Evvie (rhymes with Chevy) Drake has bags packed and is about to leave her husband when she receives a call from the hospital. After her husband's death, Evvie's guilt and hurt leads to her leading an almost reclusive life, except for weekly breakfasts with best friend Andy. After a year of "grieving", Andy convinces her to rent the apartment in her home to washed up headcase Dean Tenney, ex-ball player with a case of the yips. The two, both battling their pasts, form a friendship that becomes something more.
This was a really sweet and realistic romance. It was refreshing to build the love out of a friendship, rather than just diving into the sexy stuff. Would love a sequel!

Love the cover. It truly captures the spirit of this new summer title. Evvie has secrets even her very best friend Andy does not know. She is widowed early in the narrative and has an apartment space available in her house. Enter Dean, a former MLB pitcher with the "yips." They are both broken. Can they fix each other? Baseball metaphors abound and I enjoyed reading their story. Will be a popular choice for the beach or vacation..

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It takes a little while before you become fully engrossed with the characters but once you make the connection it is a very good read. As others have noted, parts of the plot are predictable but what you can predict does not deter from the storyline. Digging a little deeper the author touches on issues that many go through in relationships, specifically, abandonment, mental and physical abuse, effects on children as children and as adults. In, contrast there are examples of healthy relationships depicted as well. Once you connect with the main characters, their personal thoughts are quite realistic and her descriptions of their actions are easily visualized.
Laugh a little, cry a little, and enjoy!!
I received this book as a complimentary copy for an honest review. The opinions expressed are my own.

On the day Evvie Drake decides to leave her mentally abusive husband, she receives a phone call telling her he was critically injured in a car accident. By the time she arrives at the hospital he is dead. Unsure how she feels about his death, she withdraws into her home. Many months later her best friend Andy encourages her to take in a border - a former baseball player with a bad case of the Yips. Dean Tenney had been at the top of his game when suddenly he could not throw a strike. This unlikely pair spend time together trying to fix each other. A delightful story of friendship and love.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the electronic ARC of this title. This is an entertaining, often touching story of a young widow whose loss is more complex than her small town neighbors know, and of the baseball player who has spectacularly flamed out of the majors who becomes her boarder. Predictably but charmingly, romance ensues. Interesting characters and relationships give this book more emotional heft than other books I have read in the "rebooting your life" fiction genre. A good summer read; 3.5 - 4 stars.

I found myself both laughing and crying throughout the book - it's a perfect summer/beach read and I'll be recommending it to my library!

What a great summer read! The characters were witty and charming. The backdrop of Maine through the seasons was lovely. I really enjoyed this story of starting over, and realizing that changing your course in life can be a wonderful thing (even with some bumps along the way).

Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for this advanced copy for my honest review.

I have been listening to Linda Holmes’s podcast, Pop Culture Happy Hour for years. It’s gotten me through building Ikea furniture and through particularly bleak political moments. So naturally, I’ve been eagerly anticipating her first novel. And it did not disappoint. Evvie Drake is a widow who finds herself renting out her spare apartment to Dean, a major league pitcher with a case of the yips. At first they agree that Evvie can’t ask Dean about baseball and Dean can’t ask Evvie about her husband. But that quickly falls apart as they spend more time with each other. Evvie Drake is about grief, loss, change, but also about friendships, non-biological families, and building the life you want for yourself. This story is so charming, and all the characters are a delight to spend time with. One of my favorite features of Evvie and Dean’s relationship is how it gives Evvie the boost to step into a new phase of her life in a way that doesn’t revolve completely around her romantic relationship. It’s a gentle story about characters who I loved spending time with.

Contemporary Romance at it's finest....Not too sappy and just the right amount of relationship drama. Evvie and Dean both have personal issues and a broken heart. They are thrust together by best friend Drew and their friendship, heartaches, hardships, and love unfold beautifully in the novel. Each character really finds themselves and this story just gets it right the whole time. This book has a very realistic feel about it which I completely appreciate (again, not too sappy--yay!) It has everything you want a good summer read to have. If you like baseball, dogs and coastal living....well then you are definitely in for a treat with this one. Well done Linda Holmes...I am looking forward to reading more of your work.

So stinking cute! I loved Evvie and Dean. It was wonderful to see them both grow, learn, and process what has happened in their lives. Loved the quirky characters and funny banter. I kind of want to move to Maine now.

This book is about real people having a real relationship. It's fictional, don't get me wrong here-it's just that these people seem like people I would know. Evvie loses her husband in a car accident the day that she decides to leave him. It leaves her emotionally adrift. She doesn't tell anyone what the truth of her life is; instead she lets her best friend Andy and her father believe that she is truly grieving. Enter into her life Dean-a major league baseball pitcher who's retired from baseball because he suddenly can't pitch anymore. Their relationship progresses naturally and it allows Evvie the opportunity to "wake up" to living her life. Very enjoyable. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House-Ballantine for the ARC in return for my honest review.

This book is not what I thought it would be. Evvie has to start a new life and is kinda clueless what she wants to do. Dean is a New York Yankees pitcher that has a case of the yips so he rents an apartment in Evvie's home. What follows is a look at redemption, forgiveness and love. While Evvie and Dean follow their path it is sometimes funny and a little heartbreaking. I enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading more of this author.

