I've come to really enjoy Jenny Colgan books in the past year since discovering her and The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris is another delight!

This story mainly surrounds Anna who goes to Paris after an accident to get away from her 'real life' and make a new one for herself at the urging of a past teacher-turned-friend named Claire.

Claire also figures into the story having her own romance woven through the pages of her own time in Paris in the early 70s.

Both the stories are sweet and the chocolate stories will make you want to barge into your closest bar of chocolate every time you read a new recipe.

For me, I felt this story felt a bit short on the charm I've come to expect from Jenny Colgan. It was absolutely readable and fun but just fell a bit short for me. Mostly because the two main heroes in the story are everything but and I kind of want to smack them both. Anna is a charmer though!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a copy of the eARC novel in exchange for my honest review.

I adore Jenny Colgan, if I need cheering up, a light and happy read, I always know I can turn to her books and they won’t let me down. Like her other books this is joy manifested in paper or e-book. Paris and Chocolate, she knows the way to my heart and she really does, amazing characters that are always relatable and you want to take home and keep. This is just the perfect anytime book, you won’t want to put it down.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

A good new cozy mystery set in Paris. The mystery was interesting and the characters were engaging i look forward to more from this author.

I just knew I was in for a treat with this book - pun intended! Jenny Colgan is dependable and I was looking for something light and lovely, which is exactly what I got here. Yes, it is predictable, but it was still a wonderful summer read)

The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris is delightful and engaging. It transported me to France with its vivid portrayal of the City of Lights and had me craving chocolate with such rich descriptions that I could almost taste it!

We first meet our protagonist, thirty-one year old Anna at the chocolate factory, where she has just had a serious accident. The first sentence drew me right in and I was hooked.

“The really weird thing about it was that although I knew instantly that something was wrong—very, very wrong, something sharp, something very serious, an insult to my entire body—I couldn’t stop laughing.”

Anna is taken to the hospital where she rooms with Claire, her high school French teacher. Anna never cared much about school but she is now a captive audience and Claire insists she reacquaint herself with the language under her tutelage. After several weeks in the hospital, Claire arranges for Anna to go to Paris to apprentice at a famous chocolate shop owned by an old friend. Then the story really takes off as we watch Anna learn her way around Paris, settle into the apartment she shares with Sami, a flamboyant man who works at the Paris Opera in the costume department, learn about making gourmet chocolate and become acquainted with Thierry, the owner of Le Chapeau Chocolat.

Throughout the book there is a parallel narrative contained in short and separate sections, of Claire at seventeen first going to Paris as an au pair and her experience there, especially meeting Thierry and the development of their relationship. So for example, as Anna learns about the opportunity to work at the chocolate shop, we also read, in the next section, about Claire’s au pair position with her mother’s pen pal in Paris. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of these two narratives and felt that I was getting a second story while catching up on a back story.

The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris is charming and heartwarming with a tiny bit of sadness. It explores the fish out of water concept of living in a foreign country as well as first loves and second chances. The characters are likable and have been well developed. The story may be a tad predictable at times but it did not detract from my enjoyment. It’s a light and quick read that would be perfect as a beach read or an escape from a snowstorm.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for an advance ready copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Well, first of all I loved the descriptive writing when the main character was in Paris as well as when she was sharing anything to do with chocolate. I was greatly distracted and turned off by the long scenes that had to do with Claire. I didn’t feel her story as strongly as The main character and actually skimmed over the Claire sections and still followed the story. Not my favorite Jenny Colgan story but if you
Love chocolate and want to experience the sensuality of Paris, try it and see what you think!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Lovely read, finished in a weekend. I had the feeling I had read it before but maybe just familiar.

I love the 2 female main characters and how Claire’s life parallels in the future. I didn’t love the accident. To me it seemed like a minor trauma that was made a big deal
Of and I’m not sure that it would have been.

I love Paris and felt swept up in all of the descriptions feeling like I was really there. I so wanted Claire to get her happy every after and was affected by the bitter sweet ending.

Another great Jenny Colgan book ❤️

I normally love Jenny Colgan, and this book was quick and pleasant and readable as all of her books are, but overall this one fell very flat for me. First of all, it was permeated from start to finish with completely unnecessary anti-fat sentiment, not just to do with Thierry and his health but also random observations about total strangers, and that was really off-putting. Second of all, unusually for Colgan, the relationships were not well-developed. Anna and Laurent had only seen each other a couple of times and all of a sudden they have all this history and complicated feelings for each other, and I was left feeling lost and not understanding how that had developed. And I never really understood the emotional journeys that both Claire and Anna were on. It was all just... skimmed over, somehow. Not my favorite.

