Member Reviews
I honestly was going to write "3 for 3.75~3.99? May up it to a 4 when the entire series is done so I can decide it in retrospect"; well, it turns out I feel really bad for even just thinking about putting a 3 for it, consider I do surprisingly like this book a lot more than its predecessors. So yeah, a 4 it is.
I have to really praise Snopek on how she incorporated buttloads of characters that have appeared so far in the series. Before, I at most see authors using the characters from their specific books, with cameo-mentions that aren't really that memorable, but the way Snopek does it, she made them relevant. I mean, sure, I did realize Snopek was also extra-utilizing her characters from other series, but I'm saying she handled characters by other authors equally well imo. Gah I'm like so bad at explaining. Will elaborate it more if I have time.
Also published on:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1955119072
List of food in this book:
http://sam-can-shout.blogspot.com/2017/05/Food-in-Books-The-Chocolate-Comeback.html
A delicious, sweet read from Roxanne and a gorgeous romance at that. Would highly recommend to everybody, although I would also suggest starting from the beginning as this is book 7.
I love Roxanne Snopek. I love that she has this ability to redeem characters who I have disliked in the past. The Chocolate Comeback is the story of Deirdre "DeeDee" Cash and Isaac Litton. If the name DeeDee sounds familiar, she was first introduced in Roxanne's Cinderella's Cowboy.
The Chocolate Comeback finds DeeDee returning home to Marietta, Montana, and being a home care aide for Isaac's brother, Mark. As DeeDee and Isaac spend time together their relationship become more. I loved watching DeeDee grow as a person. It was something I didn't expect. The Chocolate Comeback is a story that will definitely tug at your heartstrings.
Another sweet and wonderful read in the Love at the Chocolate Shop series.
DeeDee Cash is back in Marietta after her modeling career in New York tanks. Always confident, and very self-centered, she knows it's time to figure out what she is going to do with her life, especially now that her twin has found her place.
Isaac moved to Marietta so he would have a better place to take care of his brother, Mark, who has Down Syndrome. When Mark is unhappy in his day program, finding help at home is even more crucial. He wasn't planning on former model DeeDee being perfect for the job. Mark likes her, and she is making positive changes in his life without causing him to melt down.
With a new job, and a chance to help her sister, not to mention the sparks that fly with her boss, DeeDee has a chance to find her place and her HEA if she has enough courage.
I love this series, and this story fits it perfectly. With an enjoyable cast of characters, and a sweet storyline, this is a fun return to Marietta.
I really enjoyed the book, it has everything I love in a novel from start to finish. I can’t wait to read what the author has planned next!
The Chocolate Comeback
Roxanne Snopek
THE CHOCOLATE COMEBACK is the seventh book in the Love At The Chocolate Shop series. The series takes place in Marietta Montana and centers around the delicious chocolate shop. DeeDee Cash has returned to her hometown to help her pregnant sister, Cynthia. Her modeling career is a joke and knows she needs to find a job to support herself. DeeDee meets Isaac and his Down syndrome brother, Mark and gets Isaac to hire her to be a caretaker for Mark. Isaac is always busy at his work at home job, and Mark needs supervision. Isaac doesn't think DeeDee is qualified and neither does DeeDee but she needs the money. Little did she know, she was making a life altering decision that day. She comes to love Mark and treats him with nothing but kindness and respect.
DeeDee knows that everyone in her small hometown is watching her. THE CHOCOLATE COMEBACK is going to have you giggling out loud at the banter between Mark and DeeDee as well as Isaac. I love coming back to Marietta MT. It's like revisiting old friends and as soon as I start reading I'm instantly emotionally invested in all the townspeople. DeeDee goes out of her way to make Mark feel like everyone else. She gets him on a healthy diet and gets him to exercise and big brother Isaac can see the results. DeeDee is good to Mark as well good for him. DeeDee loves Mark and seeing him succeed, but she wants a man of her own like, her two sisters. She is lonely.
When DeeDee's agent calls with a new modeling opportunity, she must decide what she really wants out of life. As much as Mark has grown as a man, DeeDee realizes she has grown too. Does she really want to go back to the grind and cut throat modeling that she thought was always her dream? Could she be happy in Marietta? When she puts together the town fashion show using the people who live there, it is a huge hit and makes her realize what she really wants. Now she just has to convince them all that she has changed. I'm so excited to continue this series. I have fallen in love with this small town and especially the chocolate shop.THE CHOCOLATE COMEBACK is a fun quick read that I read in a little more than one sitting.
Book received from NetGalley.
