HE FEEDS ON VIOLENCE. SHE STARVES FOR CONTROL. TOGETHER, THEY’LL DEVOUR EVERYTHING.

Sebastian Walker is Seattle’s most celebrated chef—his restaurant empire serves perfection while his basement dissolves bodies in acid. As the Gray Council’s torture specialist, he channels his rage into culinary precision until food critic Isabelle Moreau threatens to destroy everything with one scathing review.

Izzy has rebuilt her life after cocaine destroyed her promising culinary career. Now Seattle’s most feared food critic, she maintains rigid control through cutting reviews and careful routines. But when she discovers poisoned ingredients meant for a secret society of vigilantes, she’s locked in The Butcher’s Table with its enigmatic owner—a man whose knife skills extend far beyond the kitchen.

As Sebastian subjects her to sensory experiences that blur pleasure and pain, Izzy discovers he owns every restaurant she’s reviewed for months. He’s been feeding her, watching her eat, learning her tastes. Her reviews weren’t discovering hidden gems—they were documenting his empire.

When the Gray Council’s enemies target Izzy to reach Sebastian, she must choose: maintain the sobriety that saved her life, or embrace the beautiful monster who feeds her darkness while starving her control.

BEHIND THE BLADE is the third book in the Gray Council series. This dark romance features a chef who tortures with the same precision he cooks, a food critic whose addiction makes her crave dangerous men, sensory domination through temperature and taste, and a guaranteed HEA served a side of blood. While each Gray Council book features a different couple and can be read as a standalone romance, reading in order enhances the experience as the war between the Council and Syndicate unfolds across all five books.

Tropes: grumpy/sunshine, secret identity, forced proximity, addiction recovery, chef romance, caretaking kink, vigilante justice.

The Gray Council Series: Where the villain always gets the girl.

Some hungers can only be satisfied by monsters.