Chocolatherapy: Satisfying the Deepest Cravings of Your Inner Chick

Karen Scalf Linamen loves chocolate but she also has issues with binge eating. She also bounces checks, eats entire boxes of Girl Scout cookies and has to deal with ADD and at times clinical depression. Her appeal is that you can relate to her because she is so human. She's been through a painful divorce and is raising teenagers. Her life is filled with struggles and spiritual solutions. This book is filled with chocolate trivia and quotes. There is also information about how you can gain weight if you don't get enough sleep. There is advice on how to melt chocolate but I'd not recommend a double boiler. That always causes my chocolate to "seize" up. It is much easier to melt chocolate (for when you make your own chocolates) in a crock-pot. I use that method when I make chocolate covered cherries. While this book does focus a lot on chocolate the real issues seem to be about emotional issues and how we can solve them with God's love. At the end of the book there are letters from women who have real-life struggles with eating too much. I do think problems with binge eating could be solved if women just didn't buy the sugary fatty foods in the first place! That is what I try to do but I'm human too and sometimes I don't do the right thing. This book is all about how to do the right thing even when we fail time after time. This book should be encouraging to most women, especially if you love chocolate. ~The Rebecca Review

This is a great Author and this book allow me to feel that I was not alone in the world. There are other woment that feel the same way. The end of the book she allowed her friends and email people to put their thoughts in writing. Just wonderful to read.

Make some brownies and chocolate pie, and dig in to the food and the discussion questions. Chocolatherapy is not about emotional binge eating or the excess weight that often comes along with it. The author, Karen Linamen, has battled both of these problems, but early on she reminds the reader that other women's cravings in response to stress include shopping, working out, surfing the net, or cleaning-anything that we do to excess to avoid our real problems. Throughout the book, Ms. Linamen sprinkles nuggets of truth and encouragement regarding her own experiences with parenting, divorce, friendship, adult ADD, body piercing, and worry. Yes, I said body piercing. This book is written from a Christian perspective, but it is definitely not one of those "perfect-Christian woman" type of books that do not address the reality that many of the women (Christian or not) who read them are facing. One reviewer thought she was "tricked" into buying it and didn't know it was a Christian book. I am a Christian, and there are some books that I would not recommend to someone who does not have a Christian faith or outlook. This is not one of those. I would recommend this one to anyone, because I don't think that she's preachy. When she mentions her faith, she is simply mentioning it as one of the ways that she found to satisfy that real deep craving.

I really enjoyed Chocolatherapy! Linamen makes the book comically-witty and relatable. This is a good book for women who need guidance or self-assurance in their hectic day to day lives. Linamen also tells some easy ways to avoid the chocolate and junkfood and find a deeper meaning in stressful situations. If searching for an answer, this book will surely help you find out what your craving!

This book is defintly for the chocolate lover. What a witty book, such a joy to read.