Happy St. Valentine’s Day! If there was ever a day to make a declaration of love, this is it. We do not need flowers, or chocolates, or champagne; we do not need moonlit strolls and candlelight (though these are lovely, of course!); what we need is words that convey all the warmth in our heart.

It was one of my favourite poets, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who wrote ‘How do I love thee? Let me count the ways’ in her beautiful Sonnet 43. ‘I love thee with the breath, / Smiles, tears, of all my life,’ she wrote to her husband, Robert Browning.

When I write my own novels, I feel the story building to the declaration of love. ‘Sweet nothings’ is what some call words of affection exchanged by lovers – but to me, these words are the very opposite of nothing; they are everything!

Here, then, in celebration of this most romantic of days, is a ‘sweet everything’ from each of my novels. I hope you enjoy them.

Burning Embers is an evocative and passionate story of coming of age, of letting go of the past, of having faith in a person and of overcoming obstacles to love, set against the vivid and colourful backdrop of rural 1970s Africa and its culture.

The Echoes of Love is set in the romantic and mysterious city of Venice and the beautiful landscape of Tuscany. It is a tale of a lost love and betrayal, unbleached passion and learning to love again – and a terrible truth that will change the lives of two strangers forever.

Set in the wild landscape of Andalucia, Indiscretion is a compelling story of love and identity, danger and desire, and the uncertainty of happiness when two worlds collide.

In Masquerade a young writer becomes entangled in an illicit gypsy love affair, pulling her into a world of secrets, deception and dark desire.

Legacy is a story of love, intrigue and redemption under the scorching Spanish sun… Can love survive family legacies of feuding and tragedy, and rise like the phoenix from the ashes of the past?

Aphrodite’s Tears is set on the ancient island of Helios, Greece, where a young archaeologist becomes caught in a web of dark obsession, mystery and seduction.