First off, I want to thank NetGalley and Joy Revolution for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Oh, I adored this book! As someone who loved the idea of traveling to Paris as a teen and even took French in high school (forgot most of it by now), I felt like I could relate to Whitney Curry, who has such a romanticized idea of Paris once she arrived. However, she begins to see so many parts of Paris, even the parts that tourists don’t see, and she falls in love with it even more. All the descriptions made me want to go to Paris one day even more (and go eat some chocolate)!

Whitney is such a theater kid, and she’s someone that’s so confident and so endearing! But she also has moments where she feels like she can be a lot and longs to find a place where she belongs. I really liked her as a character, and you could see how passionate she was about her art and Josephine Baker, her idol. I knew about Josephine Baker, but I learned so much more that I didn’t know. Reading about her love for Josephine Baker led to me putting on her music while reading, which definitely set the vibes!

The romance was so sweet! Thierry is the grumpy to Whitney’s sunshine, but not even he can hold back a smile when it comes to Whitney. While they get off on the wrong foot, they end up becoming friends and develop a sweet connection with each other. There were so many adorable scenes between these two! Whitney was so determined to not get distracted and to solely focus on her project and learning as much as she could to create the best show of her life. Falling in love wasn’t in her plans, and as a list girly, she likes having everything planned. Loved seeing her learn that allowing more love into your life can be beautiful and that sometimes the best things in life are the ones you didn't plan for.

Overall, definitely a very cute read that I recommend! I would absolutely love to see this adapted as a movie and think it would make such an adorable rom-com. I know that my younger self would’ve especially loved reading this book!

4.5/5 stars!

"Love Requires Chocolate" by Ravynn K. Stringfield is a delightful romance that combines sweetness and depth with a touch of culinary charm. The novel follows the journey of its protagonist as she navigates love, life, and the comforting world of chocolate. Stringfield’s writing is warm and engaging, weaving together romance and personal growth with a focus on the joy of chocolate-making. The well-developed characters and heartfelt moments make this a satisfying read for anyone who enjoys a blend of romance and culinary indulgence.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a review.

I got this book from NetGalley before I realized I knew the author. We used to write for the same online magazine and it was such a joy to see her dream of being published coming true. This book was so fun to read and the characters were rich and complex without losing the magic inherent in a story set in Paris. I also read this while the Olympics were happening in Paris and that made the story all the richer! This story is full of heart and swooning and adventure, and I'm so proud of Ravynn and can't wait to read more of her books!

Whitney Curry is primed to have an epic semester abroad. She’s created the perfect itinerary and many, many to-do lists after collecting every detail possible about Paris, France. Thus, she anticipates a grand adventure filled with vintage boutiques, her idol Josephine Baker’s old stomping grounds, and endless plays sure to inspire the ones she writes and—ahem—directs!
But all is not as she imagined when she’s dropped off at her prestigious new Parisian lycée. A fish out of water, Whitney struggles to juggle schoolwork, homesickness, and mastering the French language. Luckily, she lives for the drama. Literally.
Cue French tutor Thierry Magnon, a grumpy yet très handsome soccer star, who’s determined to show Whitney the real Paris. Is this type-A theater nerd ready to see how lessons on the City of Lights can turn into lessons on love?

After reading the synopsis of this story, I was excited to read it. A summer abroad in Paris sounded like a great, fun read. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me and I struggled to get through it. I found the female lead to be a bit annoying . I loved the male lead, but there was just no chemistry between them at all. I did love reading about the sites all around Paris. That was the best part of the book for me.

This one was not a winner for me, unfortunately.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

If the Paris 2024 Olympic Opening Ceremony has you dreaming of reads with Parisian vibes, I’ve got a new release for you. Love Requires Chocolate, by Ravynn K. Stringfield, is a coming-of-age story with a soupçon of romance (it has a happy ending but the romance takes a back seat to the coming-of-age). It releases on August 20 and I loved it.

(Full disclosure: Dr. Stringfield was my instructor for a workshop on creative non-fiction writing for academics. We have since bonded over our shared loves of comics and YA fiction, as well as our shared experiences navigating PhD programs and life after them. We’re Internet friends.)

Here’s the publisher’s description:

Whitney Curry is primed to have an epic semester abroad. She’s created the perfect itinerary and many, many to-do lists after collecting every detail possible about Paris, France. Thus, she anticipates a grand adventure filled with vintage boutiques, her idol Josephine Baker’s old stomping grounds, and endless plays sure to inspire the ones she writes and—ahem—directs!

But all is not as she imagined when she’s dropped off at her prestigious new Parisian lycée. A fish out of water, Whitney struggles to juggle schoolwork, homesickness, and mastering the French language. Luckily, she lives for the drama. Literally.

Cue French tutor Thierry Magnon, a grumpy yet très handsome soccer star, who’s determined to show Whitney the real Paris. Is this type-A theater nerd ready to see how lessons on the City of Lights can turn into lessons on love?

