Kitchen Battlefield

A Grumpy Sunshine Novella

By: Georgia Maple

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

When a warranty call changes everything...

Elaine Cooper has spent fourteen years trapped in customer service hell, handling angry callers and impossible warranty claims. Her only escapes? Kitchen Battlefield reruns and the romance stories she writes in secret—stories she's convinced aren't good enough for anyone to read.

Joe Kelly owns Big Joe Auto Repair, where twenty years of crawling under cars has left his body broken and his future uncertain. He's built his business one honest repair at a time, but chronic pain is forcing him toward an impossible choice: keep working until his body gives out, or find another way to survive.

When Joe calls about a Honda Civic warranty claim, he expects the usual corporate runaround. Instead, he gets Elaine—professional, fair, and surprisingly kind. What begins as one phone call becomes months of conversations that reveal kindred spirits hiding behind professional facades.

Joe sees the writer Elaine could be before she believes it herself. Elaine recognizes the gentle heart beneath Joe's gruff exterior. For the first time in years, both dare to dream of a different future—together.

But when malicious gossip threatens to destroy everything they've built, Elaine must choose between the safety of solitude and the terrifying risk of trust. Because sometimes the most devastating lies are the ones designed to exploit our deepest fears.

Two wounded hearts. One unexpected connection. A love worth fighting for.