Coffee Scent Gifts is a 19,000-word Black Romance novella set in South Africa. Seamlessly blending the popular tropes of secret admirer and coworker-to-lovers, this story offers an autumnal love triangle that captures the magic of anonymous gestures.

Set against the misty Cape Town autumn, where the Atlantic crashes against granite cliffs and the mountains rise through the clouds, it features a Black heroine torn between two love interests.

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Barista Zanele has built a quiet life at Cape Town's Bean, a rustic café perched above Kalk Bay harbour—where the wood-fired stove battles the Atlantic chill and the foghorn moans through the morning mist.

Her days are filled with the scent of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, the hiss of the steam wand, and the comfort of a community that has become her family. But when a tender, unsigned note appears beneath her favourite ceramic cup, everything changes.

"You make the mornings worth waking up for," the message reads, and Zanele's heart begins to race with the thrill of a secret admirer who sees her in ways no one ever has. Soon, gifts begin to arrive—a burlap bag of rare green Yirgacheffe beans, a single dried rooibos flower tied with red thread.

Zanele finds herself drawn to Kamo, a charming coffee roaster whose bold pursuit seems to align perfectly with the anonymous gestures. His attention is intoxicating, but then there’s Lwazi: the quiet coffee importer whose gentle presence always made her feel safe

When he confesses on a misty Skeleton Gorge trail, Zanele's world tilts on its axis. The kiss they share beneath ancient yellowwood trees is electric, genuine, and utterly world-shaking, a stark contrast to everything she thought she wanted.

But with Kamo still pursuing her and Lwazi retreating into the shadows of his own fear, Zanele must untangle her heart before she loses the one man who has been loving her from a distance all along...

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“Coffee Scent Gifts” is a novella rich with Cape Town's sensory beauty—the resinous scent of fynbos honey, the crash of waves against Chapman's Peak, the golden light spilling over the Cederberg mountains. It also delivers all the feels: the ache of mutual pining, the tension of a love triangle, and the deep satisfaction of a hard-won happily ever after. It’s your perfect accompaniment to an autumnal cup of coffee, so dive in now.

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