Evvie Drake Starts Over | A Strong Start that Quickly Lost Steam

3/5 stars

Evvie Drake is a young widow who can’t bear to tell the truth about her grief. Not even her best friend, Andy, knows. Meanwhile, Andy’s friend, Dean, is a pro baseballer who is suffering from a case of the yips. Dean rents the apartment in Evvie’s giant house and the two agree on one thing. They don’t ask each other about their struggles. It’s only a matter of time before the rules are broken.

This started out strong, but the pace slowed down considerably for me once I reached the second half. Evvie’s past with her deceased husband was interesting and her journey towards recovery and seeking help was what resonated most with me. Her friendship with Andy could be both loveable and infuriating. It showed that people will keep secrets even from the closest of friends. 

The romance with Dean was a bit slow for me without much steam. I found this to be more of a friendship than anything else. It was heartwarming to watch two people least likely to confide in each other support and help fix one another. I think if I went into this with a different mindset — a story of friendship and recovery — instead of a romance, it would have landed differently for me. Despite its slow pace in the second half, I found it to a charming story that focused more on friendship than anything else.