What I Loved

I mean, everything? But specifically? Whitney is a list girlie. I love a list girlie. She has Plans. Her fashion is always on point. (Check out Ravynn’s WhitneyCurryCore reel on Instagram.) Her love of theater is palpable. Her knowledge about Josephine Baker is impressive but her commitment to learning more is even more impressive. Whitney’s mixture of confidence and insecurity resonates so hard for this type A- former theater teen.

Whitney herself is enough to make this book awesome. But Stringfield layers in an incredible sense of place. Yes, she gives you plenty of looks at tourist destinations, but it’s the more quotidian Parisian moments that make this feel lived-in. Whitney gets lost in Montmartre. She has a dinner party at Thierry’s family’s home. She explores the streets of Paris. She sings “J’ai deux amours” swinging from a street lamp. (And have you seen a Parisian street lamp? They’re gorgeous.) Oh look, here I am trying to talk about Paris and ending up still telling you how much I love Whitney Curry. Whoops. Well, just trust that this book is full of awesome Parisian places, because Stringfield was a flâneuse herself when she studied abroad.

I love Whitney’s growth, her passion, and her outlook.

I love the romantic elements here, too. Thierry is wonderful. I mean a grouchy footballer whose family owns a chocolate shop? Come on. I mean. (This brought to you partly by my new obsession with retired footballer Zizou and partly by my old obsession with Roy Kent.)

Something that I think is worth pointing out is that Whitney is a Black American looking for the history and culture of Black Americans in Paris as well as Black Parisians of any descent. The importance of this piece of Whitney’s identity adds another layer to the Bildungsroman vibes. As a white woman I don’t feel equipped to discuss all the work Stringfield has done here at length, but I really appreciate her highlighting how important this is to Whitney, the conflicting feelings Whitney experiences about Josephine Baker’s recognition as an artist of Paris coming about after her death, and the contrast between Whitney’s image of how Black people experience Paris and the reality Thierry, whose grandmother came to Paris from Mali to escape trouble caused by French colonialism, shares with her.
What I wanted more of

The adventures of Whitney Curry? This is the first in a series but it’s an anthology series, so the other books will be by other authors and about other characters. Guess I better start writing some Love Requires Chocolate fanfiction.
What I need to warn you about

Not much. There is, as you might have guessed from what I said earlier, discussion of racism.
Who should read this

People who love Paris or think they might love Paris. Theater nerds. Football (i.e., soccer) fans. People who enjoy YA romance. People who like chocolate.

Book: Love Requires Chocolate
Author: Ravynn K. Stringfield
Publisher: Joy Revolution
Publication Date: August 20, 2024
Pages: 288
Age Range: Young Adult
Source of Book: ARC via NetGalley (but I loved it so much I pre-ordered it too)

Thanks to @netgalley and Random House Childrens for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This one has so much potential but just missed the mark for me. I had to keep reminding myself it’s a YA book and the characters were roughly high school age (I think?) since studying by abroad is very “college” in my mind. So the characters felt very young and immature but that was me constantly forgetting how young they were supposed to be.

So many interesting themes got brought up it then completely dropped. Racism, specifically how it presents in other countries in contrast to America; the complicated relationships with divorced parents or step parents; big character points like Thierry’s anger explosions or Whitney’s problems with getting lost. Things that were all brought up and felt they could be important and then just weren’t. I also felt like the buildup of the roommates being unreliable and maybe even having ulterior motives was huge and then the other show just never dropped. And then on a personal level, I could never really like or care about Whitney or Thierry, just nothing developed in either of their personalities for me to connect with.

A cute book with promise but just flight result in any of the emotional off I was hoping for.

A cute young adult story about a study abroad in France. If you liked Emily in Paris and want more Americans abroad + romance, then I would certainly recommend this book for you.

💕Oh la la!! Love Requires Chocolate burst from my dreams came true from the pen to page form by this amazing author!

🥐 Whitney is the absolute sweetest character! Her heart has been drawn to Paris for a long time and now the City of Lights welcomes this dreamer soul! We follow Whitney as she travels to Paris. She finally experiences all this nostalgic city has to offer! From amazing food! Walking the historical streets, and above all paying homage to her Idol and mine for that matter Josephine Baker!

🎬 From each scene I read and each chapter I entered I felt as if I was behind the movie camera! I can see her smile and her determination fall in love with the culture and good times Paris has to offer! I specially love the description of all the food! I am big dessert lover! If the food could have popped out of the book I would have had a Harry Potter moment lol

🧁 Our sweetheart of this book has a list! I am a very big fan of lists I have a handicap and writing list helps me to feel more connected throughout my day to get things done. I definitely identified with Whitney on many levels. Her list includes experiencing everything Paris has to offer. Audrey Hepburn would be proud!

