(68)Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes

It has been a year since Evvie Drake had decided that it enough was enough. It has been a year since Evvie Drake loaded up her car and was ready to leave her husband.  It has been a year since Evvie Drake got the call that her husband had been in a serious car accident.   He had died before she got there.  Evvie has spent the last year in a daze.  Everybody in their small community thinks that she is grieving but in reality, Evvie is - relieved.   And nobody knows it.  Her best friend, Andy, is worried about her wandering around the big house all by herself.  He has a solution.  A childhood friend of his is looking for a soft place to land.  His career as a professional baseball player has imploded pretty spectacularly and he is looking for a place to hideout.  To both of their surprise, Dean and Evvie hit it off.  Their blossoming friendship is a treasure to both of them.  And they cannot deny the underlying currents of attraction.   Both Evvie and Dean have a lot of baggage, but are they willing to work through their issues so they can be happy together?

From the very first page I really enjoyed Evvie Drake Starts Over.  I really liked Evvie and I wanted nothing but peace and happiness for her.  She isn't just mourning the death of her husband, in fact she isn't mourning that at all.  Instead, she is mourning the marriage that she longed for and never got to have.  For her deceased husband, Tim was emotionally abusive.  He made Evvie doubt herself and treated her like shit. But he was all she knew and it took her years to work up the courage to leave.  And then he died.  I loved that this author depicted a completely platonic male/female friendship.  And that everybody accepted their friendship to be true and just friendship.  Including Dean, and Monica, Andy's girlfriend.  That is so rare to find in novels.  The character development in all three of them Andy, Dean, and Evvie was pretty significant. And I just love novels where the character's growth is so visible.   Of course, the end was exactly as you would expect for this kind of novel, but it was perfect.

Bottom Line - Evvie Drake Starts Over is an absolutely charming book.  The perfect kind of book if you are looking for an escape from your daily life.  Great characters and a great love story.  What more could you want?

Details: 

• Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
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• Pages: 304
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Publication Date: 6/25/19
• Buy it Here!
• Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.