Young Bernadette Maguire is ripe for adventure as she embarks on her junior year abroad. Seduced by a handsome Swiss banker, she is horrified when she discovers she's pregnant. Protected and befriended by those who help to keep her secret for as long as possible, this moving rite-of-passage tale will warm the heart as a young woman faces an all-too-familiar dilemma. Yet after an unexpected death and the discovery of her pregnancy by a classmate, Bernie's life takes some turns that will take decades to resolve.

How much really changes in 25 years? Former classmates are poised to find out as their first-ever high school reunion gets closer. Some lives have improved, some have soured, but all remained connected by their shared West Alton High past... Once the target of ridicule, one-time "ugly duckling" Kellie has transformed in both beauty and attitude, though her fears and fragility remain as deep scars within. Will facing those who once wronged her help or do even more damage to her delicate psyche? Joe was adored by everyone in school. Well...almost everyone. Being gay in a close-minded small town, he knew he had no future in West Alton, so right after graduation, he traded one ocean for another. Now an Oscar-winning Hollywood director, Joe is ready to return. Except that it means having to face the horrific event that ultimately pushed him away... Former cheerleader Cherry planned this reunion to make peace with those she may have wronged in school. But as she faces cancer and stares down her own mortality, will she really be able to make things right again? And then there's Scott, the West Alton "lifer," who's been collecting a disability pension from the town for a suspicious back injury, among other questionable life choices. Are his reasons for wanting to attend the reunion pure? Or does he have another agenda? As the months count down, long-kept secrets will be revealed as the question ever looms... Can you ever really go home again?

In the third and final installment of Martha Reynolds's award-winning Chocolate series, Bernadette Maguire's story is about to come full-circle... But is she ready for what her future holds? It's been five years since Bernie married Gary, a dear friend from the past and the true man of her dreams. Bernie now practices law in New York City, while Gary enjoys tenure as a German professor at the university, and they have a beautiful life together. But when Gary learns his job will be eliminated, then Swiss banker Karl Berset reaches out to Bernie with devastating news that could have far-reaching effects, it seems it may be time to return to Switzerland--at least for a while. Several years earlier, Bernie reconnected with Jean-Michel, the son she conceived nearly thirty years ago during her Fribourg dalliance with Karl, and he now has a family of his own. But a gene he may carry for a deadly genetic disease from a father he never knew could very well ruin his life and the lives of his children. Though he's not the only one about to face a huge and terrifying change in the bittersweet conclusion of the beloved Chocolate saga...

Twenty-three years ago, Bernadette Maguire delivered a son and never saw him again. She knew that giving him up for adoption was the right decision, but the past twenty years of her life had been filled with regrets and bad decisions. Back in Switzerland for vacation, Bernie is stunned when she comes face to face with her son. Now, she must decide whether to reveal herself to him and hope for a connection, or say nothing and leave the young man to live his life. The matter is complicated by a hotel employee who discovers the truth, and who intends to get in the way of Bernie's plans. CHOCOLATE FONDUE is the sequel to Martha Reynolds's award-winning debut novel, CHOCOLATE FOR BREAKFAST.