"A wonderfully quirky book!"

Candace Woodward is getting married in three weeks so why is everything going wrong? I mean everything from the shop where she bought her wedding dress burning down, to the groom's cake flopping, to the minister running off with the church secretary, to...well, you get my drift. Her Grandma Woodrow says they are all signs and she should heed them but Candace knows she is marrying Mr. Right or is she?

Candace and her two best friends who are also her business partners have a night on the town and she wakes up not only in a strange bed but in a strange man's apartment! What has she done? Why does this man have to be a hunk to boot? All Candace does is run. What she doesn't count on is meeting Michael Vogler in her own shop, of all places! He's there to hire her shop to make up gift baskets for one of his clients.

Michael is wild about Candace but he doesn't believe in forever love. Still why can't he get over Candace and why even when he knows she's about to be married can't he back off and leave Candace alone? Is there any way he can convince her that maybe she's marrying the wrong guy and is he the right guy? Does he want to be the right guy?

The escapades, quirky characters and laugh out loud recipes kept me turning pages in this humorous contemporary romance. There wasn't one single thing I didn't like about this wonderfully fabulous book. I am hooked on Shirley Jump and will be keeping an eye out for more of her books!

Reviewed by Kathy Boswell
Posted September 14, 2004

Read an Excerpt

THE BRIDE WORE CHOCOLATE combines recipes with attitude with romantic comedy, creating a hilarious story that will leave you craving more. When Candace Woodrow wakes up in the wrong man's bed just before her wedding, it drives her to continual chocolate consumption, an addiction helped along by her well-meaning friends and family. The characters provide the recipes, Candace and Michael provide the sparks, and Boston provides the backdrop to this funny tale of the wrong love at the wrong time.

Shirley Jump writes romantic comedies for Silhouette and Kensington to support her shoe buying habit and give her an excuse to eat chocolate at her desk. Her first book won the Booksellers' Best Award for Best Traditional Romance of 2003. Her most recent book is THE BRIDE WORE CHOCOLATE, which combines food, family and romance in one novel, bringing all of Shirley's favorite things into a single place.

Summary

A RECIPE FOR DISASTER?

Candace Woodrow thinks so. She has no business even looking at another man—no matter how sinfully sexy he is—much less waking up in Michael Vogler's bed three weeks before she marries Mr. Right. She's determined her wedding will go off without a hitch—as long as she can keep her meddling grandmother, her flighty mother, and her well-meaning friends from interfering with her plans—and pointing out her doubts every time she turns around.

Which won't be easy, since Michael just became Candace's biggest client, with an order for thousands of the Gift Baskets to Die For she creates with her friends. Worse, he wants to work closely with Candace...every step of the way. It's enough to drive a girl to intravenous chocolate consumption, 24/7. And the way Candace's heart flip-flops whenever Michael is around is an industrial-sized clue that keeping a tight rein on her future and her heart might not be such a good idea. But risking it all for a man she barely knows is even crazier, right?

Sometimes, crazy is a good thing...