Peppers and Peril

Fire. Flavor. Secrets buried deep. Emilia Hart has poured everything into Firetrail Farm: her independence, her sweat, and every last dollar. Known for her rare and dangerously potent hot peppers, the land is her pride and only source of peace. But when a brooding chef with a short fuse shows up uninvited, claiming a deal with her missing cousin, her quiet life ignites in more ways than one. Rafe Moreno has one shot left to save his career, and it starts with Emilia’s peppers. The Ember House is betting on him to deliver a breakout menu, and failure isn’t an option.

Some fires never burn out. Some truths refuse to stay buried. Months after vanishing without a trace, Marco Rivera is alive, but far from safe. Living under an alias in the mist-shrouded forests of the Pacific Northwest, he’s been working undercover to expose a network of corruption tied to poisoned land and powerful interests. But when investigative journalist Tess Navarro tracks him down with a threat and a proposition, Marco is forced to return to the one place he swore he’d never go back to: Wexler County.