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Loss, Hope, and Healing…It’s never too late for love
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ “This enjoyable book will pull you in and keep you wanting more!”
Fans of Sarah Morgan, Caitlin Crews and Danielle Steel will love this HEA romance!
Chocolate wars brew when 44-year-old, fledgling Montana-based chocolate maker Susie Sweet receives a cease-and-desist from Italian confectionary baron Raffaello Ferrero.
If you love later in life, opposites attract, enemies to lovers, romance, you’ll enjoy Susie and Raffaello’s bitter-sweet journey to love.
Trademark infringement? What the hell? 44-year-old Susie Sweet clutched the lawyer’s letter in her hands. Her stomach clenched and spasmed simultaneously. What trademark? What infringement? And why was For The Love of Chocolate, the small business she ran from her tiny kitchen in Montana, being attacked from Rome with lawfare on Valentine’s Day?
While other women were being adored, cherished, and spoiled by their loved ones with roses and chocolates—hopefully, her chocolates, she mused—Suzy Sweet, a 45-year-old divorcee and mother to an aggressive, entitled, toxic son, was being threatened by an Italian confectionary baron.
Why was her life a constant battle, with assault after assault on her kind, good-natured heart? Things had finally started going well. And now this. On Valentine’s Day! Who the hell was Raffaello Ferrero, and why was he picking a fight?
When her husband had left her for a glamourous redhead with ginormous boobs, her son blamed her. After his escalating aggressive behavior toward her and out-of-control drinking, she made the heartbreaking decision to break contact with him.
She thought life would get easier.
Thanks to the life coach she had contracted in New York, she had traded her unsatisfying, unpaid, and unappreciated life of servitude as a housewife and mother. For the first time in her life, she was doing something for herself—for fun, joy, and her love of chocolate.
“That’s it! That’s the name!” her life coach had told Susie when she told her how much she loved chocolate. And that was where her brand, For The Love of Chocolate was born. It had started as a tiny venture in her kitchen, and after six months, things had suddenly taken off, buoyed by her very popular coconut-dusted truffles.
But now lawyers, commanded by a chocolate baron with deep pockets, were coming for her. Her heart raced. as she reread the letter, tracing her fingers along the words to ensure she didn’t misread a thing.
‘Cease-and-desist’ the heading threatened. ‘You have violated the Ferrero trademark protecting the appearance of the Raffaello sweets.’
The appearance of their sweets? Was this some kind of joke? She had created her coconut-covered chocolate truffle with her own hands, innovating and adapting her great-grandmother’s favorite.
What did they mean by ‘protecting the appearance?’ How could you protect the appearance of a round chocolate ball dusted in coconut? It wasn’t a handbag, a can of Coca-Cola, or a priceless Ferrari.
The slur on her character insulted and infuriated her. They were claiming that she had done something dishonest. They were threatening further action if she did not stop making chocolates.
This Raffaello Ferrero, whoever he was, was a bully, Susie decided. A bully of the nastiest degree. Heartless and cold. He had to be. The timing of his threatening letter confirmed how mean-spirited he was. Raffaello Ferrero was not a true lover of chocolate and sweets. No self-respecting chocolate lover would send a woman a threatening letter on Valentine’s Day! Halloween or Guy Fawkes Day, maybe. But not on International Lovers Day.
Raffaello Ferrero clearly intended to set fire to her dreams and send her fledgling chocolate start-up into a meltdown. She had no doubt that he intended to bury her dreams with financially punitive and catastrophic consequences if she did not do as he wished.
“The bastard!“ she thundered as all the trials and traumas she had endured over the past year erupted in an explosion of righteous anger. “Does he think he can bully me? Well, he’s going to learn a hard lesson quickly. I will not be abused! Not again”, she vowed, rising from her kitchen table.
“I will not be pushed around. Nor will I hide. I will go to meet this Raffaello and tell him to his face what he can do with his threatening letter.”
Raffaello will regret the day he underestimated me, she mused, summoning the dark horse her life coach had taught her to ride. No more people pleasing. Her passion for bringing joy to others and loathing of injustice would be her superpower.
But would it be enough?
The rich and powerful armed themselves with expensive lawyers determined to undermine the facts, with no regard for the freedom of chocolate lovers to create the sweet success they craved.
How best to proceed? ‘Keep a good heart,’ came the words from songstress Joni Mitchell. ‘That’s the most important thing in life. It’s not how much money you make or what you can acquire. The art of it is to keep a good heart.’
I hope you enjoy this sweet book trailer I created
“For the Love of Chocolate is a short and sweet prequel that left me wanting more. We just scratch the surface of where this story is going, but I liked the characters and the settings. The story ended with a hint of what’s to come, but I definitely wanted more. I look forward to reading the full story.
~ JoAnne
“I really enjoyed this prequel. It will instantly hook you, and you’ll be anxiously awaiting the full story. I love Susie. She is so inspiring as she goes for what she wants. I enjoyed how Raffaello wanted to confront what he wanted answers for personally. I can’t wait to see what will happen next.”
~ Loreli
IBOOKS, BARNES & NOBLE, KOBO and OTHER GREAT BOOKSTORES:
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To enjoy your copy from Amazon:
AMAZON US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D6LBR533
AMAZON CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0D6LBR533
AMAZON UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D6LBR533
AMAZON AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0D6LBR533
Universal Link:
Love In Venice (Mauro and Maggie) (3rd prize, Koru Excellence in Romance Award)
Love In Mexico (Ruby and Oliver)
Love In Sicily (Gianni and Kate)
Love in Montana (Jack and Lizzie) (Pre-order, releases June 30)
Fall in love with these contemporary heroes and heroines trying to mend their hearts, overcome their fears and find true love—read the other standalone books my Mollie to discover the friends and family who tumble into a once-in-a-lifetime-happily-ever-after affair of the heart themselves. 5-star reviews