One Week to Win the Chocolate Maker

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Synopsis

Dario Cotogna is the heir to the Amorina Chocolate fortune, but his late grandfather's will stipulates that if he isn't married by his thirty-second birthday, which is rapidly approaching, the company will instead go to his philandering younger brother who doesn't care about it. However, Dario suffers from agoraphobia, so putting himself out there to date is not an option. The solution was already anticipated by his grandfather who put together a grand scheme, a worldwide competition in which five winners will spend a week at Dario's luxurious Italian villa while competing to become his spouse. After a messy breakup a year earlier, Dario is reluctant to open up his heart, but blue-haired Charlie Moore stands out to him from the start. Dario tries to give the other contestants a chance, but soon they start dropping like flies, leaving only Charlie, something Dario is anything but disappointed about. But when Charlie's family insists upon meeting Dario in person on their turf before they'll give their blessing for a marriage, Dario isn't sure if he can manage the trip to the States to meet them.

When Charlie Moore finds out about the Amorina Chocolates contest, he isn't looking for love. What he needs is a miracle to save his beloved family's home from foreclosure and marrying into the Amorina fortune would do just that. He honestly didn't expect to be chosen, though, so when he gets the notice that he's won, he's shocked. Even though Dario isn't Charlie's usual type, he connects with the chocolate maker right from the start, and begins to grow jealous of the other contestants. As they spend more time together, love begins to take root and grow, but the closer Charlie gets to winning Dario's heart, the more guilty he feels for his initial motives in entering the contest. There's also his family, whose opinion means the world to him, standing in the way, as well as Dario's mental health issues that may derail the most genuine relationship of Charlie's life.

Review

One Week to Win the Chocolate Maker is a stand-alone M/M contemporary romance that's billed as a grown-up retelling of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In this story, Charlie is twenty-eight, still living with his family in a run-down house in a small town, where he cares for his infirm grandparents by day and works a dead-end job at night. One day, a foreclosure notice arrives from the bank, and not wanting to worry his family, Charlie decides to figure out a way to take care of it himself. That same day, he finds out about a contest to win a trip to Italy to visit the Amorina Chocolate factory, makers of his favorite chocolate bars, and compete to win the heart of the heir to the company. Charlie knows it's a long-shot, but on a whim, he enters the contest and is one of five people chosen to meet and woo Dario Cotogna, who must marry by his next birthday, which is only a few months away, in order to inherit the Amorina fortune. Charlie likes Dario from the moment they meet, but with four other people in mix, he doesn't know what his chances of winning might be. Slowly the others start dropping like flies, and in the interim, Charlie and Dario spend some quality time together, getting to know one another and gradually building a relationship. Dario suffers from anxiety and agoraphobia, which being around Charlie seems to help. But when Dario finally chooses Charlie to become his husband and Charlie's parents express skepticism, demanding to meet Dario first, Dario's difficulties could mean the end of their romance if he can't find a way to travel to America.

Charlie lives in a small Pennsylvania town that was known for its slate production but ever since the factory shut down, there hasn't been much left. Charlie's grandfather used to work for the slate company and lost a foot in an accident, after which the grandparents moved in with Charlie's parents. Both his grandparents are disabled and his parents work hard to keep them all afloat. Family means everything to Charlie, so he didn't hesitate to step in as a caregiver to his grandparents, while also working the night shift at a drive-through liquor store. Charlie's never been in love and doesn't have time for relationships, instead engaging in a string of casual hookups. When the foreclosure notice arrives and he finds out about the contest, Charlie looks up Dario's net worth and figures that if he's lucky enough to win, it would solve all their problems. He didn't really expect to, though, so it's a major surprise when he gets the email that he's been chosen. Dario isn't exactly Charlie's usual type, but despite that, they begin to connect pretty much from day one. Dario turns out to be far more than the shallow billionaire Charlie expected, so it's easy for him to begin falling for the candy maker. In fact, he starts to become jealous of the other contestants, while simultaneously feeling guilty that he came to Italy basically as a gold-digger. The feelings between the two men gradually build into something genuine, but when Charlie is the last one standing and his parents, whose opinion means a lot to him, are insistent that Dario come meet them in America before they'll give their blessing, Dario's mental health issues could get in the way. Charlie is a real sweetheart with a big heart and a very close relationship with his family, who are everything to him. He's very supportive of Dario, proving that he can be there for the candy maker in the same way, which I think is a large part of what wins Dario over. Charlie has a good heart, which is why he starts feeling guilty about his initial motives in coming to meet Dario, but thankfully Dario doesn't hold it against him.

