Chocolate Burnout by Emunah La-Paz
What's It About?
Chantel Reed is a successful, single African American woman who has given up on romance to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a master- chocolatier. But when friendship, love and loss make life complicated, Chantel is testing how far she can go before her chocolate burnout sets in.“I had a weak heart for men who lacked heart and soul. And yes, back then in the 1990s, men and unadulterated chocolate!”
Author Emunah La-Paz uses chocolate as a metaphor for addictions of the heart that extend far beyond sweet tooths and well into societal-challenging relationships in her novel Chocolate Burnout, Part One (Hubbard Small Press).
And in following the exploits of Chantel, a Black woman with a successful corporate HR career, through her struggles to find Mr. Right, La-Paz opens wounds that many have experienced in the dating game – questions of personal identity, dangerous temptations, emotional rollercoasters, heart-over-head decisions and even the fate of interracial couples.
Revealing and Reflective Narrative
To say that Chocolate Burnout is a fun romp among a group of female friends looking for love is not really it at all. There’s nothing particularly fun about this narrative and everything is very revealing and reflective of the strains and pressures people put on themselves when they think they want something so much to start behaving beyond who they are — and facing the consequences of that behavior.
Chantel runs through the wrong guys like water — actually more like dousing herself in lighter fluid and setting a match to it. First, there’s Cameron, who can’t overcome his cheating heart; then Brandon, a lovely looker who fits the bill in many ways but presents one major challenge; Eugene, never a serious contender but there when Chantel needs him most; and Diamond, a partner arranged by her doting sister.
The challenge with Brandon is that he is a white man, making for an interracial duo. While Chantel follows her heart and believes she is in love with him, Daria, Chantel’s manipulative sister, introduces her to Diamond in an attempt to break up what is an unacceptable partnership in her eyes.
Meanwhile, Chantel’s two girlfriends Astrid and Serenity find themselves in different places in their lives, lending their diverse perspectives to Chantel in varying degrees of support, encouragement and frustration. The interaction between friends is one of the defining and great attributes of this work.
A Bad Case of Chocolate Love
The author sets up readers on the very first page, in the words of Chantel, “Who would have thought I’d be here at peace within the tenable core of my own intricate being? Yet, in all honesty, I reaped exactly what I deserved, a life of complete and utter chaos.”
And don’t forget that as her romance life flounders, chocolate steps in: “a piece of cold toast, saved by the taste of chocolate cream; brittle bread in an orange and chocolate marmalade; black coffee with chocolate creamer.” Basically, a bad case of chocolate love.
At a so-called “Chocolate Burnout Expo” orchestrated by Serena, a reference is made, quoting Harvard Health Publications, that chocoholics illustrate three primary attributes of addiction: intense craving, loss of control over the object of that craving, and continued use or engagement despite bad consequences.
Now substitute “chocoholic” for someone obsessed with finding the right mate to the point of an unhealthy addiction. It’s similar, metaphorically, to not being able to live without sinking your face into a double-layered chocolate fudge cake.
That’s what Chocolate Burnout is all about — a cautious tale of how to live your life and understanding that in the end, it is all a matter of taste.
About Emunah La-Paz:
Emunah La-Paz has been building a loyal readership since the early 1990s, when she first published the romantic comedy novella Chocolate Burnout. The 90-page book became a word-of-mouth sensation, and the novella has been turned into a seven-part series for Hubbard Small Press Publications.
La-Paz has an active following on social media, counting more than 100,000 fans across her Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok channels. She shared early concepts for Chocolate Burnout across these platforms and stirred up conversations and discussions about how the stories should play out. “These snippets and discussions piqued the interest of my followers, and they started to become very engaged in the world of Chocolate Burnout,” La-Paz says. Visit her website.
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