Wow what a wonderful book and beautiful depiction of navigating grief and learning how to go forward to live and embrace life after loss. Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc. I look forward to reading more Kate Hash books in the future.

Oh, Kate, you really outdid yourself. I adore this book and will be recommending it to our book club as soon as it comes out. The way you intertwined grief and a second chance at love is superb.

Gracie Harris is Under Construction is a heartfelt story about healing, resilience, and finding light after loss. Gracie, a widow and single mother, is still piecing her life together a year after her husband Ben’s death. When her kids head off to summer camp, she retreats to the run-down vacation home she and Ben bought just before he passed. Enter Josh, a kind and skilled contractor who’s there to fix her house—and, in the process, helps Gracie rebuild her life.

What makes this book stand out is its honest portrayal of grief. Gracie’s journey isn’t about “moving on” but learning to “move forward,” a distinction that feels both poignant and authentic. Her growth is gradual and relatable, and her connection with Josh is tender and grounded in friendship. Their slow-burn romance is sweet and hopeful, never overshadowing Gracie’s personal healing but complementing it beautifully.

Gracie Harris is Under Construction is a touching and uplifting read. It’s a story about second chances, the power of connection, and the courage to rebuild after loss. Kate Hash’s debut is a promising start, and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on her future work. If you enjoy heartfelt women’s fiction with a side of slow-burn romance, this one’s for you.

Review submitted to Instagram & Goodreads.

4.5 review


Gracie Harris Is Under Construction is such a heartfelt, emotional read about love, loss, and figuring out how to rebuild when life completely falls apart. Gracie never planned to be the “queen of grief,” but after an essay about losing her husband goes viral, she suddenly finds herself at the center of a story she never wanted to tell. A summer at her family’s old mountain house was supposed to be a quiet escape, but then Josh—the charming, slightly too-flirty contractor—shows up, and everything starts to shift.

I loved how this book balanced grief with warmth, humor, and those little unexpected moments of hope. Gracie’s journey felt so real—messy, complicated, and full of those “what now?” moments we all go through. The romance was sweet and slow-burning, but what really stuck with me was how she learned to open herself up again, even when it felt impossible.

If you love stories about second chances, self-discovery, and characters that feel like real people, this one is definitely worth reading!

I was not interested in this book as I was reading it, the characters did not hold my interest, thanks for the arc.

3.75 rounded up.

Gracie Harris is Under Construction is a thoughtful, and kind-hearted look at one woman's journey to learning to love and rebuild her life after losing her husband Ben. Named the "Queen of Grief" after an article of hers goes viral, Gracie is attempting to write a memoir about the loss of her husband. In order to do this, she escapes to her unfinished summer home to get some solitude. This home was meant to be a place for her and her family to renovate and build memories together, but Ben's death delayed its restoration. Gracie, determined to move on with her life hires a contractor to help finish the household projects and make the place livable. When Josh arrives are her door, they have an immediate connection and Gracie must decide if she's ready to move forward with her life and risk her heart for a second love.
Overall, the characters were very likeable and their relationships allowed for deep conversations around grief and loss while also still holding onto hope.

A really great novel with wonderful characters. Gracie lost her husband suddenly and now a year later is struggling to move forward. She heads to being her kids to camp and to reno the house she and her husband bought 10 days before he passed. Being in Josh, who is looking to work on a project while taking a step back from a hard breakup and the over working he's done since. Such powerful writing and the dialogue is perfect. A really moving read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kate Hash for this advanced copy of Gracie Harris is Under Construction.

4.25 stars out of 5

This book tells the story of Gracie, a widow trying to write a memoir about her life the first year after losing her husband. While writing her memoir, she hits a block and decides to spend time renovating the vacation home her and her husband bought about 10 days before he died.
This book is a look into grief, love, and how we find ourselves after tremendous loss. The ending is really beautiful.
My main critique was some parts felt a little too fast for me. Grief is something I’m well acquainted with, and I can’t imagine someone moving into writing about it so quickly. But, that’s just my opinion and doesn’t take away from the story at all.
Also I wish we saw more of her relationship with her children, rather than sidelining them for 90% of the story.

Overall though, a beautiful debut novel with a really emotional ending.

Thank you to netgalley and penguin random group dutton for this earc!!
Grief is such a hard topic to read for me but I absolutely adored this book and Gracie’s journey through coming to terms with Ben’s death, her memoir, and finding Josh. I think this book was so bittersweet and I throughly enjoyed reading it.

This was such a good depiction of grief and how to move forward to live and love life. I loved Gracie Harris as a character, she turned what was the worst day of her life into something that helped others as well.

I loved Josh and Gracie. The only disconnect I felt was the quick moving on from the death of a spouse and a father. A year later and the kids are encouraging their mom to find a new man? I find that a little unbelievable. I think it did a great job of exploring Gracie's grief but still found the timeline a bit unbelievable.

