A big-hearted debut romance about hunger, heartbreak, and the courage to want more. Ava Diaz has always been the one holding everything together: a rising food editor, 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. The arrangement should be simple. Except the island has other plans. Ava starts cooking for people nursing fresh heartbreak. First, a recently widowed neighbor. Then her best friend after a brutal breakup. It turns out Ava has a gift: creating meals that help people mend broken hearts. Unfortunately, proximity has a way of complicating things. And the more time Ava spends with Gavin, the harder it becomes to ignore the simmering chemistry between them. Meanwhile, her best friend's exploration of asexuality challenges everything Ava thought she understood about desire and devotion. HUNGRY LOVE is a slow-burn, forced-proximity, enemies-to-lovers romance about identity, chosen family, and the courage to want more. Perfect for readers who love Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez, this is a story about what happens when grief reroutes your life and how the thing you're most afraid to taste might be exactly what you've been starving for. The first novel in the HUNGRY LOVE series.