Into the Fire - Claire Boston

Piper Atkinson uses the truth as a weapon, but her latest interview candidate is more than just a headline.

Piper wants to be the kind of journalist who makes people sit up and take notice of the issues, and in Houston, Texas, there are plenty to go around. In the city's high-end restaurant world, reclusive Native American chef Taima Woods is discussed in reverential whispers, so when the opportunity to interview him arrives, Piper jumps at it.

But getting to Tai is tougher than she expected. He has a deep mistrust of reporters, and a private life he'd prefer to keep hidden. There are two passions in Tai's life - his cooking and his tribe - and he means to keep it that way. But the closer Tai gets to Piper, the closer he comes to conceding a third.

Through Tai, Piper discovers a world she knew nothing about - a damaged and ostracized community in need of a voice. But the more Piper wants to help them, the more Tai understands that to love Piper is to turn his back on his people.

Will Tai reject the one woman who's ever understood him? Or can Piper show him that hardening his heart helps no one?