Salt & Stone Series by Vic Alex

She’s sworn off love. He’s trying to outrun failure. Neither of them is ready for what’s coming.At 52, Maria isn’t interested in second chances. Her diner is her sanctuary — built from years of heartbreak, betrayal, and sheer grit. She doesn’t need a man, especially not one who’s twenty-four years younger and too sure of himself for his own good.But Jax isn’t just any man... moreShe’s sworn off love. He’s trying to outrun failure. Neither of them is ready for what’s coming.At 52, Maria isn’t interested in second chances. Her diner is her sanctuary — built from years of heartbreak, betrayal, and sheer grit. She doesn’t need a man, especially not one who’s twenty-four years younger and too sure of himself for his own good.But Jax isn’t just any man.He’s a tatted-up, heat-in-his-hands chef who crashes into her kitchen — and her life — with a reckless passion she thought she’d buried long ago. He’s cocky, brilliant, and dangerously charming. And he's not backing down.When workplace tension turns to simmering desire, the kitchen becomes a battleground of flavor, trust, and longing. But just as they begin to let each other in, secrets from their pasts surface — threatening everything they’ve built.An age-gap, enemies-to-lovers romance about trust, truth, and the fire we hide behind.This is a standalone novel in the Salt & Stone series — for readers who crave older woman/younger man heat, emotional depth, and love that rises from the ashes.In Port Blossom, even the most guarded hearts can still catch fire. less

She’s 50. He’s 26. And when the tide turns, nothing stays the same.After losing her husband and nearly her boat, Sarah is running out of time — and choices. She’s a seasoned captain fighting to keep her late husband’s legacy afloat in the fishing town of Port Blossom. Grit, calloused hands, and silence have kept her safe. Until now.When a quiet, younger drifter named Caleb offers to fix her broken engine, she hires him out of desperation... moreShe’s 50. He’s 26. And when the tide turns, nothing stays the same.After losing her husband and nearly her boat, Sarah is running out of time — and choices. She’s a seasoned captain fighting to keep her late husband’s legacy afloat in the fishing town of Port Blossom. Grit, calloused hands, and silence have kept her safe. Until now.When a quiet, younger drifter named Caleb offers to fix her broken engine, she hires him out of desperation. But what begins as a last-ditch job becomes something deeper — a current neither of them can deny.He’s steady, intuitive, and impossibly kind — and he sees her in a way no one has in years. But Sarah isn’t just battling the sea. She’s fighting her own fears, her son’s disapproval, and the weight of a life that’s no longer hers.An age-gap, forced proximity, slow-burn romance about finding love after loss, and letting go of who you were to become who you might still be.This is a standalone novel in the Salt & Stone series — where older women, younger men, and high-stakes emotional healing come together in deeply human love stories.She thought the storms were over. But the real one was already aboard. less