In the Age of Love and Chocolate by Gabrielle Zevin (Birthright trilogy book 3)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't read the first two books in the trilogy, All These Things I've Done and Because It Is My Blood, Stop! I don't want to ruin Anya Balanchine's story for you.

Observant readers will note that the three titles in the Birthright series make up a sentence beginning with the first title (All these things I've done/ because it is my blood/ in the age of love and chocolate) that tell a synopsis of the trilogy.

Anya Balanchine willingly chose to go into business with the man who imprisoned and poisoned her, former DA Charles Delacroix. Doing so cost her the love of her life, Win Delacroix, Charles' son. Win cannot get past the idea that Anya went into business with his father. He has decided to leave New York and go to college in Boston since there is now no one to tie him to the city. Her sister Natty has been sent home early from genius camp for causing trouble. Her brother Leo's new wife is living with them while he is serving his prison sentence. Scarlet has made her the godmother to her new son, Felix even though she doesn't feel like she is a good Catholic. Having just turned eighteen, Anya is now a legal adult with all of the benefits and dis benefits.

Outside of her club one night, her cousin Mickey Balanchine comes up to her with a gun. He wants to know where his wife, Sophia Bitter is. Sophia had tried to kill Anya and Mickey thinks she has kidnapped her in retaliation. Trying to reach her machete, she is surprised when Charles Delacroix comes to her rescue. Mickey is taken inside the club for further questioning. Anya isn't happy over Charles' heroics and he suggests that she get a bodyguard. A bodyguard would be bad for her image and he shouldn't interfere again. He is her employee and she only works with him for his legal counsel. Charles leaves and Anya goes to speak with Mickey in the presence of one of her security guys. Mickey looks sticky and is coughing up a little blood. When he expels a large clot of blood and begins to convulse, they decide to take him to the hospital. Mickey is dead three days later and the official cause is a rare strain of malaria but Anya suspects poison.

In the early morning hours before the grand opening of the club, someone has vandalized the club's entire supply of cacao. Desperate, Anya calls Theo in Mexico to see where she can find a new supply locally. Even if she could, the cacao wouldn't be the same quality as his. He will have his sister secure a cargo plane and he will fly in a new shipment that afternoon. He will come to New York to help her. He wouldn't mind seeing her again. Theo arrives in time for the opening and is even able to create the signature drink for her club that has eluded her chef for months. The opening of the Dark Room is a roaring success. Only half the people in the line were able to get in and Theo's shipment of cacao runs out. Afterwards, Theo offers Anya a deal. He wants in on her business venture. He can supply the cacao and oversee her kitchen. She needs help and he wants to be that help. Anya realizes how indispensable Theo has been in the past 24 hours and she agrees.

Natty, who skipped two grades in school, is seeing a fellow student who is five years her senior. When she spends the night with him one night, Anya knows that she cannot fail her sister and have her end up like herself. Natty is too smart to be pulled under by the family and wants to give her a fresh start. She is sending her to boarding school in Boston. Natty agrees but isn't happy. She is not readily accepted by her new classmates. She begs to come home. Anya reluctantly asks Win to drop in on her. He does and lets her know that he will not be home for Thanksgiving. He is spending it with his girlfriend's family. Anya is crestfallen. The year doesn't end on a good note when her attorney, Mr. Kipling passes away.

Anya decides to close the club and throw a private New Years' Eve party. She is surprised that Natty invited Win to come and he does, bringing along his new girlfriend. After politely speaking with the family, Anya leaves. Walking through the club later, she runs into Win alone. She thanks him personally for checking on Natty and from there, things fall apart. Win wishes that he had followed his father's advice but more importantly, he wishes that he had never met her. She wasn't worth all of the pain and trouble she put him through. Anya is devastated but as the hostess, she cannot leave her own party. As the countdown begins, Theo tells her it is bad luck not to kiss someone and he can kiss her properly. She agrees.

The next morning, New Years' Day, Anya is up early and has the idea to expand the nightclub to other locations. This way, she could put other members of her family to work. She calls Charles and she meets with him and Theo. They agree to the idea and Theo goes to get drinks. Anya brings up the fact that she is sorry to hear that Charles and his wife are getting a divorce. At first, he is upset but Anya tells him that she is alone and considers him one of her few friends. Dejected, he leaves to go find some new investors. Theo and Anya decide to go to get something to eat. After having a good time, they begin to walk back to the club since a cab couldn't be gotten. They share another kiss in Central Park even though Anya doesn’t have feelings for Theo.

Soon, Anya gets everyone but her own life situated. She begins to shut out everyone thinking she doesn't deserve anyone. She is hardened but needed to in order to survive. But when an unexpected incident leaves her fighting for and rebuilding her life, it is surprising who in her life comes to her aid. Always the strong one who never needed anyone, Anya finds herself needing those she has pushed away. In this thrilling conclusion to the Birthright trilogy, Anya Balachine comes full circle over the choices she has made in her life.

Visit Gabrielle Zevin’s website.

The Birthright Trilogy, books 1 and 2 by Gabrielle Gavin

All These Things I’ve Done – book one

In 2082, New York City is almost unrecognizable. Water is scarce, crime is rampant and coffee and chocolate are illegal. Central Park is an arid wasteland and city leaders are ineffective. Museums now house nightclubs and speakeasies serve coffee. Alcohol is available to all. Those under eighteen are bound by midnight to 6am curfews. City services are almost nonexistent.

Anya Balanchine is the daughter of the former head of Balanchine Crime Family which produces chocolate. Both of her parents are dead due to hits. Her grandmother is her legal guardian even though she is in failing health. Anya is the true head of her immediate family. Besides being a normal sixteen-year-old, she must not only care for her Nana but her younger sister Natty and her brain damaged older brother Leo. No longer has a part of the crime family, the family is trying to find a way back into Anya’s life.

