Blog Tour Review of Chocolate Aftertaste by Liz Grace Davis

Publisher: CreateSpace
Release Date: April 2, 2012

Buying Links: Amazon    Barnes & Noble   The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

At her pre-wedding dinner, Nora Darkin, the daughter of a wealthy entrepreneur, discovers her fiancé is not the man she thought he was. As her father hoists his glass to toast them, she makes an announcement: there will be no wedding to her father's right-hand man.

Due to the fresh rift driven between her and her father, Nora escapes to the quaint town of Dreara. Determined to live her life her own way, she makes new friends and pursues her lifelong desire of becoming a chef. Ethan Danes, a neighbour with his own broken heart, helps soothe hers.

Just as Nora discovers what it means to be happy, and she begins to fall in love with Ethan, a woman from his past re-enters his life.

Reviewed By: Bea

Bea's Thoughts:

Not long after downloaded this book I got an email about a blog tour for it from Sizzling PR. Since I was planning on reading the book anyway, I thought "Why not?" so I signed up. "Chocolate Aftertaste" is part womens fiction and part romance. Nora spends much of the novel learning about herself and changing her life; she also re-examines her relationships with both her father and her fiance and makes new friendships. Along the way, she falls in love and also reconnects with an old flame. There's an HEA at the end, but Davis kept me on toes trying to guess who Nora would end up with.

I really enjoyed reading about Nora's life changes and her growth. I loved that instead of sitting around, whining, she recognized her contributions to her problems and set about making deliberate changes. She thought about what she wanted, took steps to make it happen, and dealt with the consequences. She was uncertain at times and still made some poor choices but overall, she moved forward while growing emotionally.

The love story part of the book was a little soap operaish at times. Over the course of the book, she is involved with three men, and is engaged to or seriously considers marrying each of them. Now, I liked Nora but she didn't strike me as a woman who would attract so many men. It felt over the top at times. Of the three men, Ethan gets the most story time. I would have liked more development of both Liam and Shane. Liam disappears from the story somewhat abruptly which surprised me. Given what we'd seen of him, I expected retaliation on his part and not just slinking away quietly. I disagreed with Nora's ultimate choice but I understand why she chose whom she did.

I enjoyed the book: it was a quick easy read, I liked Nora and could relate to her struggles, and Davis had a knack for drawing you in and keeping you reading. While I enjoyed the romance angle, my favorite part of the book was Nora's making a new life for herself; the choices she makes, the people she meets and befriends, the challenging relationship with her father, etc. I enjoyed "Chocolate Aftertaste" and will probably read it again.

I own this ebook.