To be clear, every single star in that rating goes to Laura Florand's story. I didn't even finish Deirdre Martin's, and while Christie Ridgway's tale was readable, I found myself restraining the occasional violent urge toward her hero and heroine.

But Laura Florand's story...bestill my heart, man. Beautiful, evocative writing. Likable, and flawed, protagonists. The magic of Paris (which I'm generally indifferent about) and chocolate (which I am never indifferent about). A sexy, decadent, utterly charming story. Seriously: it is entirely possible that time stopped whilst I read it. I will definitely be reading the others in her Amour et Chocolat series. ( )

Because there are three novellas within this book, it is almost not fair to rate the book as a whole unless you are a person looking for three excellent novellas and will be dismayed to find that there is a bad one in the bunch.

Well, unfortunately, there is a bad one in the bunch which drags down the quality of this particular enterprise.

Deidre Martin's Early Bird Special is yawn-worthy. The plot and characters are completely vapid. Since it opens the book, it almost dares one to toss the book aside.

However, Christie Ridgway and Laura Florand both have given a lot of thought to their characters and plot. I think both could have easily been brought alive in a much longer work and have been thoroughly enjoyed. Florand especially has the ability to weave words that are sensuous and stimulating without her characters even touching.

If Ridgway and Florand's novellas had been the only ones in this work, this would easily have been a 4 or 5 star read overall. ( )

Kiss the Bride Anthology
Love that you can get to read 3 different authors that you've never read before. I will now search for their other books, because they are so good!
...
Early Bird Special by Deirdore Martin
Dana Fine is back in the states, staying with her grandparents in Palm Beach, Florida as she opens the latest new boutique for the company she works for.
Josh Green owns his own landscaping company and they are thrown together and hit it off.
They have a dance date but something goes wrong and it's going to be hard to get them back together.
Dana concentrates on her boutique and Josh on the landscaping jobs.
The grandparents of them both try to intervene...
...
Weddings, Ink by Christie Ridgway
Charlotte Bond, as the writer of nupitals she must go away with the whole wedding party to Palm Springs to get to know the groom so she can write the special words for him.
Luke is the groom's brother, who she had dated in the past. He's to be her partner for the weekend.
Things don't quite go as expected and they end up in one room for the weekend.
During the weekend the couples are able to compete in games, races, etc and the prize is usually a ballgame ticket. Great games for Jack and Jill party, too hilarious!
One of Charlottes' step fathers wants to hook up with her for a coffee but she convinces him she needs to stay at the activities.
Other adventures and hot steamy sex round off this book.
...
All's Fair in Love and Chocolate by Laura Florand
Eloise Layne is a blogger and writes about food. She's in Paris and hopes to meet up once again with Simon Casset to sample his chooclate and find out all his secrets, then move onto another to find out and write about their cooking secrets.
At her meeting with Simon she tells him her fiance can't make the meeting. She has drawings of gargoyles and dragonflies that she wants incorporated into chocolate for her wedding. He's been reading her blog and she says he's HOT!
He can't help fantasize about her. He offers for her to watch and photograph him with the chocolate.
Quite a few French phrases that are not translated make it a bit diffcult to get the gist of things.
She's now told Simon her fiancee has met with an accident and while in the hospital he's been with a nurse. She goes for a ride on the quay and meets Simon as he is out for his nightly jog. She takes him back to her apartment and he tells her to forget about him.
He rubs the tension from her body and she heats up to his touch.
It's finally come down to the end: he's finished the chocolate centerpiece and now her fiance has to approve it, or she'll leave him. ( )

KISS THE BRIDE is one of those stories you start and hate to see finish but at the same time turn the pages so quickly it’s soon over. I started this book on Saturday night and finished it on Sunday morning. There are 3 stories in this book, the first one is Deirdre Martin’s EARLY BIRD SPECIAL, and is a great story. It’s quick, easy to read, fun and will leave you smiling. You will cheer for these characters. I must say I was sad to see the story end. I would have loved to have seen an epilogue telling me how things were going but overall it was well written and engaging. And left me ready to jump right into the next story, Christie Ridgway’s WEDDINGS,INK. For me I think WEDDINGS,INK was my favorite story. I have a thing for second chances and this was one of those stories. It was a cute story written really well with characters that had depth and seemed to be a longer story overall. I loved everything about this story from the setting, to the characters, to the pace. It’s a wonderful story and leaves you ready to take on the final story in this book, Laura Florand’s ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND CHOCOLATE. This story is fun, it’s sexy and fans of chocolate(um is anyone not a fan?) are going to love it. The story is well written with great characters and leaves you eager to read more from this author.

Overall all three stories will leave you smiling and happy. The authors have written wonderful stories that have great characters. If you are new to any of these authors you’ll find stories that will have you eagerly picking up more from them. If you know them already you’ll enjoy these quick easy reads. I’d put KISS THE BRIDE on my Beach Reading list, the stories are light and at times will have you laughing. I highly recommend this fun, engaging read to everyone!

Reviewed by Wendy Keel

Rating 4.5

Heat Rating: Sexy, mild sex scenes nothing too racy ( )

Three very good stories of women who aren't looking for love but it finds them anyway! Deirdre Martin's "Early Bird Special" tells the story of a retail exec who visits her grandparents in Boca and reluctantly lets them fix her up with a landscaper. Will she take that promotion in Paris? Christie Ridgway writes about Charlotte's business " Wedding Ink" which puts her in close contact with her ex when she is hired to write the vows for the fiance of his brother. Oh, the fiance is also Charlotte's one time step-sister who she did not get along with! The last offering in this anthology is Laura Florand's "Alls Fair in Love and Chocolate" and tells the tale of Eloise, an American food blogger who comes to Paris and meets one of her culinary ideals, chocolatier Simon Cassett. Eloise thinks she is putting one over on the sexy parisian but the surprise is on her.

This trio has sexy hunks, cute and feisty heroines and fun locations. All of the stories are short and very sweet. Martin and Ridgway are favorites of mine already but Florand is new to me. There is a teaser for her new book at the end of this book and I'm definitely going to get it. ( )