Salty, Spiced, and a Little Bit Nice

A woman finds the courage to rebuild her life in Timoti’s touching debut. Ellie Rae Pang’s overbearing and über-successful parents expect her to accept a marriage proposal from their business partner’s son and join the family’s East Coast dynasty. Instead, Ellie uproots her life to pursue her dream of opening a bakery specializing in healthy treats tailored to customers who, like her, are managing diabetes. She thinks she’s found the perfect spot in Port Benedict, Wash., far from her controlling family. But there are two problems: the space she rented sight-unseen is in desperate need of renovations, and Alec MacKenzie, her brother’s former best friend and Ellie’s longtime crush turned mortal enemy, happens to live in town. Alec needs a fake girlfriend to help fend off the advances of his business partner. Though Ellie still feels the sting of his rejection 10 years prior, she agrees to play the role in exchange for his help fixing up the bakery. Though there are perhaps one too many plot contrivances easing the way of their enemies-to-lovers relationship, the push and pull between the leads feels both authentic and electric, and it’s a joy to witness Ellie come into her own. Timoti is an exciting new voice in romance. (May)