The Chocolate Garden

    In this blog post, I reviewed Ava Miles’s The Chocolate Garden, the 2nd installment in the Dare River contemporary romance series, this beautiful love story will sweep you off your feet and make you cry tears of joy mixed with sadness.  Tammy Lynn Hollins has a vision for her dreams. She’s newly divorced and a mother of two young kids. But with her mother berating her and her self-esteem, it makes her feel worthless. Her mother didn’t believe her when she told her about the abuse she succumbed to from her previous husband. And she didn’t think a woman like her would be successful as a visionary gardener. When John Parker McGuinness, her brother’s best friend, asks for her to make a chocolate garden for him, she had a perfect vision for it as he was her first client. This started a wonderful building relationship between them as they grew closer together. Things changed, when there was a break-in at her brother’s rental home they stayed at, and concerns about the leak about the monetary payoff for her divorce. To provide a safety net for Rory and Annabelle, they crafted a story about the chocolate garden and temporarily stayed at John Parker’s house when they fell in love. But things changed again, when her mother did an about-face who took her side when she faced her ex, and applauded her efforts on her newfound career as an independent business woman. Though they love each other profoundly, the talk about marriage has caused a rift between them, when she’s not ready to take that step. But maybe JP can maybe show her a new outlook of them as a couple to change things for themselves to have a brighter future.  

This beautiful tear-jerking and heartfelt contemporary romance will pull your heartstrings real taut and move you to pieces. I instantly cared for Tammy and her feelings for John Parker. She had been through a lot as a young Southern woman who wanted to make a name for herself and her family.  John Parker is a handsome and sweet piece of eye candy as well. I liked the same story of her sister, Amelia Ann, and her crushing feelings for Clayton, that builds into the third installment of the series. I loved the idyllic locations of Meade and Dare River County between Mississippi and Tennessee. The scenic settings were mesmerizing and picturesque. 

I rated this book, five out of five stars. If you love beautiful love stories that moves with your heart with non-stop romantic and dramatic action and suspense, The Chocolate Garden will melt your heart like chocolate. This book is recommended for fans of Jill Shalvis, Robyn Carr, Kristan HIggins, and Hallmark movies.