A Dash of Salt and Pepper

Xavier Reynolds is having a bad stretch. He has just been dumped, he lost out on a prestigious fellowship, and he is back in Harper's Cove, Maine, a town of 9,000 people. The only job on offer is prep chef at The Wharf, a hip new restaurant, and he does not want it.

The Wharf belongs to Logan O'Hare, a single father and a chef who cannot hand off any task. He finds Xavier's sarcasm baffling, but the kitchen is short-handed and his tween daughter, Anne, can only chop so many onions. Hiring Xavier is a poor fit on paper and the only real choice Logan has.

This is a contemporary romantic comedy between two men, with a workplace setting and banter driving the early chapters. The pair are drawn together in spite of themselves, and the heat between them rises as the shifts go on.

The question at the center is whether the two can build something lasting or whether their lives have shaped them too differently. The tone is light, funny and warm, with food and kitchen work giving the story its texture. It is a small-town, close-quarters romance with a second-chance feel for a man who has just lost a lot.