As a huge fan of the writing Linda Holmes does for NPR and the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, I was thrilled to have an opportunity to read this book. It isn't one I would have ever chosen for myself based on the description. I would choose a thriller or fantasy novel over a romance based in reality any day of the week. And I can't think of a sport more boring to watch than baseball. Despite my reticence regarding the subject matter, I was drawn in by Linda's singular voice. The characters were fully fleshed out people that seemed real to me immediately. The plot was rather standard and the ending predictable; however, I still enjoyed the ride to the end. I was utterly charmed by Linda's writing and would recommend this book to any pop culture fanatics that might not otherwise choose a romance.

Lovely read wonderfully written characters .The story drew me right in the difficult moments the romance two wounded people both hurting .A delicious read one I will be recommending to my friends.#netgallet #randomhouse Ballentinebooks,

When a novel is well written, with a good story line and characters that touch you, it is a pleasure to read. Evvie decides to leave her husband the same night he has a fatal accident. Relying on her closest friend, and her family, she hides behind the mask of grief without revealing the truth. Her efforts to move on escalate when she meets Dean, a baseball player who has lost his pitching ability and is also finding his way. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and thank Netgalley for the ARC.

I loved this book. Evvie's voice was smart, fresh and relate-ably flawed. I would totally be friends with this character. The romantic elements were sexy and real and I found myself developing a crush on Dean myself. I loved Evvie's friendship with Andy, although I wished very much she had at least one female friend. I also wanted to know more about the setting. But the characters were so well-formed they were almost tangible. Also baseball!

Evvie Drake Starts Over is a perfect vacation/beach read. The main character is easy to relate to and her grief is realistic, even the difficult parts of it. The male/female friendship is well drawn and dealt with in an interesting and unexpected way. It is a fun read and satisfying without being expected. Highly recommended!

I love Linda Holmes on PCHH & I love baseball, so I was not surprised that I also loved this book! This was so much more than a cute girl-meets-hot-baseball-player story. Evvie & Dean are both in unique grieving situations & Holmes really keeps you guessing to the end how their relationship will play out. I enjoyed all of the baseball references & the snappy dialogue. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun read with characters that stick with you. Can’t wait for the next one!

I've been thinking a lot about this book in the past couple of weeks since finishing it, and I think I've only recently realized it's because these characters are so fully-realized that they feel like friends. Of course I would be thinking about my friend Evvie, and what I learned about her relationship with her late husband, her deep friendships, and of course all the details of the rugs and dishes in her home. I visited her fictional town and heard all the juicy rumors about the washed-out ball player who came up for a spell. And I am so, so proud of Evvie for doing the work to be in a better mental health spot. It's a rare contemporary romance that feels this real, crackles with wit and sexy-feelings, and also gives proper attention to complexities of adult life. Looking forward to reading what Holmes has to say next.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine books for this eARC.

Do you ever get mad when someone is TOO talented? After reading <i>Evvie Drake Starts Over</i>, that's how I feel about Linda Holmes. She's not only a great radio host and culture writer, with <i>Evvie</i>, she's kicked off what I hope will be a great career as a novelist.

Evvie, a widow who was about to leave her husband when he died, and Dean, a former pitcher with the yips, are lovely, full characters, both of whom come with baggage. Their love story, in the midst of various kinds of grief feels organic, and I think that Linda would like that I yelled just KISS at the book at least once while I was reading. Linda writes great relationships of many kinds, including between Evvie and her best friend and between Evvie and her dad. She also has a gift for place. Calcasset, Maine, which we see through a year, feels like a real town. Even the baseball worked for me, and I'm not a sports person y'all.

Because I've listened to Linda talk for hundreds of hours (and have looked at hundreds of pictures of her dog), I am used to her voice. This book sounds like her. If you're a linda fan, or even if you just like contemporary romance, I think you'll like this. I sure did.

This is a warm and witty romance with a very likeable and realistic cast of characters. Everything felt comfortable - the dialogue, the relationships, the problems that the characters faced. I have been reading and listening to Linda Holmes for years, and I am thrilled to have her work in novel form. I hope this is the first of many books from her! It reminded me of another book I loved from a TwoPer - Going in Circles by Pam Ribon. It had the same warmth and love for its characters. I hope it finds a great audience!

I love this story. I'm more of a crime reader than a romance reader, but lately I've been branching out a bit and this book was perfect for me. Evvie "rhymes with Chevy" Drake is one of those characters who feels like a real person you'd actually want to befriend. She's not perfect, but her flaws aren't cutesy quirky ones you only see in movies or books. She's recently widowed and trying to come to terms with her feelings about that, trying to manage her relationship with her best friend, and navigating a new relationship. And it's nice that the book is told in alternating points of view--we get Evvie's perspective but also that of her love interest, Dean. It was refreshing that Evvie and Dean are pretty much normal people interacting like people actually do. They're refreshingly straightforward with each other about their feelings and there aren't any wacky misunderstandings based on people not saying what you'd actually say in real life. If I say this is a sweet story, please know I don't mean schmaltzy or saccharine--it's just right.

Loved this! It felt like a throwback to great 90s rom coms. Liked how upfront and honest the main characters were about their feelings and there wasn't a bunch of manufactured drama between them. Exactly what I was hoping it would be!

I’ve enjoyed Linda Holmes’ writing since Television Without Pity and this book was fantastic. Highly recommended!

(From Goodreads: Andrew MacNorth- Eugene, OR)

Well, this book is simply delightful. It's funny, heartfelt, and surprising. The characters quickly become old friends that you want to hang out with. Besides the occasional cornball bit of dialogue, they also behave in entirely believable ways. It just feels like real adults interacting with each other. The relationships, conflicts, and love all come from organic places. Overall the story makes for a charming small-town romantic comedy. But one that also tackles some serious themes without ever giving in to high drama or becoming overly saccharine. Knockout debut novel, and I'll certainly be recommending it when it's published in June 2019.

I can't even explain the excitement I felt when I found out that Linda Holmes wrote a book about Maine and baseball--two of my favorite things. In even better news, she really did a phenomenal job. Evvie Drake is from a small town in Maine, where she wound up with her husband who was also the hometown doctor--a superstar. But Evvie has secrets, not big bad ones like in unreliable narrator books, but regular, human ones that start to make her a little bit weird. Then she has a baseball player who is struggling move in with her. It helps with money and loneliness on her end, and loneliness on his too. You can imagine this turns romantic, but the friendship and depiction of how it grows is the real star here. It's a really nice feel good read but it has real emotions in it, including some that are not so pleasant.

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes is an absolute charmer of a book. The characters are well-drawn with believable flaws, which adds to the wonder of their relationship. Holmes evokes small-town life without making it unbearably quirky. Finishing the book leaves you with a sense of pure joy that leaves a huge smile on your face.

Linda Holmes has written a delightful novel. This book completely sucks you in, and it does it without gimmicks or cliches. Unpleasant things may be happening to the characters, but the reading experience is never unpleasant, and it evokes the same feeling you get after your first glass of red wine. Joyful and hopeful, without things magically working out perfectly. I loved reading this!

This is a charming, well-written debut for Linda Holmes. It follows the lives of a woman who is widowed just as she's about to leave her marriage and a MLB baseball player who has developed a career-ending case of the yips.