Life is just not all chocolate for the now married Lord and Lady Saybrook. Grentham, the evil spymaster has another mission for them. Darn, they have to go to Vienna for the Congress addressing the makeup of Europe following Napoleon's exile. Assassins lurk and spies slink about but our dynamic duo is up to the task with their usual slam bang ending. Another good entry in this fun series ( )

I enjoy these characters and will continue the series. This book continues some of the threads initiated in the first book in the series. I enjoy the complexity of the interaction of the characters and the intertwining of historical events into the story. This story was a bit slow at points and wrapped up a bit too quickly and neatly, but was still enjoyable. ( )

This is a story for chocolate lovers. Chocolate appears on nearly every page, whether the characters are eating it, drinking it, researching it, or gazing into each other's chocolate-brown eyes.
The Cocoa Conspiracy is the second installment in the Lady Arianna Regency Mystery series, and Arianna is now married to Lord Saybrook. Because of the unconventional way they were married (in the first book), each is insecure about the relationship, creating a well-written, subtle tension.
After buying a birthday present for her husband (a book on chocolate), Lady Arianna discovers a coded message hidden in its binding which speaks of planned treason and murder. The Saybrooks take their knowledge to the dastardly Minister of State Security Lord Percival Grentham, with whom they tangled in the last book. Grentham convinces them to attend a Peace Conference in Vienna to solve the mystery and stop the murders.
The Cocoa Conspiracy has plenty of intrigue, thrills, history, and best of all, chocolate. Each chapter begins with a recipe from “Lady Arianna's Chocolate Notebooks.” Though conveniently modern, these recipes seem out of place with such anachronisms as “heat oven to 325 degrees” and “with an electric mixer . . . .” Still, I cuddled up with a cup of hot chocolate every time I sat down to read. I can't wait for the next installment. ( )

A very good follow up to the first in the series. Fast paced, with an interesting plot. Most of the book takes place during historically accurate events, so history buffs will find the setting interesting. I look forward to the third book. ( )

The Cocoa Conspiracy is the second book in the Lady Arianna Regency Mystery series.

Lady Arianna and the Earl of Saybrook have now been married and are looking forward to a quite life and doing research on the item that they love, chocolate.

The book opens with Lady Arianna visiting a bookseller looking for something special for her husband's birthday. As she is looking at just the kind of book she wanted to get, a man enters and tries to rest it away from her. Not one to back down, even when the man pulls a knife, she is able to keep possession of book and purchases it.

Upon arriving home she finds that her husband's uncle is there and convinces them that they should agree to spend two weeks at a country home where discussions about an upcoming meeting of European countries is to be held. One day while the men are out hunting the Earl sees a running through the woods and soon comes a dead man. And of course the Earl is found looking at the dead man by Lord Grentham, with whom he has had unpleasant dealings. Then Lady Arianna finds hidden in the cover of the book she had purchased, three important documents. Two are coded messages and the third accuses the Earls uncle of treasonous acts. This leads them to Vienna conference under the guise of doing research of books on chocolate.

Lady Arianna is out on walk with aide to husband's uncle when he is killed and very nearly injuring Lady Arianna. The urgency to find out just who else is might be assassinated increases. Earl Saybrook has his friend from his military day come to Vienna to wrap this volatile situation up before anyone else is killed.

These books give a very exciting story and lots of historical information

Looking forward to the next book in the series. ( )