A hopeless romantic and an investigative journalist together in a story of chocolate, family, magic, hope and love … I am obsessed with how this book turned out !!!
Starting with an enemies to lovers, Lucy and Dean’s relationship starts a bit complicated but then it gets more and more sweet just like the chocolate she sells !!! I loved how their story is written to turn every love cynic in a believer. And even if at the end of the book, you haven’t changed your mind, at least you will have had a beautiful experience !!!
And before you ask, no, there was no spice in this book. But honestly … the tension between these two characters due to their forced proximity in the kitchen was OTHERWORLDLY!!!! I loved every second of it !!! There’s something so great about a romance book where the tension develops while they’re cooking together !!! A moment of intimacy like no other !!!
And when there’s a grandma in the middle … things are about to get funny !!!
I’m so grateful I had the chance to read this book and I hope the author will write more books just like this !!

“Good night, Chocolate Siren, luring men to their doom with your delicious treats”

“Love is a choice … We choose whether to accept it or not. Whether to fight for it. We decide what it means to us. The magic isn’t the choice”

I wanted to read this close to Valentine's Day to savor it even though it released last month.
The book really is charming.
We have our two main characters, Lucy who is the backbone of, How Sweet it Is Chocolate shop. She took over running the shop, doing the books and making the chocolates after her grandfathers'
death. Grandma in my opinion is kind of naive. She helps customer's and does a lot of chit chat with the customers. The Chocolate shop has been in the family for four generations and Lucy can't bear to let it go. She really struggles to keep it in the black, equaling sleepless nights and not much of a social life while making the time to run the shop. I really did love grandma's character; she is so friendly and outgoing. She always tries to help Lucy.
Dean is a news reporter and reports on serious matters. He's trying to get a promotion and jump to the morning news broadcasting show. Here's the thing though, Dean is a serious guy. The morning news is a fun, zippy get your day going broadcast with positive topics, light and fun topics.
He's assigned to an assignment to do a broadcast at, How Sweet it Is Chocolates. There is a belief among many customers that the “Cupid chocolates” from Lucy’s shop
really helps people meet their One True Love? Does he believe it? Of course, not.
An old family legend says, if you eat a Cupid chocolate made from the old family recipe on Valentine's Day, you'll find your one true love. There seems to be a lot of proof to back it up too. Dean and Lucy go out and interview some of these true love couples who got their start after eating the Cupid chocolates. Will this be enough to convince Dean, that true love does happen? Charming Valentines Day story.

Pub Date 17 Jan 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Very cute read thats great for the Valentine's day season! Very relateable characters that you find yourself rooting for, and the plot moves along seamlessly. It reads very much like a movie, which isn't surprising given it is!! A sweet, clean read that doesn't disappoint...highly recommend it!!!

1.5/5 stars! The premise of this book sounded really sweet. I wasn't sure what to expect when I saw this was being turned into a Hallmark movie. My fears were justified. This is an extremely sappy contemporary romance with no spice or chemistry to draw the audience in. I found myself bored throughout the story and feeling like the "lovers" were just friends that the author decided to say were in love. Didn't enjoy this book, unfortunately.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

I really liked this sweet and heartwarming story! It was an easy and light read!
Was it predictable...sometimes.
Did I mind it....not at all!
It's like a delicious cliché ;)
This really had all the Hallmark vibes, so I really get why they turned it into a movie!

I liked the detailed writing style! I could almost taste and smell the chocolates!

The side characters were all so lovely and definitely added a lot to the story!

It was cozy, funny and really adorable! If your a Hallmark fan or just a hopeless romantic and chocolate lover than I can definitely recommend this book!!

This book is absolutely a perfect Valentine’s Day read. It made me want to eat a delicious box of chocolates. The characters were both fun and lovable. I would definitely recommend this book to other people. I gave this book 5/5 stars. I can’t wait to watch this book come to life on the Hallmark channel in a movie.

<i>Thank you NetGalley and Hallmark Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Lucy Sweet – yes that’s her real name – runs her family’s chocolate shop. When her best friend Lena gets engaged, becoming the latest couple to fall in love thanks to the magic of Lucy’s romance-enhancing Cupids chocolates consumed on Valentines Day, her story goes viral, drawing the attention of the local news and star investigative reporter, Dean Chase. Dean doesn’t believe love is real, and he’s determined to expose How Sweet It Is chocolate shop for scamming saps out of their money in exchange for the promise of true love. Little does he know what truths he’ll actually uncover when he starts spending time with Lucy…

I have to say, I was nervous about this one going in. Too often, whenever a reporter turns up in a movie or a book, they are painted as ruthless, unethical, or both. For every <i>Spotlight</i>, there’s a <i>House of Cards</i>, is what I’m saying. When Dean first shows up in [book:Sweeter Than Chocolate], his determination to see scandals around every corner – including in Lucy’s little independent chocolate shop – I was nervous he was going to be yet another reporter too caught up in trying to to catch a lie to be able to see the truth. Fortunately, Dean turns out to not be a jerk, and his ambitions end up forcing him to spend lots of time with Lucy, getting to know her business, and several of the couples who fell in love after eating one of Lucy’s Cupids.

