Linda Holmes, a pop culture correspondent and host for NPR, has been an ardent defender of the rom-com and has published her take on the category with Evvie Drake Starts Over. The heroine is a young widow with a secret about her marriage, and the hero, Dean, is a professional baseball player with a bad case of the yips. There’s certainly romance and comedy, but there’s also more emotional weight to the story than readers might expect. Holmes weaves themes of loss, friendship and moving on into a sweet and sometimes sad story about two people forced to reevaluate their plans for their lives. A small town in Maine provides a delightful setting. And as a fun bonus for Minnesota readers, the heroine is named after the Iron Range town of Eveleth, Minn., where her mother was born.
Raela Schoenherr is an editor at a Minnesota publishing company. She loves to talk books and writing on Twitter at @raelaschoenherr.
