This new addition to Allenbaugh's popular series (Chocolate for a Woman's Soul, Chocolate for a Mother's Heart, etc.) continues in the same vein, focusing on issues deemed universally female and involving marriage, family, relationships, self-image and so on. The sweetness of chocolate fills these pages, with their ability to satisfy the very human need for comfort, reassurance, inspiration, solace, encouragement and cheer. Allenbaugh has collected first-person accounts from women, then includes their brief biographies at the end of the book. Many are writers and have contributed to previous volumes in the Chocolate series. In short, easy-to-read entries, they tell tales of wonderful husbands and not-so-wonderful ones, keeping happy family memories alive, overcoming fears, teaching and learning from children, saving hurt animals as well as being comforted and cheered by them, losing loved ones and finding soul mates. Although the common theme of dreams and wishes is at times shaky, some memorable nuggets shine through, as when contributor Gloria Attar muses, "you measure a dream by what you are forced to give up in order to attain it," or when, after a wild snowmobile ride, Susan Farr-Fahncke proclaims, "Forcing myself to experience something scary that I really wanted to do gave me a sense of power." Allenbaugh's collection reflects that insatiable urge to write and read these deceptively simple stories. (Dec. 4)
Forecast:Though hardly original, this book will surely please shoppers searching for a last-minute stocking stuffer.
