A Simple Twist of Chocolate (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781732112896)

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-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 rediscovery-of hidden truths, lost family, and a power that tastes like heaven but may cost the soul.