Under the Sun

Silas Reed is a man of routine, discipline, and closed doors. Fleeing a twenty-year marriage that ended in a passionless divorce, the 42-year-old historical novelist rents a secluded 16th-century Tuscan villa to finish a manuscript and rebuild his carefully controlled life. What he doesn't expect is a booking error. Or Leo Maro. Leo is 24, an explosive Italian-American painter who occupies space with loud music, paint-splattered skin, and an unapologetic vibrancy that Silas finds both infuriating and undeniably magnetic. Forced to share the property, Silas's icy exterior begins to melt under the Tuscan sun—and under Leo's intense, searching gaze. What starts as a territorial cold war shifts into a structured arrangement of portrait sittings, shared meals, and undeniable tension. But as the heat wave breaks and the boundaries blur, Silas must confront a desire he's suppressed for twenty-three years. He has to decide whether to retreat to the safety of the life he knows, or step out of the shadows and let himself be truly seen. Under the Sun is a steamy, emotional contemporary M/M romance featuring forced proximity, an age gap, bisexual awakening, and two men finding their masterpiece in each other.