Book Review: The Chocolate Maker’s Wife by Karen Brooks

Media Type: Print Book (ARC)
Title: The Chocolate Maker’s Wife
Author: Karen Brooks
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Pages: Paperback; 608
Release Date: August 20, 2019
Source: TLC Book Tours / Publisher

Genre: Historical Fiction / Romance
HDB Rating: 3*
Recommended to: Readers who enjoy stories that feature strong women in other time periods.

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Australian bestselling novelist Karen Brooks rewrites women back into history with this breathtaking novel set in 17th century London—a lush, fascinating story of the beautiful woman who is drawn into a world of riches, power, intrigue…and chocolate.

Damnation has never been so sweet…

Rosamund Tomkins, the illegitimate daughter of a nobleman, spends most of her young life in drudgery at a country inn. To her, the Restoration under Charles II, is but a distant threat as she works under the watchful eye of her brutal, abusive stepfather . . . until the day she is nearly run over by the coach of Sir Everard Blithman.

Sir Everard, a canny merchant, offers Rosamund an “opportunity like no other,” allowing her to escape into a very different life, becoming the linchpin that will drive the success of his fledgling business: a luxurious London chocolate house where wealthy and well-connected men come to see and be seen, to gossip and plot, while indulging in the sweet and heady drink.

Rosamund adapts and thrives in her new surroundings, quickly becoming the most talked-about woman in society, desired and respected in equal measure.

But Sir Everard’s plans for Rosamund and the chocolate house involve family secrets that span the Atlantic Ocean, and which have already brought death and dishonor to the Blithman name. Rosamund knows nothing of the mortal peril that comes with her new title, nor of the forces spinning a web of conspiracy buried in the past, until she meets a man whose return tightens their grip upon her, threatening to destroy everything she loves and damn her to a dire fate.

As she fights for her life and those she loves through the ravages of the Plague and London’s Great Fire, Rosamund’s breathtaking tale is one marked by cruelty and revenge; passion and redemption—and the sinfully sweet temptation of chocolate.

I must confess that I’m still dipping my toes into Historical Fiction and that, at times, I still find it tough to get into. It requires that I constantly remind myself of the fact that there wasn’t always space for women in our world, the way that there is now. Otherwise I’d want to wring the necks of many a male lead. That being said, I was a little wary about The Chocolate Maker’s Wife. This book is quite long. I hoped that the focus on chocolate houses, and my interest in them, would help with that fact. As it stands, I’m still on the fence about this book.

First, the good. It’s obvious that Karen Brooks has done her research on this time period. Set in 17th Century London, this book has quite a variety of historical touch points. The plague, the Great Fire of London, and even the politics of the time are all focused on in great detail. As someone who doesn’t have the familiarity of this time period that I wish I did, all of this was extremely helpful in allowing me to sink into the story. It was such a tumultuous time, and Brooks shows that in vivid strokes.

The biggest problem I had, and here is where we start with the not so good parts, is that there is a lot of repetition in this story. It makes sense that Brooks would want to show off her historical accuracy, but there are points where I just wanted to skim past the thirteenth description of Rosamund’s angelic laughter in the span of three pages. While I thought that maybe this repetition would eventually allow the characters to be fleshed out, they still managed to be really one-dimensional throughout most of the story. There are the angelic beings, like Rosamund, who are perfectly good. There are vile villains who are perfectly bad. Alas, there’s not a whole lot in between. I like some gray area in my characters.

This took me a bit longer than I expected to finish, but I did enjoy the story overall. For that, I’ll give The Chocolate Maker’s Wife a solid three star rating. It might not have been the perfect Historical Fiction book, but it’s pretty solid.

FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for my opinion.