I adored this novel. It was quirky and lighthearted and funny and quite dark all at the same time. It reminded me of Little Miss Sunshine or a Wes Anderson film.

In The Road to Tender Hearts, a drunk, divorced lottery winner is suddenly named guardian to two young children he didn’t know he was related to. He embarks on a road trip with them, plus his estranged daughter and a cat named Pancakes (who is somehow the most endearing animal character despite being a harbinger of death), to reunite with his high school crush and help his new ward find out if a soap opera star is actually her father.

The way it was written was brilliant, with a one-of-a-kind omniscient POV, brilliant asides, and tons of interconnecting storylines masterfully woven together.

Darkly funny, absurd, and messy; this is a superbly human novel. Highly recommend.

Content warnings: murder, suicide, alcoholism, death of a child

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

I loved this found family/road trip novel. PJ is just doing the best he can to create a better life for himself. It was so great the way he stepped up to care for two kids he didn’t even know about. This is a wonderful exploration of grief and what it means to be a family. Annie Hartnett has just the amount of quirk in her books, I’ve enjoyed them all.

I read Annie Hartnett's debut, Rabbit Cake, years ago and remember liking the quirky characters. And I knew that Unlikely Animals had been a fan favorite when it came out, so when everyone was buzzing about her newest, I picked it up. Full of more quirky characters, a road trip adventure, and some very heartfelt moments I thoroughly enjoyed this one (but maybe not as much as everyone else). Fair warning that for a book with such a wry tone and sense of humor, there is some heavy content here. So while this wasn't' a favorite, Hartnett's unique voice makes me want to pick up Unlikely Animals to see how that one lands.

PJ Halliday has entered my gallery of favorite characters - along with many of his compatriots in this book. Truly, it just may be the author's skill at showing a reader in bits who each of her characters are as they move about their lives on her pages. This was a read I thoroughly enjoyed, despite all the hard and dark things happening. They happened like life does. One after another, followed by the bestest, most joyfulest next thing. Then the other-shoes-dropping again. One barely has a chance to catch a breath for a moment, over and over and then you're old. Crazy, this life. Annie Hartnett has with her graceful pen in hand caught and passed on through this book a very strong, not unpleasant whiff of all that.

My favs:
PJ Halliday: see above.
Pancakes, the death cat: pragmatic and kind.
Katie's Hat: it talks.
Ivy: so kind, the ultimate in longsuffering.
Fred: car lender, extraordinare.
Belinda B: she knows her stuff, yet knows when to hold 'em.
So many more, but that moves into spoiler range.

Hard things happen in The Road to Tender Hearts that may trigger sensitive readers (suicide, drownings among others) but they are balanced by joy aplenty and humor slyly tucked in between the tears and noseblows. Found here are the three R's: Recovery, resilience and redemption. All my stars for this one.

*A sincere thank you Annie Hartnett, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.* #TheRoadtoTender #NetGalley

The sweetest book! Such a great story and characters--loved it!

Thank you NetGalley and Annie Hartnett!

Does the thought of a long car trip make you cringe or feel excited? If you are looking for a cozy, heartwarming book that makes you smile, then you should definitely read The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett. It’s an endearing novel that brought back car trip memories for me, even though I’ve never taken one with a long-lost uncle, his daughter, two kids, and a “talking” cat.

What I Liked About The Road to Tender Hearts:
Initially, the cover didn’t appeal to me, but after finishing the book, it totally makes sense. Each character is represented on the cover, and they are all lovable in their own way. My favorite, though, was Pancakes, the cat. He couldn’t talk out loud, but you could read his thoughts, which kept me laughing. I mean, who doesn’t love a cat that walks on a leash and is called, “The angel of death”?

I also loved the two kids, Luna and Ollie. Luna is a tough-minded fourth-grader, and I have a feeling we would have been friends at that age. Her “Irish twin,” Ollie, is sweet and caring, and their sibling relationship is one of the highlights of the story.

A Mix of Light and Dark

At times, the events in the story didn’t seem plausible, but for some reason, it just added to the fun and humor. This is balanced by the realistic subplots that deal with serious topics like death and alcoholism. I love a story that can make me laugh while still having a grounding sense of reality.

