Playing with Fire

A slow-burn, spicy holiday romance for fans of Ana Huang, Elena Armas, and Jenny Han — morally grey, multicultural, and utterly unputdownable.

Sometimes love is like fire… get too close, and you’re bound to get burned.

When Paige Lancaster lands in São Paulo, Brazil, she’s desperate to escape the unfolding family drama back in the UK. The last thing she needs is another complication.

Marcelo is moody, arrogant, and maddeningly magnetic—a walking red flag with a dark past that taints everything he touches. To make things worse, he’s not just anyone—he’s her best friend’s cousin and the brother of one of Paige’s exes. And that ex? Now that she’s in Brazil, he’s determined to pick up where their almost-romance left off.

As sparks turn to flames, loyalties are tested. With hearts, family ties, and friendships on the line, someone is bound to get scorched.

Paige knows she’s playing with fire. But the attraction is becoming an obsession—and she might not be able to run away from this one.

Tropes:
Forbidden romance, grumpy/sunshine, brothers love triangle, forced proximity, found family, female friendship

Spice level:
3/5 chillies

Trigger warnings:
Playing with Fire is an adult novel featuring open-door spicy scenes and moments of tension involving consent. While it is romance, the story explores relationships in a broader sense, focusing on complex family and friendship dynamics. It also explores sensitive themes such as historical family trauma, unwanted advances, infidelity, grief, mental health, and displacement.

Awards & Cetifications:

– Human Authored certified by the Society of Authors

– Contender for the Romantic Novelists' Joan Hessayon Award 2026