About Me

Wife. Fangirl. Disney lover and belter of show tunes.

Overall ball of anxiety.

As a teen, Tristen escaped into her mother's trove of historical romance books and hasn't resurfaced since. Exploring new worlds through reading also fostered a hankering for travel.

When she's not working or writing about two idiots falling in love, she is researching and visiting as many different places as possible.

Tristen was born and raised in South Africa but now lives in Maryland with her husband and their ever-growing book and board game shelves.

Available now!

Farren puts on a good front, feigning confidence despite literally not fitting into society’s narrow ideas of beauty and success. Inside, she’s stuck, afraid to put herself and her ideas out there, especially the board game design she's kept a secret. She keeps things light and temporary—both at work as a substitute teacher and in her relationships.

Overworked Sebastian abhors anything that gets in the way of his goals, including procuring the perfect pastry. The two meet when Sebastian accuses her of stealing his pastry in an amusing and awkward café incident. When Farren gets in the way of his coffee order with her huge personality she turns out to be even more than he bargained for.

Instead of shrinking beneath his usually intimidating stare, Farren issues a challenge back: take a second away from his phone calendar with its down-to-the-minute scheduling and play her for it—live a little. If Sebastian wins the board game battle he gets to keep his precious croissant, if she wins he has to join their game night next week.

Just who will be the victor in this game of love?

Content warnings

• Alcohol consumption
  
• Depictions of Anxiety
  
• Explicit language
  
• Mentions of past fatphobic experiences
  
• Brief mention of abortion
  
• Brief mention of a car accident and depiction of minor injuries to a peripheral character
  
• Explicit sexual scenes
  
• Brief mention of a peripheral character's cancer scare
  

2 July 2024

Matteo’s days are a parade of parties, sparkling champagne and... loneliness. Caught in his late father’s shadow he fills the void with pretense and vices.

When he gains an inherited stake in an old Italian olive grove, on the brink of failure, Matteo finds the perfect opportunity to carve out his own future. He leaves America behind for the sun and seduction of an Italian summer.

One ill-fated Vespa incident later Matteo finds himself handlebar-to-face with the fiery Giuliana. The two hit it off despite Matteo’s awful driving and share a scorching night with no promises for tomorrow. But they are fated for another collision, this time one of past and present.

Giuliana is the owner of the farm he’s desperate to take for his own, and thinks Matteo is a volunteer coming to help until the harvest. Unwilling to give up this chance at his future—or her—he plays into the misunderstanding until it’s a full-on ruse.

As Matteo learns more about Giuliana, past feuds,

and where he belongs, he will have to decide

which is more important: legacy or letting love grow.

Content Warnings

• Alcohol consumption and drunkenness
  
• Anxiety and depression, passing suicidal ideation
  
• Thoughts of self-harm and negative self-directed hatred during internal dialogue
  
• Vaping and mentions of smoking
  
• Mentions of parental death and grief
  
• Explicit language
  
• Explicit sexual acts
  
• Mentions of needles, syringes, and blood
  

Updates

Playing For Keeps

RELEASED INTO THE WILD AND AVAILABLE NOW!

I think olive you

PREORDER YOUR COPY NOW!

Under Locke & key

Drafting

Other projects

Cupid RomCom - Drafting