Both Dean and Lucy are claim to be avoiding romance, so naturally it’s blindingly obvious to everyone around them that they’re perfect for one another. I loved how grounded they both were in their families, and Lucy in her community (with Dean growing that direction as well). And, delightfully the descriptions of chocolate-making were mouthwatering!

I look forward to catching this sweet confection when the movie version premiers on Hallmark.

[book:Sweeter Than Chocolate] by [author:Lizzie Shane]
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
🌶️ but only for Nana Edda’s five-alarm Mexican hot chocolate (kissing only on the page)
🍫💝 🍫💝 so many tasty treats
🎥🧑🏻‍🦱🍬👩🏻‍🦱 Swoony on camera kiss
👩🏻‍🔬👵🏻 Genius sister and sassy grandma alert

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc!! The hopeless romantic in me cannot stop smiling.

I am excited that this is soon to be a Hallmark Channel original movie!!

How Sweet It Is, Lucy Sweet's chocolate shop has been in her family for generations. Lucy comes across a secret recipe for Cupid Chocolates. Legend has it that if eaten on Valentine's Day you'll meet your one true love!
Dean, a TV reporter has his doubts about the magic of the chocolates.
We see Lucy and Dean go on a journey together of self discovery.
Dean's been chosen to run a segment about the magic of the Cupid Chocolates leading up to Valentines Day. Something out of his comfort zone!
This book had me wanting to visit How Sweet It Is and sample the Cupid Chocolates. I loved the flow of this book. The pace was perfect. It is such a feel good book and a perfect read coming up to Valentines Day.

"You just figured it out, didn't you? That you're crazy about her?" This line has me in a chokehold!!!!!!
The sweetest enemy to lovers story! No pun intended!!

Lucy Sweet is the owner of her family's chocolate shop, How Sweet It Is. Her shop is known for the Cupids that are rumored to find you love if you eat them on Valentine's Day. After her best friend finds love, her friend promptly posts this on social media stating that it was because of the Cupid. Lucy is hesitant to admit that the Cupids have any real powers and says so when Dean, a reporter, reveals his feelings about the Cupids without knowing who she is. Dean is a reporter for the local news and is mostly known for uncovering fraud but with the morning news slot opening up and being considered for the position, he is being on being able to report all kinds of segments. This is how he ends up doing a piece about the How Sweet It Is Cupids and there history with love. Eventually Lucy and Dean end up becoming friends and falling for each other as Dean's assignment with the shop is extended and they end up having their own Cupids do the trick for them too. It was a fun and sweet read, perfect for Valentine's Day.

Such a sweet romance about a chocolatier who makes magic chocolates that help people fall in love. It’s kind of a slow burn and I felt I wanted a little more from it. But none the less it was an adorable valentines story

Thank you to the published and netgalley for the advanced copy.

I really loved this book the story was really cute and I loved the Hallmark movie that was based on the book, I can't wait to read more by this author.

This was a cute and light read for Valentine’s Day! The characters were well written and I was rooting for them both from the beginning. I’m also a huge Hallmark fan and cannot wait to watch this adaptation on the big screen

This book was magical. I absolutely loved Lucy as her cute chocolate shop that was passed down to her. I loved Lucy's relationship with her family and friends, especially her grandma. At first, I wasn't the biggest fan of dean however I definitely warmed to him as he became more the rude news broadcaster. This story was cute and sweet without being overbearing or cheesy. I loved lucy and dean as a couple and their sweet romance. This book was the perfect read for valentines day and now I just want to go watch the hallmark movie.

Time and time again I have said “This book is so cute, it could be a Hallmark movie!” It tickles me to no end to say this actually IS a Hallmark movie (and Hallmark published the book)! New to Lizzie Shane, I couldn’t help but adore the cover of this book and what it held – especially with Valentine’s Day being just around the corner. Pleasantly surprised by the sweetness (get it) of the story, Lizzie captivated my attention and stole my heart with a classic will they/won’t they, too stubborn for their own good strangers, to friends, to lovers story of two people who are determined to shut love out and the magic that brings them together.

