Great book! I really enjoyed The Road to Tender Hearts.

Even as a dog person, I loved Pancake (the cat).

Author Annie Hartnett brings together a carload of unique characters and sends them cross country.

Very endearing. Highly recommended. The most favorite books that I've read in a quite a while!

I feel that much more explanation will take away from the plot. Don't miss this one!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books for approving my request to read the advance read copy of The Road to Tender Hearts in exchange for an honest review. 384 pages, publication date is April 29, 2025.

I was surprised by the heavy topics explored in The Road to Tender Hearts, including alcoholism, the death of a child, abuse, and more. The frequent deaths scattered throughout the novel also caught me off guard and eventually started to feel repetitive. I went into this book expecting a heartwarming, lighthearted story, but it turned out to be far more tragic than I expected.

PJ Halliday, the main character, left me conflicted. HIs drinking problem was touched on multiple times, and he certainly should not have been entrusted with two orphaned children.That said, I appreciated his eventual growth as he became more responsible by the end, and I could see how PJ, Luna, and Ollie could become a family. His grief over the loss of his eldest daughter felt raw, and I liked how the story centered on both his healing and of Sophie, his younger daughter.

The road trip misadventures PJ, Sophie, Luna, and Ollie experienced—like visiting Niagara Falls, exploring the wax museum, Luna surprising Sophie with a $2,000 purse, and the variety of quirky hotels—provided moments of levity that I enjoyed. These lighter moments aligned with what I was hoping for from this book, but they were often overshadowed by PJ’s poor decisions and the string of deaths left in Pancakes’ trail.

was hoping for a story similar to A Man Called Ove, but the balance between lightheartedness and tragedy felt off. The graphic deaths of Luna and Ollie’s parents and the abuse in their family were particularly jarring. Additionally, the reveal that Ivy (view spoiler) near the end felt like an unnecessary layer of tragedy, reminiscent of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. While I can see what the author was aiming for, the relentless hardships faced by all four main characters made the story feel overwhelmingly bleak.

I was hoping for a story similar to A Man Called Ove, but the balance between joy and hardship felt off. In particular, the graphic deaths of Luna and Ollie's parents and the abuse they endured were particularly jarring. Additionally, the reveal that Ivy had brain cancer near the end felt wholly unnecessary and was pretty reminiscent of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. While I could see what the author was aiming for, the relentless hardships faced by all four main characters made the story feel bleak rather than hopeful. This book didn't work for me, unfortunately.

Annie Hartnett does it again! "Rabbit Cake" is one of my favorite debut novels, and her sophomore novel, "Unlikely Animals" is a great book as well. "The Road to Tender Hearts" is a really sweet and VERY quirky novel from start to finish. Hartnett's writing style reminds me of Kevin Wilson. So, if you're a fan of his novels, then you will definitely enjoy Hartnett's novels. Not only is Hartnett's prose incredibly strong, but her characters are also incredibly strong as well. Her characters are multi-dimensional. They are funny, aggravating, sentimental, and extremely complex. I love family road trips, so I knew I would eat this story up. Even though this novel is light-hearted and fun, it is also extremely heavy. This book deals with murder-suicide, alcoholism, severe trauma, anxiety, and depression. The main story surrounds grief. Hartnett does a great job balancing humor and heart. The surprise twist made my jaw drop. Give this book a try. Also, the cover art is stunning.

Thank you, Netgalley and Random House for the digital ARC.

This book was not for me, unfortunately. I appreciate the writer's technical skill which is obviously there and the ability to weave an entertaining story. However, I found the beginning way too depressing and the protagonist not very likable in a way that didn't encourage me to read on. I think it's very interesting to have this flawed, older white man be given this opportunity at redemption but the way in which the children were orphaned was so awful I just did not want to read on. Also, the relationship between the protagonist, his ex-wife and her fiancé was super weird to me in a way I did not like. Two stars because I can acknowledge this writer is talented, but this book is definitely not for me -- I didn't finish it.

Prepare to have your heartstrings pulled. Annie Hartnett can do absolutely no wrong.

She has a special way of weaving laughter, trauma, grief, and joy into a gorgeous story that keeps you hooked from start to finish. And a cat named Pancakes?? I’m in. This is such a great adventure that I cannot recommend enough. I love this author!

I was delighted to see that Annie Hartnett had a new book out after loving Rabbit Cake and Unlikely Animals! She is a master of crafting funny, feel-good stories stories that center characters with baggage, trauma, and grief. The one sentence blurb on this is that a newly-sober lottery winner embarks on a boondoggle road trip with his estranged daughter and two newly-orphaned children (who’s parents’ deaths are front and center at the book’s opening). Doesn’t scream feel-good or funny, but it is Hartnett’s hands. Her characters are good people at heart and it’s clear that Hartnett loves them, which I have discovered is important to me. The best parts of this book, like any good road trip story, are the stops along the way. Oh and Pancakes (the cat). Loved this one!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Really enjoyed this unique story. Though each character is incredibly flawed, they each work their way into your heart and you root for them even as you cringe at their destructive choices. This was a special book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC!!

