Chocolate ... aphrodisiac? Or appetizer for death? This is the question emerald-eyed Esperanza Diamant� asks herself as she takes her life's journey through both coastal pueblos and capital cities of Mexico. Her culinary vocation prompts experiments with secret ingredients that make her confections as irresistible to the lovelorn residents as her beauty is to would-be suitors. When Esperanza's own romantic quests end in sorrow again and again, she suspects a curse that will never die ... until she meets a man who can outlive evil. This delicious romp through magic realism is both picante and rico, a true pursuit of happiness.***From the Author: I recently decided that I was only going to read fiction and found myself knocking out books left and right. This lead me to spending a lot of time in used books stores. One of these times in the books store I came across John Nichols' Milagro Beanfield War. I had no idea the movie I had loved since I was the kid was adapted from a book. I picked it up and added it to my van's bookshelf. The Milagro Beanfield War was beautifully written and reminded me of something that I loved, Magical Realism. The wheels in my mind began to turn. With the reminder that I loved Magical Realism, I picked up another Gabriel Garcia Marquez book, Leaf Storm. I had a hard time reading it because I kept having thoughts of a beautiful woman who sold magical chocolates. Her name was Esperanza Diamant�. I didn't think too much about this story. I didn't have time to write it. I was busy with my blog and, of course, my novel about the sleepwalker. Then one day, I found myself in bed with a woman and decided to tell her the story of Esperanza Diamant�. She was so captivated by my story that I could actually feel her emotion as I spoke the words. And when I told her of Esperanza's secret ingredient, she gasped and put her hand over her mouth. I began writing it the very next day.