I definitely recommend this book. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

I loved this book. Every character is a full 360 degrees, neither bad nor good. It is tragic, hilarious, silly, and heavy. Great for fans of Fredrik Backman but I think even if you don’t read him, this is just a great, unique book.

*The Road to Tender Hearts* by Annie Hartnett is a moving, tender, and often funny exploration of the complicated ways love and loss shape us. Hartnett’s storytelling is warm and quirky, with characters that feel like people you could run into at the grocery store—only with richer inner lives than most of us ever let on. The writing has this lovely balance of wit and heart, so even when the subject matter tugs at your emotions, you find yourself smiling through the tears.

What I loved most was how Hartnett captures the small, ordinary moments that end up meaning everything—those glances, awkward conversations, and unspoken truths that stick with you long after you’ve closed the book. It’s the kind of story that sneaks up on you, weaving humor and poignancy so seamlessly that you don’t realize how much you’ve fallen for the characters until you’re dreading the last page.

INCREDIBLE!! I adored this book. The cover is a little deceiving... this book has some darkness in it. At the same time, I have not read a book in a long time with so much heart. I will be recommending this to everyone. What a treat!

This book surprised me in the best way.
It’s not the kind of story I usually pick up (mainly because I hate getting sad when I read) but this one balanced the heartbreaking, heartfelt, and downright funny moments perfectly. I almost stopped reading at one point. Not because it wasn’t good (quite the opposite, the writing was so sharp and engaging that it was one of the main reasons I kept going), but because there’s a lot of death and grief woven into the story.

I pushed myself out of my comfort zone, and I’m so glad I did. This book makes you feel deep, raw emotions that stick with you long after you close it. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it reminded me why stories like this matter.

If you want a novel that will pull you in and make you care, if you love a mix of joy and sorrow, and especially if you believe cats are the superior species… this one’s for you.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with such a gem.

I put this book off for longer than I should have—and now I’m kicking myself, because it was exactly the refreshing, heartwarming read I needed. Full of lovable but flawed characters (yes, even that orange cat 🐈), it had me rooting for everyone. I especially loved how Annie Hartnett laced the sweetness with just the right touch of dark humor—it gave the story an edge that made the tender moments hit even harder.

This book flowed beautifully, and every character—even the side characters—stood out and felt memorable. It’s packed with heartfelt moments, laugh-out-loud scenes, and a touching reconnection between father and daughter.

Our central character, PJ, is an adorable but slightly clueless older man. Still reeling from the loss of his oldest daughter and a divorce, his ex-wife shields him from any bad news around their small town. So when a social worker calls about him being the next of kin for two children in need of a home, PJ doesn’t hesitate—he refuses to let them get lost in the system.

The only catch? He already had a grand plan to track down his true love in Arizona. And so begins a cross-country road trip full of chaos, charm, and unexpected connections that will stick with you long after the last page.

Heartfelt, quirky, and brimming with kindness (and sly humor), The Road to Tender Hearts had me laughing, tearing up, and cheering for this mismatched crew every step of the way. This is definitely a top read of the year for me.

💫 Huge thank you to the author Annie Hartnett, Ballantine, and NetGalley for the e-arc. I will definitely be purchasing a physical copy of this one!

Darkly funny and fairly ridiculous but I loved every minute of it and was sad when it was over. I liked that the flawed characters weren't magiclaly redeemed but were still trying to do their best.

This book was so quirky, just like Unlikely Animals, although I kind of wished it had leaned into the magical realism a bit more. It was touching for sure, but the SA stuff was difficult for me.

So wholesome. PJ decided to travel across the country from Massachussetts to Arizona to reunite with the woman she met in high school and never forgot when he left for the Vietman war. PJ has a lot of issues: he's been grieving the death of his oldest daughter, he's an alcoholic, his wife left him for his best friend, he's neglected a relationship with his remaining daughter Sophie, and now, he's inherited two kids, his brother's grandchildren, who are now orphans. But hey, he's also a lottery winner, even though the 1.5 million dollars are almost gone. When PJ, the kids and Sophie start the journey to Arizona, they're not prepared for the adventures they're about to live. This book was heartwarming and so funny. It was sad, broke my heart a little bit and put it back together. Highly recommend.