The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett is a beautifully written, emotionally resonant novel that explores the power of second chances and the unexpected paths to healing. Hartnett’s characters are wonderfully flawed, yet their journeys toward understanding and redemption are deeply moving. With rich prose and a keen sense of empathy, she brings to life a story that is both heartwarming and thought-provoking. A tender, uplifting read that reminds us of the transformative power of kindness and connection.

Annie Hartnett has done it again!

This book already had me laughing out loud before the end of the first chapter, so I knew I was in for a treat.

I just love this author’s writing so much and loved getting lost in this world. This story has all her signature ingredients—it’s funny, witty, quirky, delightful, whimsical, and heartfelt. It’s got lovable characters, an adventure-filled cross-country road trip, and a cat named Pancakes who can predict death—what more could you ask for?!

Like her previous novels, this story also deals with some darker themes like grief, alcoholism and a few others (which I won’t mention here so as not to spoil anything). Despite this though, the book never felt heavy. In fact, I didn’t want the story to end.

Would highly recommend to anyone who loved Rabbit Cake and/or Unlikely Animals, or to anyone who has yet to read an Annie Hartnett novel. You’re missing out!

Can’t wait to add a copy of this to my shelves!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House/Ballantine Books for this ARC!

Oh what a lovely book! PJ captured my heart from the start!m, as did Ollie and Luna. My heart broke for those two kids and my heart broke for PJ. I loved this one to pieces and I highly recommend it!

Tear my heart out, will you, Annie Hartnett?

I requested this ARC because Rabbit Cake was probably my favorite read of 2022 (Elvis still lives in my head, let's be real). The Road to Tender Hearts does NOT disappoint. Hartnett is incredible at writing children, trauma, animals...just writing in general, I guess? I adored the tinge of magical realism, including the occasional look at Pancakes' thoughts, and every nuance was thoughtfully written.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

A ridiculously fun cross country road trip story! The humor is on the darker side but this story is full of heart!

PJ. He is a drunk, a lottery winner, a grieving father, a man child who refuses to grow up.

His daughter Sophie.

Two kids, Ollie and Luna. PJ is the great uncle they never met, who got their custody after they lost their parents in a murder-suicide

And a tabby cat who can predict death.

A road trip from Massachusetts to Arizona with a stop at Texas for a paternity test :) A strained father-daughter relationship, ridiculously cute kids and the very best of the characters: Pancakes the cat.

PJ is a loveable fool. I found him loveable as a fictional character. He would be my literal nightmare in real life:) He is not a good father. But he gets a second chance at parenting with Ollie and Luna. He tries, this time, he really tries to do the right things. Lots of things happen on this road trip.

I love Hartnett's story telling style and her dark humor. There are things happening to these characters, seriously traumatic things but somehow she keeps the tone light.

I had a lot of fun reading this book and definitely recommend it.

I loved The Road To Tender Hearts!! It was such a funny, quirky, sad and warmhearted story. I loved the magical realism aspects involved with the cat.

It’s really hard to describe this book but somehow PJ Halliday, alcoholic and lottery winner, inherits 2 young children he has never met and decides to take them across the country to surprise a former lover at her retirement home. This road trip also includes his living daughter and a cat named Pancakes, who happens to bring death with him wherever he goes.
I will be reading more books from Annie Hartnett and recommend this one to everyone. 5 ⭐️ thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine books for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I was a big Annie Hartnett fan and after reading this book I am a bigger fan!

The very first line: “Things were falling apart at the nursing home in Pondtown, a small town in the armpit of Massachusetts,” was quickly followed by the introduction of my favorite character — Pancakes the cat — with his affinity for those whose (sometimes surprising) deaths are on the Grim Reaper’s schedule. And that was it — I was hooked.

A cast of characters: PJ, a lottery winner who has succumbed to alcoholism after the death of a daughter; Sophie, his other daughter who has developed a healthy distrust of him as a parental figure; Luna and Ollie, two youngsters suddenly orphaned in not the healthiest way, suddenly dropped in PJ’s lap; and the aforementioned cat. All set off on the world’s weirdest road trip chasing a fantasy paternity prospect and an equally fanciful long lost love prospect. While each character is a little broken, this only tugs the heartstrings in what turns out to be a positive way. Great dialog, wild and wonderful storytelling sprouting from memories and passed down tales, and some atypical (understatement) attitudes toward life and death.

BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of The Road to Tender Hearts, by Annie Hartnett, from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books /NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.

In the for-what-it’s-worth category, I was correct some time ago when I gave my thoughts on this author’s debut novel: Annie Hartnett is just getting better and better as she goes along.

This book was sweet and silly and smart and funny and life-affirming and concurrently both totally implausible and completely believable.

If the description of the plot appeals to you, then you’ll probably enjoy spending time with PJ and his motley crew (especially the cat) as much as I did.

DESCRIPTION
A darkly comic and warm-hearted novel about an old man on a cross-country mission to reunite with his high school crush—bringing together his adult daughter, two orphaned kids, and a cat who can predict death—by the beloved author of Rabbit Cake and Unlikely Animals

At sixty-three years old, million-dollar lottery winner PJ Halliday would be the luckiest man in Pondville, Massachusetts, if it weren’t for the tragedies of his life: the sudden death of his eldest daughter and the way his marriage fell apart after that. Since then, PJ spends both his money and his time at the bar, and he probably doesn’t have much time left—he’s had three heart attacks already.

