Ravynn K. Stringfield’s Love Requires Chocolate is a fantastic addition to the world of adorably fun romcom books. It combines the popular Grumpy/Sunshine trope, the long romanticized Paris love, and, of course, chocolate (which was the first indication that this book would not disappoint).

The main character, Whitney, provides the genre with beautifully written Black representation. Her character is well thought out and you can tell the author took great care in crafting, not only Whitney’s story and personality, but all of the other characters as well. It was impossible not to fall in love with all of them.

The writing overall was detailed and immersive. Springfield is talented in showing, not telling, the feelings and vibes of what is happening, allowing the reader to fully engage in the story. The author was also sure to use some French language throughout the book, but even as someone who took beginners French several years ago, I was able to understand what was being said even if it was only by context clues. The inclusion of French did not distract from the story at all, but added to the authenticity of it.

I think that the end of the story felt a bit rushed, but I cannot hold this against Love Requires Chocolate because I tend to feel this way about most books within this genre.

I can’t wait to read more by this author.

*Many thanks to Ravynn K. Stringfield, Random House, and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced e-copy of Love Requires Chocolate in exchange for honest review.*

A young adult romance set in Paris? Absolutely!

A cute boy that plays football and makes chocolate meets a list making drama queen girl that has a check list of everything she needs to accomplish. They are thrown together for French lessons and end up exploring the city with a sweet little love story thrown into the mix. This is a cute one.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for this fun read!

Whitney a High School theatre student from DC gets the opportunity to study abroad in Paris for a semester. She knows exactly how she is going to spend it, tackling everything on her lists. She organized and ready to go. She also has to write her one woman show on her idol Josephine Baker a Black American artist triple threat - singer, actress and dancer who move to Paris and thrived. She wants to visit all the places her idol had been in the city as research for her show about Madame Baker. She didn’t know though that her research and semester get a bump in the road right from the start, when she meets her French tutor Thierry. Thierry is handsome and smells like butter and sugar; which she finds out is because his family owns a chocolate shop.

Whitney goes on many adventures throughout her semester in Paris and the more I read the more I felt this was a Y&A Hallmark movie. Ravynn did an amazing job with this book. My only qualm of giving this book five stars is that there is quite a bit of French, some I could figure out and the rest I was happy I was reading it on my Kindle so I could use the translation feature.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children - Joy Revolution Publishing for this eARC for my honest review. I really enjoyed this one.

Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get into this story. I found it very difficult to connect with the characters and it fell a little flat for me.

A ya book about friendship, love, and being true to yourself. The book follows our Mc as she spends a semester abroad in Paris. She learns to navigate a new language, new friends, and a grumpy tudor while working one woman show for her final. The Mc is a dedicated and driven girl with a heart of gold. This is a great book for ya readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Children’s Book, and the author Ravynn Stringfield for an advanced copy in exchange for a honest review.

Love, chocolate, and Paris. What more needs to be said? Kudos to Ravynn Stringfield on a job well done.

This was a super adorable, sweet romance set in Paris. How can you go wrong with love and chocolate?

This was a great romance. It was like reading my own personal Hallmark movie. The setting is lively and the characters are so much fun to follow during their journey and growing relationship. Stringfield writes and amazing love story that had me on the edge of my seat and kicking my feet wanting to see what will happen next between the characters.

Love requires Chocolate reminds me a lot of Emily In Paris from Netflix.

This one the fmc has a semester abroad to work on her craft. She needs a tutor for French and like most hallmark movies go, her tutor just happens to be a handsome soccer player named Thierry.

The love/hate relationship blossoms without either of them really knowing.

This book is an adorable walk through Paris and a behind the scenes look at what it’s like to fall in love with a city, a culture, yourself, and someone else.

I just reviewed Love Requires Chocolate by Ravynn K. Stringfield. #LoveRequiresChocolate #NetGalley

I have been waiting for this book and I am so excited for the rest of the world to read Stringfield's debut.

This story follows Whitney during her study abroad semester in Paris where she meets and falls for her broody Parisian tutor.

I’m sorry to say, but this one was not a hit for me. I decided not to finish at around 35% - my first ARC DNF ever (like is this even okay?). I just couldn’t connect with the story or characters in any way. However, I did appreciate the emphasis on Black lives and what it’s like living life as a person of color. It’s a fast-paced, easy to read book and I didn’t overall hate it but I’m rating low because I still chose to not finish.

I loved this book it was such a great quick read I also loved the page details in the book as well!!! I can’t wait to read more by this author,

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying me with a copy to review.

In Love Requires Chocolate, fashionista, Francophile, theatre-loving Whitney lands in Paris determined to check everything off her list, including putting on a one-woman show based on Josephine Baker's life.

