Ms. Holmes is a new-to-me author and I truly enjoyed this story.

The story revolves around Evvie, Dean, and Evvie’s best friend, Andy. Evvie and Andy have been best friends for many years and he was very supportive when Evvie’s husband died. Unfortunately, Evvie keeps a lot of secrets from everyone and no one knows that she wanted to leave her husband.

Andy is friends with Dean, who has had injuries playing professional baseball and is at his limit trying to get back to playing. Andy asks Evvie to rent the apartment that adjoins her house to Dean, so he can get away from everyone and try to figure out what to do next.

As Evvie and Dean spend time together, they become friends who initially agree not to talk about Evvie’s husband or Dean’s career. They had a slow build up to more than friends and I enjoyed the friends to lover’s time frame which made the story seem more real. They seem to be able to discuss bits of their lives with each other that they don’t share with others.

As Evvie deals with her own issues and fears, she tries to help Dean, who doesn’t always want her interference. There is such a sad moment when Andy realizes that Evvie hasn’t shared some important details with him, including about her former husband. As details emerge about her life with her husband, who everyone loves and admires, I felt such empathy for Evvie. I can understand her feelings of guilt but she just couldn’t let go and move forward with her life. Evvie and Andy were so close but between the secrets and some life changes, things weren’t the same between them and it was an emotional part of the story.

I so enjoyed when Evvie finally takes stronger steps to building a life on her own terms and it was easy to see her confidence increase. It was wonderful to see how both Evvie and Dean learn how to deal with their issues and move forward

There is family, small town gossips, friends, loss, grief, and love. There were numerous laugh-out-loud moments along with engaging dialogue and great characters. I would highly recommend this story to readers.

What a sweet, charming story! I’ll admit, this book had a slightly slow start. But once I got into it and was more invested in Evvie and Dean’s relationship, I could put it down. This felt much more like a “real” romance story than many of the others out there. A great summer read!

I feel like everyone will love this a great summer read and the main character Evvie Drake and it also has a baseball type of theme but not too focused on baseball. I recommend this for everyone who loves a good beachy read

This is a story about an unlikely relationship between a former MLB pitcher, Dean and a recent widow, Evvie. Dean rents a room from Evvie in hopes to escape the big city and life in general. They soon form a connection, each at a crossroad in their lives. The story was a little slow to develop, but in the end it was beautifully executed. This story touches on the topics of grief, self-discovery and the world of baseball. Overall, a nice refreshing read. Thank you for the ARC!

This is the baseball story I’ve been looking for this summer - not too baseball focused, but definitely having a baseball theme!! Quirky story about the beginning of a relationship between Evvie, a widow, and Dean, a former MLB pitcher.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Evvie is a 30 something woman, whose seemingly perfect husband is a prominent doctor in their small town in Maine. Evvie plans to leave him, and finds out as she’s packing her things that he has been in a terrible car accident; and has died.
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Our story takes place a year later, as Evvie is struggling to move on from his death; and the guilt she feels. Enter Dean Tenney; a famous Yankee baseball player who has a case of the “yips” and his career is deemed over. Dean moves to this small Maine town to see his old friend Andy (and Evvie’s closest friend) and to get away from all the publicity in New York. Andy convinces Evvie to allow Dean to rent the apartment in the back of her large house while he’s in town.
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Evvie and Dean’s friendship blossoms as the months pass by. They become closer, and work toward both making it through their personal traumas together.
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This is a book that shine light on the importance of honesty, friendship, relationships, mental health and forgiveness. I LOVED this book. I found myself feeling what Evvie was feeling through every page. I laughed with her, and tears fell for her. I resonated with this book so much. While there is a lovely romantic story here, there is SO much more. This book was a perfect read in so many ways. I highly recommend.

I just want to say that I absolutely loved this book. The writing was fabulous, excellent character development and a perfect amount of real life drama to make it more than a romance. I didn’t want to put this book down!

Evvie (rhymes with Chevy) Drake has bags packed and is about to leave her husband when she receives a call from the hospital. After her husband's death, Evvie's guilt and hurt leads to her leading an almost reclusive life, except for weekly breakfasts with best friend Andy. After a year of "grieving", Andy convinces her to rent the apartment in her home to washed up headcase Dean Tenney, ex-ball player with a case of the yips. The two, both battling their pasts, form a friendship that becomes something more.
This was a really sweet and realistic romance. It was refreshing to build the love out of a friendship, rather than just diving into the sexy stuff. Would love a sequel!

Love the cover. It truly captures the spirit of this new summer title. Evvie has secrets even her very best friend Andy does not know. She is widowed early in the narrative and has an apartment space available in her house. Enter Dean, a former MLB pitcher with the "yips." They are both broken. Can they fix each other? Baseball metaphors abound and I enjoyed reading their story. Will be a popular choice for the beach or vacation..

