Of Grace and Chocolate by Krista Lynn Jensen

If someone told Jillian Parish moving on is easy, she would argue that it depends on what someone is leaving behind, and how much chocolate is available.

Jill has worked hard to build up a life far different than the one scarred by her mother's alcohol abuse. She works at a busy publishing house, is writing the novel of a lifetime, and goes home alone every day to a little dog, a spotless apartment, and a piece of 70% cacao and sugar. But in one day, Jill’s phone is stolen, she is tackled by a childhood love who has no idea who she is, and finds her long-lost sister on her front doorstep. In two days, Jill’s carefully controlled world is turned upside-down. In three days, she wonders if chocolate will ever be enough again.

When Scott Gentry moves to the city of Portland, Oregon and spots Jillian at church, he learns her reputation as a lost cause. But something compels him to get Sister Parish's attention, no matter how difficult that may prove. As Scott stumbles, crashes, and falls into Jill's guarded world, he finds himself with more attention than he bargained for, and more willing to do anything he can for the woman who is not made of stone, but of strength.

Grace brings Jill and Scott together, but can grace erase the past, or save the abandoned hearts left in its wake?

~Published January 2012 by Covenant Communications, Inc.

Food To Eat While Reading:  Hint of Spice Chocolate Brownies

I can't resist stories about book lovers and writers, and I could relate to Jill's desire to publish a book--oh and her love of chocolate.

Of Grace and Chocolate has such a fun beginning. You will be hooked, I promise.

I've met Krista Lynn Jensen a few times, and she is as sweet as her book sounds.

All of the characters are very real. Jill, with her sister's problems, and her mother's substance abuse; Scott, whose father's accident left him a vegetable; and even little Shiloh, who began life in an uncertain place.

The romance and action are balanced. The tension between Scott and Jill is playful and interesting and I wanted them to get together. I was intrigued that they had a past. The backstory of their past was descriptive and lurred me in. I long to visit Costa Rica now!

I loved how many of the characters have their own personal burdens that they have to come to terms with, and how each of them helped Jill reconcile her own demons.

My only complaint is that the beginning of the book doesn't seem to match the rest of the story. The beginning feels like chick lit, and the rest is more of a romantic suspense.

Save this book for a time when you can tuck it away with you, like you would a piece of fine, dark, Dove chocolate.