Hot Chocolate [Kindle Edition]

Dawn Greenfield Ireland (Author)

Book Description

Hot Chocolate is available
as an ebook and paperback. It is 477 pages long, including reviews, snippets
from the book, acknowledgements and dedications, the entire story told in 44
chapters. At the back of the book you will find eight mouth-watering recipes,
and a look at book two in the Hot Chocolate series: Bitter Chocolate.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Do you like the Grandma Mazur in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series? You'll love Hot Chocolate. The characters are all quirky and funny, and, when you aren't laughing out loud, you'll be smiling. I've read Hot Chocolate, and I want more hot books from Dawn Ireland, so I can laugh some more! -- By Laura V. Arzola

From the Author

How Janet Evanovich changed my life -- Everything had been going gung ho from 2000-2002. My new dog book (The Puppy Baby Book)  just launched and won an IPPY award shortly after publication.
Artistic Origins, my technical writing business, was thriving with contracts/work, and I was renovating my new house. While that part of my life was great, my dating life was non-existent. It had been six (6) years since I even HAD a date. That is not a typo.
I guess there is a reason for some things and we just have to wait until the veil lifts to see clearly.
You are most likely sitting there wondering what on earth does this has to do with Janet Evanovich, but I promise you, it is coming. Bear with me.
A guy roared into my life in early 2002 and swept me off my feet. I was blindsided. I ended up selling my house, moving out of state and living an idyllic lifestyle for one year. At that point, the great grandfather of all disasters struck. I should have asked way more questions than I did prior to moving, but I did not. Oh well...
Toward the end of summer in 2003, you-know-what hit the fan. I am talking beyond bucketfuls - it was clearly by the dump truck-full. In a nutshell, within minutes on that fateful day I was not only destitute, but had nowhere to go. I was homeless! Good friends back in Houston took up a collection so I could move back home.
Then even MORE you-know-what hit the fan. I couldn't find work. It seems that while I was off lolly-gagging in my new princess lifestyle, technical writing had been outsourced overseas.
If that isn't enough, like rubbing a raw onion into an oozing sore, I had to hire an attorney to handle the nightmare legal mess, which had me living in fear.
And because all those jobs were outsourced, I did not work for the remainder of 2003 through 2005. My resume went around the country and around the globe with little or no response. I lived off credit cards and the charity of friends and family.
My brain was frozen and I could not write one word. Total creative shut down for months.
Then, someone gave me a battered copy of One for the Money by Janet Evanovich. I read that paperback overnight.
O M G! That book changed my life!
I loved Stephanie Plum. What a sassy, wild and crazy gal! I loved Lula! I loved Morelli. I loved Ranger. I loved Grandma Mazur. I loved all the wacky characters that poured out of Janet Evanovichs head.
Then, one night I had a crazy dream about this wealthy woman named Lila Mae Alcott whose family was rich out the wazoo from their chocolate empire.
I must have had a hot fudge sundae or something before bedtime for that to end up in my head.
Hence, my mystery novel Hot Chocolate was born. And my characters are so sassy and outrageous, but unlike Stephanie Plum, these gals are middle-aged wealthy women from Houston's elite River Oaks!
Janet uplifted me. Those characters were in my brain cells. I started writing again.
Work came through. A gigantic technical writing project dropped into my lap. I could hardly believe my good fortune.
Over the next two years I bought every Stephanie Plum book that I could get my hands on.
So - many, many thanks to Janet Evanovich! Janet taught me so much about writing and characters. I love her. I hope I get to meet her in person one of these days!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 497 KB
• Print Length: 460 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Artistic Origins Inc (October 20, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005XQYP5C
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,126 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Escapist Read! November 3, 2011

By Katy D.

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

What a fun story! This is one of those books that made me laugh out loud more than once. I love the characters and the story keeps you on your toes. The setting in the south is fun too. This author is definitely onto something - can't wait for more from her!

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Rolling in the aisle Laughter! November 4, 2011

By Laura V. Arzola

Format:Kindle Edition

Do you need a break, just a few good hours of harmless fun? Do you like the Grandma in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series? You'll love Hot Chocolate. The characters are all quirky and funny, and, when you aren't laughing out loud, you'll be smiling. I've read Hot Chocolate, and I want more hot books from Dawn Ireland, so I can laugh some more!

