It’s cover reveal day! From James Beard award-winning author Michael Ruhlman comes If You Can’t Take the Heat, a coming-of-age story about finding a new life and love in the kitchen…and trying not to get burned along the way. On shelves June 18, 2024!

Scroll down to read more and remember to preorder your copy here.

Cover art Cannaday Chapman, cover design by Mary Claire Cruz

When high school football star Theo Claverback breaks his leg just weeks after a devastating break-up, he’s forced to call an audible on his summer plans and put his college ones on hold. He soon finds himself in the most unlikely of places for a jock on crutches: the kitchen of an upscale French restaurant, where he’ll work as a line cook while his heart and leg heal.

But it’s in the kitchen where Theo finds new purpose and a new romance. As he becomes a trusted employee to Chef and is welcomed into his inner circle, Theo begins to discover the true costs of running a restaurant—and what happens when you get into hot water with the wrong people.

Set in Cleveland, Ohio in 1980, If You Can’t Take the Heat is a gritty look inside the belly of an upscale kitchen where love and danger boil behind closed doors.