A big-hearted debut romance about hunger, heartbreak, and the courage to want more.
Ava Diaz has always been the one holding everything together: a rising food editor, a devoted girlfriend, and a survivor of a childhood that taught her that love comes with fine print. But when a dinner she’s sure will end in a proposal takes an unexpected turn instead, Ava’s carefully curated life collapses in a single course.
The last person Ava expects to offer her a lifeline is Gavin Jones, her ex’s older brother-guarded, maddeningly observant, and impossible to ignore. A man who has always treated her like a problem he can’t quite solve. So when he offers her a summer job as his private chef on a remote Pacific Northwest island, she surprises herself by saying yes.
What begins as a temporary arrangement becomes something far messier and more intimate. As Ava cooks for Gavin and others on the island who are nursing private losses of their own, she begins to wonder if the life she thought she wanted was never really hers-and if the thing she’s most afraid to want is exactly what she’s been missing.
Perfect for readers of Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez, who love sharp banter, slow-burn tension, and emotionally satisfying contemporary romance.
Author: Tomiko Diaz
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: St. Ode Press
Published: 07/01/2026
Pages: 390
Weight: 0.99lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.87d
ISBN: 9798994966204
Language: English
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