Too Hot to Handle

Tessa Bailey

Book 1 of Romancing the Clarksons

When chef Rita Clarkson's cross-country road trip with her estranged siblings breaks down in a small New Mexico town, she's rescued by Jasper Ellis, a charismatic bar owner trying to shed his local bad-boy reputation. Over a handful of intense days, their instant attraction turns into something neither expected, forcing Rita to weigh a promising new connection against the life waiting for her back in New York. It's a fast, banter-filled contemporary romance built around family grief, professional reinvention, and sudden, all-consuming chemistry.