After four years at the country's top culinary school and several years as head chef in her mother's restaurant, Rowan Townsend has built a notable reputation. Her farm-to-table collard greens have long been bringing everyone to the yard, but limits on the restaurant's size have led to long waits. Looking to expand the restaurant, she enters a televised chef competition. The problem? Her infuriatingly talented nemesis from culinary school also enters. To the culinary world, Knox Everheart is restaurant royalty. As much as Rowan wants to deny it, he's a gifted chef. Rowan knows her arrogant archnemesis is confident he'll win—he's certainly given her a run for her money more times than she'd like to admit. But this time, she's ready to show him who's boss. Their rivalry soon sparks fireworks in the kitchen, and, as the competition heats up, so does Rowan's attraction to Knox. And somewhere between pasta and gumbo, they both need to decide what's worth fighting for.