Life is Sweet: A Chocolate Box Short Story Collection

The Chocolate Box Girls

by Cathy Cassidy

The Chocolate Box Girls Six fantastic stories, which one will be your favourite? Bittersweet - Will Honey's cry for help cause trouble for Shay and Cherry? Chocolates and Flowers - Can Alfie plan the perfect Valentine's Day surprise without breaking Summer's heart? Hopes and Dreams - Will Jodie finally take a risk and step into the spotlight? Moon and Stars - Is Finch and Skye's whirlwind romance in trouble? Snowflakes and Wishes - Caught up in another daring animal rescue, can Lawrie and Coco save the day? Hearts and Sunsets - Now that Ash's summer of adventure is coming to an end, what does the future hold for him and Honey? Dip into the world of the Chocolate Box Girls with this delicious collection of short stories. This fantastic collection includes Cathy Cassidy's four e-shorts, available in print for the very first time and a brand new, never before seen, story. A must-have for all fans of the Chocolate Box Girls!

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Childrens

400 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2015

About the author

I was born in 1962 in Coventry (scarily ancient, I know). I wrote my first picture book for my little brother when I was eight or nine. I loved making comics, too - pages and pages of picture stories, features and competitions.

I went to Art College in Liverpool, then got a job as fiction editor on the fab and legendary Jackie magazine.

I have worked as agony aunt on Shout magazine and also as an art teacher in the local primary & secondary schools, as well as as a freelance illustrator. These days, I am a full-time author.

I love my family, I love living in the middle of nowhere and I love my work. Of all my jobs, writing has to be the best - it's the perfect excuse to daydream, after all!

Reviews

[Maddie]

Now I've read everything this series has to offer and I'm so pleased, because my favourite sister of the bunch was Summer, and I thought these stories gave the closure to her story that 'Summer's Dream' was missing. I liked reading about the girls from a different, mostly male perspective and it really reignited my love of Cathy Cassidy again!

[sarah jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Cathy Cassidy books!

I would recommend this book to girls 9-14
it's full of awesome realistic stories with a romantic chocolate 🍫theme which I think is awesome
before reading this book I would read the 6 other chocolate box girls books (in order) : cherry crush 🍒 marshmallow Skye 🌈
Summer dream 🌞 coco caramel 🐴 Sweet honey 🍯 and fortune cookie 🍪
I gave this book a five star rating because I really enjoyed it . it is a bunch of brilliant short stories brought together to create a excellent book/ E-book 📖

[Bria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm keeping this review short and sweet- just like this book🥰!
But honestly, this book brought me back to being 13 y/o me, and that's a feeling I welcomed🥺 it brought me back so many happy memories, and reading this, and to get to know what their lives were like after their individual books just made me so happy and PROUD. I'm especially proud of Summer and Honey, for being so strong and proving their doubts and assumptions wrong and conquering them!!! I want to give each of the Tanberry-Costello sisters AND their boys (ESPECIALLY ALFIE!!!). a massive hug to thank them for the happy memories and comfort they brought me growing up, and how they continue to💜
I can't wait for my future children to read their stories too🥺

🌟🌟🌟🌟.25 / 5!!! I do wish Finch's story turned out different pls😭 but I loved this book, and I still love him nonetheless- we love GROWTH!

[Talula Hepburn · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little supplementary book, but some stories were definitely stronger than others.
Despite the unbelievable ending, 'Flowers and Chocolates' was my favourite of this collection, followed by 'Snowflakes and Wishes'. The closure on Summer's story from Chocolate Box Girls was nice to see, though I just wish we could have seen it in the original books themselves.
My least favourite was probably 'Moon and Stars' because Finch was a favourite of mine up until that story. It felt like a bit of a cop-out to have his story take that path, and I didn't love it. The other stories all sort of fell in between for me - they weren't fantastic, they were awful.
All in all this is probably a must have if you've read the Chocolate Box Girls series, because these short stories actually finish off the story properly. There's a lot more closure to be had from this collection of short stories than what was given in the series. The girls also cameo in book three of Cathy Cassidy's newest series, The Lost and Found, but that doesn't tell us any more than what this collection of short stories does.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was so nice honestly, it was nice to get a glimpse into other characters lives.

