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".

David's buying trip in France is interrupted by the disappearance of a friend and millions of francs worth of wine. When he stays behind to assist and comfort his friend's wife, Catherine, their lives are threatened. As the danger intensifies, they are drawn closer together, uncovering buried traumas, insecurities, and longings. Set on the Burgundy canals and in the French wine trade of the 1980s, Spilt Wine is a crime thriller of mounting tension, realisation, and passion. Although this is a work of fiction, most of the locations, many of the adventures, and some of the characters are real or rooted in reality. David's behaviour and relationships are shaped by his autism, alexithymia, and asexuality, all of which were far less understood when this story is set, and I write of these from my own experience. The reminiscences, stories, and timeline draw on events from my own life, though some have been rearranged to suit the novel. Fortunately, the crimes and the criminals are fictional, and any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental.

After losing her prestigious chef position, Gigi is left jobless, humiliated, and dangerously off balance. Kicking out her latest fling should have been the end of one bad chapter - until he turns vindictive. Duncan McSweeny is assigned a failing restaurant chain and a brutal mandate: save it fast or shut it down. Hiring Gigi should have been a strategic move. Instead, she becomes the most disruptive variable in an already unstable equation. As they struggle to rebuild the business, an unexpected attraction complicates everything. Gigi sees Duncan as another tempting man to seduce. Duncan, convinced for years that he's asexual, is forced to confront reactions he can't explain and a desire he doesn't know how to control. Then Gigi's stalking ex posts explicit videos of her online, weaponising humiliation and threatening both her career and the fragile trust growing between her and Duncan. With the restaurants on the brink and scandal spreading fast, they must decide whether they can survive the damage - or whether everything they're trying to rebuild will collapse around them.

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 once a month if possible)