Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Don Mills, Ont. : Harlequin, 2012.
Description
Fiction. Romance. HTML: Sweet Dreams Chocolate Company has been in the Sterling family for generations, ever since Great-Grandma Rose literally dreamed up her first fabulous recipe. But now it looks as if they're about to lose Sweet Dreams to the bank--and that would be a disaster, not only for the family but for the town of Icicle Falls, Washington. Can Samantha, the oldest daughter and new head of the company, come up with a way to save it? After Samantha does some brainstorming with her mother and sisters, inspiration strikes. They'll have a chocolate festival! Time's running out, but the Sterling women are determined and the town's behind them, so everything's bound to go smoothly.... Or not. Events seem to be conspiring against Samantha, and her mother's attempts to help aren't helping. To make matters worse, the fate of her company is in the hands of her archenemy, Blake Preston, the bank manager with the football-hero good looks. It's enough to drive her to chocolate. But Blake's also enough to convince her that (believe it or not) there's something even better than chocolate.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member MinDaf
I know I sure wanted some chocolate while reading this book. It was a really good read. I was sure pulling for Samantha to save Sweet Dreams their family chocolate factory. Samantha discovered she had a terrible business mess on her hands when her step father passed away. They were behind on
This book kept me turning pages to see how Samantha and the town businesses would work through each mess to hopefully make a success of the chocolate festival and save Sweet Dreams.
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everything from suppliers to Waldo's Life insurance, and the bank is ready to call in their loan. Samantha first meeting with the bank manager Blake Preston doesn't go so well. It goes so not well that she takes back her "basket full of bribes" when she leaves. Samantha, her two sisters, and mother come up with a plan to have a chocolate festival just before Valentine's day. As they start to plan the festival the town encounters many problems. Samantha is just positive that the new bank manager is her worst enemy but will she discover he's her night in shining armor? This book kept me turning pages to see how Samantha and the town businesses would work through each mess to hopefully make a success of the chocolate festival and save Sweet Dreams.
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LibraryThing member rhonda1111
Better Than Chocolate by Sheila Roberts
4 STARS Now I want lots of chocolate! Becareful I think I gained weight just reading this yummy book. It's a book that has you hoping that Samantha can save her family's Sweet Dreams Chocolate Company. I want to come back to Icicle Falls, Washington for more
4 STARS Now I want lots of chocolate! Becareful I think I gained weight just reading this yummy book. It's a book that has you hoping that Samantha can save her family's Sweet Dreams Chocolate Company. I want to come back to Icicle Falls, Washington for more
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stories about the town. Samantha Sterling is now head of the family business her step-father has run the company into the ground. She just found out that in less of two months she has to payback the full bank loan. She is not sure how she can do that. She hopes the new bank manager will extend the loan for another six months. Blake Preston is back in his hometown of Icicle Falls as the new bank manager to take over and dig the bank out of the hole the last bank manager got them into. The bank has a strict policy on calling in bank loans. Blake feels like the town bad guy when he has to deny Sweet Dreams Chocolate Company. He really likes Samantha and sorry that he can't help. Samantha is the only one in the family working in the company. After her father died her mom remarried and put her step-father in charge. He made some bad choices and left bills pile up. Samantha asks her mom if he had life insurance and if she could loan the company money for a short time. Turns out that he did not pay that and her moms house is behind in payments too. Samantha,her two sisters and mom brain strom the idea of having a chocolate festavel and have it the weekend before Valentines Day. That is less than six weeks away. She gets the business chamber to agree and they try to have it small this year. Things look on track for the festavale and then more problems crop of. Blake is trying to help behind the scenes working on some of the problems. But his boss is making him look bad. He brought the competion up to look over at the chocolate factory that he plans to buy from the bank. Samantha's two sisters are coming home to help with the Valentine weekend. Her mother is in deep depression from having buried her second husband. It was not any easier the second time being a widow. I like the town, it sounds charming that I would love to visit. Thier are a lot of dreamy guys in the pagent to find Mr. Dreamy. Also lots of single women in town that need to find romance so I can see lots of books set in Icicle falls. They even have a ghost and if you see her you will get married soon. I was given this ebook to read in exchange for honest review from Netgalley. 09/25/2012 PUB Harlequin Imprint HarlequinMIRA Show Less
LibraryThing member ethel55
Samantha Sterling is left holding the bag, so to speak, when the Sweet Dreams Chocolate Company, founded by her great-grandma, faces seizure by the bank if their latest loan payment isn't met on time. She and her sisters, Cecily and Bailey, get together and brainstorm that what Icicle Falls, and
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their chocolate company needs, is a chocolate festival. With only six weeks to pull everything together, the story is fast paced. From the 21st century use of social media to get the word out and the town behind the Festival, to mother nature and the uncertainty of the weather, Roberts weaves a pretty good story about a very quaint and interesting small town. Show Less
LibraryThing member cookiemo
This book comes at things from a totally different point of view. It is an easy read, very few complications, but thoroughly enjoyable.
