Baker's Dozen by Dallas Coleman

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Love and Chocolate together, Joanne Harris taught, could lead only to magic. And so this novel it's all about the healing power of love, served with a chocolate truffle. But, and here is the surprise, there is no magic, no paranormal events, but only simple stories of new and old lovers, at least till the end.

Bryan is a more than 80 years old maitre chocolatier. He owns a little candy shop and for thirty years he was alone, after his lover Alan passed away. Many assistants passed under his teaching, but no one remained, until James. James is special, he has the same gift that Bryan has, he knows exactly how to mix the ingredients to create the perfect truffle for the right person. And so every chapter of this novel tells us a different story, sad or happy, about new found lovers, or about old ones who need to re-learn how to love. To all of them Bryan prepares a special treat, but he never once allows to James to treat him with one.

There is the abandoned lover who finds a new man, better than the previous one. There is the man who lost his lover in an accident and now is scarred in body and soul, and feels guilty. There are the two long-term lovers who want to celebrate. There is the southern boy who comes back home to his first teen love. There are the two lovers that were torn apart by life and need to find a way to be together again. There are the two high school friends who meet to the funeral of one of their schoolmates. There are the two long-term lovers who didn't go unarmed through the illness of one of them. There is the college professor who doesn't want to fall for his assistant. There is the two brother in law that meet when their relative is having a baby. There is a biker with a secret admirer. There is a straight cowboy that maybe is not so straight. There are two friends that find love nearer than expected.

All of them find love, but not through magic, only giving a chance to love, only taking a little risk and a bit of courage, maybe also thanks to a piece of chocolate that inspired them. But for Bryan it's possible to find love without magic? It's possible for an 80 years old man falling in love with a fifty years younger man, one that was born when his lover passed away? No for Bryan, the power of chocolate is not enough, for him maybe it's necessary a bit of magic.

I like all the stories, I like the feeling of magic with which they started and then the fact that they resolve to be all too normal, vignettes of life linked only by the same candy shop, and the magic all remains inside that shop and its candies. It's like if all the stories saved the magic for last, for the only story that need it.

It's a strange book, there is almost no sex, but there is a lot of love, not always of the romantic type: the men in the stories are good boys or bad boys, cheaters or long term lovers, from North to South, from East to West, all the shades of love are represented.

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Amazon Kindle: Baker's Dozen

Reading List:

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