An enjoyable read with some great recipes! I think it's just a new cover of the old novel, but Jenny Colgan definitely knows her genre. A book you can curl up on the couch with.

Paris, chocolate and a book by Jenny Colgan all adds up to a sweet delight and confection. You cannot go wrong with any books written by Ms. Colgan especially when you're looking for something to perk you up! Need I say more, she is one of my favorite authors.

This was one of the sweetest (no pun intended) books I've read in a long time.
I went into it expecting fairly fluffy, lighthearted reading and got a genuinely heartwarming story.
While a lot of the plot was very predictable, as with any novel of this genre, the characters were well rounded, the story well thought-out and the overall book left me feeling like I'd just been cosied up in a warm blanket.

I was asked to read this lovely book by the publisher, as a new cover design is coming out this summer! This was my first time reading Jenny Colgan and I have been wanting to for awhile! This book was very enjoyable, light, and would make a perfect summer read. I loved visiting Paris! The author did such a great job describing Paris, and all the talk of chocolate made me want to run out and get some lol! The story was predictable yet enjoyable. I laughed at times, and also felt like the story actually had depth. I can't wait to read more of Jenny's books!

I am a huge fan of Jenny Colgan's books and this one didn't disappoint. Delicious, sweet, and charming. Great read, and will add to my collection for sure.

This was just a nice, light read. I really love Colgan's style of writing believable characters and plots. I know my library patrons will love it, so I'll be ordering several copies. Thank you so much!

The loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris is a wonderful story of love and freedom of a young girl's life. Many years later she returns the favor and then makes her last trip to relive the dream. You will fall in love with the city and chocolate also. Beautifully told story.

This is a sweet book -- no pun intended -- about first loves and life choices. Anna has just turned 30, lost her job in a chocolate factory after a freak accident lands her in the hospital for several weeks, and is struggling to find direction in her life. Claire, Anna's former French teacher, is in her late 60s, fighting cancer, and longing for her first love, a chocolate maker from France who she met when she worked as an au pair in Paris one summer as a teenager. Claire helps Anna find a job in Paris as an assistant in a chocolate shop, and the book continues from there.

Overall, I liked this book. It took a little while for Anna to feel like a real person and not so two-dimensional, but she quickly became a likeable character. And unlike Cupcake Cafe, one of the author's earlier books, it felt like the recipes printed we're afterthoughts with very little relevance to the book itself. But, this was an enjoyable, fairly light read, that allows the reader to get lost in the romance and magic of Paris.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book. It has not influenced my opinion.

Just as she did with the Scottish town of Kirrinfief in The Bookshop on the Corner, Jenny Colgan succeeds once again at drawing the reader into her quirky fictional shop, this time selling chocolate instead of books, and this time in Paris. The dual narrative is nostalgic and sweet, and The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris demands to be read with a steaming cup of hot chocolate — topped with lots of marshmallows. 

Claire Shawcourt was once French teacher to Anna Trent, and the two unexpectedly reconnect when they're put in the same hospital room. Anna's dealing with a surprising injury, and Claire is fighting cancer, but the pair forms a friendship over the French language and the woes of life in the hospital. 

Once Anna's released, Claire organizes a job for her in Paris — an escape from the melancholy of her life jobless and living at home with her parents — and Anna's life will never be the same.

As a young woman, Claire fell in love with witty, handsome French chocolatier Thierry Girard, and it's to him she sends Anna. The man has aged, but remembers his time with Claire fondly and takes Anna under his wing, teaching her about life, love, and chocolate. What ensues is a funny, inspirational French adventure complete with food, gorgeous balconies overlooking the Paris skyline, a handsome chocolatier's son, a visit to the opera, and so much more.

In her typical fashion, Colgan uses the things we love most — books, chocolate, cupcakes, etc. — to inspire us to travel, try new things, get outside our comfort zone, and have a grand adventure. The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris is the perfect beach read for this summer. 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loooooooooooooooooove Jenny Colgan! She can do no wrong in my book. This is yet another comforting armchair travel book!

My idea of heaven. A lovely feel good book all about chocolate!
Anna is a chocolateir who after an unfortunate accident, meets a figure from her past. They move to Paris where they indulge their passion with in a chocolate shop.
The ambience of Paris is brought to life and the women's love for their chosen profession is very easily portrayed. Characters that were very easy to fall in love with.
A real heart warming read..

This is a classic feel-good Jenny Colgan novel, with the added twist of being set in Paris (and including a few family-based-issues). The main character was very relatable, albeit not similar in number of toes! I felt true empathy with all the characters, even those who were painted in a 'villain' capacity- i'm looking at you second wife of the head chocolatier... This book will make you laugh, cry and most importantly grab the nearest chocolate supply for a delightful reading session!