Happy May Day! And a little teaser of CHOCOLATE TOUCH

Happy May Day! In France, you give lilies-of-the-valley (muguets) today to people to bring good fortune and happiness (porter bonheur). So some muguets for you and a little glimpse of THE CHOCOLATE TOUCH to go with it.

THE CHOCOLATE TOUCH EXCERPT:

It was a soft day, balmy and gentle, with clouds that hinted at rain but never quite delivered. The fresh lemon scent of lilies-of-the-valley was everywhere, as vendors wandered the streets or stationed themselves at prominent corners with buckets full of them, culled from the woods outside of Paris. Florists sold more formally acquired bunches of the muguets, in pots or bouquets, the little white bells dangling sweetly everywhere they looked.

Dom had bought her several bouquets already, after surviving having his heart broken into tiny pieces by the bouquet that Jaime had snuck into the bathroom while he was showering. No one ever, in his whole life, had given him a little bouquet of lilies-of-the-valley on May 1 to wish him fortune and happiness.

“Ça porte bonheur, oui?” she had asked shyly.

And it did bring happiness. Oh, it did.

It was amazing how much sweeter the muguets on every street corner smelled when someone had given some to you, too.