The Deal We Never Made

By Sadaf Borou

Mara Ellis doesn't trust easily. Ethan Blackwood doesn't let people in.
When investigative journalist Mara Ellis walks into Blackwood Industries on a thirty-day cooperation agreement, she expects to find a story. What she doesn't expect is a man who already knows exactly who she is - and let her in anyway.
Ethan Blackwood built his empire on silence, precision, and control. He has never allowed anyone close enough to read him. But Mara is very good at reading people.
As the days count down, the distance between observer and observed begins to collapse. Every careful boundary, every professional rule, every wall they've each spent years constructing starts to feel less like protection and more like a deal neither of them actually wants to keep.
The Deal We Never Made is a slow-burn romance about two people who are equally guarded, equally brilliant, and equally unprepared for what happens when someone finally sees through them.
For readers who love: intellectually matched leads, enemies-to-lovers tension, atmospheric settings, and romances where the emotional stakes are as high as the professional ones.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GZZVB2JD
• ISBN13: 9798195980597
• Release Date: May 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 338 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"