Having never read anything by Carole Matthews before, I decided to delve in and read The Chocolate Lovers’ Club, a contemporary romance with a tasty, chocolaty twist.
The book begins with an introduction to the chocolate lover’s club in the first person narration of Lucy Lombard, the founder of the group. She was one of the first to discover Chocolate Heaven, a decadent chocolate shop and café rolled into one. As a woman with a serious chocolate addiction, this place really is her heaven and refuge from the outside world, which she shares with the three other women in the club. They all met at the café via their mutual love of chocolate, and now call emergency meetings there whenever something goes wrong in their lives.
Lucy’s main problem is that her boyfriend of five years has repeatedly cheated on her, then comes crawling back with more extravagant ways of begging and she forgives him. However, this time the girls urge her that enough is enough, and perhaps she should take a chance with her attractive boss Aiden, despite the fact that her firm is full of sexist men and misogynistic comments. She is often the butt of their jokes, and as she is only a temp she has little choice but to carry on muddling along (her desk drawer full of choccy snacks always comes in handy!).
Next up is Chantal, a wealthy American who moved to London with her husband several years ago. She is the oldest of the group at thirty-nine, but she is discontent with her marriage as her husband is not interested in having a sex life with her. Every time she makes advances to him he pushes her away, so she has been seeking pleasure elsewhere with her clients.
Then, there is Autumn, from a rich background but in touch with nature and dedicated to the greater good, spending her time working at a rehab centre for disadvantages youths. However, when her brother turns up out of the blue, he brings trouble to her door and takes advantage of her good nature.
Finally, there is Nadia, a housewife with a three-year-old son who is struggling to make ends meet with her husband. He is a plumber with a gambling addiction who has placed their finances into the red and maxed out every credit card they own. With debts piling up around her, will she manage to make her husband see sense?
The perspective often changes between the other women in the group, but Lucy’s is the only one in first person whilst the rest are in third. However, this doesn’t seem to affect how well-rounded the characters are, as I could get a feel for each of them and their life stories via the excellent writing. I could understand their desire for chocolate as a quick fix to their problems, as I’m sure we’ve all indulged in chocolate therapy at some point in our lives. The descriptions of the decadent chocolates and desserts served at Chocolate Heaven made my mouth water, and I found myself wishing I had some fancy chocolate next to me whilst reading.
As her perspective seemed the most frequent and memorable for being in the first person, I found myself really liking Lucy, as she is perhaps the most funny and witty of the four. She always seems to be falling into some clumsy mishap, and I particularly enjoyed her catastrophe whilst white water rafting on a team building day. She always seems to make the wrong choices where her relationships are concerned, but she always comes through for her friends at the chocolate lover’s club. It was via her perspective that we hear the most about different types of chocolate, as she is happy to dip into anything from a Mars bar to a box of Thorntons Continental.
Unlike the majority of multiple perspective novels, I found that I enjoyed the viewpoints of every character in the club, and didn’t stray towards any particular one. Chantal’s life gives an insight into how money isn’t everything, and can actually prove a problem in attracting the wrong kind of men. This provided a great contrast to Nadia, whose debts had left her down to her last fiver and unable to afford food for her son. Needless to say, the club come to her rescue when she finally comes clean about her situation, but whether or not she can ever trust her husband is another story. I think that Autumn is the only character who I would have liked to see developed a little more, as her perspective is often more about those she is helping than about herself. This does sum up her character as a do-gooder, but I still wanted a bit more.
On the whole, this was one of the best romance novels I’ve picked up, with the added allure of chocolate proving to be most advantageous. Each of the women has their own relationship drama, and I enjoyed seeing each of these develop. The support of the group helped them to leave or initiate contact with men, and I think we can all understand those times when you need someone to give you the extra push. This was by far a feel good book, as I couldn’t help smiling and laughing at a lot of the antics the women got up to. Matthews has a great talent for writing comedy scenes and witty comebacks, and I hope to read the sequel as soon as I can.
One of the best contemporary romances I’ve ever read, this book was full of laugh out loud humour and a likable cast of characters. The added bonus of reading about the women’s chocolate fixes made it even more of a tasty read, encouraging you to reach for your nearest chocolate bar and tuck in. I loved that the events of the novel were not as predictable as romance can be, with each twist earning a gasp or laugh at every turn (often both!). This is definitely a must-read for anyone with a love of romance or chocolate.
Rating: 4.5 Stars
The Chocolate Lover’s Club by Carole Matthews
(Chocolate Lover’s Club #1)
Chick Lit
Sphere (1 Mar 2013)
Paperback: 401 pages
Website || Goodreads || Amazon UK: Paperback / Kindle || Amazon US: Paperback / Kindle
