The Road to Tender Hearts

In Hartnett’s enchanting latest (after Unlikely Animals), a lonely and broken man hits the road in hopes of finding a new lease on life. PJ Halliday, 63, won the lottery 10 years ago, but he’s far from having it all. His ex-wife, Ivy, is about to marry his former best friend, Fred; his 26-year-old daughter, Sophie, is constantly irritated with him for his heavy drinking; and his older daughter, Kate, has been dead for 15 years, having drowned while drunk after her prom. When his late brother’s grandkids are suddenly orphaned, he is named next of kin to Luna, 10, and Ollie, nine. Casting about for an escape from the pain in his life, PJ takes Luna and Ollie on a road trip to Arizona, where his high school crush has been recently widowed. They’re joined by Sophie, who’s harboring a secret about Ivy and Fred, and more family drama ensues when Luna insists on a detour to meet Mark Stanpole, a soap opera actor she suspects is her biological father. Hartnett leavens the heavy subject matter with a lighthearted tone and comic relief from a therapy cat named Pancakes, who escaped from an assisted living residence and goes along for the ride. Readers will fall in love with this bittersweet tale of new beginnings. Agent: Katie Grimm, Curtis Brown Ltd. (Apr.)