Author's Fictional Chocolate Garden Inspires Real Garden and Restaurant

    NEW YORK, NY, November 04, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Readers of Ava Miles' "Dare River" series are familiar with the second book, "The Chocolate Garden," in which the protagonist creates a garden filled with chocolate-scented and chocolate-colored plants. Now, one South African fan of Miles' work has brought this fictional garden to life in all its luscious, sensory glory.

Lauren Machanick (maiden name de Charmoy) operates the aptly named Chocolate Garden restaurant and grounds at Charmoy Estate in the cane fields of Verulam near Durban, South Africa. Machanick is an avid reader of Miles' books and was inspired by them to launch this new endeavor. The Chocolate Garden opened for business on October 17, 2017.

"Ava's books were such an inspiration to me," says Lauren. "I honestly read at every spare opportunity, sometimes late into the night. They say never judge a book by its cover, but I fell in love with Ava's titles and covers, and what was inside were these incredible stories that were written to inspire."

"After finishing the first book [in Ava's 'Dare River' series], I saw there was a second book so I purchased it on my Kindle," Lauren explains. "The book was called 'The Chocolate Garden.' Briefly, it is about a woman who escaped an abusive household with her children and found her purpose and passion in designing and planting gardens. She designed and planted a garden for a man that she and her children had come to love and trust, which was inspired by his love of chocolate. ... I wanted to jump in my car with the kids and go and visit a chocolate garden there and then. I searched and searched and soon realized that there were no dedicated chocolate gardens anywhere near me -- not one on the whole continent of Africa (according to Google). I put my iPad down and determined to make our coffee-shop garden into a Chocolate Garden, and the rest, as they say, is history."

Drawing further inspiration from Ava Miles' work, Machanick created a food menu around the recipes Miles wrote about in her book "Country Heaven" -- Southern American favorites such as fried chicken, okra, collard greens and gingerbread waffles. In fact, Miles also published an official cookbook to accompany the novel.

For her part, Ava Miles is honored and thrilled. The launching of The Chocolate Garden aligns with Miles' mission to trumpet what she calls the "true goddess nature" of women everywhere.

Ava Miles most recent publications are a series of non-fiction books called "The Goddess Guides to Being a Woman." The series currently includes seven titles, with the promise of more to come. One book in the series is entitled "Goddesses Eat: Reclaiming a Divine Partnership with Food."

"It's incredible to have the opportunity to see a real-world example of 'Goddesses Eat' in action," Miles says. "Lauren Machanick may have been inspired by my book 'The Chocolate Garden,' but by bringing that to life to share nourishing food and a sweet sensory experience with visitors, she is serving as a beautiful example of the kind of goddess wisdom around food and self-care that I wrote about in 'Goddesses Eat.' She's a divine rockstar in action."

For more information, contact Executive Publicist Michelle Tennant Nicholson at [email protected] or 828-749-3200.

Online press kit: www.AvaMiles.OnlinePressKit247.com
Public site: www.AvaMiles.com

About Ava Miles: International bestselling author Ava Miles calls herself a divine rockstar --something she believes everyone is deep down. With a B.A. in Rhetoric and Technical Writing and Spanish and two graduate degrees, one in International Peace Studies and another in Political Science, Ava Miles spent many years traveling the world and sharing her gifts with women and men in war-torn countries, helping them to rebuild and reintegrate their communities amidst intense struggle. She has managed multi-million-dollar projects and multi-national teams of people in the private sector, in non-profits and in domestic and international agencies as well as multilateral organizations such as the United Nations. Now, she brings that experience together with her passion for sparking joy and personal success in people's lives, launching an all-new series of life-fulfillment books called "The Goddess Guides to Being A Woman." With seven books in total, "The Goddess Guides" invite us all to reimagine what it means to be a modern woman -- on our own terms. Join Ava in letting the brilliance of your true goddess nature -- and that of all the girls and women in your life -- shine through. For more information, visit www.AvaMiles.com.

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