Her name built the menu. His name could fill the room. Saving Asterlyn House will require both.
After coordinated failures destroy Asterlyn's televised tasting, culinary director Renelle Mercer has six weeks to restore the venue's reputation and prove its community mission. The chef best equipped to help is Omari Sloane, her celebrated professional rival and the man hired to open the luxury restaurant meant to replace her family's house.
Omari says he walked away when he learned what his contract demanded. Renelle believes results, not reputations. Forced into a citywide summer food campaign, they battle coerced vendors, forged safety evidence, an allergy attack, and a developer determined to make Asterlyn look too dangerous to survive.
Their attraction is the easy part. The harder question is whether two ambitious people can share love, credit, and a future without either name disappearing from the marquee. As the heritage hearing approaches, Renelle must decide if Omari's public loyalty is real, and Omari must prove partnership means more than arriving as the hero after damage is done.
The Last Toast at Asterlyn House is an emotional, open-door African American BBW contemporary romance featuring plus-size heroine confidence, professional rivals to lovers, culinary competition, family secrets, romantic suspense, and a complete happily ever after.
