Rajan has always had a soft spot for Simran, a kind and patient peer tutor who helped him with math in high school despite his rough-around-the-edges demeanor. Now, a year after graduation, the Punjabi Canadian teens’ lives again intersect. Released from juvie and clean, Rajan moves back home to Kelowna, British Columbia, hoping to stay out of the crosshairs of his former Vancouver gang, the Lion’s Share. Simran, a devout Sikh, is attending a local college, forgoing her dream school to stay near her mom, who has cancer. When the Lions find Rajan, demanding he work off his debt, Simran makes a deal with them behind his back: She’ll help decode the books of rival gang the Aces in exchange for Rajan’s freedom. The deciphering work is satisfying to Simran’s mathematical mind, and she’s good at it—so good that she quickly makes herself dangerously indispensable to the Lions and a target of the Aces. Leaving the Lions once Rajan’s debt is paid off is no longer an option. This taut, high-stakes contemporary thriller includes realistic scenes of violence and drug use. The third-person perspective alternates its focus between Simran and Rajan, whose believable, slow-burn romance will either ruin or rescue them. Despite their differing circumstances, the teens share commonalities as children of immigrants who experience certain pressures. With rich characterization and an engrossing plot, this novel delivers on every front.

In this contemporary romantic drama for young adults, the high-stakes gang politics of Breaking Bad meets the star-crossed romance of Romeo & Juliet.

To keep Rajan out of prison, Simran agrees to handle his former gang's books--but when a gang war erupts, they must decide how much they'll sacrifice for each other.

"A genre-defying masterpiece!"
--Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times best-selling author of These Violent Delights

As long as Simran has known Rajan, her immigrant community has warned her away. She knows what they call him, especially since he got out of juvie: an addict. A gangster. A killer.

But Simran can't believe Rajan is beyond hope. She's seen his thoughtfulness firsthand: He's the only one who's noticed the pressure she's under to be perfect--and how close she is to breaking.

So when Rajan's old gang tries to force him back in, Simran makes a desperate bargain: She'll become their bookkeeper to clear his debts and keep him out of prison.

But Rajan won't leave her side while she works, and their forbidden attraction is becoming harder to ignore. Worse, there's a gang war brewing--and neither of them is likely to get through it unscathed . . . if they get through it at all.

This high-stakes forbidden romance is perfect for fans of star-crossed love and the rich themes and singing prose of Sabaa Tahir and Angie Thomas.