Spicy Chocolate

Book 3 of the Alcott Family Adventures

By: Dawn Greenfield Ireland

Narrated by: Kelley Hazen

Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Everyone croons over Dorothea’s twins and Bambi’s baby in Lila Mae’s dining room. Louie jumps up and barks, waking the babies. Lila Mae and Amelia look to see who arrived - everyone was already accounted for. A young Hispanic woman gets out of a cab with luggage. She sashays to the kitchen door and waves at Amelia and Lila Mae. Amelia opens the door, and the woman barges in. She’s Chiquita, one of Uncle Tito’s nieces. She was sent to train for Amelia’s job.

Everyone is flustered. Why would Uncle Tito send Chiquita? Was Amelia going to quit?

Lila Mae is freaked out. Amelia’s only thoughts are, “Am I dying or getting fired?” And who’s this chubby-cheeked, middle-aged, cigar-smoking Dougie Vey character Dr. Victor Tic’s daughter shows up with, all glam and glitter, after being gone for nearly a year?

Victor and wife Jeffie Ann had a falling-out with Luna over gambling debts. The four romantics of Bitter Chocolate go out to dinner and are seen exiting the Bentley by a gang of thugs. The thugs try to rob them. Guess which one of our friends goes into his Shaolin kung fu routine? Another remembers some boxing moves. The thugs drop like flies to the sidewalk.

Pecos and the widow are still a couple. He runs the numbers for multiple wedding dates. Scooter the cat disappears. Louie is sad. The Munson’s accuse Lila Mae of stealing him. Then Qxxxx shows up and becomes Louie’s best friend.

There’s more love blooming and a surprise change. Expect company from Las Vegas and a bumpy ride in Mexico.

©2018 Dawn Greenfield Ireland (P)2018 Dawn Greenfield Ireland

The Alcotts just grow on you...:)

Clarification first - it's 3.5 stars for the story (we really do need those half-stars...) as it's definitely more than "pretty good" but a bit less than "great"; I'd just describe it as "very good and really funny":)

As characters go, the Alcott family is one of the craziest families I've met in books so far:) For starters, there is a whole bunch of them, so many in fact that sometimes I have a hard time following all those names while listening (I can only hope it's easier when you read about them:)). Secondly, they never react the way you predict them to. Thirdly, nothing really daunts them as they team up to face any challenge that comes their way... You just have to love them, you can't help it:)

This is the second book in the series I listened to, and as with the previous one I'd say it's more of a family saga than a cozy mystery... Yes, there is embezzlement, yes, there is mugging, and yes, there's murder in the neighbourhood - but somehow they all seem almost unimportant. Yes, they propel certain actions on the part of the Alcotts, but even if there was no murder around, the Alcotts would still have so much to do in their private lives that we could listen for another hour or two to their everyday life bustle and hustle...:) And the funny thing is, it really doesn't matter that the "murder mystery" plays such a small role in the whole plot cause with Ms Ireland's excellent writing skills it's a really engaging story anyway.

Ms Hazen's narration is as always at least very good, and in some parts just perfect. With so many characters to play, she makes the job of voicing all of them look as easy as a walk in the park:) Excellent job!


DISCLAIMER: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Good story

This book continues the Alcott saga. The only thing I didn't really care for is how the author kept jumping storlines. I would start to get into 1 storyline and then it would switch back which caused me to take longer to listen to the book. I kept loosing interest. I'm not one who enjoys a lot of back and forth story lines in books and movies. The narrator did a great job and I look forward to listening to her work again and again. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Chocolate Goodies!!!

Spicy Chocolate :
Dawn Greenfield Ireland

This is book three in this series. The whole Alcott family returns in this chocolate covered cozy mystery, along with their old staff and new ones too. The listener gets to follow them thru murder, embezzlement, and more. They all work together to get things done.A motorcycle gang adds a new spin for Madge and others. The ending came too fast for me, because I was having so much fun.



The narration was well done. The characters were well portrayed. Kelley Hazen did an amazing job with all these characters.



I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

A Great Listen

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the narrator and it was great. Just when the Alcott sisters thought life has settled into a nice routine, fate had other plans. Between new babies, embezzlers and a murder next door, everyone is very busy. As always the characters are well written and unique with just the right amount of suspense and humour. The plot is fast paced, and keeps you listening. The suspense in this book is created when Uncle Tito arrives and stating there's going to be lots of changes in the near future. You keep listening to find out what all is going to happen. There are a lot of characters in this book and the narrator does a wonderful job with all of them.

The Storyline Continues

Spicy Chocolate by Dawn Greenfield Ireland is an awesome continuation to the series. I love how the author has developed the characters in this series. They are unpredictable and original. I find the humor to be delightful. The imagery in the book is vivid and full of life. The narration by Kelley Hazen brings all of the characters to life with their distinguishable voices. I love how I can listen and know exactly who is talking by just hearing the voice. She adds so much to the enjoyment of listening. I will definitely listen to more books by this author and narrator.

Story too long and downright boring at times.

This is supposed to be a mystery, but it more chaos and stupidity of the Alcott Family. I was so glad when the book finally came to a close, because there is about eight different things going and nothing to do with each other. The scene where all the women go and take on the kidnappers made me cringe and realize how stupid all of these characters are. It's a wonder that this family has any wealth at all with all the stupid mistakes they made in this book. The only good thing about this story is the reader.