White Chocolate Moments

by Lori Wick

After losing her parents, Arcineh Bryant lives with her grandfather as a girl. But growing up without her family causes her to hold resentment toward the man who took her in. Years later, when she meets a man she thinks she may love, she doubts whether she can trust her own heart. A character-rich journey leads Arcineh back to her grandfather's home where there are surprises, questions, and for the first time in her life, an answer to "who will love me forever?" This compelling story about a woman's hunger for acceptance and wholeness points the reader home to God's love.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Fiction, Christian, Romance, Christian Romance, Contemporary, Inspirational

361 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2006

About the author

FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Lori Wick is known as one of the most versatile Christian fiction writers on the market today. From pioneer fiction to a series set in Victorian England to a contemporary novel, Lori's books (over 5 million in print) continue to delight readers and top the Christian bestselling fiction list. Lori and her husband, Bob, live in Wisconsin with "the three coolest kids in the world."

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful story of redemption, forgiveness and reconciliation.
I had read this novel a few years ago and remembered liking it so decided to reread it. Honestly, there were quite a few negative reviews on this novel which made me hesitant to read it, but I did it anyway, and I'm glad I did.

The novel follows a young woman on her journey through loss, pain and love. I loved being able to go on Arcie's journey. A lot of people have said that it didn't flow well; and there were parts which felt a bit stilted with too much dialogue, but the overall story was still good in my opinion.
I genuinely loved every moment of this story. The romance was sweet and the title became all the more special as I read on.
Some have said that the faith elements were too harsh or too simple, but I think that Lori did a good job of exploring some of Christianities fundamental themes.

The point of this novel isn't some fast-paced brilliant adventure, but a slow journey; for isn't that what life is like?
I think it depends entirely on the reader, so don't let the reviews sway you! I would encourage it give it a read because you may just end up finding a gem of a novel.

[Nelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm. With a title containing the word chocolate, I thought I would have enjoyed it a lot more than I did! To me it didn't really flow well... I thought it seemed to jump from one thing to another and I couldn't always follow what was going on smoothly. It started to get a little fluffy at the end as well, when they finally brought in Christianity. It felt like it was kind of added for the sake of adding it and didn't seem real or realistic. Maybe for some people, the decision to believe in God and Jesus Christ really was that simple and easy, but I thought it wasn't really written well, so that you were immersed in the character and their journey to finding Christ. Sorry for a harsh review... I ordinarily enjoy Lori Wick... I think!

[Kristine Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still a good story. I read this several years ago and loved it then and still do. I think Lori is my all time favorite author.

5/18/2021 Just finished reading this again. Still love everything about it except the cover. LOL If it hadn't been written by Lori I probably wouldn't have picked it up the first time.

[Tolulope Soremekun · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was very hard for me to drop this novel as I read it. To go through different versions of salvation was heart warming and a reminder that God's grace is indeed gracious. Lori did a great job capturing it. I thoroughly was blessed by it.

[Sonya Grob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! A wonderful story of love between a grandfather and his granddaughter. Love lost between them and found again along with finding the love of God and accepting His love. I would read again and I seldom read things twice!

[Karen Hsu · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked how the book follows Arcie's whole life, but I did notice that Lori Wick's writing style leaves a lot to the imagination. It is mostly dialogue and very little description. Not her best.

[Rhonda (IG: growing_faith.reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A re-read for me. I would give this one just under 4 stars. It is quite good but not excellent. In typical Lori Wick style, all the characters are careful thinkers. Her books are the type I read when I want something comforting and not dramatic.

It’s a coming-of-age story. We meet the main character when she’s 11 and her parents die, and the book progresses until she’s 22 and she gets engaged. The second main character is her grandfather and the gist of the book is the relationship between the two of them.

I didn’t love the faith aspect of this book, but it was alright. For the first half there is understandably zero faith because none of the characters are believers in Christ. After the mid-point it comes in more and more strongly as the characters desire to know more about Christ. What I didn’t love was the many Christian clichés the characters use that they would have no idea what they mean because they were completely new to anything to do with Christianity. And some of the theology was just off. Still, I think it was better than none. At least the author tried.

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lori Wick is such a terrible writer that she actually turns the corner and becomes HILARIOUSLY AWESOME. My friend and I read her books together and then write parodies of them starring each other as the heroines. We have gained so many hours of mirth from this process that I really can bear no ill will towards Lori Wick, even if she will insist upon churning out books which contain less literary merit than a Mills & Boon penned by a 14-year-old.

