When a Man Loves a Woman
(2026)(The fifth book in the Willow Shade Island series)
A novel by Victorine E Lieske
This recipe calls for one forbidden romance.
River Stone's running out of time. The indie film festivals won't wait, his first serious attempt at filmmaking needs to be perfect, and he's drowning in deadlines. The logical solution? Hire a chef so he can focus on his work. The real reason? He can't stop thinking about Kiera, and this might be his only chance to break through the walls she's built around herself.
Kiera's been hurt before, and she's not about to let River Stone—former child actor, current heartthrob, and walking red flag—charm his way past her defenses. But she needs the money, and cooking for him while he edits his film seems harmless enough. She can handle it. She can resist those warm brown eyes and that genuine smile that makes her forget why she stopped believing in love.
She's wrong.
Day by day, meal by meal, River chips away at her resistance. He's not who she thought he'd be—he's vulnerable, driven, and devastatingly honest about wanting to know her. Really know her. And when he admits he hired her as much for her company as her cooking, Kiera feels her carefully constructed world begin to shift.
Then his mother arrives and delivers an ultimatum: end this now, or River loses everything he's worked for.
Suddenly they're not just falling in love—they're fighting for it. Against his family. Against her fear. Against every reason this shouldn't work. But River Stone didn't walk away from Hollywood to play it safe. And Kiera's learning that the scariest risks sometimes lead to the greatest rewards.
Genre: Romance
River Stone's running out of time. The indie film festivals won't wait, his first serious attempt at filmmaking needs to be perfect, and he's drowning in deadlines. The logical solution? Hire a chef so he can focus on his work. The real reason? He can't stop thinking about Kiera, and this might be his only chance to break through the walls she's built around herself.
Kiera's been hurt before, and she's not about to let River Stone—former child actor, current heartthrob, and walking red flag—charm his way past her defenses. But she needs the money, and cooking for him while he edits his film seems harmless enough. She can handle it. She can resist those warm brown eyes and that genuine smile that makes her forget why she stopped believing in love.
She's wrong.
Day by day, meal by meal, River chips away at her resistance. He's not who she thought he'd be—he's vulnerable, driven, and devastatingly honest about wanting to know her. Really know her. And when he admits he hired her as much for her company as her cooking, Kiera feels her carefully constructed world begin to shift.
Then his mother arrives and delivers an ultimatum: end this now, or River loses everything he's worked for.
Suddenly they're not just falling in love—they're fighting for it. Against his family. Against her fear. Against every reason this shouldn't work. But River Stone didn't walk away from Hollywood to play it safe. And Kiera's learning that the scariest risks sometimes lead to the greatest rewards.
Genre: Romance