Original: $22.78
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$7.97The Story
Ava Diaz has always been the one holding everything together: a rising food editor who gave up her dreams to be a chef, 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.
It should be simple.
But what begins as a temporary arrangement becomes something far messier and more intimate.
Surrounded by wild shorelines, hidden coves, evergreen forests, farmers markets, and salt air, the island has a way of softening even the hardest hearts.
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 fans of Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez, who love Mr. Darcy vibes, found family, slow-burn tension, and emotionally satisfying happy endings.Author: Tomiko Diaz
Publisher: St. Ode Press
Published: 07/01/2026
Pages: 390
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.99lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.87d
ISBN: 9798994966204
About the Author
Diaz, Tomiko: - Tomiko Diaz is the rom-com pen name of writer Ayn Gailey and Editor Gray Gailey. Ayn's work has appeared in Cosmo, Elle (UK), Latina, and Kinfolk, and her memoir Pornology was adapted into the film A Nice Girl Like You, starring Lucy Hale. She curates the romance book club at Darvill's bookstore on Orcas Island in the Pacific Northwest, where she champions happily-ever-afters both on and off the page.
Description
Ava Diaz has always been the one holding everything together: a rising food editor who gave up her dreams to be a chef, 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.
It should be simple.
But what begins as a temporary arrangement becomes something far messier and more intimate.
Surrounded by wild shorelines, hidden coves, evergreen forests, farmers markets, and salt air, the island has a way of softening even the hardest hearts.
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 fans of Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez, who love Mr. Darcy vibes, found family, slow-burn tension, and emotionally satisfying happy endings.Author: Tomiko Diaz
Publisher: St. Ode Press
Published: 07/01/2026
Pages: 390
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.99lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.87d
ISBN: 9798994966204
About the Author
Diaz, Tomiko: - Tomiko Diaz is the rom-com pen name of writer Ayn Gailey and Editor Gray Gailey. Ayn's work has appeared in Cosmo, Elle (UK), Latina, and Kinfolk, and her memoir Pornology was adapted into the film A Nice Girl Like You, starring Lucy Hale. She curates the romance book club at Darvill's bookstore on Orcas Island in the Pacific Northwest, where she champions happily-ever-afters both on and off the page.
