A Year of Accidental Love Affairs

Last year, food critic Simone Clarke went viral with her cynical article "Love is Canceled This Year." This year, she's about to eat those words. When Simone is assigned to review VÉRITÉ for Chicago Taste Magazine's Valentine's Day feature, she expects the usual overpriced performance art masquerading as cuisine. What she doesn't expect is Julian Moretti. The arrogant, infuriating, devastatingly talented chef whose food tastes like a love letter and whose eyes see straight through her carefully constructed armor.

Julian has one week to prove his Michelin-starred restaurant deserves the recognition it's fighting for. He doesn't have time for distractions. Especially not a sharp-tongued critic who treats his passion like a punchline and makes him want things he swore he'd never risk again. But somewhere between the tasting menu and the storage closet, professional boundaries blur. And when Simone's integrity collides with a desire she can't ignore, she faces an impossible choice: write the truth and potentially destroy her career or protect her reputation and lose the one man who makes her believe love isn't canceled after all.

This short story is a steamy enemies-to-lovers romance set in the high-stakes world of fine dining, where the food is hot, the chef is hotter, and falling in love has never been more dangerous.