Sheila's Books Read

Sheila's bookshelf: read

The Best Intentions
Scotland's Melody
The Secret Society of Salzburg
Secret of the Sonnets
20-40-60-Minute Dinners: Meals to Match the Time You Have
Through the Wilderness: My Journey of Redemption and Healing in the American Wild
Secret Santa Claus Club: A Tool to Help Parents Unwrap the Secret of Santa
Mr. Pudgins
Revenge Never Rests
The Best Mistake
Meriden Park
More Inspirational Stories for Young Women
The Great Tree: A Christmas Fable
To Capture His Heart
The Call of the Sea
Esperance
Livvy and the Enchanted Woodland
Come, Gentle Night
The Bad Boy Theory
Guide To Smart Wedding Planning: What You want to know and everything you haven't thought of yet.


Sheila's favorite books »

2024 Goodreads Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
Sheila has read 4 books toward her goal of 100 books.
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Friday, July 30, 2010

My review of "Chocolate Roses" by Joan Sowards


Janie Rose Whitaker's world revolved around her chocolate shop until Roger Wentworth and his young daughter moved into the apartment across from Janie's. Anyone would think Roger fit the mold of the "perfect" guy, but soon Janie discovers secrets that could keep them apart forever. Though she resists getting involved in Roger's complicated life, they are drawn further into a bittersweet relationship.

When I first heard of this new book by author, Joan Sowards, entitled "Chocolate Roses: A Jane Eyre Parody...An LDS Novel" I was intrigued. Not only was the topic about one of my favorite things, chocolate, but it was also about one of my favorite classics, Jane Eyre By
Charlotte Bronte. If you are not familiar with Jane Eyre (gasp!!) then here is a basic outline of this classic.



The story starts as Jane suffers life under Mrs. Reed who hates her and treats her poorly. At the age of 10, Jane is sent by Mrs. Reed to a boarding school called Lowood. Jane goes to the school, and despite efforts by Mrs. Reed to make her life hard, Jane enjoys the school and excels in her studies. She stays at the school making many friends (one of whom died of an illness) and becoming a teacher for two years. At the end of the two years, her favorite teacher, Mrs. Temple, gets married and leaves the school. Jane finds little purpose in staying at the school and advertises for a position as governess. She finds a job working for Mr. Rochester teaching a young French girl named Adele at Thornfield. As she teaches there a while, she falls in love with Mr. Rochester, and he falls in love with her. They plan to get married, but on the wedding day, it is found out that Mr. Rochester has a living wife. He confesses it but shows them that his wife is a lunatic. Jane leaves during the night as is homeless and destitute for a few days. She is taken in by the Rivers and lives with them for a while. St. John Rivers finds her a job teaching at a local country school and she does so for a while. St. John Rivers eventually informs Jane that a close relative of hers had died and left his fortune of 20 thousand pounds to her. Finding out that she and the Rivers are cousins, she splits the fortune between the four of them. St. John plans to leave for India as a missionary and wants to take Jane with him as a wife. Jane refuses. After John leaves to say bye to some acquaintances, Jane leaves in search of Mr. Rochester, only to find Thornfield burned down by Rochester’s lunatic wife. Jane inquires about him and finds out that he is living at Ferndean, another of his houses. She goes there and finds Mr. Rochester blind and crippled. They fall in love and get married.






That is a really watered down version of Jane Eyre, but you get the idea. I wondered, how would Joan take this classic and put it into a modern day story? Let's just say, she did a fantastic job.



The main character Janie is likable from the start. She is 27 years old and still single. In the LDS
world, that is not necessarily a fun thing to be. I can say this, because at 27 I was still single. I could relate to everything she was lamenting about. The thing I loved about Janie, is the way that she tries so hard to include humor into her outlook on life. Her best friend is her dog "Flo", her great Dane. I haven't read a book in a long time, where a pet had so much personality! Flo is her best friend that is always there for her, keeping her sane throughout the story.