This is the second book I have read in this series and I'm pretty sure I won't be reading another one. I was ok with the premise of the book until she introduced the character with Down Syndrome. It felt like the family felt the character was a burden and couldn't wait to get them to someone who could "care" for them. I have a cousin with Down Syndrome and his parent and siblings would never treat them how this character was treated. I was disappointed. I have read short stories by this author before and liked them. I'm not sure what happened with this one.
Roxanne Snopek has done it again with The Chocolate Comeback, producing a story that oozes with her tongue in cheek humour while also addressing the very serious issues of image and society's perception of people with special needs. Part of the Love At The Chocolate Shop series, it can be read independently, though reading the other stories will introduce characters and the overall theme behind the series.
Set in the small town of Marietta, Montana The Chocolate Comeback is warm and all encompassing, rather like the community of this town I have come to love. Protagonists Dee Dee and Isaac are well rounded though each carries their own insecurities. I enjoyed watching them develop as the story progressed. I loved the way Mark, Isaac's Down Syndrome brother, was gently integrated into the community as his self confidence grew thanks to Dee Dee's care of him while Isaac learned to trust his brother's ability. This is one of the most sympathetic stories I have ever read on that subject.
Interwoven with humour and the deeper topics, this is just a lovely story. While prompting me to reevaluate some of my own ideas, it also kept me turning pages and hoping that Dee Dee and Isaac would have their happy ever after.
I found this book to be very uplifting because I felt the central theme to be this: whether the Creator made us whole and healthy or developmentally challenged, we all have our own weaknesses and hurdles that we must overcome so that we can be the person that He intended for us to be. Love really tastes like this.
A story about finding love and happiness in the last place expected.
DeeDee Cash has come home to Marietta, Montana after an unsuccessful modeling career in New York City. Unsure of what to do with her life, DeeDee’s sister introduces her to Isaac Litton, who is looking for a caregiver for his brother Mark, who has Down syndrome. DeeDee and Mark become friends which also leads Isaac to open his heart to love again.
This story is really good. I enjoyed how DeeDee not only helped Mark, but how she took charge of a fundraising fashion show and baby shower when he sister ended up in the hospital. It is a sweet, heartfelt story with characters that you just can’t get enough of.
The Chocolate Comeback by Roxanne Snopek is another brilliant masterpiece by this talented writer. I highly recommend this to all. There's humor, romance, and and chocolate. I loved this deadly combo. I was enchanted throughout the book. The main character, DeeDee, is fascinating. She doubts herself when a new challenge arises yetshe goes about doing it anyway. I really liked that about DeeDee. It made her real. Plus, her personality is a bubbly one. It would be hard not to smile when DeeDee is around...
Roxanne Snopek created a beautiful enriching story. Here, inside her seventh novel, we meet Issac who has a brother, Mark. Mark has a learning disability. This part of the novel caught my attention and snagged me further into the fictional tale. I loved how the main charcater interacted with Issac's brother, Mark. She ends up helping Mark improve himself and his life. A positive and heart felt journey. The Chocolate Comeback is exciting, entertaining, and well-written. Overall, I highly recommend it.
A heartful story that I could not put down. Deirdre has returned home to Marietta with her head hung low, she left town as an aspiring actress and it did not pan out. Now needs a job, she takes a job as a caretaker of Mark, who has downs syndrome. Mark lives with is brother Isaac. Soon Deirdre has , Mark's life improving as Isaac watches on, as Isaac's heart opens up to Deirdre. Deirdre is only here temporarily or will she open her heart to these two young men.
Loved, loved this book!! Deirdre really opens her heart up to the town of Marietta and soon the town opens up to her too. Deidre is such a good person to Mark, treats him normal and helps him make better decisions, ok so the reward is Sage's chocolate, but in limited amounts. Isaac is a dream, so good to his brother, maybe a little protective but awesome. The relationship between Isaac and Deirdre is slow building and sweet.
I highly recommend this book along with the rest of the Chocolate Shop stories!! Can't wait for the baby.
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Another winner in this Chocolate/Love series by Tule. This time around we have a woman who thought she was too good for Marietta during school... always reaching for the stars as a model. As soon as her High School Diploma was dry, she was off to NYC to model. Well, she did do a little of this and that but nothing like she thought she would.
Time went by and with wrong decisions made, she comes back home to lick her wounds. She has no idea what to do and luckily one of her sisters needs her to help with her event planning business.
During her stay there she meets a man who has relocated with his brother. He is a higher functioning person with Autism and both of them are having a bit of trouble adjusting to the new town and life. This is where our gal come in... she talks her way into a part time position helping with the brother.
This story touches the heart and is very well done.
Any of you ever read a book and it was just exactly what you needed?
