Sailing Home in Love

My new novel, Years of Aged Liquor, is coming soon. Please add it to your library. Here's the blurb:

Tong Xia was the one who made the first move on Chen Zhengze.

By the bonfire, emboldened by the alcohol, Tong Xia leaned in to kiss Chen Zhengze.

Chen Zhengze's lips curled into a faint smile as he calmly watched her face draw closer. From the corner of his eye, he saw her arm trembling with nerves. Just before their lips met, he turned his face away and leaned close to her ear, his low voice almost hypnotic. "Why are you trying to get close to me?"

Tong Xia pretended to be calm and whispered, "Because I like you."

After two tense seconds, Chen Zhengze reached out and pinched her slender waist, speaking in a cocky, casual tone. "Then you have to be ready to play the game."

That night, Tong Xia lost her first kiss and began her first romance.

Everyone thought their relationship was just for fun, and it really didn't last long.

When she broke up with him, Tong Xia didn't even show her face. Chen Zhengze got dumped over the phone. He said, "Don't let yourself fall into my hands again."

-

When they meet again, she's a hard-working employee struggling under a mountain of debt, while he's a wealthy young man who looks down from on high.

Tong Xia does her best to avoid him, and Chen Zhengze silently pretends they don't know each other. Until one night at a business dinner, a drunk client pesters Tong Xia to sing. Chen Zhengze, sitting in the corner, slams his glass down on the table. "What the hell, have you never heard a song before?"

After Tong Xia gets away, she goes over to thank Chen Zhengze and leaves early. But just as she steps out of the club, she hears an angry voice behind her: "Stop!"

Tong Xia ignores him.

Chen Zhengze strides after her and grabs her wrist. "Didn't you hear me?"

Her doe-like eyes, glistening with tears, gaze at him without a trace of emotion. She smiles sweetly. "What can I do for you, Mr. Chen?"

Chen Zhengze's gaze darkens as he looks at her slightly mussed hair. "Tong Xia, where's that nerve you had when you used to toy with me?"

No matter how dazzling his life may be, he always ends up utterly defeated in front of her. And yet he's the kind of man who'd risk his life to claim her, this rose.

Cool and stubborn vs. devoted and roguishly handsome

Blurb for Love's Return Voyage:

At a birthday party, Gu Jinnan sits hunched in a corner, downing one drink after another. A deep loneliness hangs over him, leaving him looking defeated and disheveled.

Xia Li can't help going over to check on him.

Gu Jinnan looks up at her with a crooked smile, as nonchalant as ever. "What, are you going to cheer me up?"

Everyone starts urging them to get together.

Gu Jinnan presses his tongue against his cheek, looking like a shameless rogue. "Sure. I've never dated a girl like you before."

But Xia Li can't make this prodigal turn over a new leaf. Instead, she ends up hurt all over.

-

When they meet again, he's still the golden boy. Xia Li deliberately keeps her distance, never crossing the line.

But Gu Jinnan keeps closing in, acting as if he doesn't want anyone but Xia Li.

In the pitch-black night, Gu Jinnan corners Xia Li against a wall, his voice hoarse. "Should we get back together?"

Xia Li gives a bitter smile. "Gu Jinnan, build whatever monument to your virtue you like, just don't drag me into it."

Gu Jinnan wipes the tears from the corner of Xia Li's eye, his voice trembling. "I'm sorry, Lili. Let your heart beat for me one more time."

Playboy vs. good girl

Special note:

[Please keep discussions civil in the comments. This is a story about a playboy turning over a new leaf. If this kind of story isn't for you, feel free to move on. There's no need to force yourself to leave a comment.

Comments containing pirated links or otherwise disrupting other readers will be deleted. Typos will be corrected from time to time.]

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