Corsair’s Cove Chocolate Shop – The Complete Set (Volume 6) – Review
Description
The sweetest life is the one you make together … Corsair’s Cove has a reputation for being one of the most haunted places in the Pacific Northwest. It also has a way of drawing to itself the people who need it most—like the Blackthorne cousins. When Great Aunt Ruby passes and leaves them her chocolate shop, it comes with a few extras she forgot to tell them about—such as a talking parrot and a pirate ghost! Cursed by an angry ex, Daniel Blackthorne, the Wolf of the West, must help the last descendants of his family find true love before he’s banished forever on Hallowe’en night. But even a skilled sea captain will encounter heavy weather when he tries to get Prudence, Livy, Brynn, and Eloise—four cousins with everything but romance on their minds—into the arms of their soulmates before the clock strikes midnight
Review:
The lovely Sharon Ashwood, author of the terrific Four Horsemen and Camelot Reborn series, has collaborated with three equally fine authors, Lee McKenzie, Rachel Goldsworthy, and Shelley Adina to create a charming anthology series titled Corsair’s Cove Chocolate Shop. Set in a Pacific northwest town, four formerly inseparable cousins reunite, for lamentable reasons, to reestablish bonds and contemplate HEA. Not only are there paranormal elements nestled within the Blackthorne family folk tale, but the swoon-worthy love stories are sure to sweeten your life. Dive in to taste their calorie-free goods! 🙂
KISS AT THE COVE by Lee McKenzie
Prudence delivers Happily Ever Afters as a wedding planner and Spencer is a scientist who disproves the unfounded. What’s more confounding than love? How can this possibly work?
When great aunt, Ruby, the matriarch of the family, passes away, life is upended for Pru. Ruby’s untimely death ultimately brings to life plans for business expansion that Pru had always envisioned, but it’s unseemly to rejoice. Just when opportunity presented itself,
“Ruby had been wise to name all four cousins in the will, even if Pru hadn’t seen that at first. And what better way to remind the cousins of their bond than to physically bring them together in Corsair’s Cove.”
Amid the uncertainty of livelihood, and common goals gone awry, Pru gets a “crash course” in all things romantic. Spencer is on a sabbatical of sorts, mostly affecting matters of the heart, and when he makes contact with Pru, swearing off women sounds like the most preposterous of plans. This pair works. It’s an effortless attraction that may, or may not, have been given a supernatural shove in the right direction.
KISS IN THE WIND by Rachel Goldsworthy
The romance continues to build with Pru’s cousin, Livy, a food chemist, newly arrived to honor Aunt Ruby’s wishes. When she meets Mack, local tavern owner, real salt of the earth kind of guy, relocating to Corsair’s Cove was practical magic!
While this love story may have simmered a bit longer than the first, there was immediate impact upon meeting. Chill-inducing energy!
Can two independents step outside of their own comfort zones to make a go of collaboration? Enchantment inside and outside the kitchen is much more than chemistry!
KISS ON THE BEACH by Shelley Adina
The third novella involves another Blackthorne descendant, Brynn, and her unrequited high school crush, Jamie. Jamie is a homebody who stuck around after high school, built a name for himself in carpentry, and envisioned his future dream home, albeit harbored. You see, he’s pined after Brynn for time immemorial.
When Brynn arrives in Corsair’s Cove to settle her share of Aunt Ruby’s estate, something akin to a dine-and-dash act, life takes on new perspective. Surrounded by family, enveloped in quaint town magic, when did she become so adverse to HEA?
“It was as though she was a part of something larger than herself. Part of a heritage that actually belonged to her. Something else she’d never thought about before. It was this place. Give the Cove an inch, and it took a mile, darn it.”
Brynn’s return has certainly stirred up old feelings for Jamie. An executive though she might be, her demeanor belies an inner turmoil. A longing, Jamie hopes, to preserve tradition, to create new memories with her cousins…and to finally set fire to their romantic spark of old.
KISS IN THE DARK by Sharon Ashwood
The quartet of this lovely series, and sexiest, delves deeper into the Blackthorne curse (excellent paranormal activity!) and the details of his sin. A crime of passion as it were, but Daniel Blackthorne, the legendary pirate ghost himself, has the opportunity to break said curse and, surprisingly enough, find some HEA of his own.
Eloise, the “flake of the family”, arrives with a lot to prove. Fresh out of business school, she’s tasked to promote a fundraising ball that will enhance the shop’s productivity as well as sustainability. Discovering her spectral roommate is none other than Daniel Blackthorne, the legend, the heart of Corsair’s Cove, their lives become entwined forevermore.
Will Eloise yield to the charms of a ghost (the undead have game, trust me!) and undo the blight clinging to him or will a nefarious character shatter hope and bring ultimate despair?
Not only are the love stories delectable, but each author is allowing her main character, a grand-niece, the ability to reconnect with Aunt Ruby; to make peace as she designed. The touch of paranormal, we are talking about ghosts after all, shifts and develops with every novella. You’ll enjoy every revelation, every step to victory. Corsair’s Cove came to life with every author’s depiction. Every sweet and savory concoction sampled at Red Gem’s Chocolate and Confections sounds as tantalizing as pirate Blackthorne himself. Beginning to end — a thoroughly tasty treat!
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But wait! What’s that I hear?? Why wedding bells, of course! Pru and Spencer are near solidifying their unending love when ghosts, of course ghosts!, return to haunt Corsair’s Cove.
A revival of Pru’s history at the altar does not a marriage make. What could possibly prevent this promise of forever? Cold feet? Too easy. All the answers are available in Kiss at the Altar, each sweet chapter an author cooperative. Line forms here for Corsair’s Cove Orchard series!
Reviewed by Carmen
Copy supplied for review