Because this book was that for me!!
The perfect mixture of short, sweet, cute, romance, chocolate love, diverse characters that are NOT treated as if it's the worst thing to be different, beautifully cute characters and great writing!
I loved DeeDee and what she overcame but at the same time stayed true to her character.
I loved mark, the little brother with Down Syndrom that felt very realistic to me and I loved how his character was build and supported throughout this story.
Isaac... the male lead, the big btirher, the guy that took me a little while to get used to but he wasn't so real life in Many aspects that at the end I loved him even more for it!
One of the biggest things I love about this series and this book is how there is this cast of characters, all from different situations, all in different places but they all work together.
And i love how different diversity factors are brought into this series by including side characters that have some kind of special need. But I think never feels forced or as if it is not exactly as it should be to include that character with those needs at that moment.
In this book especially I loved how DeeDee and marks relationship too first lead for most of the book! It gave all characters so much and added so much to the story and I loved how DeeDee and many other people treated mark!
And I also loved that the author didn't romanticize Down Syndrom!
She showed the hard and the lighter moments, she gave the view into how most people treat those with special need she and the other side of how people should and can treat special needs. And it just works.
It fits and feels natural.
Because not everyone accepts or wants to accept or accommodate special needs, some people can hardly handle people that's understand social cues let alone this experience that don't. So to me it makes perfect sense to include them in this kind of book, especially since the author didn't try to paint them as the bad guys, but simple shown those because that it's just how it is.
This story just fits, it clicks, it works...
It's a wondeful story, it's a great cute romance book and deserves all the readers, so go read it!
A delicious addition to a sweet series!
I’m loving this whole series and this is another superb read. . . mind you, I’ve enjoyed by far the majority of the stories and series based in Marietta, Montana and published by Montana Born/Tule Publishing. It is a great read in its own right but I thoroughly enjoyed reconnecting with so many of the now familiar people and places who appear in these stories, regardless of who the author is. Having said that, I don’t think you need to have read any of the earlier books to still appreciate the brilliant writing, great characters and enthralling storyline in this novel.
Sometimes you have to leave a place to appreciate how great it is and that was certainly true for Deirdre Cash (DeeDee). She left with the intention of becoming a famous model but discovered that life isn’t as glamorous or simple as she’d anticipated. She’s returned to Marietta much wiser but no longer employed. Her sister introduces her to Isaac Litton and his younger brother Mark, suggesting that DeeDee could be the person to help care for Mark, who has a learning disability associated with Down’s Syndrome, whilst Isaac is working. Reluctantly he decides to give her a chance. DeeDee finds it easy to relate to Mark and soon has him improving his diet, taking more exercise, improving his appearance and generally leading a more interesting and engaging life, getting to know others in the community, socialising and learning new skills. As the attraction between DeeDee and Isaac grows she’s given the opportunity to return to modelling. Will she return to her previous career or will she give their love - and Marietta - a chance?
This is a delightful story, filled with humour, love and turmoil as Mark inadvertently brings Isaac and DeeDee together. There’s plenty of twists and turns along the way, potholes to be avoided on life’s highway en route to their happily ever after. The Chocolate Shop and its personnel play key roles in the story and it was great to read how DeeDee’s attitude to life in Marietta has changed as she reconnects with her family and others from her past. She even puts her previous experiences to great use for a good cause!
As soon as I spotted this book was available, I requested and received a copy via NetGalley. I just couldn’t resist reading another book in this series, especially by this talented author. This is my honest review after reading it. I’ll certainly be looking out for more in this series or by this author in future!
The Chocolate Comeback is another thoughtful, realistically believable story from an author that I’ve come to expect such emotional tales from. Without climbing onto my own soapbox, my son is physically challenged – the mind of a genius in a body what simply won’t work – so over the years we’ve come in constant contact with other people from that widely diverse “disabled community”, and in fact he now works with others helping them use adaptive computer equipment. I give you that little glimpse into our lives to say that this story is realistic. It’s well thought out and researched. It is believable and at times brutally honest. I’ve come to realize that there are three categories of humans, those that accept people no matter their differences, those that are afraid of what they don’t know and will do everything to tear down a person for their differences, and those that might have a touch of non-thinking cruelty but soon discover that people are people no matter their differences and come to accept and enjoy every person in their own right. We encounter all three of those in The Chocolate Comeback. And Mark’s portrayal and that acceptance reality is a major part of what made this story so believable for me – and enjoyable as well.
