Book Review: Hot Chocolate by Dawn Greenfield Ireland

 

Synopsis (from Amazon):  

Meet the middle-aged Alcott sisters: Madge, Lila Mae and Dorothea, heiresses to the Alcott Chocolate fortune and mavens of Houston’s elite River Oaks. 

Madge ambushes Lila Mae with Dorothea’s manipulative plea: she can’t care for Bernie, their 92-year old father, any longer. Lila Mae explodes in a hissy fit—she had warned Dorothea years ago that they should put Bernie in an assisted living center.

Robert, Lila Mae’s astrologer, warns of impending problems and he’s rarely wrong.

The sisters call a meeting with Walter Branson, their solicitor. They discuss Bernie’s nurse Bambi Chaline, a blonde bombshell who looks more like a hooker than a nurse. 

Arrangements are made for Bernie to be transferred over to Lake Sides Assisted Living Center in the Uptown Galleria area and a severance package is drawn up for Bambi.

Jimmy Ray Chaline, Bambi’s bowling alley husband, is enraged that Bambi was let go. He hires ambulance chaser Mark Slade to file a lawsuit for wrongful termination. 

The suit is thrown out of court further fueling Jimmy Ray’s rage. Bambi had been more than satisfied with her bonus, letters of recommendation and praise from the Alcott clan.

When Jimmy Ray fails to return home from the bowling alley that night, a series of events unfold that shocks the entire Alcott family and their extended members.

My Thoughts:

This book is a great cozy mystery!  It is full of charm, warmth, humor and of course, mystery.  It was such a fun read that I was able to finish it quickly.   

I loved the characters of the sisters.  They were funny and easy to connect too!  They are middle-aged sisters who have to deal with their aging father.  Their father is 92 and the sisters decide that they can longer care for him even though he has a nurse.  They have decided that he will have much better care in an assisted living home.  They tell Bambi, the nurse and a blonde bombshell, that they will no longer need her services and give her quite a nice severance package. Bambi completely understands until her greedy, money hungry husband decides to sue for wrongful termination.  

When the case gets thrown out of court (for being ridiculous, of course), Jimmy is livid!  When he doesn't come home from his bowling alley one night however, the sisters suddenly become the prime suspects! 

This book was full of twists and turns and you never knew what to expect next.  The characters were fun and sassy and full of their own quirks.  It was a fast paced, exciting and funny read.  If you like cozy mysteries, a dash of romance and some humor, pick this up for sure...oh, and be sure to grab your cup of hot chocolate too!