She came back to the town that ruined her. She came back calm, prepared, and three steps ahead of everyone who wronged her.Six years ago, pastry chef Elara Voss was framed for food poisoning at a high-society fundraiser in Sugarmill Hollow, Vermont. Her business was destroyed, her reputation buried, and she lost far more than a kitchen. Now she's reopening The Hollow Crumb and catering her way into the social circle of Alderman Gerald Mercer — the man responsible for everything.

In Sugarmill Hollow, sweetness has always come at a price.Elara Voss built The Hollow Crumb from nothing — flour-dusted hands, copper pans, and a reputation for desserts that tell the truth. She also built the town's Sweet Syllabus program: a series of lectures teaching her community to taste the difference between honest sugar and the kind that coats your tongue with a story it can't back up.Then a corporate investor arrives with a glossy partnership, a new product line, a...