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It takes a little while before you become fully engrossed with the characters but once you make the connection it is a very good read. As others have noted, parts of the plot are predictable but what you can predict does not deter from the storyline. Digging a little deeper the author touches on issues that many go through in relationships, specifically, abandonment, mental and physical abuse, effects on children as children and as adults. In, contrast there are examples of healthy relationships depicted as well. Once you connect with the main characters, their personal thoughts are quite realistic and her descriptions of their actions are easily visualized.
Laugh a little, cry a little, and enjoy!!
I received this book as a complimentary copy for an honest review. The opinions expressed are my own.

On the day Evvie Drake decides to leave her mentally abusive husband, she receives a phone call telling her he was critically injured in a car accident. By the time she arrives at the hospital he is dead. Unsure how she feels about his death, she withdraws into her home. Many months later her best friend Andy encourages her to take in a border - a former baseball player with a bad case of the Yips. Dean Tenney had been at the top of his game when suddenly he could not throw a strike. This unlikely pair spend time together trying to fix each other. A delightful story of friendship and love.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the electronic ARC of this title. This is an entertaining, often touching story of a young widow whose loss is more complex than her small town neighbors know, and of the baseball player who has spectacularly flamed out of the majors who becomes her boarder. Predictably but charmingly, romance ensues. Interesting characters and relationships give this book more emotional heft than other books I have read in the "rebooting your life" fiction genre. A good summer read; 3.5 - 4 stars.

I found myself both laughing and crying throughout the book - it's a perfect summer/beach read and I'll be recommending it to my library!

What a great summer read! The characters were witty and charming. The backdrop of Maine through the seasons was lovely. I really enjoyed this story of starting over, and realizing that changing your course in life can be a wonderful thing (even with some bumps along the way).

Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for this advanced copy for my honest review.

I have been listening to Linda Holmes’s podcast, Pop Culture Happy Hour for years. It’s gotten me through building Ikea furniture and through particularly bleak political moments. So naturally, I’ve been eagerly anticipating her first novel. And it did not disappoint. Evvie Drake is a widow who finds herself renting out her spare apartment to Dean, a major league pitcher with a case of the yips. At first they agree that Evvie can’t ask Dean about baseball and Dean can’t ask Evvie about her husband. But that quickly falls apart as they spend more time with each other. Evvie Drake is about grief, loss, change, but also about friendships, non-biological families, and building the life you want for yourself. This story is so charming, and all the characters are a delight to spend time with. One of my favorite features of Evvie and Dean’s relationship is how it gives Evvie the boost to step into a new phase of her life in a way that doesn’t revolve completely around her romantic relationship. It’s a gentle story about characters who I loved spending time with.

Contemporary Romance at it's finest....Not too sappy and just the right amount of relationship drama. Evvie and Dean both have personal issues and a broken heart. They are thrust together by best friend Drew and their friendship, heartaches, hardships, and love unfold beautifully in the novel. Each character really finds themselves and this story just gets it right the whole time. This book has a very realistic feel about it which I completely appreciate (again, not too sappy--yay!) It has everything you want a good summer read to have. If you like baseball, dogs and coastal living....well then you are definitely in for a treat with this one. Well done Linda Holmes...I am looking forward to reading more of your work.

So stinking cute! I loved Evvie and Dean. It was wonderful to see them both grow, learn, and process what has happened in their lives. Loved the quirky characters and funny banter. I kind of want to move to Maine now.

This book is about real people having a real relationship. It's fictional, don't get me wrong here-it's just that these people seem like people I would know. Evvie loses her husband in a car accident the day that she decides to leave him. It leaves her emotionally adrift. She doesn't tell anyone what the truth of her life is; instead she lets her best friend Andy and her father believe that she is truly grieving. Enter into her life Dean-a major league baseball pitcher who's retired from baseball because he suddenly can't pitch anymore. Their relationship progresses naturally and it allows Evvie the opportunity to "wake up" to living her life. Very enjoyable. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House-Ballantine for the ARC in return for my honest review.

This book is not what I thought it would be. Evvie has to start a new life and is kinda clueless what she wants to do. Dean is a New York Yankees pitcher that has a case of the yips so he rents an apartment in Evvie's home. What follows is a look at redemption, forgiveness and love. While Evvie and Dean follow their path it is sometimes funny and a little heartbreaking. I enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading more of this author.

I totally enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down. The way the story starts out is unusual, I haven't read a book with this type of epic beginning in a long time. The author does a great job of describing the details of the characters, story and setting. Its just a very sweet story!