ate those chocolates like she was having an orgasm (yup, here is where "chocogasm" came from. I guarantee you'll never look at chocolate the same way again.), Daniel was lost--willing and hot and ready for just about anything. This story was just plain fun, especially the way these two interact with each other. The antics of those two puppies came as just too much of a coincidence though, but I wasn't really too much bothered by it.

Simply Scrumptious by Kate Hoffmann

Kel Martin and Darcy Scott had a one-night stand five years ago, but neither could forget the other in the intervening years. When they met again in the chocolate shop, Kel was determined not to lose her again. The story started out fine as it lay down the groundwork of their past and made me anticipate the time when they'd see one another again. Everything was good, until we came to Darcy's issues with her father. I felt the story started to unravel from the time her father came onto the scene, and her subsequent exchanges with Kel also made no sense. I know Darcy's confused with her feelings and what she really wanted, but the result was that I also became confused as to what's happening.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, so I'm giving it a rating of 4 stars.