A Recipe for Christmas

Her career depends on telling his story. His trust depends on what she leaves out.

Ivy Douglas writes the warm, feel-good features nobody clicks on anymore. Her editor wants “thumb-stopping,” and Ivy wants to keep her job. A holiday profile of Barlow’s Bakehouse, the Upper West Side institution famous for its Christmas cookies and old-fashioned charm, might be her last chance.

When the owner won’t answer her emails, Ivy stakes out the bakery before dawn. She’s expecting the jolly, silver-haired baker who smiles from every Barlow’s box. Instead, a motorcycle roars to the curb, and a broad-shouldered stranger swings off in a black leather jacket with a don’t-waste-my-time attitude.

Obviously, the delivery guy.

Then he unlocks the bakery.

Luke Barlow is nothing like the man on the box. And he has no intention of giving her an interview. Under pressure from the people who want to take his bakery national, he finally agrees—with one condition. His business is on the record. His life is not.

Unfortunately, his life is the only story her editor wants.

Somewhere between a ballet Luke doesn’t get and an ice rink he does, Ivy discovers how much kindness he keeps behind that scowl. He’s letting her into his life. She’s falling for him.

But the story that could save her job is the one he’s trusted her not to tell.

Grumpy sunshine · opposites attract · forced proximity · Christmas in New York · no spice, clean and wholesome romance