Another great aspect of this book, is how well Joan writes all of her characters, not just the main female and male leads. All of the people who work in Janie's chocolate shop are also well developed and have fun side stories.


As for the main male character, it took me awhile to warm up to him. I think that is the way Joan wanted it to be. Janie has been in love with this man she sees once a week. He hardly ever says anything to her, but she still falls for his good looks. The conflict of course is when Janie realizes he is married; this is after she has also become attached to Roger Wentworth's 4 year old daughter. Mixed in with this story is a murder mystery and a little bit of blackmail. Of course, let us not forget about the "crazy" wife that is jealous of Janie.


One last thing that I want to add, is that this book holds to LDS standards and covers much about LDS culture. Someone that is not LDS would still like this book and not feel preached to. In conclusion, this is a fun, satisfying and tasty read.

WARNING: Have chocolate on hand before reading, or a trip to the store will be necessary in order to continue reading.

Joan Sowards and Walnut Springs Press have a fantastic contest where you can win some prizes, including a copy of this book. Read the details down below!




We have two great prizes up for grabs! Win either a copy of the book (2 winners) or this fabulous apron created by Joan!






All you have to do is leave a comment (along with your email address if it isn't on your blog profile) and answer the following question.

What's your favorite type of chocolate: white, dark, or milk?
The more blogs you comment on the more entries you'll receive.
All comments must be left by midnight MST on August 8 to be eligible.


July 26
Margaret Turley
Nichole Giles--
Joyce DiPastena--JDP News

July 27
Deanne Blackhurst--Annie Speaks Her Mind
Tristi Pinkston--*Tristi Pinkston

July 28
Taffy Lovell--Taffy's Candy
Alison Palmer--Tangled Words and Dreams

July 29
Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen--The Write Blocks
C.S. Bezas--For the Love of the Written Word

July 30
Sheila Staley--Why Not? Because I Said So!
LDSWomen's Book Review

August 2
Kerry Blair--Now & Here
Marsha Ward--Writer in the Pines

August 3
Kaylee Baldwin--Kaylee Baldwin
Amy Orton--Amesbury Reads

August 4
Anna del C.--Anna del C. Dye's Blog
Laurie Lewis--A View from the Other Side

August 5
Valerie Ipson--Of Writerly Things
Anna Arnett--Insights and Ramblings from Anna Arnett

August 6
Lynn Parsons
Danyelle Ferguson--Queen of the Clan


Chocolate Roses can be purchased
from Deseret Book, Amazon, and of
course your local LDS bookstore.


FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Walnut Springs Press. In no way did this influence me and the review that was written about this book.

11 comments:

  1. Great review! Thanks so much for following me. I'm glad you're on the blog tour so I could finally find you and follow you, too! I can't wait to read the book and eat chocolate! : ) My fav is DARK chocolate. Kbrebes@aol.com C-ya

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  2. I totally agree! Blog tours bring people together! Thanks to you for the follow! It will be great getting to know you.

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  3. Nice review of an intriguing book. I love European chocolate when hazelnuts are involved. Perfection! teen26119@mypacks.net

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  4. This book is so intriguing to me. I can't wait to read it. And thanks for putting the water downed version of Jane Eyre on. I haven't read it but it sounds interesting so I just might. My favorite chocolate is a toss up of milk and white although I like dark as well.
    lalabowers@gmail.com

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  6. Looks like such a good book. I am a dark chocolate fan myself.

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  7. I love your review. And I have read Jane Eyre but I love you watered down version. I also love dark chocolate. opal23zuniga@yahoo.com
    P.S. I love your playlist. It reminds me of mine.

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  8. Any book about chocolate must be good. I prefer dark chocolate myself.

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  9. Dark chocolate for me! Thanks for this giveaway.
    laura at laurafabiani dot com

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  10. Great review, Sheila! I really enjoyed this book, too!

    Danyelle

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