This was a quick and cute read. There's a mystery about a duck, a romance, and of course some self-growth and learning. I enjoyed the book, but I wanted more from it. The mystery, the con, and "the heist" were too quick and easy. I wanted higher stakes and more drama (but maybe that's a function of the types of books I've been reading lately). Quite honestly, I expected the drama related to the duck to last longer in the book. But, it wraps up fairly neatly and quickly and we are left with some personal learning. I probably would have been more annoyed with it if I hadn't been self-identifying with it so much.

I love that we have a female protagonist that doesn't want the traditional life. She's independent. She's intelligent. And she's loved. But that love is not what defines her nor is it her main focus. In many ways, it can be a distraction.

And then the epilogue....I would have been much happier without the epilogue.

Despite my gripes, I enjoyed the book and tore through it. It's definitely the type of mindless, happy comfort read when you just need to zone out.

Laurie has returned to the tiny Maine town where she grew up to clean out the house of her beloved great-aunt Dot, who recently died at the age of 93. The timing seems perfect: Laurie recently called off her wedding, is about to turn 40, and really needs a change of scenery.

Dot never married and lived her life fully--but gathered a lot of stuff in the process. Laurie enlists the help of June, her childhood best friend, and eventually, Nick, her exboyfriend. One of their discoveries is a duck decoy which they initially believe may be valuable, but an appraiser dashes their hopes. As Laurie delves deeper into her great-aunt's rich past and the shady dealings of antique dealers and appraisers, she finds herself relying more on the sexy and kind Nick. But she also learns she's more like Dot than she knew--deeply independent. Sometimes finding someone you love isn't enough for a happily ever after.

This is a deeply engrossing story about love, second chances, family, going home again, with a mystery subplot thrown in. And it takes place in Maine, so it makes me happy. #FlyingSolo #NetGalley

I liked the story behind the duck decoy. I liked how it panned out and all the sleuthing to discover the answer. Although she was already deceased, I liked Dot: her independence, her joi de vivre, and all her travels.
I never warmed up to Laurie. I identified with her on several levels. I thought she was somewhat of a flat character and expected other people to conform.
Aside from that, it’s a decent read.

I really enjoyed Evie Drake Starts over and was excited to read Linda Holmes' next creation.
Flying solo is about love, family, friendship, and has a clever 'heist-y' twist." Laurie returns to her hometown in Maine to sift through her deceased aunt, Dot's estate. As she reconnects with friends, reflects on Dot and family memories, she also works through her own story; past, present, and future possibilities she hadn't considered. Sometimes I thought Laurie jumped to drastic conclusions about herself, and I wished she was more open-minded. That said, I love the message of encouraging women to cherish their identity, and while Laurie correlated this with her single status, I was glad that near the end this message was for all women regardless of marital status. The choice doesn't have to be between love or marriage and independence. Laurie has a great cast of supportive characters in her life: Nick (sexy librarian- who knew?!), June, and her brother Ryan's role in the "heist" is hilarious. Overall, this was a nice summer read.

Thank you, Ballentine Books and #NetGalley for the ARC e-book!

Flying Solo was a cute little story. Laura has to clean up after her great aunt dies. But it’s still a cute little story because she lived into her 90s and had great adventures! She was a special kind of hoarder, so there are some interesting things she has left behind. One gets Laura’s attention and becomes the center of the story. What is this duck and what is it really worth?

Everything else in the story was a bit of a predictable romance. I tend to not be too interested in that and I never got invested in it. Take it or leave it. I really read to find out the history of this duck.

An easy summer read that won’t take you anywhere dark or serious.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book.

Linda Holmes' Flying Solo gives us a protag that is a little different from a stereotypical fictional single woman. And i love her.

