CocoDelmeza
Ayana Lee Davis has always dreamed of competing in Japan's biggest world tournament for chefs-a chance to show off her skills, win four million dollars, and land her own cooking show. But growing up with a Korean mother and an American father, embracing her Korean side hasn't been easy. After long debates and promises, she finally convinces them to let her attend culinary school on a scholarship her dad helped her secure-on the condition that she stays focused and keeps her grades up for the next year.
Excited for the opportunity, Ayana soon learns that instead of staying in a hotel suite like her mom promised, she'll be living with her closest cousin. Reunited with Mai and her family after twelve years, Ayana is thrown into a world of wealthy friends, fancy parties, and high expectations.
Then there's Joon-Ho-handsome, arrogant, and immediately infuriating. He's also her competition. The more she gets to know him, the more she realizes that beneath his rich-boy exterior lies someone trapped by family expectations and an arranged engagement to So-Yeon Kim. Feeling a twinge of sympathy, Ayana can't help but get closer-but a misunderstanding at one of Mai's friend's lavish hotels has Joon-Ho convinced she's wealthy too.
Now Ayana is living a lie, and when their families catch wind of a possible romance, she and Joon-Ho are forbidden from seeing each other. Between keeping up appearances, staying on top of her scholarship, and secretly falling for the man she can't have, Ayana must navigate a world of secrets, ambition, and love.
Will she be able to maintain the lie? Keep her scholarship? Lean on her friends when she falters? And most importantly...will she win the heart of the man she's secretly falling for?