Book Review: Truffles by the Sea

Book by Julie Carobini  
Review By Donald James Parker  

Truffles by the Sea sports the most delicious cover I've seen on a novel. An oyster shell made of chocolate floating in a sea of molten chocolate carries a little beach chair, umbrella, a glass of lemonade, and a book. That beach chair just seems to invite you to plop down into it and start reading the book lying open on its arm. Ironically it was the chocolate in the story that caused me the only problems I had in reading the book. Gabriella, our heroine, has a tendency to run down to the candy store and buy chocolate whenever life is not going well for her. Let me suffice it to say, she is given plenty of reason to visit the chocolate shop. I've not read about a person with more troubles since I last picked up a Dicken's novel.  And she always seems to be spending the last of her money to make the purchases, the part that grated on my frugal soul.

Ironically, our heroine with the last name of Flores, which means flowers in Spanish, is a florist, albeit not a very good one. How her business stays afloat is a mystery akin to how a metal ship weighing a bazillion tons can navigate the seas.  I felt so sorry for her that I almost forgot she was a character in a book. Her humorous internal and external dialogues that she carries on as she faces life's challenges endeared her to my heart.  I looked at the world through the eyes of a woman as she moved into a new neighborhood and met a diverse group of people who all seem to possess strange and interesting quirks.

I'm a type A personality, which causes me to hate red lights. I carry a book in the passenger seat of my car so when I get stopped, I don't totally waste time while I'm wasting that precious and expensive gasoline.  And then there's the train. When I get stuck with one of those long beasts passing by, I turn the car off to save the gas.   Yesterday when I had this book in my car, I was mad when the lights turned green and when the train blocking my path was only a short passenger train. It was frustrating to read half a page and then have to close this delicious book.

I expected a nice love story out of this chick-lit book, but I never anticipated the beautiful and unique phraseology that I encountered. Julie did a wonderful job with this novel, packing at least one laugh into almost every page. I'd recommend this to anyone who loves chick-lit. However, I would caution you that if you read at red lights, you'd better have a navigator to tell you when the lights turn green. I hate it when guys behind me start honking.

About the Author:  Check out Julie's website at www.juliecarobini.com.

About the Feviewer:  Donald James Parker is a novelist and computer programmer who resides in Puyallup, Washington.  Check out his website at www.donaldjamesparker.com?tcp.

{mos_fb_discuss:30}