A cozy sweater, your favorite pair of jeans, a soft blanket, a cup of tea on a cold evening, this book. Warm and gentle. Comforting, relatable, real, and lovely. Cozy indeed. I loved Evvie Drake, and this has all the at-home-in-Maine-ness that Evvie does, without so much of the angst and tragedy and hardship. It felt like an ode to strong women in middle-age. It was interesting and fun and poignant and felt…I don’t know, settled, somehow. The people, places, and relationships felt true. Aunt Dot’s house and love for Laurie felt true. The various senses of loss and discoveries (and rediscoveries) felt true too. I felt like I knew Laurie? It’s hard to explain why I enjoyed this so much, but if you’re looking for an easy, engrossing read, and/or you liked Evvie Drake, this is the book for you. And frankly, I just can’t wait to see what Linda Holmes does next.

I rather liked this, but don't be fooled this is not a traditional romance novel even if the marketing seems like it is. Also I liked the writing. There are a couple of lines that made me laugh (out loud). It is nice to read a story about a woman who doesn't necessarily want traditional love and marriage.

This story of Laurie, an almost 40 year old single woman, was fun and easy, but also had a depth behind the humor that made my heart feel happy. As she cleans out her great aunt's house back in her home town, Laurie wrestles with her own life and what she does and doesn't want from it. The inner battle between love and independence and how they mesh together is real and shown so very well in this story. There is a little intrigue. There is a little romance. There is a whole lot of warmth and depth. My friend Kari would likely call this one "romance with heft". I like it.

Not fully a romance or a cozy mystery, this is just a feel good read. I loved Evvie Drake Starts Over - but this definitely has a different feel. Laurie is single (and almost 40) and returns to her small town home in Maine to clean out her great aunt’s house after she passes. This book is equal parts about Laurie finding herself and learning more about her great aunt - through the help of a wooden duck. The premise may sound silly, but it was a fun and easy read.

🦆BOOK REVIEW🦆

Flying Solo by Linda Holmes
Release Date: June 14, 2022

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Meet Laurie, a 39 year old nature writer who returns to her small hometown in Maine to take care of cleaning out her great-aunt Dot’s house after her passing. Dot was a force of nature, never married, never had children, but had a life full of adventure and a home full of trinkets to show it. That is to include a wooden duck decoy that Laurie finds at the bottom of a chest, buried underneath old blankets. Something about this duck completely intrigues Laurie and she makes it her mission to find out about this duck and where it fits in to her aunt’s life. But when the duck is stolen, after being told it is of no value, brings the intrigue up a few notches. Laurie now has a double mission. Get the duck back and figure out what the mystery behind this duck is.

Follow Laurie on a walk down her aunt’s memory lane, but also revisiting Laurie’s in the process. Is Laurie meant to fly solo as Dot did, or does her future look different?

🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆

OMG I loved this book! I read it in 24 hours because I couldn’t put it down. I loved walking with Laurie in to the past of her favorite aunt but I also loved following Laurie, an almost 40 year old, through her own love story. This was a really intriguing book in that its not your typical love story. It was sort of more of a self-love, self-discovery type of thing. But the underlying love story (stories?) are really sweet. It shines a light on women who chose not to get married or aren’t married by an “older” age and I really like how it attempts to address the stereotypes that are associated with them. Ladies, go on and gobble this book up when it comes out on June 14!

🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆

✨Thank you to @netgalley for the opportunity to read this before it is published!✨

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This was a nice story. I liked the characters, and I enjoyed the plot. It was an enjoyable read about loss and family, love, and life. I would absolutely recommend this one to women's fiction readers!

Sadly, I DNF'd this book. I really enjoyed Evvie Drake Starts over, but I couldn't find a connection to the plot or characters here. I read to the 31% mark, but it was still too slow to hold my attention. Thank you for allowing me to read the DRC.

This was a good, light, easy summer read. A little bit mystery and a little bit romance, as well as being a story of self discovery. Laurie, the main character, returns to her small hometown in Maine to clean out her 93 year old great aunt's house after her death. Secrets and an old boyfriend vie for Laurie's attention as she struggles with a puzzle from the past and her own inner conflicts about turning forty and being single and childless.

