Customer Reviews

Chocolate Kisses

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Chocolate Kisses are three deliciously sweet stories by bestselling authors Francis Reid, Maryann Reid and debut novelist Renee Luke. "A Chocolate Affair" by Francis Ray is about Lucian Faulkner III, the CEO of a multi-million dollar candy company. Lucian is sexy, wealthy, and single. He can have any woman, but he only wants his college sweetheart Miranda Collins. Miranda walked away from Lucian long ago in favor of a fashion career. She promised herself that she wouldn't let falling in love with a man derail her career goals. But when Miranda shows up at bridal shower of one of Lucian's clients, her once dormant desires are now ignited. Will she give in to Lucian's advances?

"A Good Man is Hard To Count" by Maryann Reid is about an insatiable woman named Savannah who loves men and sweets. After each conquest, she puts a different color sour stick in her 'Man Jar.' But when she meets a sexy firefighter named Clinton, he may make her give up all of her other conquests. "Chocolate Kisses" by Renee Luke is about two friends named Nicole and Marcus. Their friendship gets complicated when they start a steamy physical affair. The problem is that Marcus leaves in a few weeks to take a dream job in Atlanta. Nicole wants him to stay, but she doesn't want him to give up his dream for her. Will they both take a chance on love?

Chocolate Kisses is a collection of sinfully satisfying and seductive stories. Francis Ray's "A Chocolate Affair" will have you seriously craving for some of those chocolate treats she describes in the story. Maryann Reid's "A Good Man Is Hard To Count" made me want to run to the store for some sour sticks of my own. Renee Luke's "Chocolate Kisses" is lusciously erotic. All three tales were wonderful, but my personal favorite was Renee Luke's story. She artfully illustrated the friendship of Nicole and Marcus and how everything changed when they crossed the line. Luke's story was the perfect climax to this trio of scrumptious stories. Buying Chocolate Kisses would make a delightful Valentine Day's treat for any booklover.

"A Chocolate Affair" by Francis Ray. When they attended Columbia together, he thought they would be together forever, but instead without warning or explanation Miranda dumped Lucian. He vowed that if the opportunity ever arose he would dump her. Now the CEO of A Chocolate Affair has that chance, but wonders who will be hurt more if he walks.

"A Good Man is Hard to Count" by Maryann Reid. Savannah is a man eater who loves them and leaves them; she keeps score by placing a candy stick in a jar for each hunk she devours. That is until she meets firefighter Clinton, who is the entire candy store. He demands commitment while she craves variety or does she?

"Chocolate Kisses" by Renee Luke. When Marcus tells his best friend Nicole that he accepted a job that means moving away, they fall into each other's arms and make love. They agree this was a temporary aberration, but both crave more Chocolate Kisses yet neither want to harm their friendship by speaking of their sweetest desire.

These three heated Valentine's Day romances will satiate the audience's sweet tooth while placing immense pressure on significant others (no subtle hint to my spouse) to come through on the holiday.

Harriet Klausner

The main reason I bought this book was because of Francis Ray. I really enjoy her work and her story was no acception. Her story was sweet and tender. With the second story I had read Ms. Reid's story in Mr. Satisfaction which I enjoyed so I gave her story in this book a go and again I enjoyed this one. The last story which in the longest of the three and the debut on the Renee Luke was awesome. It had me laughing at some points and was tugging at my heart strings. Also the story was HOT! So go ahead and pick this one up!

I'll admit, this book has been on my shelf for awhile. After reading some of the reviews, it dropped on my tbr pile. Finally, looking for a book to read between books, I figured a book of short stories would be the best route. I'm glad I chose this book.

True to the chocolate theme, Francis Ray's A Chocolate Affair does not disappoint. It's classic Francis Ray. Lucian and Miranda parted ways in college, much to the dismay of Lucian. Years later, circumstances and chocolate bring them together. Can their love be as sweet as it once was?

