A counterfeit claim against a legendary wine ignites a high-stakes investigation in which a neurodivergent restaurateur and a forensic wine analyst must navigate forgery, deception, and their own unexpected connection to save a century-old legacy. Luc, owner of London's prestigious Le Rêve restaurant, faces a devastating crisis when a valued patron declares a prized vintage a fake. To protect his family's century-old reputation, he enlists Izzy, a brilliant but socially unconventional forensic wine analyst, eager to prove her mettle. Their shared autism initially creates an unexpected but undeniable spark of attraction, challenging their focus. But as they delve deeper into the complex world of wine fraud, they suspect a widespread conspiracy that threatens to destroy Le Rêve. Together, they must harness their unique abilities to expose the truth, safeguard the restaurant's legacy, and navigate their intensifying relationship, even as they battle their own internal worlds.

An asexual man and a divorcee seeking love are forced together by extreme circumstances. Logan owns a wine importing company, and he's given up on finding a companion. When not travelling the world tasting and selecting, he sails to find peace and relaxation. After a messy divorce, Karina lives aboard a boat, crafting romance novels with happily-ever-after endings, hoping to find her own. In blinding rain, she hits a log and begins sinking.

In the late nineties asexuality is all but ignored as an orientation. Jess doesn't understand her complex array of emotions or why she finds it so hard to relate to her fellow classmates. Catholic high schools and churches simply don't address the issue, and the internet is still nascent. Jess can't tell anyone the truth. Not even her best friend Care. Instead, she hides behind the guise of faith. Behind a mask of celibacy. Until she meets Eric, that is. He lets slip that he's asexual, and Jess wants to learn more. --- Watty Winner 2021 for best cover, best YA, and the Wattpad Books prize! --- Status: completed and unedited Rating: PG-15 for moderate language and frank discussions about sexuality Genre: teen fiction romance featuring two heteroromantic ace characters --- Cover designed using Canva Pro August 2020 --- Please note: This work is a teen fiction novelization of my multimedia novella "Mask of Celibacy".

An asexual man and a divorcee seeking love are forced together by extreme circumstances. Logan rescued Karina when her boat sank in a storm, and he revived her from severe hypothermia. His autism added to the intensity of their interactions and pushed her beyond a traumatic distrust of men, allowing their relationship to strengthen. This second volume of their story begins as they head to Europe on a buying trip for the wine-importing company he owns. On his accountant's advice, he travels in grand luxury to reduce corporate taxes, so merging his habitual high-end routine and her seat-of-the-pants travel experiences seems to be their first hurdle.

The disappearance of a friend and millions of Francs worth of wine interrupts David's buying trip in France when he pauses to assist and comfort his friend's wife, Catherine. Their lives are threatened, the intensifying circumstances draw them closer together, and they uncover their buried traumas, insecurities and longings. This is a tale of mounting tensions, realisations and passions woven through a gripping crime thriller set on the Burgundy canals and in the French wine business of the 1980s. Although this is a work of fiction, most of the locations, adventures and characters are real or based on reality. David's behaviour and interactions are influenced by his autism, alexithymia and asexuality, which were much less understood when this story is set, and I write these from my own experience. The reminiscences, stories and timeline follow events from my own life, though sometimes they're slightly juggled to fit the crafting of this novel. Fortunately, the crimes and the criminals are fictional, and any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental.

Gigi, an aromantic bi, doesn't know what she wants most - a husband, a lover, or her own restaurant. She has just lost her prestigious chef position and kicked out her latest fling, who threatens revenge. With her meagre savings, all three possibilities seem remote at the moment. A holding company acquires a failing restaurant chain, strips its name, and assigns the 'hot potato' to Duncan, a business consultant, to determine whether to rescue or liquidate it. The pressure to succeed weighs on his shoulders when he decides to attempt a turnaround, knowing failure means loss of jobs. Gigi is among those he hires to replace staff who had abandoned the 'sinking ship'. Attracted initially by her resumé, he is captivated by her beauty and spirit. Mutual interests become increasingly personal the closer they work, and maintaining professional façades falters. Gigi sees him as another gorgeous hunk to seduce, and she flirts, but Duncan, convinced since his teens that he's asexual, is confused by his frequent and obvious arousal. His plan of tying the success of the restaurants to the bigger goal of winning Gigi's aromantic heart is endangered when her deranged, stalking ex posts explicit videos of her on the web, threatening to smear her reputation and ruin her career. Can the fledgling relationship survive this and save the restaurants? A certified organic storyline with no artificialities, clichés or stereotypes.

