{ "item_title" : "Evvie Drake Starts Over", "item_author" : [" Linda Holmes "], "item_description" : "NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - Read with Jenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today - Everything a romantic comedy should be: witty, relatable, and a little complicated.--People 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. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR 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. Praise for Evvie Drake Starts Over A quirky, sweet, and splendid story of a woman coming into her own.--Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six Effortlessly enjoyable . . . a] pitch-perfect . . . adult love story that is as romantic as it is real.-USA TodayCharming, hopeful, and gently romantic . . . Evvie Drake is great company.--Rainbow Rowell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park", "item_img_path" : "https://covers3.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/0/52/561/924/0525619240_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "26.00", "online_price" : "26.00", "our_price" : "26.00", "club_price" : "26.00", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }

Overview

Customers Also Bought

Details

Evvie Drake Starts Over

NPR pop culture correspondent Linda Holmes is an unabashed lover and ardent defender of the romantic comedy, so it’s unsurprising that her debut novel is exactly that. Evvie Drake Starts Over is a heartwarming rom-com about loss, grief and second chances.

Ever since her husband—a successful surgeon and her hometown’s golden boy—died in a car crash, Evvie Drake has been in the worst kind of rut. Everyone in her small Maine town chalks up her funk to grief, but as far as Evvie is concerned, the truth is far worse. So much worse, in fact, that Evvie can’t even bear to share it with her best friend, Andy, and has instead resigned herself to a life spent as a young widow, rattling around a house that is now far too big for her, content to lose herself in big books and watch life slowly pass her by.

Everything changes, however, when Andy suggests that Evvie rent out her home’s attached apartment to a friend who also has more than a passing familiarity with life not turning out according to plan. Dean Tenney, once one of baseball’s hottest players, is now infamous for his case of “the yips,” a baffling development that forced him into early retirement after he inexplicably lost his ability to pitch, seemingly overnight. After Dean moves in, a tentative friendship forms between the two that ultimately transitions into something more. Together, Dean and Evvie encourage one another to face their pasts and their present truths, all while discovering that even when life throws you a curveball, it’s never too late to find your happily ever after.

Despite the kernel of sadness rooted at the novel’s core, Evvie Drake Starts Over is a feel-good read that radiates warmth. Holmes nails the balance between romance and humor, with Evvie and Dean’s effortless and truly funny dialogue being a particular strength. In addition to developing their convincing relationship, Holmes spends ample time fleshing out her leads so they feel like real people with legitimate issues.

Uplifting and life-affirming, Evvie Drake Starts Over is a perfect choice for fans of Rainbow Rowell and Marian Keyes.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read a Q&A with Linda Holmes for Evvie Drake Starts Over.