Evvie Drake Starts Over

A Novel

By: Linda Holmes

Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Linda Holmes

New York Times best seller

Read with Jenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today

"Everything a romantic comedy should be: witty, relatable, and a little complicated." (People)

A heartfelt debut about the unlikely relationship between a young woman who’s lost her husband and a Major League pitcher who’s lost his game.

Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR

In a sleepy seaside town in Maine, recently widowed Eveleth "Evvie" Drake rarely leaves her large, painfully empty house nearly a year after her husband’s death in a car crash. Everyone in town, even her best friend, Andy, thinks grief keeps her locked inside, and Evvie doesn’t correct them.

Meanwhile, in New York City, Dean Tenney, former Major League pitcher and Andy’s childhood best friend, is wrestling with what miserable athletes living out their worst nightmares call the "yips": he can’t throw straight anymore, and, even worse, he can’t figure out why. As the media storm heats up, an invitation from Andy to stay in Maine seems like the perfect chance to hit the reset button on Dean’s future.

When he moves into an apartment at the back of Evvie’s house, the two make a deal: Dean won’t ask about Evvie’s late husband, and Evvie won’t ask about Dean’s baseball career. Rules, though, have a funny way of being broken - and what starts as an unexpected friendship soon turns into something more. To move forward, Evvie and Dean will have to reckon with their pasts - the friendships they’ve damaged, the secrets they’ve kept - but in life, as in baseball, there’s always a chance - up until the last out.

A joyful, hilarious, and hope-filled debut, Evvie Drake Starts Over will have you cheering for the two most unlikely comebacks of the year - and will leave you wanting more from Linda Holmes.

Praise for Evvie Drake Starts Over

"A quirky, sweet, and splendid story of a woman coming into her own." (Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times best-selling author of Daisy Jones & the Six)

"Effortlessly enjoyable...[a] pitch-perfect...adult love story that is as romantic as it is real." (USA Today)

"Charming, hopeful, and gently romantic...Evvie Drake is great company." (Rainbow Rowell, number one New York Times best-selling author of Eleanor & Park)

©2019 Linda Holmes (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Holmes writes with an easy warmth about kind people who are trying their best but messing things up anyway. . . . A warm and lovely romance, perfect for readers of Rainbow Rowell and Louise Miller.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“The charm of Holmes’ novel comes not only from a genuine friendship between Evvie and Dean that develops into a sweet romance but also from watching amiable Evvie stumble through the process of finding herself in a realistic way. A warm and funny book that will utterly captivate fans of Abbi Waxman and Taylor Jenkins Reid.”—Booklist (starred review)

“A quirky, sweet, and splendid story of a woman coming into her own . . . Linda Holmes’s voice is lively and warm, the setting of small-town Maine is pitch-perfect, and the character of Evvie Drake is refreshing in her imperfections—an absolute delight.”—Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Daisy Jones & The Six

Great book!

There is little sexual content and the humor is light. This book is well written, engaging.

Amazing! So happy for Linda Holmes

This book is spectacular, so well written and so full of genuine heart. I could not be happier for Linda, who I’ve listened to on her podcast for 6 years. This book is a triumph, so many congratulations!!

So Enjoyable

4 stars for the book and a 5th for how much I LOVED it. Loved it. And as usual, Julia Whelan made the fantastic dialogue and witty exchanges come alive beautifully.

Awesome and engaging!

I have to say that this book is one of best I have listened to!
The humor and lightheartedness was so fun and I hated that it ended!
I sure hope this author will write many more books because I was disappointed to see this was her 1st as I had no more to read from her!!

Great read, altogether!

This is a really good book… Easy to read, great story and the incomparable Julia Whelan narrating. Excellent!

I loved Evvie rhymes with Chevy

"Morning the loss of firsts." This really hit home with me. When you are no longer someone's first person they call when they want to share great news, problems or need help. You've been replaced by another friend or partner. First time I've heard that before and it resonated with me.

I also loved visualizing Evvie dropping the applesauce, rice and screws in her kitchen. It always seems like the moment when you fall apart, the simple act of dropping something, tripping over something or losing something triggers emotions you've had bottled inside forever!

Such a Satisfying Story!

I found this book to be so enjoyable. The characters were well drawn and I enjoyed the way the romance was slowly developed over time. There were times when Evvie’s unwillingness to face her issues was frustrating, but it also makes sense since it is what people so often do in the real world. The friendship between Evvie and Andy was also well developed and seemed very real. Evvie’s relationship with Tim gave me some uncomfortable flashbacks to a previous relationship of my own that also took therapy and a lot of work to recover from.
I have listed to and read a lot of Linda Holmes’ stories, and I am a huge fan of Pop Culture Happy Hour which makes me appreciate this book even more.

Thank you

Thank you for writing a book for all of us that have lived with a husband so much like Tim. I feel like I have been heard!

Easy summer novel

It's uncomplicated, easy novel that is very predictable and lives up to the happy ending you would expect. Nothing special, but not bad. Perfect for summer vacation sort of reading when you don't want to get into drama, serious readings and need something light to read.

A good read overall

I enjoyed this book. It was fun, funny, heartfelt and relatable. The narrator did a superb job. The main characters were incredibly likable and although I didn’t LOOOOVE the book- it was a nice and easy read for the end of summer. Anyone who enjoys a good Hallmark movie will probably quite enjoy this novel.