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.”—PeopleA 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, … 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 Today
“Charming, hopeful, and gently romantic . . . Evvie Drake is great company.”—Rainbow Rowell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park
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Love and baseball what’s not to like?
This was a great read! I love a clean romance these days and characters that are easy to relate to. They were all very realistic. The ending was done so seamlessly, showing the reality in this world of Evvie’s that had tragedy and ended in happiness.
I can’t say enough good things about this book. This is the author’s first novel and I will definitely be in line to read any other book she writes. The book is about grieving, hopelessness, loss, despair and finding joy at the end of the tunnel. It is very realistically written and I appreciate the adult romance the author manages to weave into the plot. I highly recommend Evvie Drake.
A solidly enjoyable story. But all through it, I kept thinking, is the author targeting NPR listeners or what? Then I got to the author notes. Ah-ha. Linda Holmes is an NPR podcaster. Well, that explains that. A sweet romance without getting too steamy, more cursing than I thought was necessary, and a swoon-worthy hero. A good summer beach read.
I really enjoyed this sweet romance. Evvie and Dean are both struggling with things in their recent pasts and struggling with how to be honest and communicate their feelings. I really enjoyed the banter between the two. I was laughing out loud at times and shaking my head at them at others times. I loved the real, honest wat this felt and I loved how it was wrapped up in the end.
I loved the story, the characters, and the relationships between the characters. From the time I began reading it-if I wasn’t reading it- I was thinking about when I could get back to it!
location in Knox County, Maine so that was intereting!
Not my favorite book.
Heartwarming and funny both
I listened to the audio version of this book. I listened to this book on a lark and I’m really glad I did. It is not a rom-com really, so if that’s what you’re expecting you will probably be disappointed. In my opinion it is more of a mature contemporary romance. There’s no immediate peeling off of clothes or audible panting going on when the H&h meet.
Evvie and Dean are both dealing with things–big things. They are brought together when their mutual friend suggests Evvie lease her spare room to Dean when he wants to get away from his regular life for awhile. They go from total strangers to hesitant friends to very supportive friends and then eventually to lovers. Yes, it is a slow build. It is a mature build. I loved it! The journey is more of their individual struggles than focusing solely on their relationship.
The narration by Julia Whelan was excellent!
See https://maryanntippett.ca/evvie-drake-wins-me-over/ for my full review!
Different setting and characters than most romance stories. Very poignant view of loss and guilt. Love the sports connection. Worth a read for almost anyone!!
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I really enjoyed this book. It was quirky at times and at others, thought provoking about relationships in general.
This is a feel good story. Not quite it’s got romance and friendship and comedy and two lead characters that the reader can’t help but love. It also has a cast of supporting characters that round out the story. Evvie and Dean are each facing changes in their lives. Neither one of them actually “saves” the other, rather their shared companionship and conversations help them both come to the realizations that they each needed to be honest with themselves, their friends and and each other. Loved every page.
There are some books you enjoy reading the way you enjoy a cup of chai tea and a chocolate treat on a sunny afternoon. This is that book. The one you curl up and read in your favorite cozy sot. A smile playing on your lips as the words on the page turn your imagination in your own personal cinema. I read one passage out loud to a friend because it was too delicious not to share.
I really enjoyed this novel. It has some hilarious moments, but also some raw tear filled moments. Evvie has recently lost her husband, Tim, and relies on her best friend, Andy, to get her through some difficult times.
Andy suggests that she rents out her spare room to one of his old buddies, Dean, a baseball player who has fallen out of favor with the big leagues because he can’t seem to pitch anymore.
Evvie and Dean are both broken, and they build a friendship together.
You will root for both of them in this sweet novel.
#EvvieDrakeStartsOver #LindaHolmes
Oh goodness, what can I say about Evvie that hasn’t been said before? Nothing, I’m sure. This is such raw, real, funny, and lovely read. Evvie Drake lives alone in her small Maine town. She’s recently widowed and the entire town–including her best friend, Andy–thinks her solitude is due to her grief. Meanwhile, in New York, pitcher Dean Tenney is a national joke. He’s struggling with the “yips” –Dean can no longer pitch properly, and he has no idea why. Dean is also Andy’s childhood friend, and so he accepts an invitation to stay in Evvie’s back apartment. She needs the money, and he needs a place to get away. They make a deal: he won’t ask about her husband, and she won’t ask about baseball. But, even so, the two form an unlikely friendship.
Oh yeah, you say, I can see where this is going. They’ll form a “friendship” and it will bloom into something more and yeah, yeah. Well, maybe. But this book is so much more than a typical romance. Evvie is not a romance caricature at all. There is true grief that screams across the pages in this novel–Evvie’s and, yes, Dean’s too. Dean is not just a celebrity love interest tossed in for fun. You root for him–and for them.
This story, this book. It has these funny moments and cute sections. It’s sweet and tender, but there is no schmaltz. And Holmes weaves in pop culture quite seamlessly, too. Evvie and Dean will seem like people to you, your friends, and they will break your hearts, and yet, in the end, maybe mend them too. This is a wonderful read, and I highly recommend it.
Great book. Not sure why it’s being marketed as a rom com instead of women’s fiction. It did have a lot of witty, cute dialogue and prose, but the subject matter seemed heavier than a rom com. The editing and writing were superb. There were moments when I worried the pace was slowing down, but then something interesting would happen to get things going again. Love this author’s voice and look forward to reading her again in the future!
Another new author for me. One I hope to see more from
She’s created engaging characters, add charm and wit and you have a great read.
This book is about loss, grief and second chances. How we deal.
Totally enjoyed this book!