review: better than chocolate by sheila roberts

Samantha had known for a while that her stepfather was doing a terrible job managing the family chocolate business, so his sudden death brings her relief mixed with guilt over that relief. While Samantha and her two sisters try to support their grieving mother, Samantha also makes a terrible discovery—Waldo wasn’t paying any of the bills and the bank has called in the loan. With the help of her sisters, Samantha rallies their tourist town to hold a chocolate festival in hopes of saving the business that’s been in the family since Great-Grandma Rose dreamed up the first recipe.

Sheila Roberts nicely juxtaposes strong-willed Samantha with her mother, who has “no head for business” and always relies on a man (her daughters were not surprised when she married soon after their father’s death). As Better Than Chocolate progresses, both women change. Samantha finally gets out of her own head long enough to recognize the antagonistic and attractive bank manager is actually trying to work with her while Muriel walks away from the lecherous mayor who could solve their problems. Although the women are under a lot of stress, Better Than Chocolate is fairly light-hearted with lots of humorous moments. The first full-length Icicle Falls story (there’s an earlier novella that introduces some of the characters) shows how a family pulls together in times of struggle.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Harlequin.