This is another road trip novel that released in summer of 2025 (looking at you kevin wilson) but I read them fairly close together and found them each so different. PJ Halliday is a drunk, who lost his daughter to a tragic accident her senior year of high school, and hasn't been quite right since. He is divorced and has a daughter who he isn't quite estranged from but isn't close to either. He's endearing and harmless and makes a lot of stupid choices only to have his ex-wife and daughter pick up the pieces. One day he becomes guardian to two children who he didn't know existed prior to this day and also finds out his high school love of his life has recently lost her husband. PJ has the brilliant idea to embark on a road trip to claim his long lost love and takes his whole crew, sans ex-wife with. Hilarious, heartfelt, quirky, and slightly morbid, this was a treat!
Annie Hartnett's voice is unlike anything i've read before and I love it. It's dark, morbid, and hilarious all in the same fell swoop but I never feel like it's insensitive. She can take an awful moment and throw in a dose of sarcasm or humor to truly encapsulate the human experience and I love it.

I adore Annie Hartnett’s writing. I fell in with her humor in Unlikely Animals and was happy to see it intact in her third book, The Road to Tender Hearts. Besides, who doesn’t like a good cross-country trip with mismatched characters who sport varying degrees of poor judgment?

It’s the story of a man who won big money in a lottery and his quest to return to the unrequited love of his life. PJ Halliday, a sixty-three-year-old with equal amounts of lovable and frustrating qualities, ends up driving from Massachusetts to the Tender Hearts Retirement Community in Arizona with a carload of unintended passengers.

Quirky characters—even a clairvoyant cat who can predict death—give this book its flavor, and though the cross-country journey is a familiar trope, Harnett doesn’t give in to predictability. It’s laced with broken hearts, dying hearts, hopeful hearts, and, of course, tender hearts. Be prepared to laugh and cry and wish the trip wouldn’t end. I'd give it four and a half stars, but am rounding it up to five because any book that makes me chuckle deserves all the stars.

Thanks to Ballantine/Random House and NetGalley for an advance copy.

This was a delightful book. I know it's been crazy popular but it does live up to the hype. I throughly enjoyed the writing, the characters and the plot.

This was a great story. It's Harnett's darkest yet, but it still has that signature quirkiness that I have come to love. I know the MC wont be for everyone, but was certainly for me. I love how she was able to balance levity and sincerity- she's an auto read author for that reason!

The Road to Tender Hearts opens with a tragedy. Two children are orphaned after an accidental murder-suicide that is so dramatic it borders on comedic. Their only living relative is PJ Halliday, their sixty-three year old alcoholic great-uncle who doesn’t know the kids exist. He’s dealing with the tragedies of his own life - the sudden death of his eldest daughter, the disintegration of his marriage, and three subsequent heart attacks - but, when he receives the call from the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, he senses an opportunity for redemption and agrees to take the children into his care.

The timing, however, is inopportune. Days before he agrees to take the children, PJ had decided to go on a road trip to Arizona to see the country and hopefully reunite with a high school crush who was recently widowed. No matter. PJ decides to take the kids with him and enlists his sullen daughter Sophie to assist in the journey by telling her a series of half truths aimed at getting her on board. Now, two precocious children, an adrift young woman, a hapless but lovable middle-aged man, and a cat named Pancakes who can predict when a human will die all pile into PJ’s ex-wife’s fiancé’s car and head west.

What follows is a quirky, rollicking roadtrip novel dealing with death, loss, and trauma. In the afterword, Annie Hartnett wrote that she wanted to write a book about all of her biggest fears in the funniest way possible. I think she achieves her goal. The Road to Tender Hearts is a zany novel filled with infectious characters that nevertheless results in a poignant novel.

The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett is about a man who takes a road trip with his adult daughter, two adopted children, and a cat with special talents. While this sounds like a recipe for disaster, it actually ends up being a very special and heartwarming story. Their road trip is a little crazy at times, but it leads to the best conversations and revelations. And who can resist Pancakes, the cat that can predict death? Highly recommend this delightful story. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.