Lucy lives the rich and fulfilling life of being a chocolatier. Passed down from generation to generation, Lucy now owns How Sweet It Is and is determined to keep her family’s legacy alive. This also means she has to keep her focus on the needs and survival of the store and nothing else. Easier said than done when a potential competitor pops up across the street, creating a strain to an already delicate financial situation. While Watson Corners has been the home of How Sweet It Is since the day it opened, the area is upscaling and so is her rent. Pushing worry and doom aside, Lucy focuses on what is important, the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday and preparing Cupids, the magical chocolate that once bitten on Valentine’s Day, brings you true love. Simple enough until her best friend Lena goes viral with a post sharing her engagement and a certain chocolate that made it happen. Now a local phenomenon, Lucy is panicking! Warned by her Great Grandmother Gigi of the potential curse if the Cupids were ever sold, Lucy doesn’t want the publicity, the fanfare, or the attention of a certain reporter who has walked through her door.

Dean LOVES being a reporter but his dream is to be a news anchor, ever since he sat at the anchor desk in high school. “Champion of the little guy”, Dean is known for his hard hitting exposé of scams, frauds, and taking down business that victimize the people in his community. When his boss Nina calls him into her office to discuss the latest attention grabber – magic chocolates that cause people to fall in love, Dean is ready to do what he does best, until he finds out he is supposed to do a fluff piece! A cynic to love, romance, and all things sappy – Dean is determined to believe he is being punished but learns that acing this assignment will be the ticket to his dream job. Swallowing his pride, he walks into How Sweet It Is and can’t believe the sheer mayhem in front of him. Confiding is a beautiful woman that walks in after him, he shares his skepticism, only to realize when it is too late that he is talking to Lucy, the woman he now has to convince to do an interview after calling her a “fraudster” to her face. Never to back down from a challenge, Dean is determined to get his story and that anchor position, he just has to convince a certain shop owner that he is open to believe in love and magic, even if his heart is an iron fortress against it.

What I liked about the book: This book was absolutely adorable. The two of them together and how they fueled each other is what kept this slow burn romance alive. His grumpy disposition to all things love and her cautious approach to romance created a beautiful synchronized swim in a sea of denial. I enjoyed the additional stories about the couples on the “Wall of Love”, showing that the magic was bigger than a viral post and one shop keeper, that the importance of hope, opportunity, and openness – highlighted by the differences within each story, was what made the Cupids part of the tale, not the cause of it.

What I loved about the book: I LOVED Nana Edda. That woman cracked me up and that stunt she pulled, I knew something was up and couldn’t stop laughing – especially when she played the “I’m innocent because I old” card. That woman was sharp as a tack!

What enjoyed most about the story was the two different approaches to love that we saw with Lucy and Dean. For Lucy, love was a distraction. Sure, she wanted it for everyone else but it wasn’t worth the sacrifice for her. It didn’t mean she didn’t believe in it and didn’t consider it someday but she knew her priorities and it just wasn’t worth getting swept up only to disappointment her partner because “she cared more about the shop than him”. Seeing the relationships of her past, the love, lost (due to her father passing), and love again, the decades long marriage of her grandparents and great grandparents, she knew epic love was real – she had just convinced herself that the legacy was more important, that her own happiness could be sacrificed and the honor of that was enough to keep her going. Her hopes, her dreams – none of them compared to the idea of losing the family shop and disappointing her ancestors. What person could possibly compete with that level of potential lost? She set herself with no other options, despite what everyone else tried to tell her, including her own grandmother.

For Dean, he saw the exact opposite. He watched love come in like a tsunami, high and strong only to crash and drag everything in its path to its doom. He watched his parents love, divorce, and love again only to divorce again. The ups and downs, the pain and anguish, the lack of stability and control – he never wanted any part in that and definitely didn’t need it – for him or his sister. For him, love was fleeting and not worth the pain in caused. It was too much work, too much effort and no one was willing to do what it took to make it last so why bother. What he witnessed as a child broke him and closed off any possibility of that changing. Even in moments there may have been a slight shift to his belief, situations only reaffirmed his stance and he was left even more jaded to what love was and what it could do. To make matters worse, he projected his vile views on anyone with an inkling towards happily ever after – determined to snuff out any light that love is ever lasting.

I did this synopsis because it was incredibly intriguing to see such opposite ends of the spectrum on the IDEA of love in general but side by side cynicism on the idea of love in their own lives. It was an analytical mind field!