I totally enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down. The way the story starts out is unusual, I haven't read a book with this type of epic beginning in a long time. The author does a great job of describing the details of the characters, story and setting. Its just a very sweet story!

In "Evvie Drake Starts Over," author Linda Holmes makes something that is difficult to do in rom-com/chick-lit seem effortless: tell a meet cute love story in a way that is isn't too cute, saccharine, or unbelievable. Her characters feel rooted in reality, with real problems and some ugly feelings. And yet, somehow she manages to tell a story that is joyful and a breeze to read. I can't be the only one who hopes someone at Netflix will make this into a movie! In the meantime I'll be over here wishing that Linda Holmes has a sequel in the works so I don't have to say goodbye to Evvie, Dean and Andy forever.

If you like Hallmark movies then you'll like Evvie Drake Starts Over. The plot and the characters are predictable; the setting could have been a more important part of the novel had it been fleshed out more. Holmes is too good a writer to waste her time on a formulaic novel such as this. I hope her next effort is more complex and interesting, for she certainly has the talent to pull off a much more thoughtful and nuanced novel than this one.

“Evvie Drake Starts Over” is a perfect beach read. Following the death of her husband, Evvie faces not grief, but a chance at a new life. In order to make some much-needed money, her best (platonic) friend Andy encourages her to rent out the apartment in her home to his friend Dean Tenney. Dean, a former pitcher for the New York Yankees, is also ready for a change. Together, two broken people have the chance to help each other start over.

This book delivers likable and relatable main characters, and an inspiring message in a light and fun read. The story was enjoyable, and I would definitely read books by the author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Oh how I loved this book!

Evvie (pronounced like Chevy) is on a journey to reconciling her feelings for her husband, and where her place is now that he’s gone. Haven’t we all been there? Having a disproportionate reaction to something we should take seriously?

To me, Evvie is strong and nurturing. She was likable from the first to the last page. She seems exactly like the type of person and friend I would want in my corner if my life went south.

Evvie’s reaction to life around her is realistic and organic. When she breaks a bunch of dishes that she never really liked, I wanted to cheer for her catharsis.

If you’re looking for a book that is sentimental, a fast read, with a bit of romance, this is one for you.

I highly recommend this book.

I loved this book! Just loved it! I’ve been very exclamation point happy lately but the slew of amazing books coming out justifies my actions. I swear.
Evvie Drake Starts Over is exactly what I was hoping it would be-funny, heartfelt, and emotional. Evvie Drake had finally enough of her marriage and was packed and ready to go when she got the call. Her husband had died in a car accident. No one knew Evvie was going to leave her husband, no one knew how bad their marriage was. Now she has to attend his funeral and behave like a grieving widow. But time has passed and she needs to start living her life again-and paying her bills. When her best friend recommends she rents out the back apartment to a good friend of his, she’s unsure of having a stranger living so close. But of course, this isn’t just any friend, it’s Dean Tenney, professional baseball player. Dean is taking a break from the game while he figures out what is wrong with his pitching arm and to hide from the press for a bit.
It takes some time, but the two of them learn to negotiate the rules of landlord and tenant and their friendship begins when the two strike a deal to not discuss their pasts. But the stresses of Dean’s inability to pitch and Evvie’s desire to help him put the two at odds. If they can’t get over their past, how can they move on to create a new future, with or without each other?
Reading Friends, this book was so enjoyable. Evvie’s character has so much to deal with between her guilt over her marriage and the pressure to be the perfect grieving widow. She asks so many big questions about how we expect people to behave in and out of relationships and what does it look like to move on after a spouse’s death. Dean has his own struggles to overcome. The pressures of being in the spotlight and letting people down, the uncertainty of his inability to pitch, and the growing attraction to a woman who happens to be his landlord is a lot to hold.
I found this book to be engaging, funny, and an absolute delight.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions are my own.

This one was a wonderful surprise!

Evvie Drake’s emotionally abusive husband dies on the day she plans to leave him, and the rest of the book deals with how she comes to terms with guilt over that plan (and how she felt about her husband), abandonment issues (mom) and trying to be a “fixer” in the lives of those around her.

This book featured wonderful character development (especially loved her bff relationship), a slow, get-to-know, burn of a love interest and ultimately a path towards self-healing for Evvie. Fast read, loved every bleary-eyed moment of it! 😌💙💚💙💚

Thanks to #NetGalley, #RandomHouse and #BallantineBooks for providing me the ARC! The opinions are strictly my own.

Evvie is packing the car to leave her husband, but before she gets the job done she learns her husband has been in a horrific accident and has died. she feels a fraud accepting people's sympathy as only she knows the truth and how badly she as treated by her husband. A long time friend, always at her side, suggests she rent the apartment at the back of the house as she seems to be struggling to make ends meet. A friend of his is looking for a place to get away from the publicity of his failed pitching career. Evvie holds her cards close to her chest - no one knows about her troubled past with her husband, she doesn't really have many, if any friends, but her life is about to change. And lo and behold it changes for the better. A book that both uplifts and entertains.