Victorian-era sauce maker Chloe Fong lives for her lists. For her, there’s nothing more satisfying than organizing life into daily tasks and crossing them off one by one. And ahead of the Wedgeford Trials, an annual game that draws out everyone in her village, Chloe is busier than ever trying to launch a sauce her father developed. But a major distraction has appeared in the form of her childhood sweetheart, Jeremy Wentworth, who disappeared for three years. He’s ready to work things out, but first he’ll have to reveal his secret: he’s a duke. As a half-Chinese gentleman in Victorian England, Jeremy has dealt with enough racism that he’ll never feel truly comfortable in nobility—and he hid his status from Chloe because he wanted to spare her the scrutiny that a public relationship would bring. But now he’s determined to find a way to convince Chloe to take a chance on him. As the two rekindle an old flame, Courtney Milan reveals a sweet friends-to-lovers story in her 2020 novel.
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Write to Mahita Gajanan at mahita.gajanan@time.com