When their father died of a stroke while on vacation, the Park sisters were left adrift. They were in their twenties, and still living at home in suburban Virginia with their mother when they decided to use the inheritance their father had left them to open a boutique specializing in high-end chocolates. This is the story of that “little shop that could,” and of the bond between two sisters.

It’s a charming memoir, but I found it repetitious. While I admit to self-medicating with chocolate, reading about that in chapter after chapter is less satisfying. Co-authored by the two sisters, it is also written in an oddly first-person-plural style combined with third-person references. So they’ll write something along the lines of “We were excited…” Followed by “Francie gave the customer…” I honestly don’t know how else they might have written it, as co-authors, but for me, it just didn’t flow.

Still, they have an interesting story to tell, and I really likeved their relationship with their mother and with their customers. ( )

This book was delicious! The story of 2 sisters and the chocolate shop that was their dream. ( )

Chocolate, Chocolate is a sweet, true story about two sisters who dream of opening a chocolate store in Washington D.C. When their father dies unexpectedly just as he is about to achieve his lifelong goals, Ginger and Frances are devastated. With the small savings he leaves them they work to realize their own goal of opening a sweets stop, but it turns out to be a little harder than they expect. First they must find the perfect, jewel box storefront, but the landlord turns out to be the Evil Empire. Then they hire a charming, cheap, and ultimately useless contractor who swindles them. As they bravely open anyway Ginger and Frances find themselves in an all too often empty store with the shelves literally crashing to the floor around them and huge cracks appearing in the floor. But the two are determined to honor their father and, together, they believe the magic of chocolate will pull them through.

What really makes this cute little book are the characters constantly wandering in and out of Chocolate, Chocolate. It quickly becomes clear that the sisters like their customers almost as much as they like their chocolate! The endearing vignettes of the various people they meet and befriend are enough to make anyone envy the girls their profession. As Kahlua Lady, the Bulldog, and Our Girl Friday come and go Ginger and Frances rent a typewritter and begin writing their stories in between helping customers. Its a charming picture that they create and reading the book is like being invited to join in the fun. Chocolate, Chocolate is a sweet, feel good, easy read that goes down as smooth as a House Truffle! ( )