But when PJ reads the obituary of his old romantic rival, he realizes his high school sweetheart, Michelle Cobb, is finally single again. Filled with a new enthusiasm for life, PJ decides he’s going to drive across the country to the Tender Hearts Retirement Community in Arizona to win Michelle back.

Before PJ can hit the road, tragedy strikes Pondville, leaving PJ the sudden guardian of his estranged brother’s grandchildren. Anyone else would be deterred from the planned trip, but PJ figures the orphaned kids might benefit from getting out of town. PJ also thinks he can ask Sophie, his adult daughter who’s adrift in her twenties, to come along to babysit. And there’s one more surprise addition to the roster: Pancakes, a former nursing home therapy cat with a knack of predicting death, who recently turned up outside PJ’s home.

This could be the second chance PJ has long hoped for—a fresh shot at love and parenting—but does he have the strength to do both those things again? It’s very possible his heart can’t take it.

Annie Hartnett has done it again! What a wonderful book filled with flawed characters who will none the less steal your heart. PJ Halliday is an alcoholic lottery winner who through a series of events winds up with custody of great niece and nephew. They end up on a road trip with PJ's daughter and a cat who can predict deaths. The result is a heartfelt romp through the US. A must read!!

well damn, another 5 star read. let me give you some backstory on what it's about because maybe, just maybe you would want to read it too.

PJ Halliday, 63 y/o, a millionaire scratch ticket winner with a failing heart, spends his days numbing his grief in the bar, trying to forget the loss of his daughter, the prom queen, who died years ago. his best friend and ex-wife, who are now planning to marry, try to shield him from the world’s pain—cutting out sad news that involves children & animals (he doesn't even eat bacon) and catering to his every need. but when PJ stumbles upon an obituary about a long-lost love, now widowed and living in an Arizona retirement home called Tender Hearts, something stirs in him, and he sets out on a road trip in search of closure and a maybe, a second chance at love. but along the way, PJ inherits two orphaned kids after a tragic murder-suicide and reconnects with his estranged daughter and a strange cat named Pancakes with an unsettling connection to death follows him, and the kids are convinced their movie-star father is out there somewhere.

as PJ struggles to navigate these lost souls and tangled pasts, he finds that, in the end, love and redemption come with their own costs. besides the absurdity and heartbreak, he learns that life’s messiness—its pain, loss, and unexpected kindness—can still teach us how to move forward, even when we feel like we’ve lost everything. a story of tragic second chances, where the laughter is tempered by the shadows of grief and the hope that maybe, just maybe, love can heal even the deepest wounds.

serious thoughts about this book:
THIS WAS GOOD. TOO GOOD. GOT THAT BACKMAN VIBE TO IT.
i highlighted so many sections in this book because the writing was just so beautiful. there were so many moments that truly captured the depth of humanity. each character is deeply flawed, yet they all tugged at my heart. i found myself wanting to be with them, to talk to them, to understand them better. it really pulled me into its journey lol because it was filled with adventure, excitement, and dark humor at times. i was left craving more. every goddamn line of the dialogue was so PERFECTLY crafted. the plot, the ending—this book gave me everything i hoped for.

did i have questions after i finished the book? was i confused at times?

absolutely. but this whole story reflects the struggles of real life, where we’re often left with more questions than answers.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★
thank you thank you Random House Publishing Group.
i already pre-ordered my physical copy!

Oh I loved this story so much. Such a rich cast of characters who will stay with me for a long time. I have been a fan of Annie Hartnett since Rabbit Cake. Unlikely Animals is one of my favorite books of the past 10 years. I can't imagine any reader could NOT love The Road to Tender Hearts. It's funny and heartwarming and unique. I laughed, I cried, I didn't want it to end. Five enthusiastic stars.

PJ Halliday, 63 years old with a bad ticker spends his time hanging in the bar drinking up his million and a half dollars scratch ticket win. Still grieving over his prom queen daughter's death years ago, his best friend and his ex-wife ,who are planning to marry soon, make sure his needs are met, even to the extent of clipping sad news out of the paper so he doesn't have to see it. When they go off on a vacation, PJ reading an obituary discovers the girl he thought he was in love with is now widowed and living in the Tender Hearts retirement community in Arizona. Meanwhile a strange series of events leads to a murder suicide leaving two young kids parentless and in PJ's care. Oh, and PJ's long estranged daughter shows up as well as a cat that has an intimate connection with death. An uproariously comedic and tragic roadtrip ensues as PJ heads toward true love and one of the kids tries to meet up with the movie star she is sure is her real dad. It is filled with death and destruction, strange coincidences, as well as kindness and heart warming tenderness.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book, but it was really good and heartwarming! I still don’t know what to make of Pancakes, the agent of death cat, but that’s okay. It was a funny, sad, sweet, and slightly bizarre story that I really enjoyed. I can’t believe how it all ended up and it was quite a ride the whole time. Check this one out, you won’t regret it!