Maryann Reid veers from the chocolate theme, but still keeps it sweet in A Good Man is Hard to Count. Sassy and sexy Savannah keeps track of her sexual trysts using a Man Jar. Each man is assigned a colored sour stick candy. As the number of a certain colored sour stick increases, it's time to move on. Clinton, a hot firefighter, enters the picture and only wants her to see the color red. Can one color ever be enough?

Debut author Renee Luke makes her presence known and felt with the title story Chocolate Kisses. Nicole and Marcus are best friends and have been for years. They have been everything to each other from work out partners, movie buddies, confidants, sounding boards to meal companions. But now, Nicole wants to add "lover" to their friendship. Even so, she says he's just a friend. Is Nicole fooling herself?

Chocolate Kisses satisfies the sweet tooth. Just which story will be the most satisfying depends on what the reader craves. Questioning any of these authors' talents shouldn't be an issue. The problem, if that is what you want to call it, with this novel is the grouping of these three particular authors together. They should not have been put together. It's like apples and oranges. One isn't better than the other, they're just different. Francis, Maryann and Renee's style, flow and usage of words are very different. Someone looking for romance will love Francis Ray's story, but not necessarily find that element in Maryann's. (ex..."Looking down into Miranda's face, her lips parted, her eyes glazed with desire, he felt himself falling in love.") Someone looking for something hot will find that in Maryann's story, but not necessarily in Francis'. (ex..."In bed at night, she still got wet at the memories of the menage a trios, the hedonistic acts at the 'locked-door' parties, and the quickies in the Red Lobster bathroom, where one guy had an urge to eat her following a dinner of oysters.") While Francis and Maryann may represent both extremes, Renee falls somewhere in the middle. (ex..."She wanted Marcus, and the ache between her legs sure as hell wasn't going away until she had him.") Taking it a step further, to describe what I'll call a man's "state of excitement," Francis may use a word like "arousal," while Maryann may use "hard," and Renee "erection." One term may be too strong for one reader and not strong enough for another. Whatever floats your boat, but it doesn't take away from any of their skills. Each story was good in its own right. Overall, the book was enjoyable. Having read previous works by Francis and Maryann, their stories met my expectations. Renee, however, was a pleasant surprise. I went into her story not sure what to expect from this first timer and ended up liking her story the best.

I will say this, someone needs to consult with someone when it comes to putting these anthologies together. Good stories can make for a not great book because the authors don't mesh or complement each others style. Four Degrees of Heat featuring Crystal Lacey Winslow, Brenda L. Thomas, Rochelle Alers, ReShonda Tate Billingsley is another case in point. Good stories, but these authors had no business being in one book together. In the future I'd like to see Francis Ray with complementary authors like Brenda Jackson, Rochelle Alers and Donna Hill. I'd like to see Maryann Reid with the likes of Crystal Lacey Winslow and Brenda L. Thomas. Renee is versatile enough that she can hang with either group. She has released her debut novel which after reading her short story, I intend to read.

Don't give up on Chocolate Kisses, just expect three very different stories.

Reviewed by: Toni

I am a huge Francis Ray fan. That's why I bought Chocolate Kisses. As usual, Ray's story was satisfying. I liked her characters and the plot, though I did think they could have been deeper and the sex hotter. I know her style and reading A Chocolate Affair had me wondering if Ray felt comfortable writing this kind of heat--felt like the story tensed up at several different places during scenes that should have been yummy. Still an enjoyable read.

Reid's story--I'm going to ignore it. Shouldn't have been published. In fact, I've never liked anything from this author. She's not good and this story--A Good Man is Hard to Count--degrading. She should be ashamed. The writing is bad and the plot is...well...it's just not romance at all.

It's Renee Luke's debut of the title story, Chocolate Kisses that earns this review five stars. She's heat and romance and everything I'd expect and desire from an erotic story. She made the chocoalte melt and her characters--Marcus and Nicole--felt like my friends. I cared about them. I wanted them to be happy. There were scenes I cried. Scenes I cheered for them. Scenes I went to find my husband....