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars DELICIOUS MYSTERY WITH VIVID CHARACTERS February 2, 2012

By Laurel-Rain Snow "Rain" TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

The middle-aged Alcott sisters, heiresses to the Alcott chocolate fortune--Madge, Lila Mae and Dorothea--are fit to be tied. In the midst of busy lives, they must deal with their ninety-two year old father, Bernie, who has become quite the handful.

His nurse Bambi, is another kind of handful, but when they decide they must move Bernie to an assisted living facility, the generous severance package they offer to Bambi is not enough to ward off a lawsuit brought by Bambi's husband, Jimmy Ray Chaline.

Luckily, the Alcotts, very wealthy and well-known in Houston society, have a great lawyer. Chances are good that the suit will be dismissed as frivolous.

Hot Chocolate is a captivating tale with vivid and fun characters. I could almost visualize myself socializing with them, and I definitely enjoyed their interactions with one another. They felt like real sisters, albeit high-society ones. Dorothea is typically the "baby" of the family, and definitely likes being the center of attention. Lila Mae relies on astrology and believes that proper Feng Shui arrangements in a room can make all the difference. Madge, as the oldest, has some unusual habits. Even the peripheral characters, like the staff at each of their homes, as well as Lila Mae's astrologer, felt like important pieces of the production. I also enjoyed close-ups of the relationship between Chance (a detective with the police force) and Lila Mae, not a typical pairing.

Jimmy Ray is another kind of person altogether. As the owner of a local bowling alley, he is something of a cheap-skate and seems to keep Bambi on a short leash. His good looks disappear when he opens his mouth, as he has very bad teeth.

All the players are in place, and we think we have them figured out. So when something unexpected happens one night at the bowling alley, the Alcotts, Bambi, and countless others are caught up in a mystery that had me turning pages rapidly. Who or what could be responsible for the shocking events? What will Bambi discover when she starts searching through her husband's dresser drawers and files? And what other surprises await the Alcotts?

Through all the excitement and intrigue, we are gifted with wonderfully descriptive moments in the lives of the characters, including the delicious food they enjoy. The dishes are presented so realistically that I could almost taste them. As a final pleasing treat, there are several wonderful recipes at the end of the book. A five star read.

More About the Author

Dawn Ireland is the CEO of Artistic Origins Inc, a 100% woman-owned publishing company that has been doing business since 1995. She's the award winning author of The Puppy Baby Book and Mastering Your Money.

Hot Chocolate her new wickedly funny cozy mystery novel is collecting 5-star reviews on Amazon. It is the first in the series, and her fifth novel. Stay tuned for Bitter Chocolate (she posts updates of her progress on Facebook).

Originally from Feeding Hills, MA, Dawn migrated to San Antonio in 1968, then when her first son was one year old (1971) her family moved to Houston where work was more plentiful.

Dawn is the co-author of the animated screenplay Memoirs of a Dog (with Barbara Mackey) which won the Spirit Award of the Moondance Film Festival (children's category) 9/2011. Her dark comedy Plan B was a finalist in the Table Read My Screenplay script competition in 2010. Mastering Your Money won the New England Book Festival eBook category in 12/2008. Melody, A Girl and Her Dog, and Passage were finalists in the Worldfest Int'l Film Festival Script Competition in 2005.

The Puppy Baby Book was proclaimed a finalist in the prestigious IPPY book competition (2001) less than 90 days after publication.

And years before any of these successes, Standing Dead won the Women in Film and Television (Houston Chapter) screenplay award in 12/99.

So many people have asked what she did to win the awards and get so many 5-star reviews on Amazon that she took action: like a good technical writer she wrote a set of instructions. Using PowerPoint creating 177 narrated slides titled How to Publish an Award-Winning Book. This is every writer's personal guide for creating the best book or report without overlooking critical details.

Dawn has been a member and benefactor of Women in Film and Television (Houston) for decades. Her day job is Sr. Technical Writer for an oil company.