The Spice Road to Agade

I was Anahita, a Michelin-starred chef who worked herself to death. Now, I'm stuck in the body of a princess from a fallen kingdom, a political hostage in the dusty city-state of Kesh. All I want is to eat well and sleep in, but Kesh is on the brink of collapse from a creeping desert and a mysterious 'salt blight' that makes the land barren. Annoyingly, my modern understanding of chemistry, logistics, and fluid dynamics - all honed in the kitchen - makes me uniquely qualified to fix it. My innovations, from a new type of aqueduct inspired by sugar-pulling techniques to a salt-resistant mortar based on pickling brines, catch the eye of Jasur Ninua, the nation's wealthiest merchant. He's sharp, infuriatingly handsome, and sees my mind as the ultimate prize. As we work together to save Kesh, a slow-burning attraction grows between us. But the more I investigate the salt blight, the more I realize it's not a natural disaster. And the clues to its origin all seem to point back to the very trade empire Jasur built. Is the man helping me rebuild Kesh the same one responsible for its destruction?