This gem, for instance, contains a premise which makes absolutely no sense and consists of a string of seemingly unconnected scenes, none of which lasts longer than a minute. I hunted and hunted through the book to try and discover exactly WHAT Quinn had done to hurt Arcie's feelings so much that she decided to dramatically flee her grandfather's mansion and go slumming with the local (and painfully 'colourful') Italians. I was forced to conclude that the dark and dismal deed was spilling some suntan oil on the ground and blaming Arcie for it so that the latter had to clean it up.

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe that it is so important to have a wide variety of literature available in a classroom because a classroom is so diverse with it's students. Just like I will have Harry Potter, or Twilight, I will also have Christian Literature available for my students. I want them to be able to have options and not feel pressured. Lori Wick is a wonderful author whose contemporary works are easy to relate to. White Chocolate Moments is a story of a young teenager who loses her parents and is taken in by her grandfather. She is overcome with hurt. As she grows up, she struggles with this hurt and lack of trust in real life scenarios such as falling in love. This book is not something that would be required in my classroom, but it, along with other contemporary books by Lori Wick, will be available for my students to read at their leisure. They may not be incredibly realistic for our society today, but I believe that many students , ecspecially female students, can definitely relate.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a great novel, but I felt that the plot was lacking. It seemed to be made up of situations which quickly resolve itself neatly without the demonstration of the mending of walls. Quinn is in a bad marriage,has a child which she is solely responsible for and has become a christian. I would like to have seen more of her story: how did she become a christian?When and why? Who was she? Sadly those questions are answered rather than shown. Something more should have been mentioned about Grandma Bryant. When she is mentioned it is way into to the novel and never again. Perhaps after Sam's conversion a reunion would have been interesting. I felt that she was dismissed to quickly and too easily.The novel was great and I liked the characters, but the plot lacked an edge, meat that would have given it more life.

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is so bad that I did some research on the author to find out how in the world she managed to get published. I came to find out she's some sort of "Christian Fiction" writer. (I didn't even realize that was a genre.) I guess there aren't that many books out there where a central theme is the character's finding of faith, but that is no excuse for this book to exist. If anyone is interested in writing a book here's a genre that apparently needs some help! Normally, I have a difficult time not finishing a book, even if I'm not enjoying it. I will have no problem returning this to the library tomorrow, unfinished.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this

I read this book many years ago and just came across it again. I remembered one part and so being able to re-read it was a blessing. I totally fell in love with this book all over. Lori Wick is an amazing author but found this to be a bit different as the characters are non believers. My emotions were all over the place because it deals with so many issues. I even shared with my husband about them (the characters) coming to Christ and how as each person accepted Christ they wanted someone else they loved to know Him. So it was also convicting which is a good thing. This book is a stand alone. It is a clean Christian read. I love love love it!

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story but thought it was so sad that as these characters "found Christ" they had to write off their family members who had passed away. It is such a blessing to know that not only can we have Christ in our life and develop a personal relationship with him but our departed loved ones can chose to accept this great gift even after they have passed on. No one need be lost! That IS good news!

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have given this one a 3 star rating, but the last 100 pages were so tedious I had to force myself to finish. The portions about faith were all so pat and simplified. It felt like a dramatization of an apologetics book. Oh you have questions? Let me answer that definitively in 15 words or less. Done and done. I used to love this author when I was younger, but I think I won't try her again.

[Wanda Calvert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book written from the view point of a young girl that experienced great tragedy at an early age and the insecurities she had as a result I enjoyed seeing how her grandfather and his housekeeper loved and cared for her and how she grew up . She had to work through a long process to deal with her search for a family and her salvation ultimately .

[Vicki Carson · Rating 5 out of 5]

White Chocolate Memories

I thought the title sounded like the story would be good! Any age could read this book and come away understand ing God's plan of salvation as well as answers to some frequently asked questions about God! I'd recommend this book HIGHLY! Thanks Lori Wick.

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book about a girl who goes to live with her grandfather after her parents die in a car accident and their journey through the years and their eventual salvation through the Lord. Anything by Lori Wick is good!

[Sandy Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not relate to the main character. She seemed like a spoiled brat that needed to grow up and I couldn't empathize with her at all.