The Good:
- I love that Whitney is totally herself and doesn't have a lot of self-doubt. She's curvy. She's loud. She sings in public. She might be too much for some people and she doesn't especially care.
- Whitney and Thierry's friendship to romance is sweet and realistic.
- France! Enjoyed the armchair travel.

Not My Favorite
- I wanted to know more about Whitney's classes and the actual process of putting together her show, even more about Josephine Baker. I didn't feel like that aspect was super fleshed out.
- The conflict was almost silly, although thankfully short-lived. Whitney's reaction did seem slightly out of character.

This book did talk a bit about the black experience in both America and France, and I really appreciated that. Overall, it's a "sweet" read that leaves you hopeful for Thierry and Whitney and charmed by all the French sights and pastries.

This was a short, sweet and adorable read. At just around 200 pages; it was a small time investment but the type of book that just makes you smile. My only critique really, is that when the characters spoke in French, there was no translation so I was running to google to avoid losing context. All in all, a really cute story! Thank you NetGalley Random House and Ravynn K Stringfield for the opportunity to read this ARC.

What a dream this book was! Whitney was such a joy to follow through her semester abroad in Paris, and Thierry was the best tour guide & tutor. I was lucky enough to read this while on vacation in France (including Paris!) so not only did I love reading about all their adventures in Paris throughout the book, but to be able to experience them at the same time was so special! <3 Would definitely recommend, whether or not you can actually go to France, this book will take you there!

This was a super cute , quick, easy read! Whitney Curry has been accepted to do a semester abroad in Paris. She thought she'd come and conquer Paris with her list and deliver an epic end of semester performance however life sprinkles a little razzle dazzle when she meets her french tutor Thierry!

arc provided by netgalley

Whitney Curry lives her life by lists. She loves making them and nothing is better than checking something off. Having a chance to follow her dreams and spend a semester abroad in Paris, she makes a list and starts checking things off. Her list however, doesn’t include her grumpy, soccer star, French tutor. Just maybe Thierry can teach an over dramatic theater student there is more to Paris than lists.
Love Requires Chocolate is a story of love and self-discovery. It has the feel of a coming-of-age story while focused on the relationship between Thierry and Whitney. It is an incredibly sweet story with minimal angst. While Whitney can be a bit dramatic it really fits her over the top drama personality. All in all you can’t go wrong with this one.
I received an arc and am leaving this review of my volition.

Whitney is excited about a semester abroad in France and wants to focus on her schoolwork. When she arrived she is paired with a French tutor and her life gets more frustrating, confusing and interesting. What a great love story where love isn't expected but happens anyway. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest opinion..

This is a YA romance, but nevertheless, still perfect for any hopeless romantic! I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It was a little hard for me to get into the first couple chapters to be honest, but I’m glad I pushed through because it did end up being a cute story. I love absolutely anything that is set in Paris, and this reminded me a lot of Emily in Paris, but set in high school! Thierry and Whitney were such a cute couple. It was a little bit of a grumpy x sunshine to start, but Whitney definitely broke down some of Thierry’s walls. At the end of the book when Whitney was really struggling, I just kept thinking I couldn’t imagine how she felt being so far from home. I enjoyed the realistic aspect of the book for what it is like to be a foreign exchange student. I had some friends in high school that were foreign exchange students at my school and I know they struggled with the distance, but like Whitney loved the once in a lifetime experience. The ending also made my heart just melt! Highly recommend this read if you’re looking for a cute and easy romantic read!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

This book was a fair three stars for me. I think I was expecting it to be exactly what it was, and I often read books like these for a quick cleanser read. Love Requires Chocolate was a cookie-cutter cute romance that you don't have to really think about as you go through the book. It had all the elements that you would typically get with a book of this genre, and I think it was a fun read but nothing that particularly stood out.

Both the protagonists were likable and complemented each other well. I enjoyed the backdrop of Paris and the tourist/local trope is always a good time (cough, Love & Gelato, cough). The steady build-up of their relationship was really nicely done, in my opinion, and it was heading towards a solid four stars until the inevitable jealous ex trope was thrown in.
I am never a fan of it and it sort of came out of nowhere towards the halfway point, just to create a conflict between Thierry and Whitney. I was expecting some conversation about how she would be leaving Paris after the semester, but they never really touched upon that. They resolved the misunderstanding about Fatima and that was it. I just thought there would be more of a resolution there than I got.

But it was still a very easy read, and I can always appreciate a good romance that doesn't make me think too much. Sometimes you just need one like this in between some intense books, and I picked up Love Requires Chocolate at that exact moment for me, so I enjoyed the read!