Fearne Hill’s Island Love series wraps up with Vine, a heartrending and heartwarming story about a young man struggling with serious mental health issues and the neuro-divergent (or “differently normal”, as he puts it) gentle giant who helps him find his way towards a brighter future. The author’s presentation of mental illness is honest – sometimes brutally so – and rings very true; never at any time does she write love as a cure-all, but she does show how finding someone who can provide the right kind of support and understanding can help someone in crisis face their problems and move towards dealing with them in a more positive, healthful way.

Several years before this story begins, Caspian Pumkin-Watts and his husband, Leigh, hit on a winning TV reality show formula. My Big Gay Adventures has run for five seasons, and Capsian has tackled things from working as a plumber’s mate to being a chef in a Michelin started restaurant to driving in Formula 3 racing to hoofing it in a Broadway show. But during that last season, his marriage fell apart when he realised that not only was Leigh cheating on him with their long-time friend and producer, Jonas, but that the affair had been going on for much longer than Caspian had realised. Unfortunately, the three of them are locked into making another season of the show, and no matter how much he wants to just crawl into bed and stay there, Caspian simply can’t afford not to do it.

The sixth season of MBGA is going to be centred around resurrecting an overgrown vineyard on the small island of Ré off the southwest coast of France. It sounds lovely, but nine months spent in close proximity with his cheating ex and the guy he cheated with is going to be sheer hell. Caspian’s mental health has already taken a nosedive since the break-up, and as well as being prescribed more poweful anti-depressants, he’s returned to the use of more… painful coping methods to try to quiet the rounds of anxiety and negativity that have become his constant companions.

Max La Forge, younger brother of Nico (Oyster), inherited a small vineyard from his mother, but doesn’t have time to work it as he’s fully engaged working with Nico on the family’s oyster farm. He rents the place out but over the years, it has been somewhat neglected, so he certainly doesn’t object to having it put to rights for free and being paid for it at the same time when a TV company wants to film a series there. Readers of Oyster will recall that Max is neuroatypical, and here we learn that he’s on the autistic spectrum – and thanks to having people around him who love him exactly as he is, he’s developed an unshakeable belief in his own self-worth and knows that what others might see as ‘quirks’ make him special and unique.

Max and Caspian meet when Caspian, already on edge and furious at having to listen to Leigh and Jonas having sex in the next room, tries desperately to find somewhere else to sleep but ends up flat on his face outside on the gravel drive in the middle of a downpour. That’s where Max finds him, and, after a brief moment of uncertainty, carries him inside his home in one of the gatehouses on the property. As Max puts the stranger to bed to get him warm, he can’t help but notice the pale perfection of his cheek, the thinness of his frame, the healing wounds on his arms and the narrow threads adjacent… the scars of a million tears, faded over time. He hopes the shame and sadness that had caused them have faded along with them… although the newest dressings indicate they probably haven’t.

Vine is the gently moving story of two very different people – and I mean different in the sense of being different from each other, and being different from many of the people around them – finding one another and falling in love. Their relationship is beautifully developed; it’s not without its ups and downs, but their connection feels very real and is clearly something they both need a great deal. Max is a such a sweet guy; he’s big-hearted, quiet and thoughtful, and his neurodiversity – which is presented in such a kind, positive way, as an asset rather than a limitation – means he is often able to put a different spin on things and find solutions to problems that others might miss. Max has a lot of love to give and yearns to be needed; when he recognises Caspian as someone in pain and in need of help, he longs to be the one to provide that help and is determined to do whatever he can to keep Caspian on an even keel – and to keep Caspian, full-stop.

Despite the almost constant presence of the two people he dislikes most in the world, Caspian finds he enjoys working with the vines, that there’s something about working the land and with nature that soothes him and helps quiet the constant clamouring of the negative voices in his head, even if it’s only for a little while. The trouble is that he can’t escape Leigh or Jonas if he doesn’t want to get sued, and that relationship is utterly toxic. Leigh is weak and malleable and Jonas is a self-centred, manipulative arsehole – I wish I could think of a stronger word to describe him than that, but it’ll have to do. The awful things he says and does to and about Caspian are despicable, so be ready for it – those parts made my blood boil, and watching Caspian spiralling so badly was hard to read.

Fortunately for Caspian, he has Max in his corner, the calm, comforting vibes the big man exudes exactly what Caspian needs to bring the quietude and perspective he so desperately needs. It’s Max who, with a single, astute observation, brings the root of Caspian’s current problems into crystal-clear focus and helps him make some important decisions. One of those is to go to see Colette, the local psychologist who helped Max after his mother died (and who is now his dad’s girlfriend), who also gives Caspian plenty of food for thought.

There’s a small but superbly developed secondary cast here, most notably Emma, the viticulturalist employed as a consultant and to show Caspian the ropes, who becomes his good friend and confidante. Nico, Florian and Éti all make cameo appearances; Éti is now retired and married to Nico, and is as vivacious and wise as ever, and Leigh and Jonas are just… awful. It’s a testament to the author’s skill that Leigh, at least, is more than a cartoon villain, and the way Caspian’s dawning understanding of his personality and his motives (that he’s ambitious, goes whichever way the wind is blowing and does whatever is most convenient for him) is very well written. 

I enjoyed Vine very much, although I occasionally felt that the mental health storyline was in danger of overshadowing the romance, and the ending, while satisfying, is rather abrupt. Nevertheless, it’s a terrific read; brilliantly characterised, sexy, funny, poignant and more proof, if needed, that Fearne Hill is among the best writers of queer contemporary romance around.

Note: this story contains discussions of anxiety disorder, suicidal ideation, and on page scenes of self-harm.