Forbidden Fruit

by Saffron Brooks

Blair Miller has always lived life on her own terms.
When her sister announces a whirlwind engagement, Blair returns to Boston from Paris to help plan the wedding. But nothing prepares her for the moment she meets Calvin Stirling— her sister’s fiancé. Older, powerful, intimidating, and far too handsome, Calvin awakens something in Blair she can't afford to feel.

Calvin Sterling thrives on control, discipline, and precision.
His engagement is a business deal, a calculated step toward the future he’s building. But Blair is a complication he didn’t anticipate. She’s young, bold, off-limits, and far too tempting. One look is all it takes to ignite a spark that threatens to burn everything down. He tells himself to stay away, but his self-control begins to crumble the moment she walks into his home.
As forbidden glances turn into lingering touches, and tension threatens to boil over, both Blair and Calvin find themselves caught between duty and desire.

When truths are revealed and loyalties are tested, they’ll have to ask themselves: how far are they willing to go for a love that was never supposed to happen?

474 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication May 31, 2026

About the author

Saffron Brooks writes contemporary romance full of heart, hope, and the kind of love stories that linger. A lifelong daydreamer who finally decided to put pen to paper, she’s all about crafting swoony plots, heartfelt moments, and characters who feel real; flaws, feelings, and all.
In every story, you’ll find a world that reflects the one we live in: beautifully diverse, rich with different cultures, and always brimming with love in all its forms. And if you notice a little French sprinkled in, consider it her signature.
When she’s not writing, Saffron’s probably spending time with her family, planning her next getaway, or getting lost in a book that makes her laugh, cry, and blush (preferably all at once). She believes the best stories are the ones that make you feel, and she’s just getting started writing hers.

Reviews

[Andréa Nichole · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝗠𝘆 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴:
5 ⭐️
3.75 🌶️

“𝑶𝒉, 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚? 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆? 𝑻𝒐𝒐 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏’ 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆, 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔? 𝑳𝒆𝒕’𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚.”

This was one of my 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 anticipated reads of 2026. When I tell you this book had me in a chokehold from beginning to end. 𝚰 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝚰𝐓!The 𝘎𝘈𝘚𝘗𝘐𝘕𝘎 for air type of chokehold. I read it in about 14 hours with a small break in between to sleep. 𝚰 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐏𝐔𝐓 𝚰𝐓 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍!!! The tension from the very beginning from Calvin & Blair was so thick. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥. 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚!! (Just thinking about it has me blushing and screaming.) I’d like one of him please! I loved Blair and I totally understood why she felt the way she did but babe you were literally seeing signs that him & your sister weren’t real. I would have dug a litter deeper to see what those signs were about. I love how she brought a totally different side out of Calvin, it was so cute to see. He helped her in ways she never expected to as well. Which I loved. I just hated how hard she was on herself which I mean I get but babe…do you see how that 𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗦 at 𝗬𝗢𝗨! Be so for real. I absolutely loved how much she tried and tested that man. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳. They truly were so good for each other and are easily a 𝗧𝗢𝗣 book couple for me. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. 👀 What I love about Saffron is she always throws in things you would never expect to happen. Some I caught on to but some had me screaming and at the edge of my seat. 𝘊𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘭𝘴. 𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗨𝗣. Even though there was a ton of trials the good moments were everything. I loved seeing her bound with his family and friends. Her finally getting girlfriends that she could trust. I always love seeing old characters from other books. Plus who doesn’t want more King & Inès? I truly enjoyed every moment of this book. I haven’t felt this giddy after reading in a long time. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲 and I 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪’𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥. Because 𝙄 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 and their story. I literally bookmarked 14 pages and highlighted 657 times. 🙈 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬! Saffron 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 not only with this book but this series. 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.

“𝑫𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕? 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔. 𝑨𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒕, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔. 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆.”

𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀:
🚫 Forbidden Romance
💍 Sister’s Fiancé
⏳ Age Gap (20/30)
🥵 Brat x Dom (BDSM)
😍 Insta Attraction
🤤 Irresistible Tension
😈 Jealous MMC
🔁 Forced Proximity
🤎 Interracial
❤️‍🔥 Open Door Spice


𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀:
Six Feet Under- Billie Eilish
Love Me Like You Do- Ellie Goulding
Dangerous Woman- Ariana Grande
I Hate U- SZA

𝙷𝚞𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚂𝚊𝚏𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗 𝙱𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 & 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚗 𝙰𝚁𝙲 𝚒𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠.