LibraryThing member beckymmoe
I had high hopes for Better Than Chocolate: chocolate and romance, what more could anyone ask for? In the end, though, it was just okay. Samantha's resentment of Blake, the new bank manager (and her former high school crush)who holds her chocolate company's fate--and its soon-to-be-defaulted-upon
There were plenty of things I liked about the book, though. Samantha and her sisters' plan for saving the company--and helping out Icicle Falls' economy at the same time--was a good one. They all worked together and pulled it off quickly, and it was fun to read about. The secondary characters, too, were enjoyable, especially sisters Cecily and Bailey and their mom Muriel. I enjoyed the town of Icicle Falls, and am planning to visit again in Roberts' next book, Merry Ex-Mas. Though this story just wasn't quite "it" for me, I did find many things to enjoy in her writing.
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loan--in his hands, seems to be a bit over the top. The situation her business finds itself in isn't really her fault--her recently deceased stepfather nearly ran it into the ground--but it's not Blake's fault either. He is unfailingly nice to her, and she definitely doesn't return the favor. As a result, their conflict has a forced feel to it, which kept me from enjoying the story as much as I would have liked to. After all her antagonism, their conflict (like a few others in the book) was resolved rather quickly, which again, detracted from my ability to lose myself in the story. There were plenty of things I liked about the book, though. Samantha and her sisters' plan for saving the company--and helping out Icicle Falls' economy at the same time--was a good one. They all worked together and pulled it off quickly, and it was fun to read about. The secondary characters, too, were enjoyable, especially sisters Cecily and Bailey and their mom Muriel. I enjoyed the town of Icicle Falls, and am planning to visit again in Roberts' next book, Merry Ex-Mas. Though this story just wasn't quite "it" for me, I did find many things to enjoy in her writing.
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LibraryThing member destinyisntfree
I received this book as a part of the Tell Harlequin panel. I have received other books as a part of that program that I have absolutely adored, so I was incredibly hopeful for this one. Couple that with the fact that I had other friends with similar book tastes to me tell me they had heard amazing
I have sat here reading other reviews and wondering if I was reading the same book, because there were a lot of people according to Amazon and Goodreads that really enjoyed this one. I just was not one of them.
Firstly, there was a lot of filler in the story - bits and pieces that had no bearing on the outcome and were just there to fill up space. I really dislike filler. A good author can paint a picture without so much extra detail that is unrelated to the main plot. I get sub plots and all, but this was not even subplot, it was just, extra.
There were some editing errors that should have been obvious and corrected before this went to print, and yet they weren't and that is always a big sticking point for me.
And then, this was a romance, right? Because the romantic relationship coming to be happened in the last 15 pages or so and felt rushed and like it was there just because people would expect it to be. I mean, seriously, a check, a kiss, a hike, an engagement? Where are the details about the relationship developing and building. I felt like a couple chapters were missing from my book, but the page numbers matched up so I know that was not the case.
I am sure Ms. Roberts is a gifted writer, at least in the minds of some readers, but after reading this one, I don't think that I will be able to read another book by this author. It took me more than a month to finish this one, and I read books of this length usually in a much shorter period of time. I felt I had to make myself keep reading. The premise was great, and this could have been an awesome book. I just felt like there was too much gritty detail, and not enough meat.
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things about this author, and I thought for sure this was going to be another hit that would melt my cynical heart. Unfortunately, I just don't feel that it lived up to the hype.I have sat here reading other reviews and wondering if I was reading the same book, because there were a lot of people according to Amazon and Goodreads that really enjoyed this one. I just was not one of them.
