Jasmine Flowers and Pounds of Sugar

High school senior Jahnvi Patel despises her neighbor, Everett James. He owns the rival restaurant across the street from her family's place, he is her biggest competitor on the speech team, and he treats her like an annoying sibling. To make matters worse, when he wears his best suit or flashes his best smile, her stomach flutters.
Everett is barely keeping things afloat. After his parents' deaths, he has too much on his plate-trying to graduate with honors, being a captain of the speech team, and most importantly, making sure his parents' restaurant doesn't go out of business. Jahnvi just adds to his frustration with her endless competitive streak. Still, there's something about her that's just . . . irresistible.
When a chance to land a big catering event arises for Everett, he sees an opportunity to save his restaurant. He reluctantly turns to Jahnvi and her experience for help. Can they overcome years of mistrust and misunderstanding and finally see each other as more than rivals?

Sakthika Vijay loves the feeling of nostalgia and thinks it should be represented more in literature. Her debut novel, Outcast, explores the universally nostalgic experiences of high school, and Jasmine Flowers and Pounds of Sugar also explores that theme. She graduated from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management and now lives in Philadelphia.