Shipping January 29
Based on true events. 
Book One of The Chocolate Syndicate.
There is more to chocolate than sweetness—it binds us to ancient memory and the invisible roots of longing, loss, and love.
 
In A Simple Twist of Chocolate, a seemingly chance encounter between two strangers on an international flight begins to unravel a tale that spans continents, generations, and the hidden legacy of cacao. Ariel, an introspective consultant returning from India with the ashes of a friend, crosses paths with Damion, a curious and charming fellow passenger. As their conversation deepens, Ariel begins to share a story—her story—interwoven with mystery, romance, danger, and an obsession that has haunted her for decades: the search for a mythical cacao once thought to be lost.
 
What begins as a covert assignment for a private investigative firm leads Ariel into the jungles of Central and South America, where a legendary strain of cacao—an aphrodisiac and ancient sacrament—is rumored to survive. But this hunt is not hers alone. Years earlier, Edward Burke, a power-driven businessman, discovered the intoxicating potential of this elusive chocolate, triggering a chain of betrayals, disappearances, and secrets carefully buried.
 
Ariel’s own origin is steeped in shadow. Born of a secret affair and given up for adoption under pressure, she unknowingly carries within her the thread that connects all players in the unfolding drama. A single envelope of cocoa beans, hidden beneath the Oregon soil in childhood, silently links her to a legacy of mysticism, exploitation, and buried love.
As Ariel’s sabbatical from consulting becomes a deep dive into the spiritual and scientific mysteries of chocolate, she comes to realize that her life is not a coincidence—it’s a confluence. The story reveals a network of seekers, syndicates, and spiritualists—each driven by the belief that chocolate, in its purest form, is not merely food, but a medium to the divine.
 
From the windswept coastlines of Oregon to the sacred fires of Varanasi, from high-level political blackmail to backwoods ritual, A Simple Twist of Chocolate is a story of hidden truths, lost family, and a power that tastes like heaven but may cost the soul.