A blind date. A critique of her left ear. A bowl of tomato soup on a white blouse. Madison Sharp has spent six years teaching eighth-grade English on the Upper West Side, and three years recovering from a marriage that ended when her husband announced he was no longer happy. Her sister set her up with a dentist who thinks her left ear needs professional attention. Madison walks out of the restaurant with her dignity mostly intact. The only person who sees it is a stranger at the bar, who laughs, pretends he coughed, and tells her that her ears are perfectly fine. She never gets his name. Then Noah Coward walks into her school. Noah owns Coward Restoration, a Brooklyn company with a van that says "We're not afraid of the work." He's been hired to restore the school's 1922 auditorium, and he intends to do it right, one seat, one hinge, and one hidden secret at a time. He's patient, he's funny, and he's the first man in years who seems to think Madison is exactly enough. But a school full of curious eighth graders, a best friend with opinions, a misunderstanding about an architect who touches everyone's arm, and two job offers that could pull them in opposite directions all stand between two people who are very good at their work and very out of practice at love. The Ear Was Never the Problem is a warm, funny, Manhattan romantic comedy about second chances, stubborn hearts, and the quiet courage it takes to show up and do the work, in love and in life. If you like romantic comedies with sharp dialogue, real people, and a happy ending you can feel coming, this one is for you.