Well, I finished Hot Chocolate, and my final grade for the whole book, which contained an awful story, a great one and two mediocre ones, is a B-. BTW, before I write about the last 2 stories, I must say I might have been a bit too hard on Not Abigail!. Or rather, I guess the author must have intended for it to be taken a bit less seriously than I did. Anyway, the last 2 stories:

Third one was Buried in Her Heart, by Elda Minger.

A luxurious bed-and-breakfast hosting a chocolate convention wasn't the standard business lodging for Abby and Jack. But one taste of the convention's delights, and they were tantalized - with each other...

This one gets a grade of B-. I liked the fact that though this was a story about a woman giving up a big career in the big city to go cook for a living at a small sea-side restaurant, I didn't get the feeling the author was preaching about how the big city is evil and a woman's place is in the kitchen. Abby doesn't make this 180º change in her life because of a man. The man, Jack, is just the catalyst for a change she was craving long before she met him. Furthermore, I really did believe she was going to be much happier in her new life (it helps the sea-side restaurant is actually in a big city.

Unfortunately, the problem with this story is that catalyst Jack never becomes more than just a catalyst. When I finished this, I'd no idea who he was or why he was in love with Abby. Still, if you read this not as romance but as women's fiction, it's not bad at all. And I really enjoyed all that stuff about chocolate.

The last story is Ecstasy, by Fayrene Preston.

Brenna's fudge recipe was a huge hit at her café, and tycoon Hayden Garrett wanted it - and Brenna. But how far would he go to make them both his own?

The best description for this one is boring, a C. The premise felt contrived (though the first scene at the café with women having orgasms right and left when eating the fudge, was cute), and the little suspense thingie was half-assed. I couldn't finish this one fast enough.