Dario lost his father in his teens and ever since, he's suffered from anxiety and panic attacks, as well as a form of agoraphobia, which makes it all but impossible for him to go anywhere except his safe circle of places, which includes his villa, the chocolate factory, and some sparsely populated areas in the surrounding countryside. As the oldest in the family, he was expected to inherit Amorina when his grandfather passed, but in the will, the old man stipulated that in order to take over the family business, he must be married by his next birthday, which is only a few months away, or his younger brother will get it instead. Dario hasn't been in a relationship with anyone since a messy breakup about a year earlier and isn't sure he wants to be, but his grandfather left instructions for an elaborate contest to find Dario a life partner, which he reluctantly agrees to. Since he's pansexual, a variety of potential candidates are chosen, and he welcomes them all to his villa. Dario intends to give all of them a fair shot, but Charlie kind of stands out to him right from the start. The two slowly begin to connect on a deeper level, stirring genuine feelings between them. Although the others gradually dropping out rattles Dario's confidence, it's not long before Charlie is the only one left, something Dario isn't the least bit unhappy about. Dario knows how much Charlie's family means to him, and when they insists on him seeing them in person on their home turf, Dario isn't sure he can do it, but Charlie is worth trying to move heaven and earth to make it happen. Dario is a sweet guy as well. For a billionaire, he's extremely down-to-earth and he's passionate about ethical and environmentally-friendly business practices. He's not very happy about the scheme his grandfather concocted to find him a mate, but he agrees because he knows that if his brother gets Amorina, he'll run it into the ground. Dario is very kind to everyone around him, and I love that he cares about Charlie so much that he's willing to do just about anything for him.

I completed a reread of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory just a couple of months ago, so when I came across One Week to Win the Chocolate Maker and found out it was supposed to be a retelling of that story, I couldn't resist picking it up. Overall, it was a great read, but it wasn't quite perfect for me, owning mainly to certain quirks of the author's writing style. First the book is written in third-person, present-tense, which is not a favorite of mine. I can still count on both hands the number of books I've read in this style, so it appears to be pretty rare. Every time I encounter a book written this way, it takes me a while to adjust before the prose begins to flow better for me. Even then, the author has a tendency to sometime drift into omniscient and passive narration, which interrupts the connection with the characters and their story. There were several sentences throughout that were worded in a clunky way, too. Lastly, he sometimes used rather crude language in the love scenes that wasn't entirely to my taste. Not only did I not find it particularly sexy or sensual, but I felt like it didn't quite fit with the otherwise fairly sweet nature of the rest of the story. Not to mention, the characters don't engage in safer sex practices, nor do they discuss it either, which always perturbs me. I really thought that the editor and proofreader should have smoothed all these things out before publication.

Given my not-short list of flaws, you might be wondering why I still gave One Week to Win the Chocolate Maker 4.5 stars. Well, that's because the characters and the story itself drew me in and kept me reading. Every time I had to put it down, I was pretty eager to get back to it, wondering what might happen next. The plot was well-constructed. Every time I thought there might be a silly misunderstanding, it thankfully never materialized, at least not to the point of driving the main characters apart. It either doesn't happen or they deal with it quickly and move on. Dario and Charlie were both very likable characters, nice guys with a lot of shared values, who genuinely care about each other and the people around them. They fit together well, and even though the bulk of their getting-to-know-you moments span only a couple of weeks, I had no trouble believing they'd fallen for one another. The family dynamics for both men were fantastic and very believably drawn. The other four contest winners share some characteristics with the naughty children of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but they're certainly not carbon copies. They're nuanced characters who aren't completely bad or annoying, with the possible exception of Ansel. I loved the mental health rep in Dario's character. It's not often that I see realistically and sensitively portrayed characters who suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, and as someone who has first-hand experiences with those things, I appreciated this very much. The author also had a real knack for describing the Italian villages and countryside in a way that made me feel like I was actually there. Overall, One Week to Win the Chocolate Maker was a sweet, charming story that I very much enjoyed. When an author can engross me in their story enough to make me mostly overlook the flaws of their writing, it's deserving of keeper status. This was my first read by Timothy Janovsky, but it has definitely left me interested in checking out his other work.

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Timothy Janovsky

Themes

Amazing Animals
Artists
Beta Heroes
Opposite Sides of the Track
Psychology 101
Tortured Heroes