This book presents a heartfelt and beautifully layered story that captures the messy, unpredictable journey of grief, healing, and rediscovering love when you least expect it. This novel isn’t just about romance—it’s about rebuilding a life that’s been shattered and learning to embrace the unexpected turns along the way.

Gracie Harris is a character that feels wonderfully real—flawed, funny, and brimming with resilience even when she doesn’t see it in herself. After the loss of her husband, her raw, emotional essay unexpectedly catapults her into the public eye, turning her grief into a career she never saw coming. With a book deadline looming and her children away at camp, she retreats to the run-down mountain house she and her late husband once dreamed of fixing up. Enter Josh—the charming and patient contractor who not only helps renovate the house but also begins to break down the walls Gracie has built around her heart.

The emotional weight of this story is handled with grace, balancing heartbreak with hope, humor with sorrow. The chemistry between Gracie and Josh is warm and organic, though the real star of the novel is Gracie’s personal transformation. While some aspects, like her children’s seamless acceptance of change, felt a bit too smooth, the book still resonates with authenticity when it comes to navigating loss, unexpected fame, and the complexity of moving forward.

Kate Hash’s writing shines with depth and tenderness, making this an engaging and uplifting read. If you enjoy emotionally rich stories with well-developed characters and a second-chance-at-life arc, this one is worth picking up. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the ARC!

Gracie is a widowed, single mom turned author. This story felt like a memoir itself. Most parts were reflective.
I liked the interactions between Gracie and Josh but wanted more. I also wanted deeper connections with the sweet town that welcomed Gracie in. Overall is was heartfelt and I really enjoyed it. Thank you NetGalley for ARC.

While I loved how the author handled death and grief in this book, the general story wasn't great. There were some inconsistencies that made me think the author didn't remember what they had already written and there were other things in here that made me go, "nope, would never happen!" Great idea for a story, not so great on execution.

I didn’t quite vibe with this book the way that I had hoped. I thought it was unrealistic. While I understand that everyone moves on at their own paces, for this being a book surrounding grief, it just didn’t feel plausible to me that she’d move on from someone who was a part of her life for that long in such a short amount of time. I wasn’t a huge fan of Gracie. There were also a few inconsistencies in the story that really threw me off and made me not want to continue reading.

Grace Harris is Under Construction by Kate Hash is the story of our protagonist who is dealing with the death of her husband and the celebrity status she has gained as an essay writer and author since then.
Grace Harris is a recent widow and mother of two who temporarily moves to the small town of Canopy while her kids are at summer camp. She reached minor celebrity status when she published essays focusing on the grief she felt after the sudden death of her husband. In her attempts to write a memoir, she becomes close with her contractor, Josh. The plot of this story was intriguing and kept me interested throughout the entirety of the book. I felt the pacing was well done.
One of the things I love about this story is that the idea of Grace betraying her deceased husband is not the conflict of the story. Grace loves her husband, Ben. He continues to be a large influence on her life, even after his death, but she is not using his death as an excuse to hold herself back. I think the way this is handled was written really beautifully. The characterization of Grace, Josh, and the rest of the characters in this story was really well done.
Overall, I gave this book 3/5 stars. I thought the writing was really well done and this is one of the best stories I have seen handling grief and love. The author handles the idea that both emotions can be simultaneously felt without canceling each other out.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Overall, I liked the book and would give it 3.25 out of 5.

I liked Gracie and though I recognize grief is different for each person going through it, I found it implausible that she would've started dating less than a year after her husband died. He was the great love of her life since she was a teenager, so I don't buy that she would have moved on that quickly. That said, at about a year after losing her husband, I bought that she would fall for someone as wonderful as Josh. The kids accepted him very readily, which I don't think would happen in real life but I can accept in the confines of this one story.

Inconsistencies are a pet peeve of mine and there was one in the story that took me out of it. Ben was supposed to be the baby of the family but his mother was very young when she had him, then remarried and had other kids. That would make him the oldest, no? Though for many it would be a minor quibble, for me it really took me out of the story.

Gracie Harris Is Under Construction by Kate Hash is a heartfelt novel about Gracie Harris, a recent widow and mother of two, who navigates grief and finds unexpected love while renovating her mountain house with charming contractor Josh. Hash's debut beautifully explores themes of loss, resilience, and second chances.

Oh this was so much fun to read! Loved Gracie! Can't wait to read more by Kate Hash! To read a good book, especially in the midst of a super cold and snowy winter is such a joy and this was it!

I absolutely loved these characters, this town, and the heart that is clear on every page. My only criticism comes from how easily any form of pushback or threat to Gracie's new life is dealt with. This is a pretty idyllic rendering of a woman in grief. Maybe we need that. But it just felt a little too breezy, considering the subject matter.

This book explored sadness, identity, and second chances at love in a beautiful way. I cried and laughed and all the emotions in between. I found this to be a very touching and heartwarming read. Anyone who enjoys heartfelt, complex, and slightly romantic stories should definitely check it out.