I'm writing a novel (and yes, there's a chef)

I’ve been sitting on this for a while, mostly because saying it out loud made it real, and real is terrifying.

So… I’m writing a novel. It’s called Meet Me in the Market, and it’s a slow-burn contemporary romance set in Ottawa, with glimpses of the ByWard Market, Lansdowne, Dow’s Lake, Little Italy and more. It’s the kind of book that I’ve always wanted to write, with the banter and the ache and the happy ending that is, as always, non-negotiable.

Here’s the shape of it, no spoilers, I promise:

Cheyenne Roberts (Chy) has a system. Grocery delivery, a full Netflix queue, and a firm belief that she doesn’t need anything she doesn’t already have. Then her best friend hijacks her phone, builds her a dating profile, and Chy finds herself asking a total stranger his favourite ice cream flavour.

He says vanilla.

She almost swipes left.

His name is Liam. He’s a chef about to open a restaurant on Sparks Street — warm, disarming, and far too interested in a woman who hasn’t picked up a paintbrush in nine years. They agree to be friends. It’s easier that way. He doesn’t want kids. She comes with two. But between the art he commissions before seeing a single piece, and the city he keeps showing her one street at a time, Chy starts wanting things she stopped letting herself want.

That’s it. That’s the tension I’ve been living in for months, and I’m so glad to finally share it with you.

I’ll be posting this one in real time with character intros, the ByWard Market research that turned into an excuse to eat my way around Ottawa, and eventually, the cover (which is coming soon and which subscribers here will see first).

If you want to be there for all of it, make sure to subscribe. I promise it’ll be worth the wait… and there will be coffee involved.

With love & Caffeine,

Sharla