Reviewing restaurants is normally a safe pursuit, but Kate and Lorne face torture and death when they try to unravel organised crime's infiltration of the fine dining scene. Kate is a novelist and a dining columnist. Lorne is a lawyer, a prominent wine writer and an incognito restaurant reviewer who, since his teens, has believed he's asexual. Playmates when they were toddlers and friends ever since, they are now thrown together by increasingly dangerous circumstances as the Mob targets them. The intensity and closeness trigger Lorne's deeply buried sexuality and Kate's long-suppressed desires. Will they be able to set their passions aside and focus on evading and entrapping the Mob?

Two reclusive people meet in a charity soup kitchen in a down-and-out area of London, and their mutual attraction tempts them to follow their hearts. Both know that breaking out of their social shells risks revisiting buried traumas, but it might relieve their loneliness. Valerie has been celibate since she was drugged and raped, and she now concentrates on three things - running her corporate empire, maintaining a low profile and guiding her inquisitive daughter through puberty. Lorne is still grieving a fiancée who died years before, but when he meets Valerie, his dormant desires waken. With little information beyond her first name, he takes a bold step and invites her to Valentine's Day dinner. Their relationship escalates with blinding speed and all the comforts of a billionaire lifestyle, but the bliss is interrupted by a smear campaign on social media. Valerie's rapist is out of prison and looking for revenge. She wants to crawl back into her shell, but Lorne's love and acceptance continue drawing her out. Though dark aspects are threaded through the story's background, the overbearing theme is a lighthearted and feel-good romance. _____________________________________________________________________________________ I portray the wealthy lifestyle and all its appurtenances through experience, having made my first million in the 1980s when that small amount could still buy something.

On his doctor's recommendation, Alex signs up to an online dating site and creates a profile as Xander. His searches find nobody of interest, and he's about to dismiss it as a bad idea when Roxy posts a message to him. Rosario is an investigator for the dating site, and the tone and content of Xander's profile cause her to red-flag him as a financial predator. She creates a wealthy widow profile as Roxy to initiate contact and honey-trap him. Surprised by how well her interests fit with his, Alex responds. Their messages become longer and more complex, and after a few days, he invites her to dinner. Not long into their first date, he suspects he's being catfished, but hungry and intrigued by Roxy, he decides to play along with her and enjoy the evening. The story is presented in first-person PoV, alternating chapter by chapter.

For centuries vampires and witches have been enemies. Their current alliance is fragile, constantly teetering on the brink of open hostilities. In the midst of the growing unrest, two brothers attempt to break free from the cages that imprison them and destroy those who hurt them. Will they get the revenge they long for or will they lose everyone they love, including each other? Prince Lotus Alcea has spent his whole life living in fear of his father. When his former best friend, Nico Estrella, offers him an escape through marriage he is hesitant but accepts it hoping that a union with the grandson of the Coven Head will give him the safety and security he craves. But vampires and witches do not marry, and as far as anyone can remember they never have. It will take more than a ring and a promise for the newlywed couple to reach their happily ever after. Lián Yin is trapped in a living hell with no way of escaping his abuser. When an unusual child is given into his care he is terrified that the same fate awaits them. Desperate to save them from the life of violence and pain he lives, Lián breaks every rule he's been given in hopes of finding a way out. But when his dark past begins to catch up to him and the allies he's made are threatened, he may have no choice but to sacrifice himself to save them all. After all, in the end, death is the only thing that will ever be certain. (Updated on the third of every month)