[Linea Winter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

[Makayla Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a sweet Christian romance!! Love the characters (and may have a fictional crush on a character), and the storyline was so good! This was a perfect valentines read :)

[Karey Hoke · Rating 1 out of 5]

For my birthday this year, I asked my family members to give me a copy of their favorite books to read. This is my little sister’s favorite book, and though I knew it would center around God eventually and I am not a religious person, I did my best to begin reading it with an open mind.

This is one of the worst books I think I’ve ever read. Set aside the fact that I’m not religious - the writing was just lazy! Lori Wick needs to do a document search and find all her “-ly” words - “he said anxiously; she said nervously; he muttered quietly.” This is telling, not showing; good books are supposed to describe the characters and their emotions to draw us in. Not tell us “he was anxious. She was nervous.”

Combine this with the fact that the story just...never took off. It jumps everywhere and I couldn’t have cared less about the characters as I approached the halfway point of the book. They were all one dimensional and superficial. I don’t like the trope of “the girl who has it all,” who is so stunning people just can’t help themselves around her; who is good at literally everything she tries once; who doesn’t have to lift a finger; who doesn’t have to try. Everything in this girl’s life came easily to her. Even without a college degree, minimal experience, and no inside person giving her a recommendation, she somehow got a high paying job as an executive assistant-type role (or something along those lines). Because that’s...realistic.

Yet somehow, she was always in tears. Girl, what is there to be in tears about??? She was crying or close to it on every other page!

I hated Arcie. I truly did. This character was dramatic to the nth degree. She decided to leave her grandfather’s because of her cousin...what, exactly, did her cousin do that was oh-so-terrible enough to make her leave home and not reach out to her family for years? From what we’re told in the book...not much that’s outside the realm of typical teenage behavior. In addition, Arcie was dramatic in her romantic relationships, acting like she was so jaded and had been hurt badly many times. Yet...we’re shown what, three men she dated over a 10(ish) year span of time? None of whom was really all that bad? One of them wanted to have sex with her after four months of dating but wasn’t ready to talk about marriage - gasp!! Stop the presses! Yep. Sounds legit; these guys were monsters and her behavior toward men is totally justified.

Bouncing back to the religion aspect and getting on my soapbox - this book is the epitome of why I stopped going to church and have never looked back. I stopped reading after the pastor told the main characters their dead loved ones were “lost to them” if they hadn’t accepted Jesus and the cross before they died, and, after the pastor told the love interest to NEVER marry a nonbeliever, because that goes against what is taught in the Bible. Things like this are why people hate religions and think they’re cults! I get that probably makes life easier, when getting married, if your belief systems are about the same. But I know many couples who are in strong, loving relationships, where one person goes to church every Sunday and the other couldn’t care less. Don’t marry a nonbeliever? So...don’t follow your heart? Don’t take your chance at happiness? If everything is part of some big “plan of God,” and you fall in love with a nonbeliever, isn’t that also in “God’s plan?” Do church going people truly believe, given the choice, their God would rather have them be heartbroken and miserable and suffering, versus in love and with their person and figuring out a way to make it work? And what kind of a “God” would decide your loved ones who have passed away are rotting in hell, or stuck in limbo forever, if they died without believing in this supposed almighty being? Doesn’t sound very loving to me.

Rant, over. I stopped reading a little over halfway through the book, and I doubt I’ll finish it. I can’t handle the religious drivel about how awful life used to be, and then how perfect and peachy it magically becomes after the characters decide to believe in God. Like there was no way you could have possibly been happy in your life before “finding Jesus.” Please. I’d be very surprised if the ending was anything other than the main character changing everything about herself and her beliefs in order to be “acceptable” in God’s eyes to marry the love interest. Snoooooooooze.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel is a beautiful story of reconciliation, redemption, and romance. Its protagonist is Arcineh Bryant. At the tender young age of 11, Arcineh’s whole life is changed. She and her parents are on her way home from her grandfather’s birthday party, when her parents are killed while Arcineh is in the backseat asleep. Arcie moves in with her grandfather, and they have a very good relationship.

There is one slight problem with Arcie’s relationship with her grandfather. Her cousin Quinn is incredibly jealous of Arcie’s relationship with their grandpa. When Quinn has a bad break-up with her boyfriend, her dad sends her to live with Arcie and their grandpa. This is too much for Arcie and she moves out and moves In with a friend to make her own way in the world.