The night before the first day of her junior year at Holy Trinity School, Anya and her boyfriend Gable Arsley spent the evening at a speakeasy drinking espressos. For once, Gable walks her home but with ulterior motives. Begging for some chocolate, Anya relents and gets some from the safe in the closet. Gable is asleep on her bed when she returns and will not wake up. She breaks him off a piece, hides the rest and decides to take a shower. Wrapped in a towel, Anya goes back into her room to find Gable awakens and he has eaten the entire chocolate bar. Not sorry in the least, he then begs her to finally sleep with him she refuses but Gable isn’t about to take no for an answer. Anya yells at him and Leo comes to her aid, gable is escorted to the door.

Even without email (too costly) or cell phones (illegal for those under eighteen), the rumors of Gable dumping Anya are rampant before the school day can start. Even about a visit to the confessional booth with Mother Piousina in which she has sinned for wishing harm to come to Gable, Anya becomes enraged when he sneers at her in the cafeteria. She throws her plate of lasagna at him. Her day will end with a visit to the Headmaster’s office.

While waiting to see the Headmaster, Anya meets the new boy in school that her best friend Scarlet was mooning over earlier. Anya realizes right away that the cute boy in front of her is not her usual type. He introduces himself as Win Delacroix and asks her what she is looking at. His calloused hands, Anya says. Win tells her that he is from upstate where they grew their own food and he plays the guitar. Before she can introduce herself, Win states that he already knows who she is since she has been the topic of conversation all day. Well then, he must also know that she is a crazy, addicted, slutty mafia princess. Win lets her know that where he comes from people come to their own conclusions about others.

Gable was the person who was in the Headmaster’s office. She asks Win if she can meet with Anya first. He consents. Anya is placed on probation and assigned lunch duty for the rest of the week. The Headmaster doesn’t want to call and upset her grandmother but she is concerned what kind of reputation Anya’s behavior is earning her. When she leaves, Win has been entertaining Natty while she waits. The girls leave to go home and Natty comments on how cute and nice Win is.

It turns out that Win Delacroix in the son of the new assistant DA or the unofficial top cop in NYC. Scarlet is crushing on Win. Wanting to ask Win out, she gets Anya to agree to a plan to get him to go out with the two of them. Later, Natty tells her sister that she should let Scarlet know that she is interested in Winn. Anya denies it but Natty says she knows just by looking at Win that he is interested in her. Win agrees to go with them to a legal nightclub.

On their group outing, the nightclub is raided and shut down. Leo has shown up with Jacks, a cousin, who is trying to make a name for himself in the family. Outside, Leo suffers a seizure and Jacks is nowhere to be seen. Scarlet locates Anya and they find Win taking care of Leo. He is alright but the time the four of them make it back to that Balanchine apartment but it is past curfew. Win must stay the night. Staying over anyway, Scarlet tells Anya that Win is not the boy for her and that it is okay if Anya wants to pursue him, Anya goes to get Win settled for the night and thanks him for taking care of Leo he that his sister suffered from seizures before she died. Anya notices that his cheek is bruised and goes to get a bag of frozen peas. Anya says good night but Win asks her to stay. She apologizes for the night but Win says that interesting things happen around her. Anya says that she is trouble but he says that she just has a lot of responsibilities.

Cousin Jacks delivers a case of chocolate bars the following night for the family. Before Anya can put them away, Gable is knocking on the door. High on caffeine, he begs Anya for chocolate. They have words and she ends up giving him two bars just to get him to leave. When Gable doesn’t show up at school for several days, it is rumored that he is dying in the hospital. Before Anya can even wrap her mind around the situation, the Headmaster tells her that the police would like to talk with her.

Turns out that Gable ate some poisoned chocolate that was traced back to the Balanchine company. Anya is arrested and before she knows it, she finds herself in a juvenile detention facility.

Just who poisoned the chocolate and who was it meant for? Does Gable survive? Can Anya find a way to clear her name? is Win interested in Anya? What happens when Win’s father warns her to stay away from his son? Can a mafia princess find love with the DA’s son? Who can Anya trust and who is just out to use her? And will Anya be able to leave the stigma surrounding her family name?

Because It Is My Blood – book two
 

SPOILER ALERT! Don’t read any further if you haven’t read All These Things I’ve Done in its entirety. 

Anya Balanchine is trying to get her life back on track after the deal she made with Charles Delacroix. Picking up the pieces of her life, all she wants to do is finish high school. But with Mickey Balanchine and Yuji Ono wanting her to get into the chocolate business and Delacroix willing to punish Anya to win the election, Anya is once again a pawn. When she finds herself back at Liberty, it isn’t long before she is in the hospital. Someone has poisoned her. Anya decides to leave New York for her own safety. Yuri makes arrangements for Anya to stay at a cacao farm in Mexico in order to learn more about her birthright.

Who poisoned Anya and why? What does she learn about the chocolate business in Mexico? Why is Charles Delacroix so intent on destroying Anya? Are Yuji Ono’s motives strictly professional or does he hope something more will develop between himself and Anya? Can Anya get Win Delacroix out of her system? Will she ever be able to return to New York? Who is she able to trust? And will Anya finally claim what is her birthright?

Anya Balanchine’s story will conclude on October 29, 2013 with In the Age of Love and Chocolate. Observant readers will note that the three titles in the Birthright series make up a sentence beginning with the first title (All these things I've done/ because it is my blood/ in the age of love and chocolate) that tell a synopsis of the trilogy.

Visit Gabrielle Zevin’s website.