Building an impossible tea farm in the Cheshire countryside was Sofia’s second chance. A way to prove herself. A fresh start. She knew it would be graft. She anticipated a degree of isolation. But with Christmas imminent and the farm failing, her thoughts have grown darker. She’s searching for something — an ineffable force to make this year the magical wonderland she always craves and never finds.Yet with the farm failing there’s no time to fix her ailing social life. Sofia resigns herself to another lonely holiday.
Enter Matt.
Delaware Grange’s twenty-one-year-old assistant gamekeeper. Nice enough, a bit dopey.
As she hunkers down for winter, Sofia thinks she’s prepared for everything. Nothing could prepare her for Matt. For the abrupt awareness of him. For the way he’s far more capable than he seems. Thoughtful. Considerate. Quietly intelligent.
Way sexier than he appears.
Suddenly impossible to ignore.
But Matt isn’t what he seems. A darkness runs beneath Delaware Grange — insidious, creeping, buried deep.
Sofia was little more than a challenge, a box for Matt to check, an assignment to complete. Until he fell.
Hard.
Now all he sees is her. All he wants is her. And all he knows is she has no idea who he truly is. While Sofia fights her feelings in the face of forbidden fruit, and Matt wrestles with the reality of his true purpose on the estate, the pair fall into an intoxicating, passionate, volatile romance.
As winter deepens and Christmas closes in, two lonely souls struggle to find peace in each other, and trust becomes the most dangerous choice on the estate.
Falling for Matt threatens everything Sofia has worked so hard to build. Falling for Sofia might just be the making of Matt.
That Boy is a high-heat, secret-identity romance where desire, deception, and devotion collide in a snowy small-town Christmas.
While not required, it is highly suggested to read Nightshade before That Boy.
Author’s Note: Each novel in The Cheshire Set can be read as a standalone, but the following order avoids spoiling the reading experience of earlier books.
Banter
Tone: Flirty • Witty • Enemies-to-lovers spark
Best for: Romance-focused blogs, Bookstagram, or any platform that loves quick, engaging chemistry and playful dialogue.
Description: A sharp, fast-paced exchange that showcases the push-pull dynamic between Sofia and Matt. Perfect for highlighting the humour, tension, and swoon-worthy energy that runs through the novel.
She stood in the open garage doorway, glaring at her sling. Like a feral little tiger kitten, realising its legs weren’t long enough to keep pace with mama yet. Sofia’s blonde hair fell loosely around her face, the shaggy cut messier on her right side. Still slightly damp.
I guess styling left-handed isn’t so easy.
She looked up as she realised someone had pulled onto her drive. The frown deepened, blue eyes narrowing.
“Christ, Van. I don’t need a babysitter, I—”
I slid out of the truck.
“Oh. It’s you.”
“Nice to see you, too.”
“I didn’t mean…why are you in Evander’s truck?”
“I don’t have one of my own.”
She rolled her eyes.
She tried again. “Why are you here?”
“Figured you’d need a lift.”
“I’m fine.” The eyes narrowed.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Think you can drive one-handed?”
She huffed. “I was about to take this—” she shook her arm savagely “—off.”
“That would be unwise.”
She glowered.
I snorted a laugh. “You’re so cute when you’re angry.”
“Fuck off.”
I raised an eyebrow. “We are sassy this morning.”
“I mean it, Matthew—”
“Oof!” I clutched my heart dramatically at the full naming.
“I will cut you if you try to manage me.”
“Adorable.” I smirked. “Get in the truck.”
“I can drive myse—”
“Woman, I will pick you up and throw your arse in the back if you do not get in.”
That shut her up.
Her eyes widened. A deep flush crept up her neck, into her face. And I had a sneaking suspicion she was tempted to refuse. Just to see if I’d do it. Just to find out what would happen next.
She grabbed her bag. Slammed her car door shut with a bump from one hip, and stomped to the passenger side of Evander’s truck. As she awkwardly climbed up and pulled the door shut, I slid back into my own seat.
“Good girl.”
“Eat me.”
“With relish.”
A sidelong glance told me that had made her blush even more.
She looked away, suddenly fascinated by the passing scenery of Upper Hollow’s quaintly quiet streets.
IPPY Award-Winning Romance Novel!Winner of the 2025 Independent Publisher Book Award for Romance.