🎨 Enter Thierry!! Every book needs a grumpy French Soccer Star to be tour guide and tutor and boy was I wish you for one of my own LOL it's always the grumpy boys that have the biggest hearts! When things don't go well for Whitney and her list and her determination start to wane this gentleman steps in.

🍰 this book truly had my heart in every way! The romance was absolutely perfect! People need magic these days and this book was everything magical and delicious! I love how the romance was like a delicious chocolate covered croissant!

💌 I will be buying more books from this gorgeous author!

Love Requires Chocolate is vibes, but it's great vibes. This isn't a complicated romance, and there isn't much to get in the way of our two protagonists other than their own hang-ups, but it doesn't matter because the ambiance is top notch. LRC is Paris, France through the eyes of an enthusiastic American student, Whitney Curry, who has it in her to shamelessly be the most touristy tourist she can possibly be. An exchange student with dreams of putting on the best one-woman show her art school has ever seen, she meets a handsome but infuriating young man (is there any other kind on romance books?) who is to be her French tutor. Thierry Magnon winds up being her tour guide as well, showing her parts of Paris not found in tourist guides. In exchange, she agrees to write him a stellar review as a tutor so he can re-join his soccer team following an unfair suspension. From there blooms a little conflict, some great banter and an exquisitely cute love story. The author, Ravynn K. Stringfield, treats Paris as a third protagonist, making it the perfect holiday in Europe read. (4.5 stars)

Official rating 2.5

How fitting to pick up this ARC based in Paris while watching the 2024 Olympics?? That was fun. However, the book just missed the mark for me. Overall, the storyline was interesting and I think had a lot of potential but something was just missing. I couldn’t fully connect to the characters and the relationships. I was able to feel more for Thierry and Whitney towards the end.

Whitney was a very quirky high school girl studying abroad and working on a one woman show about an African American icon that she looks up to. That quickly took a back burner when she met Thierry, her grumpy French tutor. She relies on list for 90% of anything she does (relatable honestly) and he pushes her to see life outside of those lists. I liked her but had to keep reminding myself that she was a high schooler so she’s supposed to be immature. 😅 Her friendship with her roommates was also hard to believe as it felt like I couldn’t trust them the whole time and was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Thierry didn’t feel like he had much depth to him. This made it hard to connect to his and Whitney’s relationship. The way they left it felt like, eh this can’t last. But that could just be skeptical me peaking out LOL

Overall, it was a good book but just wasn’t the book for me. But I agree with the title, love does require chocolate… actually, life requires it 😅

I really enjoyed following Whitney’s journey to exploring and finding adventure, love, and delicious eats in the city of love. I was hoping for so long for a romance to blossom and give me the Paris love story that I’ve never had and this definitely delivered! I could almost taste the chocolates and the food that Whitney was eating, which just gives you an idea of how descriptive Ravynn’s descriptions were. A must read for anyone who longs for adventure, love, and a sprinkle of Paris magic!

3..5 I've never been to Paris but I've always wanted to go and this book solidified that for me! Such a fun, lighthearted, tender book!

This was such cute and fun YA debut. Whitney was such a fun outgoing character to me. I really loved her personality and energy though out the book. Thierry was also a fun character despite his grumpiness. They really balanced each other out and I loved watching their love story unfold. I thought this was a really great palette cleanser in between reads and it was very quick and fun!

Thank you netgalley for the ARC!

This was a cute read. Maybe I’m too old for these reads? It was too sweet and I felt like Whitney was too hyper and a little one sided on things. I love all things Paris so that was the best part to me in this book. Otherwise I didn’t love it. It’s definitely young adult.

What a beautiful story. Loved the journey, nothing more romantic than a love story in France. This book is an absolute gem.

Sweet coming of age novel that my students will love. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Love Requires Chocolate by Ravynn K. Stringfield is a delectable debut novel. Stringfield skillfully crafts a rich and indulgent romance that is sure to captivate readers.

Love Requires Chocolate by Ravynn K. Stringfeild is a contemporary YA romance set in Paris, France.
Whitney is the most energetic of the main characters. She is very excited to be going to school in Paris and doing her senior project on Josephine Baker. She has a positive attitude and is very organized. I'm not a fan of lists myself, makes me feel like I have things I should be doing instead of reading. Her point of view is so positive that this book was a joyful read.
Thierry is a grumpier kind of charming. He matches well with Whitney's energy. Plus he works in a chocolate shop and always smells like baking.
There isn't a lot of time spent with Whitney's roommates or anything other than the main relationship development. I thought their relationship was very sweet but often wondered why the roommates even cared about her at the end.
The drama at the end felt a little out of place and I felt that Whitney acted out of character and impulsively. She is a teenager who has never been in love but never displayed those errors in judgement before then.
I would recommend this for younger teens, probably 13+.
I received this arc free from Netgalley. All views expressed are my own.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I enjoyed this book and think you will to.

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me engaged and it only took a few days to read. I think this is going to be a good book club option for several clubs. I plan recommending to my book friends and I look forward to reading more by this author.