Caldera and Canvas
In a high-stakes quarantine, their sharpest weapon isn't the data—it's each other.
In the sun-blistered landscape of the Verde Caldera, genetic purity is the only thing standing between regional prosperity and total economic collapse. Destin Roald is the fiercely protective genomic researcher guarding the Sunstone Reds, a heritage breed of drought-resistant cattle. His isolated world is breached by Amaryllis Quinton, an uncompromising supply chain auditor whose algorithms flag a devastating anomaly that looks less like a mutation and more like corporate warfare.
Forced into a Level 3 Biosafety Quarantine to prevent a global recall, Destin and Amaryllis must combine their intellectual firepower to decode an engineered plague. As the fourteen-day legal clock counts down, the sterile laboratory becomes a pressure cooker of high-stakes science and undeniable attraction. Destin’s quiet intensity grounds Amaryllis’s obsessive perfectionism, forging a symmetrical alliance built on mutual respect and a shared drive for the truth.
As an external conglomerate moves to physically destroy the evidence, the pair must fight to protect the uncorrupted biological legacy of the Plateau. Through code-breaking, data-scraping, and visceral high-desert survival, they discover that their most potent weapon is the synergy found in their shared brilliance. It’s a race against time where the price of failure is the death of an industry—and the loss of the only person who truly understands them.
The Blurb
In the sun-blistered landscape of the Verde Caldera, genetic purity is the only thing standing between regional prosperity and total economic collapse. Destin Roald is the fiercely protective genomic researcher guarding the Sunstone Reds, a heritage breed of drought-resistant cattle. His isolated world is breached by Amaryllis Quinton, an uncompromising supply chain auditor whose algorithms flag a devastating anomaly that looks less like a mutation and more like corporate warfare.
Forced into a Level 3 Biosafety Quarantine to prevent a global recall, Destin and Amaryllis must combine their intellectual firepower to decode an engineered plague. As the fourteen-day legal clock counts down, the sterile laboratory becomes a pressure cooker of high-stakes science and undeniable attraction. Destin’s quiet intensity grounds Amaryllis’s obsessive perfectionism, forging a symmetrical alliance built on mutual respect and a shared drive for the truth.
As an external conglomerate moves to physically destroy the evidence, the pair must fight to protect the uncorrupted biological legacy of the Plateau. Through code-breaking, data-scraping, and visceral high-desert survival, they discover that their most potent weapon is the synergy found in their shared brilliance. It’s a race against time where the price of failure is the death of an industry—and the loss of the only person who truly understands them.
"Finally! A romance where both leads are incredibly smart and actually talk to each other. The 'competence porn' in the lab was steaming hot, and the external stakes kept me turning pages until 3 AM. Celia Montgomery has perfected the high-IQ romance."— TechRomanceLover