Review: The Chocolate Thief by Laura Florand

The Chocolate Thief by Laura Florand

Series: Amour et Chocolat, #1

Published: 2012, Kensington Books

Genre: Adult Romance, Contemporary

Source: Purchased

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A thief who stole chocolate but not his laptop? He might have to marry her. He could feel himself falling in love just at the idea.
He hoped she had worn black leather pants.
 


Cade Corey is heiress to a multimillion dollar chocolate empire. Every minute thousands of Americans eat Corey Bars (sold for 33 cents at Walmart). The Corey empire also owns a significant percentage of all the cacao plantations around the world. Cade has spent her whole life working for the family business, and decides she wants to help the company grow even more by creating an artisan chocolate line, preferably with the name of a famous Parisian chocolatier attached to it.

Sylvain Marquis is widely considered to be Paris’ premier chocolatier, and so Cade travels to France to proposition him with a business arrangement. Sylvain, however, has no desire to sell out–or to lower himself to make chocolate that would be sold at grocery stores. Although their meeting is less than ideal, Cade remains in Paris to seek other potential business partners. But Cade finds she cannot stay away from Sylvain’s chocolaterie, nor can she get him out of her head. And, unbeknownst to her, she haunts Sylvain’s thoughts as well. And his chocolaterie. Parisian chocolate may have brought them together, but a relationship between them will be anything but easy.

The Chocolate Thief is actually a pretty decent mix of steamy, mindless romance and thought-provoking reflections on how we should live our lives (and what we owe to others). First and foremost this story acts as a character study for Cade and Sylvain. Cade arrived at Paris with a specific purpose: to create a new line of artisan chocolates for the company, expanding their reach economically and globally. I love Cade’s determination in pursuing this goal, even as chocolatier after chocolatier turns her down and it seems more and more impossible to accomplish. Despite her determination, in many ways Cade has been compliant with all of her father’s wishes. So much of her life has been laid out for her, and she’s had few opportunities to really discover what she likes, and what she wants to do. Going to Paris is really her first assertion of her own wants. And, fortunately for this book, it’s not her last.

Unlike Cade, Sylvain has wanted – and chosen – to be a chocolatier ever since he first began experimenting with chocolate as an awkward, gangly teen and realized it was his best chance at impressing girls. Since then he’s come into his own, both physically and emotionally. Chocolate defines him, giving him purpose. He cannot – will not – accept Cade’s offer, because to do so would compromise his integrity and sense of self. I respected that aspect of Sylvain’s character, even though at times it made him come across as incredibly pretentious.

The romance that develops between Cade and Sylvain is of the typical hate-turned-into-love variety, but that doesn’t make it any less effective. Despite their differences – or perhaps because of them – Cade and Sylvain learn to better develop and appreciate their personal moral stances on issues. There’s nothing like a challenge to your ideals to make you really examine what those ideals are, after all.

Of course, at times the romance felt a bit over the top. Certain scenes made me alternately roll my eyes and laugh. Yet I did enjoy reading about their romance overall. It’s definitely sensual. And while I appreciated how their relationship helped both Cade and Sylvain to grow, I found myself a little bit disappointed that the majority of the novel was really about Cade’s growth, not about Sylvain’s. I understand that Cade is the protagonist, but the portrayal of her relationship certainly hinged on Cade adopting the more traditionally female roles of lack of experience, submission, youth, and naivete. This didn’t bother me so much while I was reading, but it was definitely something I noticed, and I wish that Florand could have played around with their roles within the relationship a little bit more.

As one might assume, The Chocolate Thief is a very French-oriented novel. Now, let me explain: I have never studied the French language. I know next to nothing about the French culture. My lack of prior knowledge perhaps helped me gain a little bit of understanding about the culture (or, at least, how the culture is portrayed in this book), but I also felt as though certain concepts and phrases went entirely over my head. Florand peppers her prose with many French phrases. Some are more easily inferred than others, but I still ended up skipping over a significant percentage without one ounce of understanding. As a reader, I’m frustrated when I’m not able to really grasp parts of books, especially because of something as incidental as a language barrier.

An additional note: do not read this book while not within easy proximity of chocolate. Within easy proximity of good chocolate, I should say. Seriously. I’m not one to eat while reading, nor do descriptions of food and drink usually affect me, but Florand has a way with words when it comes to chocolate. My main takeaway from this book: get to a chocolaterie and try some real chocolate as soon as possible.

The Chocolate Thief isn’t a bad book; in fact, it was an absolutely perfect pick for a lazy weekend. It’s fun, engrossing, and full of temptation (both of the romantic and chocolate persuasions). For a romance, I actually enjoyed this better than I expected I would. And I shall return to Florand’s series when I need a break from heavier, less romance-driven books.

Rating: 3 stars