Reduction
The only thing hotter than the kitchen fire is the hate-sex that might save them both.
Lucian Valerius is drowning. As the Executive Chef of Le Veau d'Or, he’s fighting a war on three fronts: a mountain of debt, a kitchen brigade of estranged brothers, and a mysterious food critic known as 'The Guillotine' who is dismantling his reputation. Lucian believes that if he can just cook the perfect meal, he can fix his broken family, but his rigid world is about to be upended by the one woman he can't control.
Miriam 'Miri' Solis is a fraud. Once a promising chef, she was chewed up and spit out by a toxic industry. Now, she wields her pen like a knife, and her editor demands a 'kill piece' on the Valerius empire. But when Hurricane Hester slams into the Gulf Coast and locks down the French Quarter, Miri finds herself trapped inside the restaurant with the very man she intended to ruin.
In the sweltering heat of the dark kitchen, stripped of their professional masks, Lucian and Miri form a desperate truce. As they work side-by-side to save the restaurant's inventory, the 'competence porn' turns into primal lust. But as secrets are shared over vintage wine, they must decide if their connection is a recipe for redemption or if the truth will burn everything to the ground.
The Blurb
Lucian Valerius is drowning. As the Executive Chef of Le Veau d'Or, he’s fighting a war on three fronts: a mountain of debt, a kitchen brigade of estranged brothers, and a mysterious food critic known as 'The Guillotine' who is dismantling his reputation. Lucian believes that if he can just cook the perfect meal, he can fix his broken family, but his rigid world is about to be upended by the one woman he can't control.
Miriam 'Miri' Solis is a fraud. Once a promising chef, she was chewed up and spit out by a toxic industry. Now, she wields her pen like a knife, and her editor demands a 'kill piece' on the Valerius empire. But when Hurricane Hester slams into the Gulf Coast and locks down the French Quarter, Miri finds herself trapped inside the restaurant with the very man she intended to ruin.
In the sweltering heat of the dark kitchen, stripped of their professional masks, Lucian and Miri form a desperate truce. As they work side-by-side to save the restaurant's inventory, the 'competence porn' turns into primal lust. But as secrets are shared over vintage wine, they must decide if their connection is a recipe for redemption or if the truth will burn everything to the ground.
"The Bear meets high-heat romance in the most delicious way possible! I could practically feel the humidity of the French Quarter and smell the roux burning. The chemistry between Lucian and Miri is absolutely electric."— Elena Vance