Dark Chocolate by Love Barkhurst

Love Barkhurst is a friend of my sister's, and had this not been a free download, I would have borrowed her copy. For what it is, it's an okay book. The love story itself is a little trite: the typical "lust at first sight" but it is refreshing to see a biracial couple in a romance novel. I couldn't relate to the characters though; Lila is a privileged white woman who comes from money, living in an affluent area of Connecticut with her own catering business. Jay is a streetwise rap star. I just couldn't like them or really care much about them. Some scenes seemed rushed and under-researched, others seemed way over the top (Lila is the victim of a violent crime twice in a few months. Why are we commodifying violent crime against women again? Oh yes, so Jay can be the hero. Right.).

The thing that really detracted from my reading experience, however, were the glaring grammatical errors. Inappropriate apostrophes, lack or overuse of commas, even spelling errors. I know this is self-published and by the very nature of self publishing, you have to do the work yourself, but couldn't someone have given this a few go-overs before sent to the printer? Love, I don't know you, but send a manuscript to my sister and I will happily edit for you, free of charge. This was a first novel. With proper editing, character development (the characters were shallow and unrealistic), and revision, she could have the potential for a successful second book.

Overall, it was an easy read to get me through a slump. If you want something you don't have to think too hard about, this is a good book for that. If you're looking for depth and complex characters, this isn't it.

Rated 3 stars on Goodreads