Twisted 1. Twisted love

He has a heart carved from ice—and Ava Chen is about to discover exactly how dangerous that makes him.

When Ava's overprotective brother leaves the country, he does the one thing guaranteed to drive her crazy: he asks Alex Volkov, his cold, brooding best friend, to keep an eye on her. Alex has always looked at Ava like she's an inconvenience at best and a liability at worst. The feeling is entirely mutual. But forced proximity has a way of cracking even the most carefully constructed walls.

Set against a backdrop of dark secrets and simmering tension, this gripping romantic suspense follows two people who couldn't be more different—Ava's warmth and light constantly colliding with Alex's sharp edges and controlled fury. Yet as their reluctant arrangement forces them closer, they begin trading the truths they've never dared speak aloud. Ava carries the trauma of a mother who tried to destroy her. Alex is haunted by a violent past that left him utterly alone. In each other, they find something neither expected: someone who understands the darkness.

The grumpy-sunshine dynamic here burns at a slow, delicious simmer before igniting into something neither character—nor reader—can look away from. This is the Tik