Canyou taste it? The sweet, scintillating, and sometimes sensual taste of rich andcreamy chocolate? Do you crave it — daily, hourly, and by the second? Would youchoose chocolate over love? Can you not imagine a workday, a day off, adessert, a breakup, a date, without it? Then you, like Max Brenner, are truly alover of chocolate, and Chocolate: A Love Story (Little,Brown & Company / November 2, 2009) is for you.

Chocolate: A Love Story is a colorful cookbookthat captures the joy and energy of Max’s restaurants with more than 50 originalrecipes for their most popular chocolate treats. The book is narrated in thequirky, captivating voice of the "Bald Man," Max Brenner, and boldillustrations mirror the restaurant’s decor and menu design. Mouthwatering full-colorphotographs accompany the easy-to-follow recipes. An eye-catching celebrationof this chocolate culture, Chocolate: A Love Story willtempt Max Brenner fans and win new devotees.

Withrecipes ranging from “frozen very hot margaritas with lychees, tempting mandarinvodka, and a salty chocolate peanut brittle fantasy” to “tacky double chocolatefondue made of dark chocolate with a touch of red chili obsession” and “dependable banana cupcakes with dark chocolate chunks and a moody coconut sugarglaze,” there is a taste for every mood and a creation for each of Max’s manymuses. This is no ordinary cookbook, but rather a full-length love manifestofor the very thing that drives Max’s passion: the dark, the milk, the light,the white, and every variation and incarnation of the chocolate he holds sodear.

MaxBrenner is a confectioner, businessman, and, above all, a passionate lover ofchocolate. A real-life Willy Wonka, he began his career as an apprentice, workingin the best European kitchens alongside renowned pastry chefs. It was in Europethat his love for chocolate evolved into a passion, leading him to open a smallchocolate workshop in his homeland of Israel. Max Brenner, Chocolate by theBald Man, is now a thriving international brand, committed to spreading Max’svision of a Chocolate Culture to the world.

I’mhoping that you will be interested in featuring Chocolate: A Love Story,as well as Max Brenner himself, in your holiday and cookbookroundups this fall and during the coming holiday season. To interview MaxBrenner or to request more information, please contact me at (212) 364-1308 or Sabrina.Callahan@hbgusa.com.