Firstly, there was a lot of filler in the story - bits and pieces that had no bearing on the outcome and were just there to fill up space. I really dislike filler. A good author can paint a picture without so much extra detail that is unrelated to the main plot. I get sub plots and all, but this was not even subplot, it was just, extra.
There were some editing errors that should have been obvious and corrected before this went to print, and yet they weren't and that is always a big sticking point for me.
And then, this was a romance, right? Because the romantic relationship coming to be happened in the last 15 pages or so and felt rushed and like it was there just because people would expect it to be. I mean, seriously, a check, a kiss, a hike, an engagement? Where are the details about the relationship developing and building. I felt like a couple chapters were missing from my book, but the page numbers matched up so I know that was not the case.
I am sure Ms. Roberts is a gifted writer, at least in the minds of some readers, but after reading this one, I don't think that I will be able to read another book by this author. It took me more than a month to finish this one, and I read books of this length usually in a much shorter period of time. I felt I had to make myself keep reading. The premise was great, and this could have been an awesome book. I just felt like there was too much gritty detail, and not enough meat.
Show Less
LibraryThing member destinyisntfree
I received this book as a part of the Tell Harlequin panel. I have received other books as a part of that program that I have absolutely adored, so I was incredibly hopeful for this one. Couple that with the fact that I had other friends with similar book tastes to me tell me they had heard amazing
I have sat here reading other reviews and wondering if I was reading the same book, because there were a lot of people according to Amazon and Goodreads that really enjoyed this one. I just was not one of them.
Firstly, there was a lot of filler in the story - bits and pieces that had no bearing on the outcome and were just there to fill up space. I really dislike filler. A good author can paint a picture without so much extra detail that is unrelated to the main plot. I get sub plots and all, but this was not even subplot, it was just, extra.
There were some editing errors that should have been obvious and corrected before this went to print, and yet they weren't and that is always a big sticking point for me.
And then, this was a romance, right? Because the romantic relationship coming to be happened in the last 15 pages or so and felt rushed and like it was there just because people would expect it to be. I mean, seriously, a check, a kiss, a hike, an engagement? Where are the details about the relationship developing and building. I felt like a couple chapters were missing from my book, but the page numbers matched up so I know that was not the case.
I am sure Ms. Roberts is a gifted writer, at least in the minds of some readers, but after reading this one, I don't think that I will be able to read another book by this author. It took me more than a month to finish this one, and I read books of this length usually in a much shorter period of time. I felt I had to make myself keep reading. The premise was great, and this could have been an awesome book. I just felt like there was too much gritty detail, and not enough meat.
Show More
things about this author, and I thought for sure this was going to be another hit that would melt my cynical heart. Unfortunately, I just don't feel that it lived up to the hype.I have sat here reading other reviews and wondering if I was reading the same book, because there were a lot of people according to Amazon and Goodreads that really enjoyed this one. I just was not one of them.
Firstly, there was a lot of filler in the story - bits and pieces that had no bearing on the outcome and were just there to fill up space. I really dislike filler. A good author can paint a picture without so much extra detail that is unrelated to the main plot. I get sub plots and all, but this was not even subplot, it was just, extra.
There were some editing errors that should have been obvious and corrected before this went to print, and yet they weren't and that is always a big sticking point for me.
And then, this was a romance, right? Because the romantic relationship coming to be happened in the last 15 pages or so and felt rushed and like it was there just because people would expect it to be. I mean, seriously, a check, a kiss, a hike, an engagement? Where are the details about the relationship developing and building. I felt like a couple chapters were missing from my book, but the page numbers matched up so I know that was not the case.
I am sure Ms. Roberts is a gifted writer, at least in the minds of some readers, but after reading this one, I don't think that I will be able to read another book by this author. It took me more than a month to finish this one, and I read books of this length usually in a much shorter period of time. I felt I had to make myself keep reading. The premise was great, and this could have been an awesome book. I just felt like there was too much gritty detail, and not enough meat.
Show Less
LibraryThing member TexasBookLover7
With a name like Better Than Chocolate I really expected more romance. There is very little romance in this book at all. It is more like how to rescue a chocolate factory. Still a good read just not if you are looking for a romance.
Language
Original publication date
2012-09
Physical description
393 p.; 17 cm
ISBN
9780778313458
Local notes
Icicle Falls
DDC/MDS
| Fic Romance RobertsS |