St. Paul, Minnesota
1955

Marion Milner is the only divorcee she knows (other than her ex-husband, of course) and she’s sick and tired of being the target of all the neighborhood gossip. So how better to silence the whispers than to use her divorce settlement to upgrade to the latest in electric kitchens, just in time to host the annual Sokol Ladies’ Auxiliary Christmas party? 

Harry O’Conner has been laying low since he got back from Korea, installing new kitchens for the spoiled housewives of Summit Hill. But when he meets his newest client, he finds a kindred spirit in the lady of the house. Mrs. Milner talks a mile a minute, but unlike most people, she she can’t help but be anyone except herself. (Doesn’t hurt that she’s a knock-out in that green sweater.)

But even as Marion and Harry find their connection growing much stronger than any contractor-client relationship really should be, the risk of neighborhood gossip and its impact on Marion’s children forces them to contend with what they really want from one another. Can their fragile new romance stand up under the pressure of a community that values conformity above all? 

They only have until the kitchen is done to find out.

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Tropes

Forced proximity, holiday, secret romance, full figured heroine, he falls first

Content Warnings

Internalized misogyny, body image/size discussion, period-typical misogyny (especially among women), divorce/fractured family, co-dependent/passive-aggressive family dynamics, gratuitous use of the word “panties” (it’s the historically correct US term, I’m sorry, take it up with the Silent Generation). I promise you, the dog will be fine.

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