Ana Huang’s contemporary romance novel, King of Gluttony (2024) is the sixth installment in the Kings of Sin series. Huang is a #1 New York Times bestselling author known for her popular romance series, including the Twisted series, which is in development for television. Upon its release, King of Gluttony became a New York Times bestseller. The novel centers on lifelong rivals Maya Singh, the chief brand officer for her family’s food empire, and Sebastian Laurent, the charismatic heir to a fine-dining dynasty. After their fathers announce a surprise business collaboration, Maya and Sebastian are forced to work together as project leads, navigating their deep-seated animosity while confronting an undeniable attraction.

The novel explores themes of Perfectionism Masking Deep-Seated Insecurities, Vulnerability Fostering Authentic Connection, and Conflict Between Family Loyalty and Personal Autonomy. The plot incorporates the popular romance trope of “enemies to lovers” and also explores forbidden romance when tensions between their families complicate their budding relationship. 

This guide is based on the 2024 Bloom Books edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide contain depictions of sexual content, cursing, substance use, addiction, illness or death, mental illness, emotional abuse, and graphic violence.

Plot Summary

Maya Singh works as the chief brand officer for her family’s company, Singh Foods. She is intelligent, ambitious, and highly competent. Since childhood, she has been ensnared in a competitive rivalry with Sebastian Laurent, whose family owns the prestigious Laurent Restaurant Group. The two families are close-knit, but Maya and Sebastian are both surprised when their fathers announce a plan to partner on a project to develop a line of specialty frozen foods. To Maya’s and Sebastian’s mutual horror, they are appointed as the project leads, forcing them to work together for the next nine months. 

Their initial interactions are fraught with their usual animosity. They frequently argue and Sebastian also repeatedly sabotages Maya’s attempts to date other men. Maya has two sisters, one of whom is married and another of whom is engaged, leaving her insecure about being the only single one remaining. Her desire to find a partner is heightened when her parents demand that she get engaged before her next birthday. Meanwhile, Sebastian is conflicted about his career path. He feels stifled by his corporate role and dreams of working as a chef. However, years earlier, he experienced a traumatic event while acting as head chef for the launch of a new restaurant: a restaurant patron suffered a severe allergic reaction and died at the scene. Although no one has ever been able to uncover how the incident happened, Sebastian blames himself and the experience shattered his confidence. 

As the development of the frozen foods line progresses, the chef who was contracted to develop the line drops out unexpectedly. Maya persuades a reluctant Sebastian to take over as the lead chef himself. Sebastian seizes the opportunity to negotiate a deal with his father: if the launch of the new product line is a success, Sebastian will be allowed to quit his corporate job and become a full-time chef. Their ongoing work on the product line and preparation for the launch brings Maya and Sebastian closer together; during a business trip to Vermont, they nearly kiss. However, this incident prompts Sebastian to pull away. At Maya’s birthday party, he rebuffs her coldly and gives her an impersonal gift (breaking their long-established tradition of gifts that reflect their intimacy and shared history). 

After Maya’s birthday party, months pass with no contact between the two of them. They are both scheduled to attend the wedding of one of Maya’s cousins in India, which leads to jealousy and confrontation as they both claim they will bring dates to the wedding. At the wedding, however, both attend alone and they reconcile. They confide their mutual attraction to one another and have passionate, impulsive sex. However, the next day, they return to arguing since neither of them is comfortable being vulnerable. Sebastian admits to longstanding and deeply held feelings for Maya but accuses her of toying with his emotions and references a previous incident with a letter. 

Maya has no idea what Sebastian is talking about; back in New York, she searches through old belongings and finally locates a love letter Sebastian wrote to her in boarding school, tucked away in an old notebook. Maya visits his apartment and explains she never received this letter, but he claims she wrote him a cold reply, rejecting him. Maya affirms that she never knew about his letter or his feelings, finally understanding that Sebastian has been carrying the pain of supposed rejection for years. 

Maya and Sebastian reconcile, deciding to finally begin a real relationship. However, before they can tell anyone about their relationship, their fathers have a massive falling out. Neal Singh (Maya’s father) is hurt and betrayed after it is revealed that Michel Laurent (Sebastian’s father) had a secret meeting with Charles Whitaker, the CEO of Singh Foods’ biggest rival. The feud between the two men escalates and Maya and Sebastian resolve to conceal their relationship for the time being. They continue their relationship in secret while preparing for the launch of the frozen food line. 

Disaster strikes at the launch event when dozens of guests fall violently ill after eating the food. Sebastian spirals, blaming himself and believing he is cursed to fail as a chef. However, Maya suspects sabotage and hires an investigator, who finds evidence that the guests were sickened by laxatives slipped into the food. Maya and Sebastian hire Christian Harper, a security expert, to find the saboteur. Christian quickly uncovers that Charles Whitaker bribed a junior cook to poison the food. He also finds evidence linking Whitaker to a previous listeria outbreak at the Singh Foods factory. Armed with this proof, Maya, Sebastian, and their now-reconciled fathers confront Charles Whitaker, forcing him to confess and resign.

During this confrontation, Michel reveals the truth about why he met with Charles: The latter promised him information about the mysterious death of the restaurant patron (who died from an allergic reaction while Sebastian was acting as chef). Although Charles reneged on his promise to provide information, Michel investigated and learned that the guest was poisoned by an unknown party, and his death was not Sebastian’s fault. This revelation frees Sebastian from years of guilt and his father finally gives him his blessing to pursue becoming a chef. Maya and Sebastian hold a successful second launch event, after which they finally announce their relationship to their ecstatic families.

Fourteen months later, Sebastian opens his own restaurant, Nouvelle Époque. At the opening, he proposes to Maya, who joyfully accepts. The couple also resolves the mystery surrounding the letter: A boy from boarding school who had a crush on Maya intercepted it, hid it from her, and forged a reply, leading Sebastian to falsely believe that his feelings were not reciprocated. Maya and Sebastian get married in lavish ceremonies in both France and India. Their careers are flourishing and their lifelong rivalry has transformed into a lasting partnership. They look forward to a future filled with love, success, and mutual support.