Sweetly is Suhweet!

"Twelve years ago, Gretchen, her twin sister, and her brother went looking for a witch in the forest. They found something. Maybe it was a witch, maybe a monster, they aren’t sure—they were running too fast to tell. Either way, Gretchen’s twin sister was never seen again."

- Sweetly

I've always been attracted to modern twists on classic fairy tales, no matter how far the stretch. Like Red Riding Hood featuring a werewolf (why didn't I think of that?) or the story of the bad witch as in Wicked. (Loved the Broadway show!)

So when I read that Jackson Pearce's Sweetly was a modernization of Hansel and Gretel, I couldn't wait to dive in, and was admittedly hooked by the end of the first chapter.

That's before I even learned about the chocolate.

When Gretchen and her brother are thrown out of their house, they end up in Live Oak, South Carolina and move in with Sophia Kelly, a young and beautiful chocolatier owner.

Chocolate AND a modern fairy tale? At this point, I'm settling in for the long haul...

Pearce is a wonderful writer, and I spent most of the book mesmerized by her talent and her vivid descriptions of candy - kind of like the awe I experienced the first time I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. Drool worthy descriptions, indeed!

I also loved the chemistry between Gretchen and Samuel. Pearce writes fabulous emotion into her scenes, and though I didn't fall in love with Sam for myself, I can see why he works with Gretchen.

Unfortunately, life kind of got in the way while reading this book and I had to set it down about the half-way point. I had trouble picking it up again, which may have been a combination of a lack of focus on my part, and a bit of a saggy taffy middle on the author's.

Not to worry though, it took only a few chapters to get me started again, and I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to read the last 100 pages.

I'm heading to the book store today to pick up Sisters Red.


And then to Purdys for a box of chocolate.

- Dawn

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