This book broke me open in the best way.

The Road to Tender Hearts is one of those rare novels that manages to be laugh-out-loud funny, deeply tender, and quietly devastating—all at once. I went in expecting a quirky road trip and came out feeling like I'd been hugged, dragged through the mud, and stitched back together by people who love imperfectly but fiercely.

PJ Halliday is the kind of mess you can't help but root for. His voice, his grief, his stubborn hope—it all felt so human. And the rest of the cast? Unforgettable. Sophie, his daughter, who’s trying so hard to untangle herself from him while also being just like him. The kids, Luna and Ollie, broke my heart and mended it again. And yes, even Pancakes the death-predicting cat stole a piece of me.

Annie Hartnett has this way of writing that makes heavy topics feel accessible without diminishing their weight. Addiction, loss, estrangement...it’s all here, but woven into a story full of road trip mishaps, oddball characters, and moments of surprising joy.

This is a story about second (and third, and fourth) chances. About how family is often who we fight for, even when they drive us a little bit nuts. About tenderness, and how it sometimes shows up disguised as chaos.

I loved it. I didn’t want it to end. And I’m still thinking about PJ and his makeshift crew, long after the last page.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Company and author Annie Hartnett for the e copy of this book! The Road to Render Hearts centers around a man named PJ - a lottery winner with a big heart and a drinking problem. After hearing “the one that got away” was newly widowed, PJ made it his goal to win her over but needed to get to Arizona all the way from Massachusetts in order to do so. Despite losing one of his children to a drowning and later divorcing his wife, PJ is a giving person. His ex-wife still maintains a friendship with him which he cherishes dearly. When his ex-wife and her new S/O leave for a vacation, PJ is left to his own devices. PJ is named guardian in a will to two young children who are the grandchildren of his estranged brother after both of their parents die under awful circumstances. One of the children, Luna, believes that man who raised her was not her biological father. Luna believes a famous actor who had once lived in her town was her real father. This book follows a road trip the children, a cat who can tell when someone is near death, PJ, and his daughter embark on in order to find the truth of Luna’s paternity and meet PJ’s old sweetheart. Through heartwarming moments and inspirational speeches - as well as heartbreaking realizations - the group makes it from Massachusetts to Arizona and back. I loved reading this book, it felt like drinking hot chocolate while wrapped in a fuzzy blanket. Despite the hard parts of life still being included in this read, we still are shown that life is worth continuing on and doing your best to be better. Would definitely recommend to others!

This book is all heart. It spoke to all of the parts of me that have known loss. Annie Hartnett gives us the quirkiest, most human characters that make this somehow the very best fictional road trip.

There is death and tragic coincidence and heartache here - but this book isn’t only about grief. It’s less about what we have left behind and more about what we have to look forward to. It’s unusually beautiful. It’s funny, poignant, and so generously written.

And there’s a cat named Pancakes with the uncanny ability to predict death. So there’s that.

Please find room for it on your shelf. It has so earned its place there.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for the advance copy. All opinions are entirely my own.

<b>I recently spoke about my ten favorite reads of the spring, and this was one of the titles I highlighted. I hope you'll check it out if you haven't already!

In this heartwarming story of wonderfully faulted characters who face tragedy and often make a mess of things, loyalty and steadfastness overcome all and allow a makeshift family to heal, find adventure, discover their individual strengths, and realize that they're meant to be together forever.</b>

PJ Halliday is 63 and won the million-dollar lottery. Now he's about to set off on a cross-country road trip to track down his high-school sweetheart following the death of his former nemesis and rival.

But not everything in his life has been luck and adventure. PJ has weathered terrible tragedies in his life. His oldest daughter died as a teenager, and the grief destroyed his marriage. He's self-obsessed and sloppy, and he's allowed himself to become distant from his only living daughter, now a young adult who's drifting in her life. He's spent years drowning his sorrows in drink, and now that he's had three heart attacks (and secretly given away almost all of his money, while living in a hoarding-type home situation), he realizes his time may be almost up.

But before he can set out for Arizona to try to win back his young love, his estranged brother dies, and PJ becomes the guardian for his brother's grandchildren. So he packs them into the car, enlists his grumbling grown daughter to help him, and hits the road.

When I read Hartnett's novel Unlikely Animals, I said it was an irresistible, oddball tragicomedy with heart, in which characters explore the limits and solidity of friendship and family loyalty, show mistakes and imperfections, and cling to hope. While The Road to Tender Hearts is its own story, the same charming elements show up here: tough situations are real but are surrounded by lighthearted, zany circumstances; characters are faulted and make missteps but learn to forgive themselves and those around them; loyalty and steadfastness serve as bridges to love and caring; and animals work with magical realism to shift and affect outcomes.

