Fun Summer Reading: Chocolate Series by JoAnna Carl

If you're a fan of mysteries and are looking for some light beach reading, you might like the Chocolate mystery series by JoAnna Carl (also known as Eve K. Sandstrom).

Yes, these books involve guns, shootings, and murders, but they also include chocolate. The protagonist, Lee, is the business manager for a chocolatier along Lake Michigan. In Carl's forthcoming title The Chocolate Pirate Plot (Obsidian, October 2010), there is a repulsive wimp, an evil theater director, a drowned man, and Lee's poor hunky husband, who practically reveals his manly parts after taking a rescue dive in his boxers.

But on the upside there are acrobatic pirates who entertain, Lee's hunky husband in his wet boxers, and chocolate. Yummy, decadent descriptions of truffles and other confections. And, for added fun, there are chapter-ending sidebars about chocolate that might just teach you a thing or two. (I like these, as the sidebars are a nice departure from recipes, which now seem commonplace.)

For instance, did you know that the Gates Foundation granted $100,000 to help a scientist who uses chocolate in malaria prevention? Did you know that the waste from chocolate manufacturing is being used as biofuel? We always knew chocolate was wonderful--now Carl gives you more reasons to love it.

The Chocolate Pirate Plot won't be on shelves till October, sorry to be a teaser, but check out her other titles in this series in the meantime. All in all, Carl delivers some satisfying light reading for summer or anytime.