I'll be watching Luke. I was so impressed with this story. So impressed with her writing. I'm now a fan of hers and will be buying her future releases. If they're half as good as Chocolate Kisses they'll be worth every penny.

So combing Ray and Luke made this book worth while--a good read. A great read if you skip the middle story. I recommend it.

I primarily brought "Chocolate Kisses" because of Francis Ray. However, I remembered Maryann Reid from "Mr. Satisfaction" and I enjoyed her work. Renee Luke was new to me, but I'm now a big fan.

As usual Francis Ray's characters stand out...you felt their pain and frustration in their lost love...it was tender and heartwarming...

Maryann Reid took using "just sex relationships" as an emotional shield, to another level...hot, erotic...

Renee Luke made "friends with benefits" and shopping for bed linen, sexy, erotic and touching...

Whether it was lost love, lust or instant physical gratification, each story told a tale of discovering love, letting go of excess baggage, taking risks and self acceptance.

I was disappointed when the book ended. However, I happily devoured a Hershey bar afterwards...just to keep the connection a little longer. Great book!

I finally got the chance to read this book and I'm glad I have.

I've read Francis Ray for years so I really enjoyed her story. However, in a collection that's supposed to be "steamy", she's not. It's a great story, but just the regular romance novel scenes as opposed to something spicier. But it was a great story. I really liked the characters and you where rooting for them, especially considering the nasty mother and her attitude. It just wasn't steamy.

Maryanne Reid, well, her story definitely had the steam. Full steam. Quite a bit. No problems with that part. My complaint would be that I just didn't feel for the character. Lots of women go through bad relationships but they don't use various men for sex like Savannah does here. When she meets someone she might actually want to have more than a finite number of sexual encounters with, you still don't feel it. I don't know. The story was lacking a compassionate character for me. And it lacked romance. Use this guy for this sexual act. Another guy for some other act. Oh, maybe the hunky fireman can do all those things. Sorry, just didn't do it for me.

I loved Renee Luke's story! Not only did you have plenty of steam, but you were emotionally vested in the characters. You were rooting for them to work things out. You cared about what happened plus got to enjoy some really good love scenes. Very hot! I feel this story had the best of both. The romance you want plus the very, very, very hot sex. I look forward to other books by this author.

Three tantalizing stories compromise CHOCOLATE KISSES. Each with it's own erotic flair that will have your senses tingling. This is no holds barred, raw passion that causes heat to rise from the page!

Award winning, best-selling author, Francis Ray does it again with "A Chocolate Affair." Extenuating circumstances separated Miranda Collins and Lucian Faulkner while they were in college. Now, several years have gone by and their paths cross again. Have the feelings they shared come and gone like a fleeting memory or are their feelings still very much present? "A Chocolate Affair" is a story of having loved deeply and lost with the opportunity to love again. What happens next is anyone's guess!

In MaryAnn Reid's "A Good Man is Hard to Count", we have Savannah, the female character who has gotten beaten plenty of times in the love game. Now her philosophy is if you can't beat them, join them. Yet, when Clinton comes onto the scene, Savannah will be marching to the beat of a different drummer, or will she?

In "Chocolate Kisses", Renee Luke debuts with a new definition of friendship. When Nicole propositions her best friend, Marcus, sparks fly! However, are Nicole's advances too late and will Marcus' career lead him down another path leaving Nicole more alone than ever?

You'll have to pick up your copy of CHOCOLATE KISSES for page-turning erotic excitement. After reading just one of these short stories, your spine will tingle and your eyes will shine as the words dance off of the page creating a passionately erotic scene!

Reviewed by Nedine
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

francis ray story was pretty good but maryann reid was a big disappointment and renee luke it was better than mayann reid. francis ray and renee luke was heart warming

I bought this book because I am a fan of Frances Ray. I enjoyed her story, but Ms. Reid's story should not have been included in this book. I thought it was the worst thing that Ray could have done, to allow her story to be published in the same book. That story was so degrading!!!!!