What I don’t like about the book: I felt at times the book went around and around in order to extend the length. There was a point where Dean kept making the same declarations about love and I felt like saying “we know, we know” and finishing his thought because it was the third or fourth time he shared the same stance. The only thing that kept these moments from being a nuisance was the shift in Lucy’s reception when the thoughts were shared. Initially, she shared the same cynicism, but each time his position was declared, you witnessed cracks in her foundation.

With two people so wrapped up in their own stubbornness, their own beliefs, and their own rationale (despite how irrational it truly was), it took Dean being right to find out how wrong he really was. That is what made the story a hit for me. To watch someone who was so determined to be right about everything, to reveal the ultimate truth, to get his wish and witness the fallout. That is what made the ending of this book so good.

4.5 stars - Sweeter Than Chocolate is not your average Valentines romance ... it tells the story of two people who are afraid to take the leap for love even though their hearts are telling them it's the right time to take a chance on each other. Lucy owns a chocolate shop that has been in her family for generations and Dean is a reporter known for uncovering frauds and sticking up for the little guy. While Dean is good at his job, this hard exterior isn't good for the promotion to morning anchor that he wants. What better way to change your image than a fluff piece on love, chocolate, and magic that happens on Valentines Day?

The story kept pulling me in for more and as the relationship between Lucy and Dean began to grow I found myself rooting for them to trust the 'magic' of the Cupid chocolates. Oh, and all that chocolate making also made me crave chocolate raspberry truffles. As you may know, this was made into a Hallmark movie that aired on February 4, 2023 ... the movie was enjoyable and followed the book for the most part, but I know there is only so much they can fit into a movie .... and as in most cases, the Book was better!!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. Thank you to NetGalley, Hallmark Publishing, and Lizzie Shane for sending this ARC for my review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Lucy Sweet has taken over the family chocolate business. How Sweet It Is has been in the Sweet family for generations, the chocolate recipes being passed down. Lucy is under a lot of stress, financially - needing to keep the family business afloat, competition from a French Delicacy shop opening up across the street and keeping up with the traditions of Cupid's chocolates. Legend has it that if a Cupid's chocolate is eaten on Valentine's Day then you will find your soulmate.

A TV reporter, who is skeptical about all things related to love is assigned to covering the chocolate shop for a segment for Valentine's Day. Not believing in love or in happy ever afters, Dean is determined that something shady is going on and will do anything to uncover it.

Due to the success of the TV segment, Dean is assigned to do stories on Cupid's success stories and Lucy has never been busier.
Will this success last? And will Dean expose Lucy as a fraud or will he become a believer in love?

This was such a sweet story. Absolutely perfect for Valentine's day and any other day when you need a feel-good story.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A hallmark movie in a book. Hate to use the word, but it was sweet. Cute for a Valentine’s Day read.

Lucy’s chocolate shop, How Sweet It Is, has been in her family for generations, and it comes with the secret recipe for Cupid chocolates, a Valentine's Day tradition. The rumor is that if you eat one of these chocolates on February 14, you’ll meet your soulmate. Lucy doesn’t know if it's magic or just romantic optimism, but she is determined to keep the tradition alive. However, she faces a new challenge with a rival bakery opening up across the street.

Enter Dean, a skeptical TV reporter who doesn't believe in the magic of the chocolates. He is assigned to cover the story, but he soon finds himself drawn to Lucy and her positive outlook on love. As they work together to track down couples who were brought together by the chocolates, they find that the truth can be complicated, especially when it comes to their own hearts.

This charming romance novel is perfect for Valentine's Day. The characters are likable, and the author has done a great job of weaving wise thoughts into the story. The fast-paced narrative, although predictable, is enjoyable, and the stakes are not too high, making it a light and easy read. The story will leave you with a warm and fuzzy feeling, and it’s no wonder it's being turned into a Hallmark movie. Whether you celebrate Valentine's Day or not, "Sweeter Than Chocolate" is a must-read for anyone who loves a sweet romance.

Great book! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t wait for the movie! If you enjoy watching hallmark movies, then you’ll enjoy this book.

Sweeter Than Chocolate is a delightful Valentine's Day treat that tells the story of Lucy, a chocolatier that runs her family's business that has found some instafame because of their "Cupid's" chocolates. These chocolates claim to bring true love to anyone that opens their heart and eats one on Valentine's Day. Dean is a reporter who is known for his cynical nature and has now been tasked with covering Lucy's shop for a fluff piece for his newstation. He begrudgingly takes the story and finds himself developing a friendship with Lucy and questioning his own denial of all things love and magic. I am so excited to see the movie when it airs on 2/4!! I recommend this for anyone who loves a good rom com or Hallmark movie!

Good writing, warm and fuzzy feelings all around cute read!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️