The Beloved Romance Novel Chosen by the Read With Jenna Book Club

Published in 2019, “Evvie Drake Starts Over” by Linda Holmes centers around recently widowed, reclusive Evvie Drake and struggling MLB player Dean Tenney. When their mutual friend Andy convinces Evvie to rent out her spare room to Dean, the two agree that her marriage and his baseball career are topics that must remain strictly off limits. However, as they bond over the massive life changes they’ve each experienced and begin to form a friendship, Evvie must reconcile with uncomfortable truths about her marriage while Dean confronts the mental block that interrupted his career.

Set in a seaside town in Maine, this Goodreads Choice Awards Winner is praised for its thoughtful characters, humorous dialogue, and nuanced conflicts, with Jenna Bush Hager having plenty of positive things to say about the book club pick. “I was captivated by Evvie’s predicament of finding herself a young widow,” she told Goodreads, giving the book a five out of five rating. “In a lot of romantic comedies, you kind of know exactly what’s going to happen. You know exactly the character’s motivation, which is to find the guy. And, really, I think Evvie’s motivation is to find herself. And to me, that felt really empowering and fresh.” So, while Hager may not reach for romance often, she appears to have picked a winner with “Evvie Drake Starts Over.”