Written by Linda Holmes (I believe this is her first fiction novel she has had published), Evvie Drake Starts Over follows Evvie Drake, widowed a year prior, as she struggles to deal with the fact that her husband, her high school sweetheart, died when she was packing her bags to leave him. And no one knows she was going to leave.
As she is still struggling with this, and what to do with her life and the lies she has told everyone so that they don’t worry about her, her best friend’s former pro-baseball playing childhood friend Dean (that’s a mouth full) is looking for a place to stay, and she has the extra space and is in need of the money. After a quick interview, she finds him to be kind and a good candidate to rent to.
This isn’t a fantasy novel. This is another of those real-life novels. And, while there is a romance, the romance isn’t really the main point of the novel. This is about Evvie learning to be honest with herself and others, and what she went through, and Dean learning to deal with the fact that he got the Yips and can’t play ball anymore.
Do they have a romance? I mean. Who couldn’t see that coming?
One thing I really like, as I have a number of good friends of the opposite sex that various people are waiting for us to start dating, is that they have one of those friendships in this book. And, they don’t date. They go into some of the struggles that do come from a friendship like that.
And I really appreciated that. Not enough books have friendships that are just that, friendships.
If you like sweet, very light romance (y’all, pretty sure – as long as they can deal with some F bombs here and there – a teenager could read this), and you enjoy something that is one of those Real Life Problems, this is a really great read. I loved it. Hands down, recommendation from me.
