London, England - Present Day

Everyone has a vice, and for Lucy Lombard and her friends, that vice is chocolate. They met and became friends at Chocolate Heaven, a shop that sells the most delicious chocolates in London. Now, any time any of them has a crisis, they meet at Chocolate Heaven in order to console themselves with their drug of choice and to help each other through their troubles. For Lucy, this usually involves the latest heartbreak caused by her boyfriend, Marcus, or sometimes to dish about her cute boss, Aiden, whom the women have nicknamed Crush. With Nadia, the self-dubbed Chocolate Lovers’ Club is a chance to have adult conversation and get a little respite from her three year old son; Chantal uses their meetings as a chance to vent about her sexless marriage and the empty affairs she has to fulfill her needs; and Autumn, whose over-empathetic nature causes her to see her consumption of chocolate as a guilty pleasure, enjoys the friendship and shared passion for sweets.

Yet, as close as the women are, they are not always completely forthcoming with the problems in their lives. Each of them has troubles she is keeping to herself, but as those troubles start to spin out of control, Lucy and her friends realize that their friendship is stronger than they’d imagined, and with each other -- and copious amounts of chocolate -- they can get through anything.

THE CHOCOLATE LOVERS’ CLUB is an amusing story about friendship, life and love. For the most part, the novel is told from Lucy’s point of view and focuses on her: the dull job that she actually likes, her flirtatious boss, a possible new romance, and her many pratfalls along the way. Readers do get to learn about the issues the other characters are dealing with and a chance to see how they are, if not resolved, at least dealt with. An entertaining tale, be sure to look for THE CHOCOLATE LOVERS’ CLUB.

Jennifer Bishop