A chance encounter following a car accident forces a widowed business owner to confront her long-dormant desire for companionship. True Dickinson, a forty-three-year-old mother and entrepreneur, finds her structured life in Cape Cod disrupted when she meets Hank Bannister, a man ten years her junior. As they navigate a rapid courtship and subsequent marriage, both must reconcile their independent natures and disparate backgrounds. The narrative explores the friction between True's established routine and the unpredictable reality of integrating a new partner into her family dynamic.

Critics have noted that the novel functions as an expansive look at the complexities of middle-aged romance and the adjustments required for a successful second marriage. The narrative is often characterized by its focus on the domestic tensions that arise when two highly independent individuals attempt to merge their lives. Readers have pointed to the contrast between the protagonist's rigid, organized world and the more laid-back, spontaneous nature of her new partner as a primary source of conflict. The story is recognized for its realistic portrayal of the friction that occurs when love must be integrated into an already established, thriving life.