[Jocelyn Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forbidden fruit was a 5 star read let me tell you I ate this book up i have no clue what she puts in her books but Saffron kills it this is my new favorite book Calvin and Blair omgggg to dare I say I love them both . The tension between these two was so thick . This man was do bad for her but like as he should. One thing about saffron is she going to thrown you into things you never expected. I loveee Blair I get why she felt the way she did but girl your that girl . I really loved how she brought out a whole different side out of him and girl the way he looks at you omggg . Calvin helped her in so many ways . The spicy in this book had me looking makings sure nobody saw that to cuz lord was it the right amount of spice I was screaming and kicking my feet . They are truly amazing for each other the love that have for one another is beautiful and honestly a tear jerker . The dream the lies and betrayal got to all of them . Plus I got to see a little more into King and Inès which I love soooo much this book is a masterpiece i really loved it. Thank you so much saffron for letting me get this arc it was everything

[Karina Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK WAITT!?! Hear me out …… I get it Blair I do 🥵 this book is chef’s kiss, honestly. Saffron did her big one with that one. I couldn’t wait to read it and it took me like a day and I ATE IT UP! The tension? The plot? The twists!?!? My jaw dropped, I was not expecting half of what came up, literally I was shook!!! Blair and Calvin omg, the tension from the star. I know how hard it was for her but man they were meant to be together. The way they bring out the best in each other, he gets her to be open, wild and free and she gets him to see more than just work. She was testing that mans patience !! I was giddy, kicking my feet up in the air in all the spicy parts hoping no one could see the smile on face 😂🥵 the DOM/Brat was everything, loved it. The lies & betrayal though?!? Omg didn’t see it coming, I was like 70% through thinking something ain’t right and I was not even imagining half the shit that happened , CRAZY!! Truly they have my heart and the poet Calvin became was just beautiful. I loved the family and friendships that were created along the way it was just wonderful and I just loved the book overall!!!

[Ariel Loper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rate Forbidden Fruit a 4.5. This book was absolutely amazing, and I enjoyed every second of it. From the moment they met, Blair and Calvin had so much tension between them. It was like something just clicked into place, and they were right for each other. I mean Blair is an aspiring fashion designer, and Calvin is an architect. They both draw and build pieces of art that fulfills them, so it was always meant to be in my eyes. I loved that both Blair and Calvin brought out the best in each other. Even when Blair was exploring a new world, Calvin was right there helping her and slowly falling in love with her at the same time and vice versa. When Calvin started bringing Blair around his family and friends, I knew a future was bright for them. The spice this book is out of this world.The BDSM was done perfectly in my eyes. Honey, I was GAGGED! I just know they had a ball. There are some lies and betrayal in this book, and I was stunned! However, I am happy that everyone in the book was able to overcome it and thrive. The love between Blair and Calvin is something special, and I'm glad both were able to gain family and friends who support and love them throughout the whole process.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

It was a good read overall, this was a new author for me so I’m glad I gave it a go. Blair was a good character, but I did think Abby was so good to her. Definitely saw the twist as there were loads of hints being dropped throughout the book. Calvin was absolutely amazing to be honest. The blurb made it sound like he was cold but from the get go with Blair, he was a gentleman and welcoming. The author did a good representation of a bi-racial couple. Wasn’t really a fan of Blair moving on very quick with another character after the ‘relationship’ was established. I know they “split” but the timeframe didn’t make much sense to me in my opinion. One week and going on casual dates with someone else and sleeping with them? Not really fair to Ryan 🤷‍♀️ this is why I haven’t rated it higher. Otherwise, it was well written.

[Siara Walls · Rating 5 out of 5]

So happy that I was able to get my hands on this ARC! Saffron did not disappoint with this one, I loved every second of it. And we got to check in with some characters from book one which was so sweet. 🥹

Let me start off by saying that Saffron knows how to write a book boyfriend, okay??! I need me a Cal and King ASAP! Because whattttttt?! These men are just 🥵.

This book was very well done. Plenty of spice but the plot was equally good as well. That one twist… I had a feeling and I was right. Such a good read. I can’t wait for the next book!

[Leanne Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of spice in this book! I’ll be honest I struggled a little with the story line and I think the connection of the plot was a little slow at times but in saying that I also couldn’t not finish this! I needed to see the story through and understand the dynamic. The relationships were well written a finished off beautifully.
Definitely worth a read if you like spice 🌶️ doesn’t disappoint!

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC
OMGGGGGGG❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Plenty of reservations going in but the way it was written was 👩🏾‍🍳💋
AUTHOR INTERVIEW on ijustreadthisbook—the podcast on Thursday May 7

[Sharveciaye Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saffron the woman you are to write such a book and make me weep! I love you and I love Blair and I extra love Calvin!