Linda Holmes is a pop culture correspondent for National Public Radio and the host of the podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which has held sold-out live shows in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, and elsewhere. She appears regularly on NPR's radio shows, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. Before NPR, she wrote for New York magazine online and for TV Guide, as well as for the influential website Television Without Pity. In her free time, she watches far too many romantic comedies, bakes bread, watches her nephews get taller, and recently knitted her first hat. You can find Linda at thisislindaholmes.com.
In a sleepy seaside town in Maine, recently widowed Evvie Drake rarely leaves her large, painfully empty house nearly a year after her husband's death. Everyone in town thinks grief keeps her locked inside, and Evvie doesn't correct them. Meanwhile, in New York City, former Major League pitcher Dean Tenney is wrestling with a downward turn in his career. As the media storm heats up, an invitation from an old friend to stay in Maine seems like a chance to hit the reset button on Dean's future. When he rents an apartment at the back of Evvie's house, the two make a deal: Dean won't ask about Evvie's husband, and Evvie won't ask about Dean's career. Rules, though, have a way of begging to be 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.
Evvie Drake has gone through a lot in the past year, and is going through so much more during the year that spans the length of the novel. She is a woman who likes to fix things, one who is holding onto a tremendous secret, and one who is unwilling to fully open herself up. Not only are most of these characteristics believable, but Holmes refuses to let Evvie flounder on her own to get back on her feet after the most confusing event of her life. Holmes, like many of the romance writers of the day, integrated discussions of mental health and therapy into her novel. Evvie, after an internal battle, decides to go speak to a therapist about her problems, which goes to show that this novel is, truly, about Evvie Drake and how she is starting over. This story is certainly more about Evvie, and more a study in very complicated grief, than it is about romance—which is why the romance feels so much more rewarding. While Dean and Andy play important roles in the story, it is mostly told from Evvie's eyes, and thus goes to show how deeply this story belongs to Evvie.
Lots of book readers these days love the enemies-to-lovers trope. I've read quite a few romance novels that follow the strangers-instant attraction-lovers timeline. However, I've yet to read a story that so thoughtfully plots out a strangers-friends-lovers timeline as effectively as Linda Holmes does for Evvie Drake Starts Over. Evvie and Dean don't know each other at all when the book starts, and they become close friends as they go through the year together. Holmes builds their friendship expertly, utilizing storytelling through dialogue, specific details, emotional moments, and the passing of seasons to demonstrate the close bond forming between Evvie and Dean. It is clear to readers, even when it isn't clear to the characters, that the friendship could easily become something more. Separately from the development of the romance, I appreciated how much care Holmes took in portraying that. By that, I mean she didn't give us much visuals of Evvie or Dean, allowing readers space to imagine for ourselves, while also making the bold statement that rom-coms do not need to star skinny women or traditionally pretty women. As far as looks are concerned, Holmes states, it only matters that readers believe Dean and Evvie are attracted to each other, which means it wouldn't do to waste precious space with lengthy descriptions about anyone's eyes or hair colors. I appreciated this laser-sharp focus from Holmes on the story, and will carry this commentary about looks and attractiveness forward!
Slated as a rom-com, Holmes actually doesn't start her novel off on a particularly romantic or comedic note. Rather, the opening scene shows Evvie packing her car when she gets the call from the hospital that her husband is fatally wounded, setting a very chilling tone for our understanding of Evvie's and Tim's marriage. This opening is certainly heavier and darker than any other romance novel I've read thus far—which means, for us to reach the romantic comedy aspects of the book, we need to dig past the beginning and deep into the book. This opening scene does a great job, however, of showing how sensitive the book is. Rather than the usual glitz and glam that can accompany most contemporary romances (which, I would like to say, I love!), Evvie Drake Starts Over takes a more realistic approach to life and grief. This allows for a feeling of warmth and comfort while reading, rather than a reading experience full of high-stakes and hijinks. I also attributed this more laid-back type of rom-com to the novel's relaxed setting itself. The sleepy town in Maine is the perfect place for Evvie and Dean to get back on their feet, and they utilize this relaxing setting up until the very end to do just that.
Another notable element of the story is Evvie's friendship with Andy. It is very full and very old, in a way that I almost envied it, because I haven't had a friendship as strong and trusting as Evvie's and Andy's. When the pair hits a rough patch, as friends usually do, it gets volatile, and to the point where it's affecting Evvie so poorly, everyone around her agrees something must be done. Holmes handles the relationship between Evvie and Andy with care, respectfully and authentically creating a platonic opposite-sex friendship without ever once hinting at some sort of underlying jealousy from either side once the pair started pairing up themselves. Holmes also perfectly paced the eventual fallout of the friendship and the resulting "getting back together" moments—which meant that not only was the romance rewarding in how Holmes really makes readers work to get there, but that every element of the novel had room to shine and feel rewarding and human by the end.
In the Random House Book Club reader's guide of the Evvie Drake Starts Over paperback, both publisher and author hint at another project in the works—one Holmes says will push her to do a lot of new things in. If you're just as intrigued as I am, hang tight. Hopefully some Linda Holmes book news is on the way! And until then, you can find Linda at thisislindaholmes.com.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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