Over the course of the novel, Arcie and her grandfather find their way back to each other. Through her grandfather’s blooming relationship with Christ, Arcie also finds faith. Along the way, she finds love with a man named Gage.

Overall, it’s a great novel that I would recommend. However, I do have a few criticisms that made the book a three star read, rather than a five star. First, the book felt a little disjointed. I did not realize that the title meant that the novel would literally be told in moments. At times, it feels as though the previous paragraph does not really fit with the succeeding one. The jumps in time and characters are not as seamless as they could be. Secondly, as a Christian, I kinda feel that the author oversimplified faith. People who had been avowed atheists got to church a couple of times and are ready to make a decision for Christ. Granted, the author does make mention of some of the questions that the characters have, but overall, in real life, I think that people would need more time and have more of a struggle to come to Christ. I also think that living by faith is not as easy as it is portrayed to be in the novel. That being said, though, I still think the novel is worth a read. A good, but not great book.

[Carol Ackerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arcineh loses her parents in a car accident when she is 11. She goes to live with her grandfather whose favorite grandchild is her cousin. When she turns 18 she sets out on her own because she is tired of competing with her cousin for her grandfather's attention and acceptance. Unfortunately, he doesn't realize he plays favorites until much later in the story.
I think my favorite character in this book is Violet, the housekeeper. She became a surrogate mother for Arcineh after her parents died.
I enjoyed the part about the Italian family she meets and converses in Italian with. Later her knowledge of the Italian language comes in handy and helps save her grandfather's neighbor's company.
Because of Arcineh's hurt over her parents' death and what she believes to be her grandfather's betrayal she has problems trusting others and her own feelings for an eligible bachelor who has romantic feelings for her.
The feel good ending brought an interesting surprise!

[Kathleen Payne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the clean writing style of this author, telling the story about a young girl being raised by her wealthy grandfather after being orphaned at age 11 when both of her parents died in a tragic car crash. Sweet story of her growing years, but when Pastor Simon shows up in her grandfather's life, hmmm.... it turned into a simplistic 'Christian novel' with Pastor Simon telling them 'remember, the world is only 6,000 years old'. Really? What about the dinosaurs? They died off 62.5 mya! Just look at science and geology, anthropology and paleontology, biology, animal adaptation and tell me 'the world is 6,000 years old!' Get real! Ok, I'll off of my soap box and move along with a book with more substance. It was a simple summer read.

[Anne Grove · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided to read this book out of a stack of fiction books with ‘chocolate’ in the title. I have not read Lori Wick before this book. I found the beginning story interesting and engaging. However, I put the book down at chapter six for two reasons. The first being the dialogue was too much and was slowing down the story. Second reason was it seemed the main character was moving into a rebellious teen phase and without being totally engaged with her character I couldn’t bear reading just to read. Eventually I picked it up again and read the ending. This led me to go back through and skim chapters.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the characters in this book. You walk through Arcineh Bryant's life from the death of her parents at 11 to her adulthood. The Grandfather is such a wonderful person...not perfect but wonderful. She becomes a bold and fearless woman walking away from money and privledge to live life her way. I found the book to get a bit dull about 3/4 of the way through. There is some good theology in the book and lessons on how to treat each other.

[Geneva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story of loss, betrayal, forgiveness and humility. Arci take no pride in where she's from nor of her Beauty and being advance in her Education. After taking blame and her Grandfather not recognizing the betrayal, jealousy and lies from her cousin Quinn she left home. Then she worked from the bottom despite where she's from without touching her inheritance. This book is one I could not put down due to this amazing Woman who I could relate to in some ways.

[Rivkah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book went where I thought but also where I didn't think. Cheesey Christian romance? Of course. Does everyone follow Jesus and fall in love with just the right people and make amends and friends and have a perfect ending. For sure. How she does about getting there is interesting and different. if you need a light relaxing nice read, this one would definitely work.

[Kelsley Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is honestly one of my favourite books. As a huge lover of Christian romances and having read all Karen Kingsbury and Francine Rivers after reading White Chocolate Moments nothing could compare. I love it and highly recommend it to anyone who is a lover of romances

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely warm and fuzzy read. The last third of the book read vveeerrryyyy slowly though and lacked any excitement, probably could have summed it up in a few chapters instead and I would have liked it better.