I am always a fan of time travel books, and this one continued the story of Xanthe and her ability to travel using certain found items. It's just a little unbelievable how she's able to vanish and return without really making people suspicious. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. You can find yours here: https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-of-Chocolate-House-audiobook/dp/B07PHV8NMD/ref=sr_1_1?crid=PLWE9GPINQI4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.WRFjLEz7nfSNjVjJjdcHRG_8XN_nzS-dNcltBODODmfLnwj6tnV9h64zDgOWcUQ2zPc5CQVrAZUauJV6a0t2VQ.vZJKhVbzOs3Bdl2mSuysO1Y6eHjqNz2-_7LmagC_FEY&dib_tag=se&keywords=Secrets+of+the+Chocolate+House+Paula+Brackston&qid=1721738945&sprefix=secrets+of+the+chocolate+house+paula+brackston%2Caps%2C1177&sr=8-1

Paula Brackston returns with another enchanting tale in "Secrets of the Chocolate House," the second installment of the Found Things series. This novel seamlessly blends historical fiction with elements of time travel and magic, offering readers a delightful escape into the past.

Set in the atmospheric backdrop of 17th-century England, the story continues to follow Xanthe Westlake, a protagonist gifted with the ability to manipulate and interact with objects through time. Brackston’s vivid descriptions immerse readers in the bustling world of London as Xanthe navigates through the challenges of her newfound abilities and the dangers they entail.

At the heart of the narrative lies a captivating mystery surrounding an old chocolate house and its secrets, which Xanthe must unravel to protect her loved ones and herself. Brackston weaves together intricate plotlines with skillful character development, portraying Xanthe’s courage and determination as she confronts adversaries both in the past and present.

The author’s rich historical research is evident in the detailed portrayal of 17th-century life, from the bustling markets to the opulent chocolate houses that served as social hubs. Brackston’s prose is evocative and lyrical, transporting readers effortlessly between time periods while maintaining a sense of suspense and intrigue.

"Secrets of the Chocolate House" is not just a tale of time travel and magic; it is a story about love, loyalty, and the resilience of the human spirit. As Xanthe delves deeper into the mysteries of the past, readers are treated to a narrative that is as emotionally resonant as it is intellectually stimulating.

Overall, Paula Brackston’s "Secrets of the Chocolate House" is a compelling continuation of the Found Things series, blending historical fiction with elements of fantasy to create a truly immersive reading experience. For fans of time travel adventures and historical mysteries, this novel is a must-read.

This the second book in a series. A series about a young woman who can time travel based on objects that sing to her and lay line area behind the antique shop she and her mother own. Naturally with this business, she comes across old objects and those objects can pull her to the time of their origin. In the first book, she learns of her talent and travels to late 1600s and meets Samuel. She ends up traveling back and then finding another object, in this story a copper pot that pulls her back to the same time. This sedond story weaves the tail beyond just time travel and a love interest in the wrong century. It adds in a destiny troupe. She is being called by these objects to help somehow. It creates a more dramatic storyline than the first book and keeps the pace moving which was needed compared to the first. For those that enjoy the time travel storylines, this will one will hit the spot.

I've grown quite fond of this series. The author has an interesting way of presenting characters that makes the idea of time travel feel plausible. This type of genre is not usually my thing, but these books are charming, and I find myself really enjoying them! Thank you NetGalley and publishers for providing a digital ARC for review.

The first book in this series hooked me instantly, so I was excited to read this installment. While it was entertaining, with plenty of action and intrigue, it didn't have the same something that the first book had.

Secrets of the Chocolate House by Paula Brackston was a delight to read. Well-written with great characterizations and great sequencing, Paula Brackston is now an auto-buy author for me.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

I actually like this book even though I read it before I read the first book. I have bought the first book.

I have to admit that this series is not my usual reading material but the covers of books one and two drew me in. Plus there's the premise of inanimate objects 'singing' to the main character. What's not to love about that?

I ended up loving book one—Xanthe and her mother are such endearing characters—and had to follow up with book two for sure. And then there's the time travel aspect to the books. I'm a sucker for time travel.

Xanthe runs into some evil goings on, and some nasty people, during her travels to the past and learns so much more about her abilities. She is definitely bringing more to the table as she learns about herself and I love how her character is developing. I can't wait to read more of her adventures.

