Salt & Sage

She's a Michelin-star chef who lost her way. He's the rugged farmer she left behind. In a kitchen hotter than the Texas sun, the only thing on the menu is trouble. Lena DiMarco built her life on one rule: never look back. She traded the dust of Silver Ridge, Texas, for the gleaming skyscrapers of Manhattan, becoming one of the most feared and respected chefs in the city. But when a family emergency drags her back home, she finds her mother's legacy—the beloved Clara's Diner—on the brink of ruin. The roof is leaking, the accounts are empty, and the only supplier with produce good enough to save the menu is the one man Lena swore she'd never need again. Jackson Tate isn't the lanky boy Lena broke up with at the bus station twenty years ago. He's a man built of muscle, stubbornness, and secrets. He stayed behind to save his family farm, hardening his heart against the girl who ran away. Now, he's the only thing standing between Lena and total failure. When a corrupt banker and a ruthless developer threaten to bulldoze the diner, Lena and Jackson are forced into a truce. They have 48 hours to pull off the culinary event of the century and save the town. Trapped in a sweltering kitchen with no A/C, fighting over recipes and dodging falling ceiling tiles, the heat between them becomes impossible to ignore. Lena realizes that the perfect ingredient isn't technique or prestige—it's the man who kept the home fires burning while she was gone. But with a million-dollar TV contract waiting in New York and a foreclosure notice taped to the door, Lena has to make a choice: Return to the life she built, or stay for the life she belongs in? Salt & Sage is a steamy, emotional, standalone contemporary romance featuring a high-strung chef, a protective farmer, and a small town that refuses to give up. Perfect for fans of Lucy Score and Mariana Zapata.