These women thought their paths would never align. Romy Vanelle never dreamed of working in a run-down pizza shop. The prestigious cooking academy La Cherief is supposed to be her escape. Little does she know that the gorgeous disaster who once ordered a pineapple pizza with garlic buns will soon become the person she fears most: Arabella Renette, world-famous chef-and Romy's strict, perfection-obsessed instructor, who mysteriously stopped cooking years ago. Keeping the elite scholarship that keeps her afloat won't be her only challenge. She'll also have to survive the dangerously attractive chef who watches her every move. Romy likes to taste the danger. And she soon realizes she'll have to take everything with... A Grain of Salt.

[Selected for the Wattys shortlist-2025] "𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍. 𝑵𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆. 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉." When Vanora Blackthorn is forced into a cold, calculated marriage to Alestor Drevenhart-the ruthless heir of a powerful dynasty-she thinks she's escaped one nightmare only to enter another. But beneath the icy vows and suffocating walls of the Drevenhart estate, something begins to shift. Secrets fester. Obsession brews. And love? Love was never part of the deal... until it becomes the deadliest one of all. Will she survive the cruel games of a family that never wanted her? Will he learn to love the woman he was never meant to care for? Or will their hearts shatter beneath the very vows that bound them?" "𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒐𝒔, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕."

❝𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐚 & 𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚❞ I should not feel anything for someone who is my enemy, someone who has caused me so much pain that the very thought of him should fill me with nothing but rage and bitterness. Yet, against all logic, I feel it-I feel the heat rising beneath my skin . The mere idea of his touch sends shivers down my spine, igniting sensations that I desperately want to ignore. This isn't right. I shouldn't crave the presence of someone I despise, but my body betrays me, responding to him in ways that my mind fiercely rejects. He stands so close that his breath fans across my face, warm and intimate, stirring emotions that I refuse to acknowledge. A slight movement is all it would take for our lips to meet, for this unbearable tension to shatter into something far more dangerous. His hands are braced on either side of my head, trapping me, yet he doesn't need to touch me to make me feel trapped. His body hovers just out of reach, yet I can sense him, every inch of him, as if the air itself is an extension of his presence. I shouldn't desire this man. I shouldn't want to close the gap, to feel the press of his body against mine. I should be repulsed, disgusted by how my thoughts betray my hatred. But my body doesn't listen to reason , it yearns for what it shouldn't, driven by instincts I can't control. I despise him-my enemy- My rival-but the line between hatred and desire is blurring, and I'm terrified of which side I might fall on. {𝖠 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗇𝖽𝖺𝗅𝗈𝗇𝖾 } | | Mature content 18+| |

Janeisha "Neisha" Bambi has always survived by keeping a low profile. She don't get caught up in the kind of business that comes with bodies, secrets, and street names that echo. But all it takes is one night-one favor for her best friend-to slide her straight into the orbit of Seven "Saint" Carter. Saint is discipline wrapped in menace. A man the streets don't just respect,they fear. The type Neisha promised herself she'd never look at twice. He doesn't chase, beg, or explain. Yet somehow, he does all of this for her. And when that calm, unreadable gaze settles on Neisha, her careful world starts to crack. Now Saint's patience is running out, Neisha's defenses are falling apart and the pull between them is starting to feel less like a choice and more like fate. He's trying to shield her from the life he lives. She's trying to decide if loving him is salvation or self-destruction.