Review and Giveaway: Better than Chocolate

On Friday, Sheila Roberts was kind enough to guest post on Acting Balanced and is now offering one lucky AB reader a chance to win a copy of her latest book - Better than Chocolate as part of her Pump Up Your Book tour:

From the Publisher:

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.

My Review:

Although this book is listed as a Romance, it's really more of a tale of family dynamics and personal growth, with a little romance thrown in at the end.  I love the progression of the main character from someone who wants to take on the world all by herself to someone who understands that she needs to rely on and accept the people around her.  There is an opportunity for not only the main character to learn more about herself, but also to witness her mother learn similar lessons.  Romance and relationships are an undercurrent, but not the main focus of the story and I have to say that the ending felt a little rushed and contrived to keep the moniker rather than change the genre to another form of chick lit or women's fiction... but all in all I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read with some mild romance and a feel good story!

About the Author:

Sheila Roberts lives in the Pacific Northwest. She's happily married and has three children. Her books have been printed in several different languages and have been chosen for book clubs such as Doubleday as well as for Readers Digest Condensed books. Her best-selling novel ON STRIKE FOR CHRISTMAS was made into a movie and appeared on the Lifetime Movie Network. Her novel ANGEL LANE was named one of Amazon’s Top Ten Romances for 2009.
When she's not making public appearances or playing with her friends, she can be found writing about those things near and dear to women's hearts: family, friends, and chocolate.
Her latest book is BetterThan Chocolate.
You can visit her website at www.sheilasplace.com.
Visit her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/_Sheila_Roberts
Like her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sheila-Roberts/76502579853?ref=ts
Pick up your copy of Better Than Chocolate at Amazon: http://amzn.to/O8Mfv7

And don't forget that you can enter to win your copy here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own.