DeeDee has returned to her hometown of Marietta holding onto all kinds of secrets. She’d left for the bright lights and career as a model on the runways of New York City. Only to discover that there are a ton of beautiful faces out there, and a lot that she assumed simply wasn’t the reality of the business. A pretty face is only part of what makes a top level model. She’s been turned down for jobs, dumped by her agent/ex-boyfriend, broke and in need of a major financial input and an attitude adjustment. She tries to pull off the just coming home for a break lie, but her twin sister, Maddie, sees right through her. And Maddie will be the one to put DeeDee in the path of her future – if she can handle it… or more importantly them.
Isaac is a recent new resident of Marietta. He has his own business which he could run from home, if he had some help with his brother. Mark is an adult with Down syndrome, and until recently he’d lived with their mother. But Mom has a chance at love with a good man and Isaac has taken Mark in to do the care-giving for a loved brother with special needs. As is often the case, Isaac had no idea what their life together would be like and he’s floundering, making choices that may be logical but not practical. It will take some eye opening events to get Isaac to realize that he needs to rethink how he’s reacting to Mark… and perhaps make his own attitude adjustments.
Watching a spoiled beauty who never will hold back her own opinion, a good hearted man out of his element, and a man who simply loves and accepts everyone was a delightful experience. DeeDee and Isaac get off on the wrong foot immediately, but Mark will be the bridge between them in many ways. And even though she may not have formal training, DeeDee instinctively knows how to work with Mark. First of all she treats him like anyone else with expectations of behavior and abilities. She speaks normally, not in that annoying sing-song voice that many people use. In so many ways, this isn’t a love story between DeeDee and Isaac – it’s a family love story. I won’t sugar-coat it, walking into an established family that includes a person with any type of special needs is not an easy, breezy piece of cake. And there will be mistakes, misunderstandings by everyone involved. But when the love is strong enough anything is possible.
I always enjoy running into well loved characters in an ongoing series. Loved seeing Sara Marie play such an amazing part in this story. Oh, what a wonderful experience it was to finally see the town gossip get the take-down that was so long overdue. Have to admit I did a fist pump during that scene.
I’ve used a lot of words to say that I completely enjoyed The Chocolate Comeback and would highly recommend this story, and the entire series. This heartfelt story is believable, realistic with characters you’ll come to appreciate and love. To Roxanne Snopek, well done on creating a beautiful family love story around a unique group of people.
*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*
Coming home again while it may have the element of bitter as in bittersweet, it can still be so satisfying like a rich piece of dark chocolate on the tongue. Such is the lesson DeeDee Cash learns in The Chocolate Comeback by Roxanne Snopek. This coming home story has characters who aren’t perfect but still admirable, a cause to support, with family sticking together during the hard times and a slow building romance to boot. Humorous at time, then turning serious on a dime, made this an unpredictable great read.
Of course, I fell for Mark and then Isaac too as the story progress. However, what made this a 5-star story for me was reading how thanks to DeeDee, Carol Bingley got her comeuppance. That should have been done many books ago. I guess timing is everything.
This series seems to be a good vehicle for closing out family stories within the context of a new series. This time it is Snopek's Cash family (see also The Chocolate Cure). DeeDee is the last of the Cash sisters without a man, and she also happens to be without a job. Like others in this series, she returns to Marietta to lick her wounds. Like her twin Maddie, she is rehabilitated through the book. Callous, cares only about herself DeeDee becomes "she feels too much and so protects herself" DeeDee.
Isaac and Mark Litton were mentioned briefly in The Valentine Quest and now we get their story too. Mark has Down syndrome. He is not alone in this series, either. Love at the Chocolate Shop has featured several characters who have developmental delays or other things that make their everyday lives harder. Isaac (like Brant before him) is now taking care of his brother Mark and moves them to Marietta. Also like Brant before him, Isaac struggles and agonizes over allowing Mark to step outside some very rigid lines.
DeeDee comes across as sweet and clueless for the most part if also rather self-centered. I have no idea how she survived even a month in the cutthroat world of modeling. When she starts helping with Mark, it's only a matter of time before she and Isaac hit it off. There isn't much in the way of steam here. It's a couple kisses and a lot of implied want. DeeDee's issues with Marietta and the implied issues with the people of Marietta were an underutilized backdrop to the story.
I had the same problem with this book as I did with Melt My Heart, Cowboy in that issues of developmental delay are handled without any real medical or otherwise knowledgeable supervision. Somehow, just the mere presence of a nice person fixes a lot of things. I found that frustrating since it feels so very unrealistic. Both books feature a couple of meltdowns but paint them in a bit of a rosy glow.
Overall, I like this book and DeeDee, Isaac, and Mark all touched me. There is some sadness for Chad and Cynthia (Cinderella's Cowboy) but there is a lot here that is very uplifting.