Book three is out there waiting for me with book four coming out in November! Yay!

I enjoyed it, not sure why I didn't send this sooner, hand selling it and customers are enjoying it too.

I’ve been really into time travel books lately. It took me awhile to read Secrets of the Chocolate House, and I realized how much I missed Xanthe’s story. I’m going to start the next book in the series soon.

Xanthe is a “spinner,” or time traveler. She and her mother own an antique shop and Xanthe has a gift where antique objects sing to her. She uses these objects to leap through time to help people. This time she goes back to the 1600s and is reunited with Samuel from The Little Shop of Found Things. She learns more about her gift and how to use it ending with a perfect cliffhanger.

If you love time travel and historical fiction with a little romance mixed in, this series is for you!

I loved the continuation of Xanthe's story as she discovers more about her ability to spin time! I love this series!

I loved the first book in this series, The Little Shop of Found Things, and was so excited to read Secrets of the Chocolate House. It's such an enchanting, spellbinding story that I couldn't help but fall in love with.

Personally, I love stories with a time-travel element and although I know not everyone does, Brackston does it in such a fabulous way that's so easy, so well-done, that it doesn't feel unrealistic or thrown into the reader's face. So if you're on the fence about time travel, I'd definitely suggest giving these books a try!

The book focuses on Xanthe, a young woman who can hear certain antiques "sing" when she picks them up and they lead her to their past, a call to her for help. In the last book, she discovered the ability to travel back in time with her found objects and in this book, it's a chocolate pot that calls out to her and sends her spinning back in time, back to the 17th century where she went in book one. This time she faces danger when learning she's not the only time spinner and must do what she can to save herself and Samuel (from the first book).

Brackston does such a wonderful job with the character development, furthering the plot, and describing the 17th century. I love how she tells this story and makes it both magical but also tension-filled. It's such a great series, and I recommend reading book one first if you can, but no matter what, I recommend reading the series. I can't wait to see what's in store for Xanthe, her mother Flora, and the rest of the characters in the upcoming books.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Paula Brackston for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

A singing chocolate pot leads Xanthe to travel back to the 1600s once more. She is transported to a chocolate house this time, instead of the blindhouse. Visions of Samuel in trouble lead her to the town of Laybrook, where he is being held as a prisoner of sorts, doing his architectural work under threat of death. This book was cute and intriguing, kept me interested in where the story was going both in 1605 and in 2018(2019?). I'm looking forward to the next one.

This was such a great book! Luckily, I realized it was a sequel before reading it and so I enjoyed it even more. With a fierce, clever, and self-sacrificing heroine, this story tugs at all the heartstrings.

This is the perfect smoky, coffeehouse, lush novel for the fall. I highly admire the mastery of Brackson’s setting and recommend it to any fans of The Shadow of the Wind.

This is a fabulous time-travelling series! It isn't too heavy and the character development is spot on! The author shows her skill in being able to write about multiple eras with such aplomb. Quick, easy read that will keep you enchanted all the way through.

Xanthe Westlake and her mother, Flora, moved to Marlborough to open their antique shop in Marlborough in The Little Shop of Found Things. Readers discovered that Xanthe has the uncanny ability to hear objects "sing" to her and then travel through time. In the first book, she traveled back to the seventeenth century at the behest of a ghost and a chatelaine to protect the life of an unknown girl. Whilst there, she met and fell in love with a local builder/architect, Samuel Appleby. Samuel helped her to prove the girl's innocence and thus gain her freedom, but Xanthe knew that they were two people out of step with one another. She had obligations in her time and couldn't stay in the seventeenth century and Samuel had his own obligations and couldn't travel through time with her. There was nothing for her to do but leave him behind. Now, Xanthe has discovered a hoard of chocolate pots and one pot in particular is singing to her and the song seems tied to her beloved. The only thing Xanthe knows is that she must once again travel back in time and do whatever she can to help Samuel, but this time is not quite like the first. This time she meets other time spinners and one is willing to do whatever takes to learn just how Xanthe manages to control walking back-and-forth through time. Unfortunately, this time spinner also holds the fate of Samuel's life in his hands. Can Xanthe free her beloved from this tyrannical time spinner without damaging his reputation and livelihood? Can she provide the answers this time spinner seeks without violating the time spinner code? Can she do all of this while keeping her mother safe and unaware of her time traveling? And if that's not enough to deal with, can she handle all of this drama and deal with the reemergence of her former boyfriend and drug dealer, Marcus in her new hometown or will he finally accept "not interested" and "get lost" as her final answers?

