Simon Jeffries met Josefina Rutherford in first grade when she stole his Halloween candy - at least that's how he remembers it. Nobody disputes that he escalated the candy war that Christmas with a fiendish plot involving a hollow chocolate Santa, soapy dishwater, and a Sharpie. Twenty-some years later he's moving back to their hometown, about to deliver the final blow in a lifelong battle. Josie Rutherford loves candy, all kinds of candy, and although her tastes became more sophisticated as she reached adulthood and took over the family shop, she still feels no shame in eating a cheap bar of chocolate from the corner store. Until she learns that Caldecutt, a national manufacturer of bland chocolate and over-sweet caramels, is opening its first retail storefront in her town, right across from her store. She has no doubt that their low prices and familiar selection will drive her business of handmade, high-quality sweets to an early death. To make matters worse, Simon's back in town to oversee the opening. They'd done some horrible things to each other over the years, she can admit that, but this is far worse than even the dirtiest tricks they came up with in college. But the connection they forged through rivalry still exists, and even blossoms as they meet again. It all comes to a head on Halloween, when Josie lets a freezing Simon into her home and the world gets a bit more interesting

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