While the characters in The Road to Tender Hearts face sometimes devastating turns of events, the tone of the story is such that you won't wonder whether a happy ending is coming. Past hurts aren't erased, but love overcomes, and the ending is sweet sweet sweet.

Hartnett employs dramatic irony, as the reader knows the full story of protagonists' motivations, abilities, and true selves, while her characters do not.

I received a prepublication edition of The Road to Tender Hearts, scheduled for publication April 29, courtesy of Ballantine Books and NetGalley.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House/Ballantine Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This was a book full of quirky and slightly broken characters who through a series of unfortunate events band together to try and find second chances and happy endings for all. This was a little bit of a heavy story interspersed with some humor, dark at times, but overall was an emotional and heartwarming stories about how we can move beyond any mistakes of the past and make a new life.

Annie Hartnett has a writer’s voice like no other - she somehow manages to perfectly blend quirky and occasionally morose with heartwarming moments. The Road to Tender Hearts is no exception; somehow the terribly heavy themes of the book are perfectly balanced with the absolute absurdity of the story. An auto buy author for me, I’ll read anything she writes.

This was a unique story with equally unique characters.

If you know me at all, you'll understand why Pancakes is my favorite "character" in the book. C'mon, how can you NOT love him?

As for the others, and the story .... it was only ok for me. There was almost too much in it. Too many stories within the story.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ballantine Books
Pub Date: 4-29-25

Thank you @netgalley, @ballantinebooks, and @annie_hartnett for the opportunity to read this eARC.

". . . this isn’t a story about cats, or even about dogs. It’s a story about horrible things that happen to people, and how on earth anyone can stomach raising children in a world where doom and disaster lurk around every corner. So, no, it’s not a story about a cat. It’s just a story that starts with a cat, and it goes from there."

What a cast of characters, truly, including a cat named Pancakes. I love a good road trip story and enjoyed the relationships that developed during this cross country journey. Some darkness, for sure, but also light and hope.

". . . it’s the impermanence of life that makes it beautiful."

PJ is a boomer who has made some poor choices in life and has been handed some bad luck. This is the disastrous story of how he ends up with 2 children in his care and makes his way across the country on a road trip. This was reminiscent of "Nothing to See Here" by Kevin Wilson.

Annie Hartnett just blew me away again with her story about a 63 year old guy kind of on his last legs, a cat named Pancakes, two little kids he unexpectedly acquires due to a tragedy and his ex-wife and younger daughter. The whole story turns into a ridiculous roadtrip that happens on a whim and involves an unlikely group of travelers. PJ is a former 1.5 million dollar lottery winner. He is divorced from Ivy, the mother of his daughters. When the older one Kate died on prom night, PJ deteriorated into a hard drinking alcoholic, irresponsible, bereft and inattentive to his younger daughter Sophie, who lost her sister when she was just a tween. Sophie's in her twenties now, out of a job and she avoids her dad. She resents him, he makes her crazy with his dependency on her mother who feed him breakfast daily and shops for him.

Ivy left PJ for Fred, a Boston judge and avid birder. He has a vacation home down the street from PJ's and Ivy's old house. They decide to take a multi-month trip to Alaska, leaving PJ feeling adrift and abandoned. Until… PJ reads an obituary and learns that his high school crush, Michelle Cobb, is now widowed from PJs' rival who stole her away. PJ, who hasn't been out of Pondville except for a brief stint in Vietnam decides he will go to Arizona, propose to Michelle and settle down to wedded bliss. Michelle's only contact with him since high school was that she, along with her husband, sent flowers when Kate died fifteen years ago. That's enough for PJ.

PJ has a car available, even though his eight year license suspension doesn't expire for a few days. Fred left him his volvo to use just to run to the store, since Ivy won't be there to shop for him. PJ answers the phone at Fred and Ivy's house when he dropped in to see if they left any food behind. He answers their phone and finds a social worker has been trying to reach him to tell him he has been named the guardian of a grandniece and grandnephew that he knew nothing about. They need him to take them in. They are both in fourth grade, having been born ten months apart. They have lived two blocks from him their whole lives, but PJ's brother was a very bad actor and PJ was estranged from him.