For anyone that has done a "death cleaning", going through an entire house of stuff after someone in the family has died, this book will definitely hit home. It will immediately take you back to the hours spent in indecision and exhaustion. However, as a retiree and long past forty, it was difficult for me to identify with the angst of online dating, and characters that are my children's age. It may be of interest to 35-40 year old readers who are single or who are evaluating their life choices, but it didn't quite strike a chord with me. It was a very cute story with a family mystery involved.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for giving me the opportunity to read a digital ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was perfectly what it was. It made no attempt to be grander or more elaborate than it had to be. The setting, characters, and plot all fit extremely well together and the way things wrapped up made perfect sense.

I genuinely enjoyed reading Flying Solo. It was quick, refreshing, and filled with a sweet sense of humanity that lifted my spirits. If it wasn’t the most innovative or groundbreaking book, so what? I enjoyed it for what it was. 4/5

Laurie moved across the country from Maine but when her beloved aunt Dot dies and her four brothers can't unload the many many things in her house, Laurie takes on the job. Can you go home again? She hires Matt, who purports to sort through the stuff and agrees to sell or otherwise dispose of it for a fair price. Then she finds the wood duck Dot placed in a hope chest. Matt says its worthless but Laurie thinks there's more to the story. Her high school love Nick is also back in town- he never really left- running the library as is her friend June, now the mom of two boisterous children. This trio, and a few others they enlist, go on a quest to first find the truth about the duck and then to get it back. Yes there's a romantic element to this (of course) but it's really more about family, friends, and the community of a small town. Evvie Drake, btw, is mentioned but not a character :). Things get a bit convoluted near the end but there's a good heart here. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I love the underlying themes in this one....the family history and discovery, Laurie's independence and search for what makes her happy in life. I felt like the ending of the book was perfect for both her and Nick..neither seemed to be compromising and were focused on Happy For Now instead of Happily Ever After.
I really enjoyed Linda Holmes last book, Evvie Drake, and while this one was clever and fun, the writing just didn't work as well for me. It jumped around a bit too much, which messed with the flow and I ended up skimming quite a bit.

Oh dear readers, FLYING SOLO by Linda Holmes was just what I needed at just the right time. It made me smile and sigh and want to give my Kindle a hug.

Laurie Sassalyn heads to her home town to help clean out her beloved great-aunt’s house after her passing. As she’s going through decades of her aunt’s keepsakes and belongings, she finds a carved duck decoy tucked aside in such a way that she thinks it might have somehow been special to her aunt. Laurie can’t let it go and digs into letters and photos and antique appraisals to try and find out more. As she does, Laurie learns more about her aunt and more about herself as she reconnects with her hometown and the people there that she loves.

And guys, I don’t know how she did it, but Linda Holmes managed to make a story about a woman and an antique duck decoy REALLY interesting. 😂I also just plain loved Laurie and loved rooting for her. Plus, we were both elbow deep in boxes and belongings at the same time as Laurie cleaned out her great-aunt’s house and I unpacked in my new one. It was nice to have a literary friend who knew what I was going though. Ha.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free review copy of this book.

(Instagram post @fromsarahsbooknook to follow on or after publish date)

After loving Evvie Drake Starts Over, I was thrilled to hear Holmes had a new one (but also a little nervous it wouldn’t live up to my expectations). Spoiler alert, it did! It has the same signature Holmes style and setting, but with a very different story, one that has romance yes, but also is about family and making a life outside of others’ expectations. Highly recommend, especially on audio. For fans of Katherine Center.

This book is about a freelance science/nature writer approaching 40 who recently called off her wedding. She goes back to her hometown in Maine to spend a good amount of time cleaning out her aunt's house. The book had some great moments and an interesting little mystery. It's not great literature but it felt cozy and comfortable. If you haven't read Linda Holmes before, her first book, Evvie Drake Starts Over, is a better choice.