Amelia’s back in her childhood town ready for a fresh start. After quitting a successful job in Manchester and dumping her ‘perfect’ boyfriend, she’s happy to be done with drama. But a passionate run in with Michael Bane–the guy, the sexy bad boy she obsessed over for years–leaves Amelia spinning. In school, Michael was popular and gorgeous…but also cruel, angry, and he hated Amelia.
And now? Well, he’s Michael Bane. Devastatingly attractive, running a successful finance firm, and still the man every girl wants. Aimee may be home, but she’s determined to leave the high-school cliques and childish popularity contests in the past. The town, however, seems to have other plans. Just as Amelia thinks she might finally get her guy, she’s forced to question if he’s actually changed at all.
And then he turns up asking for help. He’s in trouble. The worst kind.
Helping him will leave her questioning her morals and putting everything she’s worked so hard for in jeopardy. Michael needs her, but does he want her? And after everything he’s done, does she really want him?
Just how bad does she want this boy to be?
Bane is a sizzling romantic suspense packed with small town charm and a gripping murder mystery at its heart.
A standalone romantic suspense from the award-winning Cheshire Set series.“I haven't agonized this much for the brush of a hand in eons and I loved every second of it!” – Chiara, Goodreads
“A full‑blown summer thriller with bees, secrets, and a brooding hero…The banter is superior! I was giggling and swooning at once!” – ToniLynette, Goodreads
“Briar crafts a rich, emotionally layered story...Suzie’s humour [is] dry, often unexpected, and adds such warmth and levity to the story.” – Samantha Robertson, Goodreads
“What a ride! Happy moments, sad moments, WTH moments and I absolutely could not put this book down!” – Kristen, Goodreads
“This isn’t just your average romance! Briar Black absolutely knocked it out of the park with Nightshade.” – Kris10, Goodreads
After an unexpected run-in with the ex who wrecked her, Suzie heads home for a quiet, simple summer. All she wants is to save Hugh Delaware’s bees and figure out how to be happy.
But Delaware Grange has a wild magic. Something’s very wrong on the estate. And as Suzie digs deeper she finds herself hopelessly drawn to Hugh – the brooding heir, a botanist who built an impossible tea farm on an English hillside, and desperately needs her help to salvage it.
With a crumbling marriage and the weight of a fading legacy on his shoulders, Hugh’s world couldn’t be further from Suzie’s council-house upbringing. It’s an unattainable, irresistible connection that could destroy them both. But what started as an intriguing puzzle rapidly becomes something far darker, threatening the lives of everyone on the estate – not just the bees.
Suddenly, forbidden desire is the least dangerous thing about Delaware Grange.
Nightshade is a romantic suspense with slow-burn heat, a Byronic hero who’s off-limits, and a woman trying to find her way home. If you love forbidden romance, small-town secrets, and lush cottagecore with a darker edge, this one’s for you.
Briar has been a professional copywriter for many years (far more than she cares to admit). She began her career working for large companies and agencies before realising she could do it all for herself. Now, she happily writes for businesses and entrepreneurs she’s passionate about and dreams of the day her fiction becomes popular enough for her to retreat into fictional worlds full-time. Growing up in Cheshire and falling in love with its countryside, small towns, and villages, she’s enjoyed creating a fictional world that reflects her own.
“Nothing kills you more insidiously than convincing yourself toxic is tolerable.”Amelia Thornbridge has always striven to be the perfect employee, the ideal girlfriend, the person everyone expects her to be. But somewhere along the way, as she lived the life she was told she wanted, she lost sight of herself. Trapped in a soul-sucking job and a relationship that’s lost its spark, Amelia knows she’s settled.
But that’s what people do, right?
When a chance encounter ignites a fire she didn’t know was in her, Amelia starts to see the cracks in her carefully constructed world. Is she really destined for the ending everyone else expects?
Is it too late to change her story?
Breaking free isn’t easy. As Amelia learns to navigate the rocky path of self-discovery, she realises that finding herself, owning her career, and embracing a more passionate life, means confronting the fears and doubts she’s buried for so long. It’s time for Amelia to stop settling, start thriving, and finally take control of her own destiny.
Eve Was Framed is a story of empowerment, courage, and the exhilarating freedom that comes from rewriting your own script.
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