The Road to Tender Hearts is a story of an elderly man named PJ who decides to go on a road trip to visit his high school sweetheart. There is some humor. But I just didn't fall in love with it. It was just an okay story. Pretty depressing with one bad thing after another happening. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

I absolutely loved Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett and couldn’t get my hands on her new novel fast enough. It’s hard to believe, but Hartnett has done it again! Road to Tender Hearts is a truly beautiful tale featuring a wonderfully unique cast of characters and situations. It’s filled with humor, nostalgia, and warmth. The must-read book for everyone this summer!

4.5 stars, really sweet and heartfelt book.

This is the story of PJ Halliday, a divorced 63-year-old divorced man who won a 1.5 million dollar lottery years ago. He's an alcoholic who has never recovered from the death of his oldest daughter when she was in high school. When he sees that his old romantic rival (who supposedly stole his girl when PJ went to Vietnam) has died, PJ makes plans to drive to Arizona from Massachusetts to win her back. Complicating matters are a couple of young children who have lost their parents and PJ is named their guardian. And a therapy cat named Pancakes with some uncanny abilities.

I just loved this story. It was funny, sad, and realistic all at the same time. PJ is a flawed man, and his transformation is not without pitfalls and setbacks. I thought the kids were portrayed authentically as well, and there are twists and turns that kept me engaged and interested throughout my reading experience.

My one small quibble about this book is that I couldn't quite figure out when it is set. There's no way, if it is set in the present year, that PJ would have been old enough to go to Vietnam. And I kind of dislike that 63 is supposedly elderly and people living in retirement communities, when in reality most 63 year olds are still working, many have kids at home, etc.

Other than that, I just absolutely enjoyed my experience with this book. It's such a lovely tale of grief, loss, and learning how to move forward.

Annie Hartnett delivers another charming and emotionally resonant novel with The Road to Tender Hearts. I loved the quirky, unforgettable characters and the way Hartnett balances heartfelt storytelling with just the right amount of humor and edge—never tipping into saccharine territory. The road trip plot gave the story a fun, propulsive energy, and the relationships that unfolded along the way felt both surprising and sincere. Also, the cat absolutely stole my heart. Hartnett has such a gift for writing with tenderness and warmth while keeping things grounded in emotional truth. A lovely, layered read.

The Road to Tender Hearts is a story about PJ Halliday, a 60-year old lottery winner, who comes up with a plan to journey across the country to woo his recently-widowed high school girlfriend, who had married his best friend many, many years prior. Before he could set out, however, he finds himself the legal guardian of his niece and nephew, neither of whom he knew existed until now. His daughter becomes an unwilling accomplice in his antics, and the four begin an unforgettable and unique adventure to the Tender Hearts Retirement Community.
I was hooked by page one, because what gets you invested more than a death-attuned cat? Chapter one does an exemplary job of setting the tone for the rest of the book: it's blunt, bleak, but still manages to find humor in the darkness of the world. However, it did, at times, feel excessively angsty, rushed, and I did not feel there was much depth in the characters' relationships with one another. The characters, themselves, were more-or-less one-note. It's true they are able to overcome their differences and come together in the end, but besides PJ, who was still only just starting to make progress in his personal journey in the last quarter of the book, I can't say with much confidence that any one character was much different from how they were at the start, nor do I think they were all that likable. I also found Annie Hartnett's prose to be very direct; it does not leave much to the imagination as it tells you exactly who this cast is and what they're thinking, almost as if you are being guided to feel a certain way about them.
Despite my critiques, I did find the story to be incredibly captivating. It consistently had me at the edge of my seat, wanting to know the fates of the two kids and their borderline-crazy great uncle. I would most certainly read this book again, and I do highly recommend it. 100% worth the read.

Please make this into a movie!

The Road to Tender Hearts is like a cozy, warm hug. This was my first by Annie Hartnett, but I loved her whimsical style of writing. The book will grab your heartstrings and pull hard. The protagonist, PJ, is an antihero you will root for. He takes in two orphaned children and takes them on a road trip across America along with his newly acquired cat, Pancakes. I blew through this novel in two days. I couldn't stop reading about this unconventional family. The story deals with death in a quirky, sweet, and tragic manner. I highly recommend this to people who enjoy quirky novels like The Borrowed Life of Fredrick Fife. 5/5 Stars! Don't overlook this one!

This booooook!!! Annie Hartnett, I was not familiar with your game. I devoured this book over the weekend, it was funny and sad and comforting and riveting all at once. I've never read such a lighthearted book that has such sad, dark elements mixed in. Hartnett balances those with expertise - this novel just has everything you would want in an emotional, page-turning literary fiction book.

