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Published Jun 2019
304 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
From the host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast comes a heartfelt debut about the unlikely relationship between a young woman who's lost her husband and a major league pitcher who's lost his game.
In a sleepy seaside town in Maine, recently widowed Eveleth "Evvie" Drake rarely leaves her large, painfully empty house nearly a year after her husband's death in a car crash. Everyone in town, even her best friend, Andy, thinks grief keeps her locked inside, and Evvie doesn't correct them.
Meanwhile, in New York City, Dean Tenney, former Major League pitcher and Andy's childhood best friend, is wrestling with what miserable athletes living out their worst nightmares call the "yips": he can't throw straight anymore, and, even worse, he can't figure out why. As the media storm heats up, an invitation from Andy to stay in Maine seems like the perfect chance to hit the reset button on Dean's future.
When he moves into an apartment at the back of Evvie's house, the two make a deal: Dean won't ask about Evvie's late husband, and Evvie won't ask about Dean's baseball career. Rules, though, have a funny way of being broken—and what starts as an unexpected friendship soon turns into something more. To move forward, Evvie and Dean will have to reckon with their pasts—the friendships they've damaged, the secrets they've kept—but in life, as in baseball, there's always a chance—up until the last out.
A joyful, hilarious, and hope-filled debut, Evvie Drake Starts Over will have you cheering for the two most unlikely comebacks of the year—and will leave you wanting more from Linda Holmes.
"The charm of Holmes' novel comes not only from a genuine friendship between Evvie and Dean that develops into a sweet romance but also from watching amiable Evvie stumble through the process of finding herself in a realistic way. A warm and funny book that will utterly captivate fans of Abbi Waxman and Taylor Jenkins Reid." - Booklist (starred review)
"A warm and lovely romance, perfect for readers of Rainbow Rowell and Louise Miller." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Believable, flawed characters are at the heart of this novel. At times deeply emotional yet sometimes extremely humorous, This is a satisfying crowd-pleaser." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Deeply moving while simultaneously hilarious, Evvie Drake Starts Over is what happens when great writing, complex and charming characters, and a not-quite-what-you-expect ending collide... . Much more than just another romantic comedy." - Karen White, New York Times bestselling author of Dreams of Falling
"I was utterly charmed—this book shows us that just because you're broken doesn't mean you can't be put back together again. You'll want to stay cozied up with these delightful, unique, and incredibly human characters long after you turn the last page." - Doree Shafrir, author of Startup: A Novel and co-host of the Forever35 podcast
"A sweet and sincere grown-up love story ... Fans of grounded romance will fall hard for Evvie Drake and Dean Tenney, two broken people who help each other mend... . Refreshing and real, with a huge heart. I loved it." - Georgia Clark, author of The Regulars and The Bucket List
"Evvie Drake Starts Over is a warm, witty, and wonderful romance about the art of creating second chances—or a whole second act. Linda Holmes's moving, smartly written debut is so engaging, you'll be tempted to wish Evvie could start over yet again, just for a sequel." - Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, bestselling authors of The Royal We
This information about Evvie Drake Starts Over was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Linda Holmes is a pop culture correspondent for National Public Radio and the host of the podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which has held sold-out live shows in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, and elsewhere. She appears regularly on NPR's radio shows, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. Before NPR, she wrote for New York magazine online and for TV Guide, as well as for the influential website Television Without Pity. In her free time, she watches far too many romantic comedies, bakes bread, watches her nephews get taller, and recently knitted her first hat.
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