Obviously, I had to take time to read The Little Shop of Found Things before reading Secrets of the Chocolate House. Glad I did because it provides the backstory for Xanthe and her mother. By the way, did I forget to mention that Xanthe's mother, Flora, is suffering from debilitating arthritis and going through a somewhat acrimonious divorce from Xanthe's father? Also, Xanthe served a few months in prison on drug charges because of her former boyfriend and his drug dealing and he refused to step up out of fear he might go to prison (what a guy!). There's a lot going on in both The Little Shop of Found Things and Secrets of the Chocolate House but for those of you that enjoy time travel stories with hints of romance, then I strongly encourage you to read these books! (Might I suggest drinking plenty of hot chocolate whilst reading Secrets of the Chocolate House, seems appropriate doesn't it?) I thoroughly enjoyed all of the drama from the contemporary and historical timelines. I liked all of the characters, except for Marcus and the tyrannical time spinner, Benedict Fairfax. There are bad guys in these stories and horrible guys in these stories. Some get their comeuppance and others seem to walk away (you'll need to read the books to learn which does what). I rather enjoyed the fact that Xanthe doesn't really know what she should do and constantly struggles to find the answers. She's a bit quirky but she has pluck and perseverance. Secrets of the Chocolate House has plenty of returning characters and it was nice to get to know them a bit better, such as Gerri the tea and pastry shop owner, Harley the publican, and Liam the mechanic. It was also nice to revisit Samuel in the seventeenth century and get to know some new characters, such as Mistress Flyte - the owner of the chocolate shop and an experienced but retired time spinner, and Edmund - the worker at the chocolate shop. I've enjoyed reading previous books by Ms. Brackston and can't wait for the next book in the Found Things series. For now, I'll be content with rereading The Little Shop of Found Things and Secrets of the Chocolate House while I wait. Just in case you couldn't tell, I really enjoyed Secrets of the Chocolate House and am eager to see what happens next for Xanthe and friends.

What a great follow up to The Little Shop of Found Things.

In this installment, we find Xanthe trying to move forward with her life in the present even though her memories of the past still haunt her.

While helping her mother get inventory for their antique shop, a chocolate pot calls to Xanthe. While not unusual for someone with her talents, soon Xanthe discovers that this particular antique is tied to her life in the 17th century, forcing her to travel back in time and back into Samuel's life.

I'm slowly getting obsessed with this series and was so excited to read on Goodreads that Paula Brackston thinks she will probably write at least 4 books in this series. I have so many questions about the time travelers and their purpose, so I'm so glad to know more books are forthcoming.

In that way, Secrets of Chocolate House reminds me of Outlander. The travelers have something that makes them able to travel and it appears there is some sort of overall purpose to their journeys. I get the exciting task of trying to figure it out while reading about Xanthe try to figure it out.

Don't get me wrong, Samuel isn't Jamie Fraser (who is, though honestly?) But his heart keeps bringing me back to him. I feel the scenes where Xanthe and Samuel are together, and I'm hardcore shipping them. Even with everything that happens in this book... I'm looking at you ,Paula Brackston... I still want them to end up together.

However, and this is weird given my previous sentence, but I can totally see Xanthe settling down with her present day friend and possible love interest, Liam.

Xanthe is a strong, female character who is being torn in two different paths. Going forward, I want her to be honest with her mother about her life and time travels. Just to save both of them the uncertainty. Being honest is the only way I can see Xanthe moving forward with her life and being able to make a honest, sure decision about her future.

Thank so much to Netgalley for my copy!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for a complimentary copy of this book to read in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

I wanted to start the first book before reading this book and I am glad I did. It was awesome and I have a new author.

This is the second book in the “found things” series, I did not read the first book but found this in no way hampered my enjoyment of this book. I will now be going back to read the first book I really enjoyed this one.

Paula Brackston is one of my absolute favourite authors. Her books never fail to transport me to other places and eras. This book is the second in a series and you should definitely read The Little Shop of Found Things first. This one is just as enchanting as the first and proof that PB is one of the masters of time travel books. Must read!