With a cast of characters that starts with Pancakes, a cat who can predict death, we are introduced to the extended family of PJ Halliday and everyone's tragic (like, seriously tragic, many trigger warnings) backstory. PJ is a divorced alcoholic who decides he needs to drive from MA to AZ to woo his long lost love after he learns her husband, and his old friend, is dead. There are tons of unexpected hiccups along the way, including the road trip additions of two precocious children that PJ is all of a sudden the caregiver for, and his grown daughter who has a strained relationship with him. I really don't want to give away much more than that since the journey is so fun and shocking and lovely.

Everyone needs to read this now, you won't be disappointed!

Annie Hartnett does it again! She made me laugh and cry, and she knew exactly how to pull at every heartstring. She told a story full of sad and heavy pieces, yet she somehow left me feeling uplifted and hopeful. This (mixed with her ability to fill a story with quirky and memorable characters) is why she's one of my favorite storytellers.

The story follows down-on-his-luck PJ on a road trip, as PJ heads from Massachusetts to Arizona in hopes of a second chance with his high school crush, Michelle Cobb. PJ is joined on his journey by Pancakes (a cat who can predict death), Sophie (PJ’s adult daughter who is stuck in life and doesn't have the best relationship with her dad), and Luna and Ollie (two newly orphaned children, who are no strangers to grief or trauma). The story is ultimately about a beautiful healing journey, despite the bumps along the road.

The initial set up is heavy, as each character experiences various traumas and losses, but trust in Hartnett to balance out the heavy with heart and humor. Regardless of the darker plot points, the story manages to be uplifting.

I fell hard for these characters (and the cat). The characters are flawed, yet endearing, and they will steal (and expand) your heart. Even the briefest of side characters are fully developed (and interesting), and the backstories for each character are flushed out and layered. In giving us these complex characters, Hartnett demonstrates that the difference between empathy and judgment is a story.

I love how unique and fun Hartnett’s stories are, and I also love her subtle, yet impactful, insights and reflections (on grief, resilience, family, storytelling, and more). And the cat! The way she utilized Pancakes, the cat, was so clever and entertaining. Though the ending was not without some tears, it all came together perfectly. I cannot gush about this book enough. I simply adored this story, and it will stay with me.

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Literary Fiction

Themes/Tropes/Topics: Grief/loss, road trip, found family/family, parenthood, safety, empathy, morality, second chance, flawed characters, healing/growth, trauma, stories/storytelling, cat, loneliness, paternity/father, orphans, death

Moods: Heartwarming, Funny/LOL, Emotional, Sad, Tissues, Quirky, Uplifting, Touching

Format: 🎧&📱 (tandem read). I pre-ordered the audio book, and I received an ARC from Net Galley. (Thank you, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine!). I also borrowed the ebook from Libby to read the Acknowledgment section (which was partly an author's note and which was not in the audiobook or the ARC).

For: Readers who appreciate books full of heart and humor and quirky, flawed characters and books that expand empathy, and readers who loved Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett or who enjoy books by Kevin Wilson & Rufi Thorpe.

Not for: Readers who can't do flawed characters (because they find humans who make bad choices unlikeable and unredeemable), don't enjoy a quirky/unique story, or would have an issue with suspending belief about a cat being able to predict death. Also, while I find Hartnett to be good for sensitive readers (because she makes darker content more accessible with humor and because her stories have "all the feels"), if you have specific triggers for things you will not read about, check the content warnings.

I just absolutely love Annie Hartnett books and this might be my favorite so far. The characters are so real even though some elements of her stories are very fantastical it blends together perfectly. I loved the twists and turns even though it wasn't really a suspense novel. I loved Pancakes. There wasnt anything in this story that I didn't love. It's my top book of the year so far.

I have loved every book I've read by Annie Hartnett so I eagerly requested The Road to Tender Hearts and it was another success. I do love a road trip novel and this is a darkly funny trip from Pondville, MA to the retirement community called Tender Hearts in Arizona. The novel is full of quirky characters who have gone through some deep trauma. PJ Halliday, a lottery-winning alcoholic, "inherits" his grand-niece and grand-nephew and takes them on an unforgettable road trip to meet up with PJ's childhood sweetheart. There is also an unforgettable orange tabby who can predict death. Hartnett has a way of writing dark scenes and infusing them with laugh-out-loud humor. The characters are unforgettable and lovable and this will be one of my favorite books of the year. The audiobook is excellent as well.