shay - this story was alright, im not a huge fan of shay so i kinda focused on other parts of the story instead of him lol. glad he got his music career sorted tho. 2/5

alfie - i love alfie. icon. hes so obsessed with summer lmao, and hes such a nice wee guy 4/5

jodie - i liked this story bc jodie is so lovely. it was nice to see her come out of her shell and be herself, and to see her friendship with sparks and the others 3/5

finch - rat. i hate him. ‘i was in love so its not cheating 🥹’ shut up. i never liked him, anyone is better than him 1/5

lawrie - what a sweet wee lad. it was weird reading from his pov bc coco describes him as so moody but he seems so shy and nice from his pov. im glad they stayed. 4/5

ash - even tho i just read honeys story i completely forgot abt this man. its good he got his future sorted out, tho what honey did reminds me of mandy and lip from shameless. 3/5

[vilma · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Chocolate Box Girls was one of my favorite book series when I was a (pre-)teen and I had been waiting for years to finally get this book in my hands. These were such lovely stories to read for some sort of closure when it comes to this series. Summer was super important to me years ago and her book is still my favorite from CBG so the amount of Summer we got in this one made this book super enjoyable for me. A super sweet (haha) and easy read! Short stories are definitely a new love of mine.

[Alysia · Rating 4 out of 5]

nice ending to favourite series of 11 year old me.

[Jaden⚡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so cute. It brought back some many CC memories.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute short stories!

[Bunga ✿ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The closure i needed from the chocolate box girls series. My favourite story is Alfie's, my least favourite is Finch's. Overall a great and sweet book, i love it!

[ruby32 · Rating 4 out of 5]

shays alfies ash’s and lawries stories were good

jodie’s and finch’s weren’t

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

So hard to keep going on to the different characters and different settings!

[Viki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt so sad after this book because it is the last one.. But it was amazing! It told you about Shay, Alfie, Ash, Jodie, Finch, Lawrie

[Hasali Wickramarachchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

really romantic

[Sofia Sarwar · Rating 4 out of 5]

☺️☺️☺️

[Asia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute quick-read.

[Mel Jenney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book filled with 6 short stories about the minor characters in the series.

Bittersweet - Shay’s dreams of stardom seem to come crashing down, as does his relationship with Cherry...
Chocolates and Flowers - Alfie wants to give the best Valentine’s present for Summer but she’s still struggling from battling an eating disorder. Will the gift inspire her or set her back?
Hopes and Dreams - Jodie took Summer’s place at Rochelle Academy but she can’t help feeling second best. Will gorgeous French boy Sebastian make her realise she deserves to have the limelight for once?
Moon and Stars - Skye and Finch have been trying to have a long distance relationship, but things are slowly falling apart. Finch must choose between the argumentative but gorgeous Ellie, or beautiful cool Skye. Who will he choose...and without breaking hearts?
Snowflakes and Wishes - Lawrie and his family return to Tanglewood after struggling to settle up north. Now he and Coco have grown up, can romance finally blossom between the two of them??
Heart and Sunsets - Ash has always dreamed of backpacking across Europe, until he met Honey. Now all he can think of is her, and worry that their long distance relationship won’t last. Can they get through this?

Each story is short and sweet. All the problems are solved. Each character ends up happy and loved up, and yet you can’t help but smiling and loving each ending. I will miss reading about the chocolate box girls, it’s the perfect escapism when you feel low.

[aseriesofpages · Rating 3 out of 5]

This made me want to reread 'The Chocolate Box Girls' but Finch's story, I feel like I need another book from Skye's point of view. I was always thought their relationship was perfect but I guess it wasn't. I can't decide if I should be upset or not! Apart from that, an amazing book full of short stories.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A totally adorable collection of short stories.

I'd recommend them to anyone who's enjoyed the Chocolate Box series because they link the books together perfectly.

Special mention for Lawrie and Jodie's stories.

[Seren Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best Cathy Cassidy books i've read it is really good. There are 5 stories in this book and I didn't want it to finish.
They are all about relationships but in a really nice and calming way that Cathy Cassidy writes them.
I would recommend this book.

[Jackie Mc · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a canny book, I love the idea of short stories. I think though some of the stories could be do in to there own book. Have a read its brill book.

[Kirstyn-maree · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of super cute, short stories.

[Lucy May · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book because each of the six short stories was different to the last and I loved them all

[Mrs T S Burgess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great

Great and worth while! It is a once more fabulous book from the extraordinary Cathy Cassidy. Read this great book!

[Alexia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Noice

[Emily Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

These short stories are absolutely delightful, I love all the characters and the stories and I enjoyed the extra glimpses into the Chocolate Box Girls world.

[Sanii_Readzz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved,loved,LOVED the cute little relationships between everybody :] Its really sweet!

[Christina]

I loved all of the stories in this book and I'm looking forward to reading all of the other chocolate box girl series.My favourite character would have to be Cherry.